Karekin I, the new patriarch for unity-minded...

Karekin I, the new patriarch for unity-minded Armenian apostolic churches, will begin a six-day Southern California visit Thursday as part of his North American tour of more than five weeks.

The Syrian-born church leader was elected the Catholicos of all Armenians in April at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia--an election seen as a major step toward ameliorating differences between Armenian churches, which split in the 1930s over whether the then-Soviet domination in Armenia harmed the mother church’s integrity.

When he was elected, the Oxford-educated patriarch, 64, was a prelate in the branch that had aligned itself with the Catholicate of Cilicia in Lebanon, which was represented in this country by the Armenian Apostolic Church. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the divided branches in this country and abroad began expressing willingness to become one church.

Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian, 65, who heads the western diocese of the Armenian Church in America, which remained loyal to Etchmiadzin, is hosting Karekin I’s first local stopover at St. John Armenian Church, 1201 N. Vine St., Hollywood, at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Karekin will appear mostly at churches in Hovsepian’s diocese, but on Friday the patriarch will participate in 7 p.m. services at St. Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church of Hollywood, which is aligned with the Lebanon-based denomination.

In keeping with the pattern of his U.S. tour, which began Jan. 10, clergy and laity of both church bodies are participating in events on his schedule--such as a banquet next Saturday night in Century City. “No one is allowed to speak of two churches,” Karekin I said early in his U.S. tour.

Yet, the western prelacy of the Lebanon-linked Armenian Apostolic Church plans the election of a new western prelate in May to replace Archbishop Datev Sarkissian, who resigned in December.

In an interview this week, Hovsepian said that he hoped the prelacy would not hold a new election because that may hurt administrative unity. But Glendale attorney Arsen Danielian, an official of the prelacy, said selecting a new archbishop should not be a barrier to reunification.

“As long as the prelacy is in existence, we need a new prelate,” Danielian said. “There is a very good spirit of cooperation between the two churches.”

On Feb. 4, Karekin I will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m. at St. Peter Armenian Church in Van Nuys, place a wreath at the Armenian Martyrs’ Monument in Montebello’s Bicknell Park and lead services at 5:30 p.m. at St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in East Los Angeles. After a quick trip on Feb. 5 to meet state lawmakers in Sacramento, the patriarch will depart for Fresno the next day after conducting 8 a.m. prayer services at St. James Armenian Apostolic Church in Ladera Heights.

PEOPLE

* Five clergy from Southern California will be among featured speakers Feb. 13-15 in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the first clergy gathering in the all-male Promise Keepers movement. About 725,000 men attended 13 stadium meetings held by the evangelical movement last year. About 35,000 clergy had preregistered for next month’s meeting by the end of 1995. Speakers will include Pastor Jack Hayford of the Church on the Way, Van Nuys; the Rev. John Maxwell of Injoy Ministries, El Cajon; the Rev. Jesse Miranda, Azusa Pacific University; the Rev. E.V. Hill, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles; and Bishop George McKinney, St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ, San Diego.

* Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will honor five Catholics for their years of charitable works at a banquet Friday at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. They are: Robert T. Campion of Los Angeles, Frances Scheller Morehart of Carpinteria, John F. Shea of Pasadena, Roger M. Sullivan of Santa Monica and Josephine Saenz Wayne of North Hollywood. Proceeds from the banquet will go to the archdiocese’s Marian Homes, which aid disabled adults, and various inner-city programs.

* “Wisdom of the Ages: The Mystique of the African American Preacher” by Robert Johnson-Smith (Judson Press) gleaned “gems of wisdom” from interviews with more than 100 prominent black ministers. Included are the Revs. Cecil Murray of First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles; Frederick K.C. Price of Crenshaw Christian Center, Los Angeles; Beverly Shamana, United Methodist Center, Pasadena; and Thomas Kilgore Jr., pastor emeritus of Second Baptist Church, Los Angeles.

CONGREGATION

South Shores Church, an American Baptist congregation in Dana Point, this week dedicated its new $3.5-million sanctuary overlooking Monarch Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Picture windows about 10 feet high on both sides of the 620-seat sanctuary give worshipers scenic views, a spokesman said. The building, at 32712 Crown Valley Parkway, sits on a bluff above the Monarch Beach Golf Links. Pastor Ted Coles said church membership is about 400, although attendance is now averaging about 600 on Sunday.

CONFERENCES

* Marj Carpenter, an ex-journalist elected last year as moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, will be the plenary speaker next Saturday during a mission and stewardship rally in Pasadena. Workshop themes are European churches and topics such as “The Bible’s Use and Misuse” and “Understanding Our Muslim Neighbors.” Officials of the sponsoring Synod of Southern California and Hawaii will explain that body’s changed functions. The rally at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1757 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, will begin with a 9 a.m. worship service and end at 3:45 p.m. Registrations is urged. (213) 483-3840.

* The nature of God, viewed through the lenses of noted scholars, will be examined Feb. 4 in a UCLA Extension seminar featuring two Southern California authors of groundbreaking books. They are: former Times book editor Jack Miles, now director of the Humanities Center at Claremont Graduate School and author of the best-selling “God: A Biography”; and Richard E. Friedman, a professor of Jewish civilization, Hebrew and comparative literature at UC San Diego, who wrote “The Disappearance of God.” Other speakers include Rabbi Mordecai Finley, Rachel Adler, Ziony Zevit and Arnold Band. Fees for the course, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., range from $40 to $95. (310) 825-2301, Ext. 2301.

DATES

* “How God Works,” a free seminar on the metaphysical view of God in process thought, or process theology, will be presented Wednesday by Lewis Ford, editor of the journal Process Studies, at the School of Theology at Claremont, 1325 N. College Ave. The two-hour seminar will start at 3:15 p.m. in the Davis Community Center on campus. (Another seminar on Feb. 22 by David Ray Griffin of the seminary’s Center for Process Studies will be on “Overcoming the Conflicts Between Science and Religion” as aided by the ideas of philosopher Alfred North Whitehead.) (909) 621-5330.

* Father Stanley Harakas, author and educator, will be the principal speaker next Saturday at an Eastern Orthodox family retreat on “Marriage and Family: The Sacrament of Love.” The event, which starts at 9:30 a.m., will be on the hilltop grounds of St. Steven’s Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, 1621 W. Garvey Ave., Alhambra. Information: (818) 284-9100.

* Beethoven’s 7th Symphony will be performed by the Lake Avenue Church Chapel Orchestra Friday night at the Pasadena church as part of “A Celebration of Beethoven.” Tickets and information: (818) 683-1467.

* Talmudic scholar Hershel Schachter, a longtime Rabbinic teacher at Yeshiva University in New York, will be honored tonight at a Yeshiva University of Los Angeles dinner at the Moshe Ganz Hall, 360 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles. (310) 553-4478, Ext. 285

FINALLY

As Muslims abstain from daytime eating during the month of Ramadan, which began Monday, the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council is offering food for thought.

In a 24-page booklet on 1996 election issues, the council urged strong legislation to make “spousal abuse a serious criminal act with swift and uncharitable punishments.” The state attorney general’s definition of abuse should be expanded to include “psychological abuse and financial control,” the council said.

At the same time, the council recommended governmental respect for the rights and responsibilities of parents and tougher action against gang violence and hate crimes.

The first of 1,000 booklets were sent to Muslim leaders, politicians and the news media by Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the council ([213] 383-3443).

The booklet outlined stances on issues in Palestine, Bosnia, Kashmir, Pakistan and India, and urged a shift in U.S. foreign policy toward resurgent Muslim movements abroad.

Rather than backing repressive regimes, the council advised that American diplomats seek dialogues with foreign Muslim groups that espouse free elections. “It is of little surprise that foreign Islamic political movements oppose their government and ours simultaneously,” the council said.

Millions of Muslims living in the United States exemplify the “great harmony between the religion of Islam and the principles of democracy, freedom and justice for all,” the council said.