Temple Has Formed Havurah

Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks will hold Saturday morning services at 10 a.m. Minyan will begin at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.

A new havurah for young Jewish couples was formed Friday. Those interested in joining the havurah should call the temple office and ask for Susan.

Temple Etz Chaim is a congregation of about 700 families serving the greater Conejo Valley since 1960. It is at 1080 Janss Road. For information, call the temple office at 497-6891.

Contemporary Music at Services

Channel Islands Vineyard Christian Fellowship invites the public to its 9 and 11 a.m. services on Sundays. College-age worship services are held at 6:30 p.m. Sundays.

Contemporary music and casual dress are part of the services, said Pastor Bill Coulter.

The fellowship is at 1851 Holser Walk, Suite 200, Oxnard. For information and directions, call 485-0050.

Methodists Celebrate Epiphany

St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Oxnard will celebrate Epiphany in its worship celebration Sunday morning at 10:15. The Rev. Al Gorsline’s sermon topic will be “Safe or Saving?”. Communion will be taken and Mike Doty will conduct the choir in Bob Rigg’s absence.

The Spanish language ministry Sunday school begins at 1 p.m., led by the Rev. Carlos Saavedra. Worship will begin at 6 p.m.

St. Paul’s is at 1800 South C St. Call 487-2711 for information.

Christian Adult Classes to Start

The Rev. James Bain Jr. will deliver a sermon titled “This Year Will Be Different” at Oxnard’s First Presbyterian Church at the 10 a.m. worship service Sunday.

A new adult class begins at 9 a.m. Sunday with Clayton Barbeau. Topics will include surviving depression, loneliness, broken relationships and life transitions.

Adult Bible study continues Monday nights at 6:30.

Bible Study and worship in Spanish begins at 7 on Friday evenings for both adults and youth. Child care is available for all classes and services.

First Presbyterian is at 850 Ivywood Drive. Call 983-0204 for information.

Sermon on ‘Peace for the Past’

The Rev. Irma Oestmann will speak on “Peace for the Past” at the Sunday morning service at Thousand Oaks’ Unity Center Church.

Services are held at the Holiday Inn at 495 N. Ventu Park Road each Sunday at 10 a.m.

A discussion group meets Tuesday evenings at 7:30 to discuss “Conversations With God.”

Meditation techniques for stress reductions are taught at 7:30 p.m. Fridays in the Westlake Village Community Room at City Hall, 4373 Park Terrace.

For information on services or classes, call 496-6901.

Temple Has New Times for Shabbat

JFC Temple Ner Ami announces new Shabbat service times beginning this month.

Family Shabbat service will be at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, beginning next week. Torah study will commence on Jan. 9 at 10 a.m.

Tot Shabbat services will be held at 6:45 p.m., followed by an adult Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 22.

Temple Ner Ami is at 4098 Calle Tesoro, Suite D, Camarillo. For information, call the temple at 388-3824.

Ceremonies to Adopt Jewish Name

Those who are interested in acquiring a Hebrew name are welcome to call Rabbi Shimon Paskow at Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks.

Friday evening and the morning of Jan. 9, ceremonies bestowing new names will be held at the temple.

Jewish tradition places great emphasis on having a Hebrew name, which is used at all religious ceremonies, such as bar and bat mitzvahs, and on marriage certificates, Paskow said. Many Jewish names have been passed down through families for centuries.

For information on the January ceremonies, call Paskow at 497-6891. Temple Etz Chaim is at 1080 Janss Road.

Classes Begin at Jewish Academy

The winter semester at the Conejo Jewish Academy in Agoura Hills kicks off Jan. 10.

The 1999 winter semester will offer such classes as “Biblical Literacy--The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of the Torah,” “Living Judaism,” “Prophets,” “Hebrew Reading,” “Talmud Course,” “Kabbalah” and “Moses--Prince of (Egypt) Israel.”

Most classes are held in the evening and run five to eight weeks. A weekend retreat in February also will be offered. Fees for classes range from free to $18.

To make reservations for any of the above or for a brochure of all classes, call (818) 991-0991. The academy is at 30345 Canwood St.

Lauding Jewish Female Heroes

Chabad of the Conejo will host a tribute gourmet luncheon to heroines of Jewish history at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 10 in Agoura Hills.

The tribute will be via a fashion show featuring the lives and historical times of heroines of the past and present.

The luncheon will also feature harpist Jaclyn Rebecca Johnson and a talk by Sarah Latowicz.

The cost is $18. The luncheon will be at 30345 Canwood St. Call (818) 991-0991 for information.

Video on Quaker Social Work

Actor Sam Waterston will host a video presentation dealing with Quaker social work after the 10 a.m. Ojai Friends worship service on Jan. 10.

The video will accompany a talk by Claire Gorfinkle of the American Friends Service Committee that will highlight the humanitarian work done by the AFSC throughout the world.

Refreshments will be served after the meeting, to which the public is invited.

The Ojai Friends Quaker Group will meet at 506 Crestview Drive. For information, call 640-0444.

Women of Vision Conference

Heading the Jan. 10 All Faiths Women of Vision conference in Ventura will be Ventura City Manager Donna Landeros, Ventura Unified School District’s Kris Bergstrom and Dorothy Jue Lee, past State Board of Education member. The conference title is “Building Community: Transforming Intolerance and Violence.” Women of Vision awards will also be presented.

“The spirit of unity and fellowship created by this conference between the various religious faiths is exciting,” said Sister Joyanne of Sacred Heart School.

Issues of importance to all faiths will be discussed at the session.

Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller of Temple Beth Torah said the group will also honor Landeros, Bergstrom and Jue Lee for their contributions to eliminating violence in Ventura.

A project of the Ventura Interfaith Ministerial Assn., the afternoon conference will offer presentations and workshops. To register for the $7 conference, to be held at Temple Beth Torah at 7620 Foothill Road, call 647-4181. For information, call 650-8711.

Lectures on ‘Mere Christianity’

Paul Ford, professor of theology and liturgy at Camarillo’s St. John’s Seminary, will present a five-week lecture series on the C.S. Lewis classic “Mere Christianity,” the third-bestselling Christian book of all time--after the Bible and “The Imitation of Christ”--at Ventura’s Community Presbyterian Church beginning Jan. 10.

Ford, a nationally recognized authority on Lewis, lives in Camarillo.

“This promises to be a delightful series,” said Paul Dugan, Community Presbyterian’s associate pastor: “A Presbyterian church hosting a Roman Catholic scholar speaking about an Anglican author who wrote about ‘mere’ Christianity.”

The lecture series will run Sundays, 6 to 7:30 p.m., from Jan. 10 through Feb. 7 at the church.

Registration is $13 per individual, $18 per married couple and $10 for students. Child care can be provided with three-day advance reservations.

Community Presbyterian is at 1555 Poli St. For information, call 648-2737.

Rabbi Opens Adult Lecture Series

The 15th annual Conejo Jewish Academy adult lecture series will begin Jan. 12. Over the years, the academy has presented dozens of internationally acclaimed speakers.

Opening this year’s series will be Rabbi Marvin Tokayer. Tokayer served as a rabbi in the Far East from 1968 to 1976 and has done extensive research on the history of Judaism in Asia. His subject this year will be “The Fugu Plan,” a plot to create an Israel in Asia under Japanese control, said Rabbi Moshe Bryski of the academy.

The lecture will begin at 8 p.m. at the academy, 30345 Canwood St., Agoura Hills. The fee for the lecture is $10, or $7 for students and seniors.

For reservations or information, call (818) 991-0991.

Church Holds Parish Celebration

St. Anthony Church in Oxnard will hold its anniversary Parish Celebration at 3 p.m. Jan. 17 at the church. A social hour will follow.

Mass times for St. Anthony’s are Saturday, 5:15 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m. in English and noon and 1:30 p.m. in Spanish.

The sacrament of penance is held on Saturdays from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. The prayer group will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 in room seven of the school.

St. Anthony’s is at 2511 South C St. For information, call the office at 486-7301.

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