AME Church Minister Seeks Bishop’s Post

A Los Angeles minister hopes to become the first woman elected as a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Carolyn E. Tyler Guidry, 58, said this week that she believes she has “a strong chance” because she has served as presiding elder of the Los Angeles-Pasadena District since 1993 and has served 12 years in various churches, most recently at Walker Temple AME Church.

Three bishop vacancies will be filled toward the end of the June 21-July 3 annual convention of the AME Church, the largest of three predominantly African American denominations in the Methodist tradition. The meeting will be in Louisville, Ky.

Another Southern California candidate for a bishop’s post is the Rev. T. Larry Kirkland, pastor of Brookins Community AME Church in Los Angeles.

Although woman ministers in the AME Church have run for bishop in previous years and two other women are also candidates this year, Guidry said her experience in ministry gives her an edge.

“If I’m elected, this will have a great impact on the other two African American Methodist churches, which also don’t have women bishops,” she said.

Guidry will be honored Sunday at Bethel AME Church, 7900 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles, during a “summer crusade” night, starting at 6 p.m. and organized by the AME Women in Ministry. (213) 750-3240.

UNITED METHODISTS

A United Methodist congregation in Coronado that had continued to employ a pastor in defiance of the Pasadena-based Bishop Roy I. Sano agreed to comply with the denomination’s appointment process shortly before the regional conference for Southern California and Hawaii churches began their annual meeting this week in Redlands.

Sano had been turned away from the door of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on Jan. 21 when he tried to tell the congregation that the Rev. Thomas Warmer, 58, was suspended and faced a church trial on charges of molesting four women 25 years ago at another church. Warmer surrendered his clergy credentials in February, avoiding the trial, but the congregation kept him as their pastor, according to the United Methodist News Service.

After regional church officers filed a court petition in San Diego, St. Paul’s leadership relented, saying that Warmer’s final day in the pulpit will be June 23. Sano was expected to name a new pastor by Sunday, when the regional meeting will conclude.

PEOPLE

The Rev. William Hazen, who has been senior pastor at Wilshire Presbyterian Church for 29 years, will be honored at a special luncheon program Sunday by the congregation. Hazen will retire June 30 because of failing health, a spokesman said. Wilshire Presbyterian was rebuilt two years after an arson fire destroyed its building in 1977. The church was instrumental in the 1980s in creating the multi-congregational Mid-Wilshire parish for social programs in the changing Wilshire district. The church, at 300 S. Western Ave., also houses the Korean-language Hamni Presbytery office and a Korean Pentecostal congregation.

GATHERINGS

An estimated 12,300 Jehovah’s Witnesses are expected to attend a three-day district meeting at the Long Beach Arena, which began Friday. The annual summer meeting is for members from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley, plus Riverside County and Las Vegas.

* Bishop Chandler Owens, the chief apostle of the worldwide Church of God in Christ, will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Los Angeles during a weeklong district meeting that will start Monday night. The sessions will be at Testimonial Cathedral Church of God in Christ, 5701 S. Western Ave.

* Tibetan Buddhist Master Hsi-Rao Ken-Teng will conduct a Guan Yin Bodhisattva Compassion Assembly at the Anaheim Convention Center at 1 p.m. today for up to 1,000 people. The event is sponsored by the Master Yi Yungao International Cultural Center in Alhambra. (818) 281-6378.

DATES

Getting Dad to church on Father’s Day: The Crystal Cathedral is featuring pro football running back Herschel Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner, at its 9:30 and 11 a.m. services Sunday at the Garden Grove mega-church. The small Cornerstone Christian Church, 20040 Parthenia St., Northridge, has former UCLA and Los Angeles Lakers standout Keith Erickson speaking at its 10:45 a.m. service.

* Singer-composer Andrae Crouch and a choir from the Pacoima church he pastors will perform in concert June 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, 16221 Mulholland Drive, about a mile west of the San Diego Freeway. Proceeds from the $12.50 ticket sales will go to the church’s ministry serving those living with AIDS and HIV. (818) 788-4210, Ext. 137.

* Phillip E. Hammond, a professor of religious studies and sociology at UC Santa Barbara, will speak about the “Religious Faiths of the Founding Fathers” at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Congregational Church of Chatsworth, 20440 Lassen St., in a meeting of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Admission is free. (818) 998-8061.

* Journalist Akiva Eldar, the Washington bureau chief for Ha’aretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, will speak about the Middle East peace process today and Monday in the Los Angeles area under the sponsorship of Israeli Bonds. Eldar will speak at 10:45 a.m. today at Hollywood Temple Beth El, 1317 N. Crescent Heights Blvd., West Hollywood, and at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Temple Akiba, 5249 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City.

* Coinciding with Gay and Lesbian Pride Weekend, a Mass organized by the Los Angeles Catholic archdiocese will be celebrated at 8 a.m. June 22 at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, 1281 N. Fairfax Ave., West Hollywood. After the Mass, participants can walk down to Santa Monica Boulevard to watch the annual Christopher Street West Pride Festival parade, said Father Peter Liuzzi, director of the archdiocese’s Ministry With Lesbian and Gay Catholics. The ministry will have a booth in the festival for the second year.

* In a concert and sing-along of Gregorian chants, the Chapel of Charlemagne will present a concert at 4 p.m. Sunday in St. Augustine by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 1227 4th St., Santa Monica. Admission is $12. (310) 277-1757.

HINDUISM

Two female spiritual teachers from India--one described as “the embodiment of absolute love” and the other as the incarnation of “the Divine Mother”--will make Los Angeles-area appearances in coming weeks.

The first, Mata Amritanandamayi, also called Ammachi (“darling mother”), is known for touching or hugging each person who attends her teaching sessions and meditations, conducted through a translator. Her public programs will be at the Warner Center Hilton Hotel & Towers in Woodland Hills at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and at 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A weekend retreat, starting Friday, will be held at Cal Poly Pomona. Information: (310) 859-8153.

Extolled as the incarnation of the Divine Mother, Bhagavati Vijayeswari Devi, also known as Karunamayi (“the compassionate one”), teaches and answers questions in English. She will appear July 6 at the Bodhi Tree Annex, West Hollywood; July 7 at the Hindu Temple in Montebello and the Congregational Church of Chatsworth; July 8 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena; and July 9 at Tustin’s Unity Church. Information: (818) 791-9247.