Black Catholics to Celebrate Their Contributions to L.A.

African American Catholics from more than 40 parishes in Watts, the Crenshaw district and South-Central Los Angeles will celebrate faith and culture today in a daylong festival of evangelization at Verbum Dei High School. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is expected to attend the event, which will pay tribute to the contributions that black Catholic churches have made to the history and development of Los Angeles. Presentations and discussions on faith, culture and family will take place, as well as singing, dancing and choir performances. Each participating family will receive a collector’s edition of the “Jesus of Watts” Bible, based on availability. The school is at 11100 S. Central Ave. in Watts.

CONFERENCES

Local clergy will join theologians from around the world for a conference at Pasadena Presbyterian Church focusing on the Palestinian Christian minority and its challenges in the next millennium.

The conference, to be held Monday through Thursday, is titled “The Future for Holy Land Christians” and will focus on indigenous Christians in Israel and the West Bank and their rich heritage of almost 2,000 years.

The event is being sponsored by Friends of Sabeel-North America. Sabeel--Arabic for “way” or “spring of life-giving water”--is an ecumenical grass-roots theology movement among Palestinian Christians. Friends of Sabeel-North America is one of several international support groups. For information on registration for the conference, call Vicki Tamoush at (818) 353-0306. Pasadena Presbyterian Church is at 54 N. Oakland Ave.

* Churches interested in finding new ways to allocate funds for economic development are invited to attend a two-day series of workshops starting Thursday at USC. The event, sponsored by Churches United for Economic Development, will include training sessions and meetings on fund-raising, writing grant proposals, marketing products and financial management. All workshops will take place at the USC Davidson Conference Center, 3415 S. Figueroa St. Registration for the two days of activities is $100. For more details, contact Lydia Lopez at (213) 740-3560 or (213) 740-8562.

* Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks will speak on gun control Friday after services at Temple Ahavat Shalom. His comments will begin at 8 p.m., and the event is open to the public. The temple is at 18200 Rinaldi Place, Northridge. (818) 360-2258.

* The Museum of the Holocaust will host a presentation by the Los Angeles Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble of “Music of the Holocaust.” The Nov. 14 concert will include music by Viktor Ullman, who composed while in the Terezin concentration camp. Tickets are $15 and $36. The 3:30 p.m. concert will be at Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Piness Auditorium, 3663 Wilshire Blvd. (323) 761-8170.

The event is presented in conjunction with an art exhibit at the temple’s Dubin/Wolf Gallery titled “Memory and Meaning: The Holocaust Through the Eyes of the Artist.” With works by more than 40 artists from the United States, Austria and Australia, the exhibit examines the legacy of the Holocaust from the perspective of survivors and their descendants. Also included are works by children of Nazis who participated in the war. The exhibit runs through Dec. 31. The Dubin/Wolf Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

HEALTH FAIR

Faithful Central Baptist Church will hold its first Health and Fitness Fair today starting at 11 a.m. at the Living Room in Inglewood. The fair, sponsored by three area hospitals, will provide free medical and dental screenings, foot exams, mammograms, blood pressure and fitness checks. The Living Room is at 400 W. Florence Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

ARCHEOLOGY

Events in two ongoing archeology series take place next week.

* The Biblical Archaeology Society holds its monthly meeting Friday at 7:30 p.m. Keith Eades, a professor at California Baptist University in Riverside, and his students will present an illustrated discussion of the excavation at Tel Halif in Israel and the ways their experiences there brought them a new understanding of the Bible. Meetings take place at the Cal Fed Community Room, 100 S. 1st Ave., Arcadia. Suggested donation is $4. For more information, call the Rev. Garry Mohr at (626) 338-7700.

* The University of Judaism continues its Archeology Series on Monday with Dan Perry, chairman of the Middle East Nature Conservation Program, speaking on “What Did the Land of Israel Actually Look Like in the Time of the Bible?” Lectures start at 8 p.m. at the university’s Gindi Auditorium, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air. To subscribe to the weekly series, call (310) 440-1246.

HALLOWEEN

Three local churches will offer alternatives to trick or treating on Halloween.

* Prince of Peace Episcopal Church will present its Fall Family Festival from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The event will feature pumpkin decorating, face painting and games. The church is at 5700 Rudnick Ave. in Woodland Hills. (818) 346-6968.

* Faith Community Church in West Covina will hold a Harvest Festival from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday with 60 game booths, a Ferris wheel, a carousel, and food and candy. Faith Community is at 1211 E. Badillo St. (626) 858-8400.

* Osborne Neighborhood Church in Arleta will present its eighth annual Fall Fun Fest from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday. Highlights will include a 15-foot bouncer apparatus, free face painting, a puppet show and a children’s costume parade. The church is at 13501 Osborne St. (818) 899-7473.

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