A Devotion to Progress

CHATSWORTH — Three decades ago, a handful of residents looked across the San Fernando Valley and didn’t exactly like what they saw: a predominantly white suburb with little interaction among people of different races, cultures and religions.

The 11 men and women of Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Unitarian faiths set out to break down the barriers that kept people of diverse religious and racial backgrounds apart.

These visionaries gathered in a local priest’s study on Nov. 19, 1964, named themselves the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council and proclaimed themselves advocates for social justice.

With that spirit of self-determination, the council has worked for 35 years to improve the lives of Valley residents through myriad social-service and ecumenical programs.

The council will celebrate its 35th anniversary Thursday during its annual Human Relations Awards Dinner at the Warner Center Marriott Hotel in Woodland Hills.

Individuals to be feted are Rabbi Don Goor of Temple Judea in Tarzana and Mother Rosa Broadous, co-founder of Calvary Baptist Church in Pacoima. Also, Mad About Rising Crime, an anti-crime organization; Odyssey, a cable religious channel; 20th Century Insurance; and Mervyn’s California will be honored.

“We believe that congregations, regardless of faith, are stabilizing forces within the community,” council Executive Director Barry A. Smedberg said during a recent interview at council headquarters on Topanga Canyon Boulevard. “If we can help them grow stronger, the entire community will be healthier.”

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With a $4-million annual budget, 110 employees and 3,000 volunteers serving 350,000 residents, the council runs several programs across the Valley, Smedberg said. They include a senior lunch program in Pacoima, a food distribution program in North Hollywood and an exercise class for the elderly.

The nonprofit organization also holds annual events commemorating Mohandas K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Holocaust and other genocides, as well as regular interfaith panel discussions.

“The group is one of the few organizations that truly spans the diversity of the San Fernando Valley,” said Todd Rosin, a spokesman for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which awarded the council $50,900 last fiscal year.

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“Contrary to some stereotypes, the Valley is an extremely diverse area,” Rosin said. “The council ties together the oldest and the newest populations and is essential in creating a shared set of values for a very diverse community.”

While the council has done much to meet residents’ needs through its two dozen social-service programs, officials acknowledge that more could be done to attract religious groups outside Judaism and Christianity.

“We have made a little bit of progress, but not as much as we hoped,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Utter, council president.

“It is very difficult to get a number of communities--Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists--involved because . . . their energies are devoted to preserving the integrity of their religion in this American setting,” said Utter, a United Church of Christ minister and a chaplain with the Department of Veterans Affairs in West Los Angeles.

Still, the council tries to include adherents of minority religions on its board of directors.

Utter pointed to the Yugoslavian authorities’ “ethnic cleansing” of Albanians in Kosovo to underscore his argument for continued dialogue among diverse religious and racial groups.

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“We shudder at ethnic cleansing and rightly so, but if we don’t keep mobilizing people to work together, that could eventually happen here,” he said. “We have got to work against any movement that wants to have human beings identify themselves with one group or religion as opposed to identifying themselves with the human race as a whole.”

But there is disagreement among council members over whether the organization should pay greater attention to global human-rights issues, Utter said.

“Some say our primary focus should be the San Fernando Valley,” he said. “Others say we have to be aware of what is going on in other places, because the world is too small.”

Utter maintains that the council must “find ways to be a model of interfaith dialogue and cooperation, not just for our own little area but for the larger world beyond.”

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To demonstrate his commitment to building ties among religions, Utter said he will travel this summer to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the Parliament of World Religions.

The conference attracts thousands of religious leaders and lay people from around the world to participate in discussions about the environment, cooperation among religions and spirituality in society.

Utter said he hopes to return with an even greater resolve to expand the council’s role in promoting religious and racial cooperation.

“Los Angeles is probably the most racially, linguistically, culturally and religiously diverse place in the country other than New York City,” Utter said. “There would be something radically wrong if there was no organization like the Valley Interfaith Council in this city.”