Most Believe Angels Exist, Survey Finds

Most Americans believe that angels exist and affect people’s lives, but the majority say Satan and the Holy Spirit are no more than symbols, respectively, of evil and God’s presence, a newly released poll says.

In the same nationwide survey, even slight majorities of “born-again Christians” agreed that the devil and the Holy Spirit were not living entities, according to the Barna Research Group, based in Oxnard.

For avowedly committed Christians to interpret the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity in church doctrine, as symbolic “reflects either incredible ignorance of the basic teachings of Christianity or a pick-and-choose mentality in which people only believe those teachings from the Bible which they like or understand,” said George Barna, president of the polling organization.

Barna, who specializes in surveys on religious topics, said the findings came from a telephone poll in January of a representative, random sample of 1,007 adults nationwide.

Generally, Americans still hold certain beliefs high. More than 75% of those polled said they believe angels are real, and 87% said their religious faith is very important in their lives, according to the Barna survey.

But 6 out of 10 Americans (61%) agreed with the statement that “the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God’s presence or power, but is not a living entity,” Barna said. “Amazingly, a majority (55%) of born-again Christians also reject the existence of the Holy Spirit.”

Barna researchers define a born-again Christian as one who has accepted Jesus Christ as savior, made an ongoing commitment and believes they are heaven-bound.

The belief in Satan only as a symbol of evil was held by 62% of all adults and by 55% of born-again Christians in the survey.

INNER-CITY MISSIONS

Michael Teague, 38, chief operations officer for the 106-year-old Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles, has been given added duties as president of the nation’s largest inner-city mission. Last year the facility at 545 S. San Pedro St. served 1 million meals and provided 335,300 nights of shelter to homeless and destitute men and women.

Warren Currie, 62, the mission’s chief executive officer, said he was turning full operational duties over to Teague in anticipation of his own retirement in two years. Teague was named among 50 rising evangelical leaders in the nation under 40 years old recently by Christianity Today magazine.

* Sixteen men and women Friday night celebrated completion of a yearlong rehabilitation program for alcohol and drug abusers at the Los Angeles Mission, 303 E. 5th St. The Rev. E.V. Hill, pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, spoke at the “graduation” ceremonies, one of several during the year for the programs at the mission.

AUTHOR

Author Jonathan Kirsch will speak at Stephen S. Wise Temple atop the Sepulveda Pass on May 27 at 8 p.m. to discuss his new book, “The Harlot by the Side of the Road” (Ballantine Books). (818) 788-4778.

The book retells stories from the Hebrew Bible of seduction, rape, incest, adultery, murder and mayhem. Kirsch, also a longtime book reviewer for The Times, will sign copies of his new work at Dutton’s Brentwood Bookstore, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, at 7 p.m. Thursday.

DATES

In observance of Pentecost Sunday on the Christian calendar, Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catholic Church, 15520 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Music director William Beck will conduct the church’s choir and orchestra. (818) 986-8234.

* Buddhist views on sex discrimination, racial strife and cults will be explored in a

1 p.m. seminar Sunday at the Rosemead Buddhist Monastery, 7833 Emerson Place, Rosemead. The event features Ananda W.P. Duruge, formerly of Northwestern University; religion scholar James A. Santucci of Cal State Fullerton; and the Rev. Kusala Dharma, an American-born monk with the International Buddhist Meditation Center. The seminar will follow the monastery’s Vesak ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon. (818) 280-1213.

* A two-hour forum on gun violence will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church, 26001 Muirlands Blvd., Mission Viejo, featuring a law enforcement officer, an emergency room physician, a victim’s parent and others. The event also is sponsored by the National Conference and the Alliance for Spiritual Community. (714) 837-2941.

* Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom, who said in October that his Conservative synagogue would actively seek converts, will lead a special service at 8:15 p.m. Friday for “Jews by choice.” Eighteen converts to Judaism, some new to the faith and others longtime members, will either speak, read Scripture or sing during the service at the synagogue, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 788-6000.

* The first of 193 regional summer conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the country will begin May 23 at the Long Beach Convention Center. About 12,000 people are expected for the three-day program.

* Church music director Josef Powell, who works as a backup singer and arranger-musician for TV and movies such as “Rosewood” and “Hercules,” will direct Park Hills Community Church’s annual concert at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Choral groups from Oakwood High School in North Hollywood will also perform at the church, 5254 Overdale Drive, Windsor Hills. (213) 294-1421.

* A community blood drive will be held Sunday at St. Brigid Catholic Church, 5214 S. Western Ave., South Los Angeles, between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (213) 292-0781.

* The Vedanta Society temple in Hollywood on Sunday will hold its monthly, traveling interfaith celebration organized by the Rev. Leland Stewart, founder of the Unity-and-

Diversity World Council of Los Angeles. The event runs from 2 to 4 p.m and includes speakers Swami Brahmavidyananda and Sister Maitri of the host temple, 1946 Vedanta Place, Mahmoud Ezzeldine of the Islamic Society of Southern California and Carl Hult of the Founder’s Church of Religious Science. (213) 485-7114

* St. John’s Celtic Choir will present an “All-American Celebration,” including pieces from sacred Colonial-era music to modern show tunes, directed by Michael H. Arshagouni, at 4 p.m. Sunday at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 11000 National Blvd., West Los Angeles. (310) 477-2513.

FINALLY

A bus tour to meet “the Latino Jews of San Diego and Tijuana” sponsored by the University of Judaism, will head for the border on the Memorial Day weekend.

On May 25, members of the study tour will meet the Argentine-born rabbi of Congregation Adat Ami, a San Diego synagogue whose members include Jews from several Latin American countries, and tour the oldest (1892) synagogue building in San Diego, now relocated and restored in the Old Town quarter.

The trip to Tijuana on May 26 includes a visit to the 30-year-old Centro Social Israelita synagogue and to another synagogue composed almost entirely of converted Mexican Catholics, according to Freedman Habush Associates, the tour organizers. (818) 994-0213. The overnight tour costs $190 per person, double occupancy.

Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive two to three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.

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PEOPLE

Muzzamil H. Siddiqi, 53, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County, has been elected president of the Indiana-based Islamic Society of North America, one of the largest Muslim organizations on the continent.

Siddiqi, who holds a doctorate in comparative religion from Harvard University, was director of the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., before coming west to head the Garden Grove-based Islamic Society of Orange County, which serves as many as 30,000 Muslims in the area.

“He is one of the most esteemed scholars in the Muslim community,” said Shabbir Mansuri, founding director of the Council on Islamic Education. “His becoming president certainly will be very, very important to broadening community participation.”

Siddiqi said he will remain in Southern California. He teaches part-time at Cal State Fullerton and serves on the board of the Academy for Judaic, Christian and Islamic Studies at UCLA’s University Religious Conference.