CHRISTIAN UNITY: The annual Los Angeles area...

CHRISTIAN UNITY: The annual Los Angeles area observance promoting Christian unity will be held Jan. 23 at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Encino and televised by the Faith & Values (formerly VISN) cable network.

“Our Lady of Grace was chosen to host because of its building design, which can accommodate television cameras, and also because there is a lot of ecumenical activity in the San Fernando Valley,� said Father Vivian Ben Lima, ecumenical director for the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, referring in part to the large San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council.

The Rev. James Lawson, pastor of Holman United Methodist in Los Angeles, will give the sermon. Music will be provided by his church’s choir and the St. Charles Borromeo Church choir.

The annual service is sponsored jointly by the archdiocese and the Southern California Ecumenical Council. It is part of a nationally observed Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

More information is available from the archdiocese’s Office of Interreligious and Ecumenical Affairs at (213) 617-3433.

NEW MINISTERS: New pastors will be formally welcomed at a Lutheran church and a Presbyterian congregation in the San Fernando Valley.

The Rev. Kapp L. Johnson will be installed at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, 15950 Chatsworth St., Granada Hills, in a 3 p.m. service Sunday. KABC radio talk show host Dennis Prager will be the speaker.

The next Sunday, Jan. 23, the Rev. Howard George Ashley will be welcomed at Woodland Hills Presbyterian Church, 5751 Platt Ave., with a reception and luncheon following the 10 a.m. worship service. Ashley, a Harvard Divinity School graduate, previously pastored a church for seven years in Brooklyn.

COUNCILWOMAN’S TALK: Councilwoman Laura Chick will speak on community issues to the Clergy Network monthly luncheon Thursday at Woodland Care Center, 7120 Corbin Ave., Reseda.

For luncheon reservations, call (800) 707-2224.

News and announcements for this column may be sent to Religion Desk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311.