Church turns theft into a reason to give

When he speaks about the boy who stole the collection plate, the Rev. Henry L. Masters likes to recount the Old Testament story of Joseph and the good that ultimately resulted from his misfortune.

Sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, Joseph eventually comes to their aid, thanks to his relationship with Pharaoh. Masters shared that story with his congregation at Holman United Methodist Church in 2001 after a teenager stole money collected at an annual breakfast fundraiser.

The boy wasn’t a stranger at the church on West Adams Boulevard in South Los Angeles. “He had come from a rather difficult home life, so we were trying to reach out to him,” Masters said.

But one morning the boy grabbed the plate full of money -- in plain sight -- and ran off. He was never seen again.

“His snatching the money was a grievous thing to do but also a reminder to us that there are kids in the community who don’t have money,” Masters said.

So the next Sunday, Masters told the story of Joseph and challenged his congregation to do something for young people. Congregants soon raised $50,000 and started the Jobs for Kids program, now in its sixth year.

The idea is simple: The congregation pays teens, ages 14 to 18, $8 an hour (a little more in some cases) while they hold summer jobs at various businesses.

About 200 teenagers have gone through the program, and they’ve worked 20 hours a week in workplaces such as law offices, nonprofits and a television news station.

About 40 students are in the program this summer, still supported by church members. Masters notes that donations are always welcome.

Each Friday the students take a course in personal development, which teaches practical skills, such as time management, and helps them set goals for the future. The course is offered in conjunction with West Los Angeles College.

“Some of the kids find their passion,” said Kathy Walton, a program director at West Los Angeles College. “We’ve had a number of success stories.”

For Masters, the lesson of Jobs for Kids -- and its inspiration -- is simple enough: “We can’t choose our circumstances, but we can choose the way to respond.”

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On behalf of Jews

Hadassah, the influential Jewish women’s organization, gathered in Los Angeles this week for its 94th annual national convention, attracting A-list speakers who addressed anti-Semitism, solidarity with Israel and the upcoming presidential election.

The event, at the downtown Westin Bonaventure Hotel, featured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), new UC President Mark G. Yudof and Dalia Itzik, speaker of the Israeli parliament.

Pelosi, who recently visited Israel, told the delegates that U.S. national security depends on a vibrant relationship with Israel.

Yudof spoke about the importance of free speech on college campuses in light of negative portrayals of Israel at some schools. Itzik raised the subject of Iran, saying the country poses a worldwide threat that requires a more concerted and robust response.

Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and Israeli parliament member, spoke about his recent visits to college campuses in the U.S. and Europe, where he addressed the growth of anti-Semitism.

Leaders of Hadassah, founded in 1912, spoke about the group’s many educational, health and youth initiatives in Israel and the United States.

More than 2,000 participants attended the convention, which offered a variety of sessions, including one that examined how Hollywood portrays Jewish women and another that promoted stronger U.S.-Israel ties through greater investment in the Jewish state.

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Interesting findings

When a national survey was conducted recently on religious practices in the United States, some questions were predictable, such as whether people believed in God or a universal spirit. (As an earlier Beliefs column noted, about 92% did.)

But the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life also asked intimate questions about how people practice their faith.

For example, when asked if they experience a “deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being” weekly or more often, 52% of all respondents said yes. And 34% of those who believe in God said they had witnessed or experienced a divine healing.

The survey also asked how often people practiced the form of worship known as speaking in tongues. The phenomenon has several definitions but is often described as disjointed or unintelligible sounds uttered in a state of religious ecstasy.

As the survey noted, the practice is often associated with Pentecostal or charismatic churches, and not common among Christians overall. (See accompanying chart.)

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steve.padilla@latimes.com

duke.helfand@latimes.com

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Speaking in tongues

A nationwide survey asked people how often they speak or pray in tongues. Some of the findings:

All Christians

Weekly: 9%

Monthly/yearly: 4%

Seldom: 6%

Never: 77%

Don’t know: 4%

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Nondenominational charismatic

Weekly: 44%

Monthly/yearly: 14%

Seldom: 6%

Never: 35%

Don’t know: 1%

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Pentecostal

Weekly: 31%

Monthly/yearly: 11%

Seldom: 10%

Never: 43%

Don’t know: 5%

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The U.S. Religion Landscape Survey interviewed 35,000 U.S. adults in 2007. The margin of sampling error is +/- 0.6 percentage points for the entire sample. Margins are larger for the subgroups.

Source: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life