‘Apostle’ Tops Christian Film Critics’ List

Actor Robert Duvall, an Oscar nominee for his insightful portrayal of a Pentecostal Holiness preacher, has won over many conservative Christian critics, regardless of how the Academy Awards voting goes.

On March 18, Duvall will receive the annual Grace Prize at the 6th annual Movieguide Awards at the Universal Hilton Hotel. Movieguide magazine, edited in Camarillo, publishes movie reviews from an evangelical perspective.

Duvall’s self-financed film has been praised in Protestant publications, including the evangelical-oriented Movie Reporter Newsletter. Its editor, Phil Boatwright of Thousand Oaks, said Duvall’s “The Apostle” excelled for its “empathetic portrait of people of faith.”

In addition, the film will be one of four finalists at the Movieguide Awards for the $25,000 Epiphany Prize to honor a film exemplifying human love or understanding of God. The other finalists are DreamWorks’ “Amistad,” Fox Searchlight’s “Paradise Road” and Warner Bros.’ “Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.”

The $25,000 Epiphany Prize for television specials or series episodes has seven finalists, including the Family Channel’s “Mother Teresa” drama, in which Geraldine Chaplin played the nun, and episodes of “7th Heaven” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

The Epiphany Prizes are funded by philanthropist John M. Templeton, whose foundation sponsors the annual $1.2-million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

Outside evangelical circles, there are some other picks. Veteran reviewer Henry Herx of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting says he is rooting for “The Full Monty” for best picture honors at the Oscars ceremony March 23.

The British comedy about jobless steelworkers who become male strippers “tells more about the human spirit and aspirations than all the lush romance and hollow spectacle of ‘Titanic,’ ” said Herx.

Writing in Lutheran magazine, reviewers Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat picked their five most “spiritually literate” films. Topping their list was Warner Bros.’ “Contact,” starring Jody Foster. “Titanic” was third.

Last week, the animated feature “Anastasia” was named the top film at the annual Angel Awards ceremony of Excellence in Media, a Los Angeles-based group that honors “moral and/or social content.” “Touched by an Angel” won the group’s top television award for the fourth consecutive year.

CONFERENCES

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Five biblical and archeological scholars will give 10 lectures on ancient Israel at a three-day seminar on the Queen Mary, starting Thursday and run by publishers of Biblical Archeology Review magazine. Speakers include David Noel Freedman of UC San Diego, Ziony Zevit of the University of Judaism and William Dever of the University of Arizona. $30 per lecture. (800) 221-4644.

* “What’s So Funny About Mormons?” will be explained by Pat Bagley and Robert Kirby, co-authors of three cartoon-filled books of Mormon humor, next Saturday at a regional symposium organized by Sunstone, an independent magazine aimed at Mormon intellectuals. Historian Ronald W. Walker will be the opening speaker Friday night at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton. Fees vary. (801) 355-5926.

* The Rev. John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church, 13248 Roscoe Blvd. in Sun Valley, will host and speak at a five-day Conference on the Bible, starting Wednesday. Speakers will include ex-Southern Baptist President Adrian Rogers of Memphis, Tenn., and Joseph Stowell of the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago. (818) 782-5920.

* The Rev. Lydia Jackson Waters, whose Crossroads United Methodist Church in Compton has grown from 50 to 500 members in 10 years, will address the 45th annual assembly of the South Coast Ecumenical Council on Thursday night in Gardena. The incoming president of the council is Lutheran laywoman Marilyn Russell Bittle, who is executive director of the Teachers Assn. of Long Beach. The dinner and program will be at First Presbyterian Church, 1957 Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena. $20. (562) 595-0268.

* The Revs. Jesse Miranda of Azusa Pacific University and Wallace Charles Smith, pastor of the 4,000-member Shiloh Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., will speak at the two-day Family Life Convocation opening Friday at Los Angeles First Baptist Church, 760 S. Westmoreland Ave. (213) 955-9948.

SOCIAL CONCERNS

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Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, two human relations groups and the Exceptional Children’s Foundation have asked 130 clergy in Southern California to remember people with mental retardation or developmental disabilities in services next weekend.

Information packets were sent to the clergy on how to help those with disabilities become part of religious communities. More than 250,000 residents of Los Angeles County are disabled, according to organizers of the March 14 and 15 Sabbath/Sunday event, including the Interreligious Council of Southern California. (310) 470-364.

DATES

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John B. Anderson, who garnered a million votes in 1980 as an independent presidential candidate against Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, will speak about the United Nations in a lecture at 7 p.m. Friday at Santa Monica Unitarian Universalist Community Church, 1260 18th St. Anderson is president of the World Federalist Assn., a Washington, D.C.-based organization that seeks to strengthen world law and U.N. peacekeeping abilities. Free. (310) 829-5436.

* The Rev. Barry Lynn, national executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, will speak on “Religious Right: Radically Wrong” at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church, 7136 Winnetka Ave., Canoga Park. The talk on the proposed Religious Freedom Act and other issues before Congress is co-sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council. (818) 998-5414.

* Magician Bob Steiner, who for 10 years chaired the occult investigation committee of the Society of American Magicians, will debunk “what passes for extrasensory perception” in a lecture and demonstration at 2 p.m. Sunday at Caltech’s Baxter Lecture Hall. The event is sponsored by the Altadena-based Skeptics Society. $8 for nonmembers. (818) 794-3119.

* Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, author of “The Compass of Zen,” will field questions in a public forum next Saturday night at Dharma Kai Zen Center, 6727 S. Milton Ave., Whittier. Chanting and meditation will begin at 7 p.m. and a talk by dharma teacher Tim Colohan will precede the Zen master’s session. (562) 696-1838.

FINALLY

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“Religion Without Transcendence?” is the question raised in a recently published book of that title co-edited by D.Z. Phillips, professor of the philosophy of religion at Claremont Graduate University.

“We cannot take for granted our ability to appropriate the word ‘transcendence’ in our common discourse,” Phillips wrote in the introduction of the book (co-edited with Timothy Tessin and the latest in a Claremont series published by MacMillan and St. Martin’s Press.

“Words may slide, slip and lose their hold, so that a time may come when it is better to let them go lest further damage is caused,” Phillips said.

The collection of philosophical essays will explore whether “transcendence” shares that fate, if it is part of “an irrecoverable metaphysics” and if there are secular alternatives, said a Claremont spokesman, who added that “the contributors are divided sharply on these issues.”

Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion desk (818) 772-3385, or e-mailed to john.dart@latimes.com Items should arrive 2-3 weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.

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PURIM

It isn’t Halloween, but there will be plenty of costumed children and sweets at some synagogues Wednesday night. The fun-filled holiday of Purim will be observed at temples with noisy readings of the biblical drama of Queen Esther foiling a plot to destroy Jews living in ancient Persia.

Bad guys in the story are booed or greeted by a racket from noisemakers. The good ones are cheered.

Urging members to wear costumes to the service, Temple Beth Hillel of Valley Village suggested: “Come as heroic Mordecai, wicked Haman, lovely Queen Esther . . . or, even a hamenstaschen.” The latter is a fruit-filled pastry associated with Purim.

Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles plans an adults-only Purim event with comedy writers giving their own versions of the Purim story. Many synagogues will hold their annual Purim carnival March 15, including Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

But many carnivals are set for this Sunday, including Shomrei Torah Synagogue in West Hills, the Westside Jewish Community Center, Temple Beth-Am on La Cienega Boulevard and a jointly sponsored street fair in front of Congregation Kehillat Maarav in Santa Monica.