Metropolitan Church Gets Ford Grant

The Ford Foundation has given a $100,000 grant to the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Churches, the nation’s largest gay-oriented religious denomination, for its work with poor and troubled young people.

The grant will be used to support the denomination’s flagship West Hollywood program, aimed at helping youths considered at risk for drug abuse, crime, academic failure or unwed parenthood. Plans to replicate the program in two other cities are underway.

“This is a significant step forward in our relationship with the Ford Foundation and marks a historic milestone on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth,” said the Rev. Nancy Wilson, senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles.

CONFERENCES / LECTURES

The son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will speak Tuesday in Loma Linda on how he and his family coped with their father’s assassination. The event is part of a conference aimed at helping children through the grief of a parent’s death. Martin Luther King III will speak at the fourth annual Clergy Caregiver Conference at the Loma Linda University Seventh-day Adventist Church. The conference, dedicated to meeting the health and spiritual needs of children in crisis, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sponsored by the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital and Service Corp. International, the conference will be telecast to more than 800 health and education centers worldwide. Parking is at the adjoining Loma Linda University Medical Center, 11234 Anderson St. in Loma Linda. (800) 558-6297.

* “Caring for Creation,” a conference on religion’s role in healing the earth, will be held today from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport Beach. Speakers will include Episcopal Rev. Peter Kreitler, founder of Earth Service Inc.; the Rev. Rich Killmer of the National Council of Churches’ Eco-Justice Working Group; the Rev. Peter Moore-Kochlacs of the United Methodist Church’s Environmental Ministries of Southern California; and Ward Allebach of the Green Networking for Orange County. (714) 731-6775.

* The Council on American-Islamic Relations will hold a conference today to advise American Muslims on their civil and political rights. The conference will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. Speakers will include St. Mary’s University professor Jamal Badawi, a leading scholar on Muslim-Christian relations; former Illinois congressman Paul Findley; and civil rights attorney Federico Castelan Sayre. (714) 776-1847.

* Rabbi Leonard J. Beerman, vice president of the Jewish Peace Fellowship, will speak on the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Pilgrim Place, 665 Avery Road, Claremont. Beerman, past president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, is active in several social justice groups focusing on the death penalty, economics and Mideast peace.

* Theologian John Cobb will speak Saturday on the proliferation of sweatshops globally at 9 a.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. The address, “Corporate Tyranny: A Call to Action,” is sponsored by Mobilization for the Human Family and will include a panel discussion on the economic roots and corporate values behind the sweatshop surge. (909) 625-8722.

EVENTS

Diwali, the ancient Hindu Festival of Lights, will feature fireworks, Indian delicacies and a 60-foot effigy of the devilish monster king known as Ravana next Saturday at Cerritos Regional Park at Bloomfield Avenue and 195th Street in Cerritos. The festival will also ring in the Hindu New Year of Dashera and will celebrate, through the lighting of lamps, the victory of good over evil, symbolized by Ravana’s defeat at the hands of Lord Rama. The program is sponsored by the Diamond Bar-based Federation of Hindus Assns. (909) 861-4701.

* An autumn festival will be held next Saturday and Sunday at the Shadow Hills Presbyterian Church at Sunland Boulevard and Johanna Avenue in Sunland. The festival will feature live music, crafts, face painting, a petting zoo and pony rides, magic show, silent auction, handmade quilt raffle, pumpkin patch and the Church Lady’s Bakery. Proceeds will be used to purchase a new therapy horse for the Ahead With Horses nonprofit organization, which uses horse riding as therapy for disabled children. (818) 353-2500.

* A fall festival featuring the Eagle Rock Jazz Band and other entertainment will be held at 2:45 p.m. Sunday at Solheim Lutheran Home, 2236 Merton Ave., Los Angeles. The festival will also feature a photographic history of Solheim, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in Eagle Rock and the surrounding areas. (323) 257-7518.

* “The Dead Sea Peace,” a photo display of individuals experiencing the sea’s ancient healing waters, will be presented through Oct. 23 at the Long Beach Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Willow St. Long Beach resident Jenni Kolsky took the 1993 photographs from both the Israeli and Jordanian shores of the fabled sea, which was formed 100 million years ago and is the lowest place on earth. The mineral-rich waters and black mud credited with therapeutic qualities attract hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. (562) 426-7601, Ext. 31.

SERVICES

Christian performers and AIDS activists will lead the seventh annual AIDS Memorial Service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Hope Lutheran Church, 6720 Melrose Ave., Hollywood. The service will combine spiritual readings, contemporary music, meditative prayer and an original litany capped with a memorial candle-lighting ceremony. Miss America 1998 Kate Shindle and Miss Wisconsin 1993 Stephanie Ann Kiett--both AIDS activists--will deliver the message for the day. (323) 938-9135.

CONCERTS

World-renowned pianist Carol Rosenberger will make a rare public appearance with the Shanghai Quartet for a concert at 8 p.m. Monday at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 South Commonwealth Ave. Tickets are $20; $15 for seniors and students. Proceeds from the concert, which will feature the music of Frank Bridge and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, will benefit the Los Angeles Bach Festival. (213) 385-1345.

* Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter Mandie Pinto will perform a concert at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Crystal Cathedral, 12141 Lewis St., Garden Grove. Pinto is a frequent guest vocalist on the Hour of Power with the Rev. Robert Schuller, and is a principal soloist in the Glory of Christmas. (818) 349-5360.

Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or by fax to Nona Yates, Southern California File at (213) 237-4712. Items should arrive two to three weeks before the event and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.