Discussion on Immortality

* The Rev. Dick Weston-Jones will discuss ideas about immortality that various traditions have developed as ways of dealing with the loss of “those we love, as Jesus’ followers had to do after the death of Jesus,” at Ventura’s Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura on Sunday.

Services are at 9:15 and 11 a.m., with socializing on the patio after each service.

The church is at 4949 Foothill Road. Call 644-3898 for more information.

Hawaiian Breakfast at Temple

* The Dharma School at Oxnard’s Buddhist Temple will serve a “Hawaiian breakfast” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

At 10 a.m., a Hanamatsuri service will celebrate Buddha’s birthday. The Rev. Kay Nakagawa will officiate at the special service, which will include a “bathing baby Buddha ceremony.” The public is welcome at Buddhist services.

The church is at 250 South H St. For details, call 483-5948.

Workshop on Old, New Testaments

* The Camarillo Church of Religious Science will hold an eight-week workshop on interpretations of the Old and New Testaments, beginning this week.

Classes are on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings. To enroll, call 484-1137. The cost for the full workshop is $69.

The church is at 340 N. Mobile Ave.

2 Men to Tell of Escape From Nazis

* Simi Valley’s Congregation B’Nai Emet will commemorate Yom HaShoah (holocaust remembrance) Friday with two guest speakers who will describe their escapes from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, China, in 1938.

The two men, who met in China, were reunited in Simi Valley. The service will begin at 8 p.m.

For families with young children, a Tot Shabbat from 7 to 7:30 will be held that night. Rabbi Michele Paskow will lead both services.

The congregation is at 4645 Industrial St., 2C. Call 581-3723 for additional information.

CLU Religion Professor to Speak

* Pamela Brubaker, a religion professor at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, will discuss the ecumenical decade and its effects on women’s lives at 10 a.m. Friday in CLU’s Nelson Room.

The free lecture, open to all, is part of CLU’s colloquium of scholars series.

The “ecumenical decade,” 1988-1998, focused on four concerns, Brubaker says: violence against women, economic justice, racism and full participation of women in church and society. Brubaker will discuss the ways these issues affect women’s lives around the world and how churches have or have not responded to them.

CLU’s religion and women’s studies departments are sponsoring the 10 a.m. lecture. Call the college’s university relations office at 493-3151 for more information.

Italian Catholic Federation to Meet

* Branch 380 of the Italian Catholic Federation will meet Friday at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Thousand Oaks.

All Italian Americans are invited to attend and share in planning the spiritual and social calendar for 1999.

For more information, call 497-3275. St. Paschal Baylon is at Janss and Moorpark roads.

Holocaust Remembrance

* Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks will remember the Holocaust on Friday at the 8:15 p.m. Sabbath service. Rabbi Shimon Paskow and Cantor Jeff Cohen will conduct the service.

Cantor emeritus Leopold Szneer will chant the traditional Kel Maleh Rachamim Memorial Prayer. The congregation will recite the Mourner’s Kaddish.

The temple is at 1080 Janss Road. Call 497-6891 for more information.

Oxnard Parish to Honor Nun

* A parish jubilee in honor of Sister Mary Ann Martin, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in Los Angeles, will be held at 10 a.m. April 10 at St. Anthony’s Church in Oxnard. All parishioners, friends and former students of Sister Mary Ann are invited.

Sister Mary Ann is celebrating her 25th year of religious life. She is the pastoral assistant for youth at St. Anthony’s. She also coordinates the confirmation program, serves as a cantor, sings in the choir and teaches religion. She taught eighth grade at St. Anthony’s Elementary School for several years.

The celebration will be held at the church at 2511 South C St., with a reception following in the Condon Center.

For more information, call the church office at 486-7301.

Greek Orthodox Easter Events

* Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate Pascha (Easter) on April 11, said the Rev. Cyril Loeb of Camarillo’s St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church.

This Sunday, the Orthodox Palm Sunday, divine liturgy will begin at 10 a.m. at the church, followed by Lenten refreshments. At 7 p.m., the Service of the Bridegroom will begin.

The week’s schedule includes sacrament of holy unction, divine liturgy of St. Basil, Holy Thursday, vespers, decorating of the Kouvouklion, a resurrection service at 11 p.m. Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday agape vespers at noon April 11.

The parish will continue its celebration Sunday afternoon with a roasted lamb picnic. Reservations are necessary.

For more details on the holy week events, call St. Demetrios at 482-1273.

The church is at 400 Skyway Drive.

Healing Service to Follow Mass

* Father John Hampsch will celebrate Mass at 2 p.m. April 11 at Ventura’s Sacred Heart Church.

A healing service, benediction and reception will follow.

The church is at 10800 Henderson Road. For more information, call Roland Delgado at 983-2506.

Yom HaShoah Program at Temple

* JFC-Temple Ner Ami in Camarillo will hold a Yom HaShoah program at 4 p.m. April 11. Rabbi Kenneth Milhander will speak on “The Holocaust: A Message for the Millennium.”

The free program is open to the public and is supported by such Camarillo organizations as B’Nai Brith, Hadassah, NCJW, Tikva and the City of Hope board.

The temple is at 4098 Calle Tesoro, Suite D. For more information, call 388-3824.

Jewish Groups Sponsor Musical

* Two performances of “We Are Here!” a millennial musical that celebrates Jewish survival and reconciliation from creation to the eve of the next millennium, are scheduled for 2 and 7 p.m. on April 11 at the Ventura College Theater in Ventura.

The performances are sponsored by the UJA / Federation of Ventura County, Ventura County Jewish Council-Temple Beth Torah, and the Ventura College music department. The cast stars Ventura’s Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller as the healer / savior, cantor Michael Anatole as Moses, and Brenda Tzipori as Miriam, with Oxnard’s Rabbi / cantor Gerald Hanig as the creator, rabbi and cantor, Steven Perren as the Ebbets Field singer, and Matthew Thomas as Jackie Robinson and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Ivor Davis will play the roles of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a Cockney music hall singer and Pope Pius XI.

Music will be provided by Marina Skuratovsky and band leader Bob Birk.

Tickets to the benefit performances are $18 for general admission and $15 for students and seniors.

For reservations and more information, call Susan Abrams at the UJA / Federation at 647-7800. For production information, call playwright Marty Flam at 647-7677.

Congregation Offers Lecture Series

* Oxnard’s Congregation Am HaYam will hold Shabbat services at the Oxnard Monday Club today and April 16 and 17.

Shabbat morning services begin at 10 and the Friday evening service starts at 8.

On the evening of April 12, a service will be held in a member’s home to commemorate Yom HaShoah, at which a Holocaust survivor will speak.

Alice Greenfield will speak on “The Soul of Israel” at the Monday Club on April 18. There is no charge for the talk, which is part of an ongoing lecture series, although reservations are required. On May 23, Lillian Rosenbloom’s topic will be “Waters of Eden.” Rosenbloom is administrator of the mikvah at the University of Judaism. The mikvah is the ritual Jewish bath, symbolizing rebirth and renewal.

Each free lecture will begin at 7 p.m. at the Oxnard Monday Club, 1401 W. Gonzales Road. Seating is limited, and attendance at the lecture series is by reservation only.

For more information or reservations, call 985-2853.

Singers to Perform A Cappella

* The Westmont Chamber Singers will perform “A Cappella From the Renaissance to the Present” at 7 p.m. April 18 at Bardsdale United Methodist Church in Fillmore.

The choir, from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, will perform in the church’s 100-year-old sanctuary, which lies among the orange groves of the little community of Bardsdale.

The concert is free and open to the public.

The church is at 1498 Bardsdale Ave. For more information, call 524-2070.

‘Champion of Tolerance’ Event Set

* United Jewish Appeal and Federation of Ventura County has scheduled a “Celebration of Tolerance” dinner at Ventura’s Doubletree Hotel at 6 p.m. April 20.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance, will receive the Champion of Tolerance award. Hier’s films “The Long Way Home” and “Genocide” are past winners of Academy Awards and will be shown.

The event is being held in conjunction with Ventura County middle schools’ Teaching Tolerance programs. Robert Lefkowitz of Ventura and Lori Reisman, women’s division chairwoman of United Jewish Appeal, will also be presented with awards for their work on the Teaching Tolerance program.

The public is welcome at the banquet, which costs $50 per person. For more details or to make reservations, call 647-7800.

Cal Lutheran Sunday Planned

* Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will celebrate Cal Lutheran Sunday this year on April 25. On this day, the 775 churches that make up the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the churches that form CLU’s constituency in the Southwest and Hawaii will recognize their alliance.

For more information, call 493-3936.

Krishnamurti Gathering in Ojai

* The annual Gathering of the Krishnamurti Foundation of America is scheduled May 1 and 2 at Oak Grove School in Ojai.

Raymond Martin, Mary Cadogan and audio- and videotapes of Krishnamurti will be featured, along with dialogue sessions both afternoons, a book sale and an information tent.

The event is free, with a charge for a picnic lunch. The May 1 session will run from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Events May 2 are set for 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call Stephen Smith at 646-2726, Ext. 20.

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Religion Briefs run Saturdays. Please submit items at least a week in advance to Religion Briefs, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. Items may be faxed to 653-7576.