Two local anti-poverty groups have been selected...

Two local anti-poverty groups have been selected as recipients of grants from the Jewish Fund for Justice, the New York-based organization has announced.

Proyecto Pastoral and Jobs With Peace of Los Angeles have each received $5,000 from the fund, which makes grants between $5,000 and $10,000 to non-sectarian groups throughout the nation that train community leaders and help change economic policies that perpetuate poverty.

Proyecto Pastoral runs leadership-training programs through the Dolores Mission Women’s Cooperative, based in the Pico-Aliso housing project. Development associate Cynthia Bernal said the group offers women courses in personal skills--parenting, resolving domestic violence, training for employment--and teaches them how to hone these abilities for use in community organizing.

It has developed the Comite Pro Paz en el Barrio, an advocacy group that works on gang intervention, police abuse and public-education policy. This is the first time it has received a grant from the Jewish Fund for Justice.

Jobs with Peace of Los Angeles received its second grant from the fund for the group’s “Campaign for a New L.A.,” which has developed four neighborhood councils in South-Central Los Angeles that work with City Hall. Their goal is to have some control over City Council decisions affecting economic development, land use and crime prevention in the district.

Nina Zvaleko, administrative director of Jobs With Peace of Los Angeles, said: “Without the money from individuals and organizations like the Jewish Fund for Justice, we . . . would not exist and could not maintain our political independence.”

Marlene Provizer, executive director of the fund, said that its founders wanted to create an entity that supported social justice organizations in the name of the Jewish community. “There are many Jews who give generously to such causes, but as individuals,” she said. “We wanted to be a part of the interdenominational efforts that were going on--to really be at the table.”

Since 1985, she said, 247 grants totaling $1 million have been awarded. The money has gone to advocacy and organizing groups fighting poverty in 42 states and the District of Columbia. This month, $180,000 was awarded to 33 organizations.

Rooted in the Jewish tradition of improving the world, the fund participates in Interdenominational Funders (formerly called the Ecumenical Review Board), a body of religious funders that meets to discuss model projects and share strategies for fighting poverty.

For further information, phone (212) 677-7080 or write the Jewish Fund for Justice, 920 Broadway, Suite 605, New York, N.Y. 10010.

CELEBRATIONS

“Black Business Sunday” will be celebrated at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church on Sunday at a special service honoring African-American entrepreneurship. The Rev. Cecil (Chip) Murray will lead the worship beginning at 10 a.m.

Barbara Lindsey, director of a business exposition to be held the next weekend in Los Angeles, said: “Our role models aren’t just the entertainers and sports celebrities we often hear about. They’re also entrepreneurs and business professionals.”

Los Angeles Black Business Expo will take place at the Convention Center on April 4 and 5 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For information about the worship service or the exposition, phone (310) 572-7555.

The Congregational Church of the Good Shepherd in Covina will celebrate its 35th anniversary during services at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 5. The Rev. Darrell E. Cox will officiate, and a reception will follow. The church is at 1551 E. Old Badillo St., Covina. (818) 331-7743.

CONFERENCES

Claremont Graduate School’s 13th annual Philosophy of Religion Conference will be held April 3-4. Scholars from the United States and abroad will present research. Papers will not be read, but can be purchased. The conference, which is free, will be held at 500 E. 9th St., Claremont. For information, contact Prof. John Hick at (714) 621-8000, extension 3878.

The Assn. of Christian Ministries to Internationals holds its southwest regional conferences through this evening at Sierra Madre Congregational Church. More than 100 pastors, church and student leaders and others are expected to attend the gathering, which focuses on ministering to foreigners living temporarily in the United States as students, business professionals, diplomats and refugees.

Chuck Girard will lead worship; the plenary speaker is Paul Pierson, dean of the Fuller School of World Mission. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. and run through 9 p.m. The church is at 170 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. (818) 403-0190.

SPEAKERS/DATES

“Mainstream Protestantism: Past, Present and Future” is the title of a lecture series to be delivered in Oceanside by the Rev. Jack B. Rogers, vice president of San Francisco Theological Seminary and professor or theology at Presbyterian Seminary in the West. Rogers will speak next Friday at 7:30 p.m., after a 6:30 p.m. dinner; next Saturday at 9:30 and 11 a.m., and on Sunday, April 5, at 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 2001 El Camino Real, Oceanside. For information on reservations, child care and topics, phone (619) 757-3560.

Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbis will exchange views on such subjects as euthanasia and business ethics at Congregation Mogen David at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

Rabbis Sue Elwell, director of the Los Angeles Jewish Feminist Center; Elliot Dorff, provost of the University of Judaism, and Levi Meier, chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will discuss conflicts between religious doctrine and contemporary realities.

The synagogue is at 9717 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 556-5609.

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) will be guest speaker at a “Pastor’s Power Breakfast” at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, April 4, given by Shepherd of the Hills Church at the Porter Valley Country Club, 19216 Singing Hills Drive, Northridge. Continental breakfast is $5. For information, call (818) 831-9333.

The Institute for Public Affairs of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America is sponsoring a free dessert reception and talk on Sunday by Murray Wood of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He will speak on “The President, the Prime Minister and the Election Process” at 8 p.m. at Shaarey Zedek Congregation, 12800 Chandler Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 763-0560.

GROUPS

A group providing nonjudgmental emotional support for persons with HIV or AIDS and their families and friends meets Thursdays at 8 p.m. at the Toluca Lake United Methodist Church, 4301 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 761-5897 or (818) 760-6633.