Church

Police continue to look for a man who made off with up to $19,000 from a Burbank church last week. Around noon on Sept. 7, an employee of St. Finbar Church had placed the church's deposits in her vehicle when a Latino man ran up to her car and grabbed the deposit bag. The man, described as between 20 and 30 years old, immediately ran to a nearby vehicle and was last seen driving southbound on Lamer Street. The Catholic parish, located on the 2000 block of West Olive Avenue, lost more than $5,000 in cash and $13,000 to $14,000 in personal checks.

A new Cathedral of the Western Diocese on Glenoaks Boulevard will be consecrated on Saturday with all the local fanfare of local officialdome. The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II will be joined by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a number of other state and local officials for the dedication of a monument for the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Construction on the large, eye-catching church was recently completed on North Glenoaks Boulevard, rising up near the Golden State (5)

A Lego version of a church building may not seem like a great incentive, but the Burbank First United Methodist congregation went well beyond their fundraising goal for their 125th anniversary celebration. Parish members were promised an entire church model built out of Legos if they reached their $12,500 goal for their anniversary fund. They raised $20,000. Founded in 1884, the church's 125th anniversary celebration today will culminate a year of festivities to celebrate the impact the parish has had in the community.

The Vatican has reaffirmed that the cause of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church has nothing to do with celibacy. Others see celibacy (and according to one cardinal, homosexuality) as a reason priests abuse in the first place. Do you believe celibacy is the root cause of this scandal, or could there exist other causes that haven't been addressed yet? How are celibacy and its challenges addressed within your religious ranks, if it is mandated? C elibacy is a charism: a gift from God. As with all gifts, God offers it freely, and we either freely accept or not. It is up to the individual.

Progressive Catholic groups are up in arms over reports Friday about the decision of a Roman Catholic school in Massachusetts to rescind the admission of an 8-year-old student because his parents are lesbians. The child was accepted to St. Paul Elementary School in Hingham, Mass., for the fall but was told he couldn?t enroll after the school learned that his parents are gay. Since then, the school has been heavily criticized. What is your opinion on the overall treatment of gays and lesbians in churches ?

Being my parish?s webmaster, I have the responsibility of maintaining an online presence for our church. Like any good webmaster, my job is to make sure the site is constantly updated with events, photographs and information about services, ministries and the sacraments we offer. In the era of on-demand content, my other responsibilities are to provide audio recordings and podcasts of the weekly Sunday readings and sermons, and post them on Twitter and Facebook. Photographs of church events go on our Facebook and Flickr pages.

Officials of the First Baptist Church of Glendale are basking in the glow of accomplishment with the completion of the sanctuary’s restoration. The first service after the renovation was on Christmas Eve, and the sanctuary was rededicated Sunday during the worship service. The congregation was organized in 1904, and over the last 105 years, it has met in three buildings. The groundbreaking ceremony for the present sanctuary was in 1925. Sunday services were in the chapel during renovation, said Pastor Charles L. Updike, who came to the church in 2007.

Village Church members are turning back the pages of time, allowing the public a glimpse at what life might have been like when Jesus was born. The free family event, Journey to Bethlehem, is in its sixth year and takes place from Friday through Sunday evenings. It’s a way for the church to connect with the public, said Richard Zemaitis, set construction coordinator. “It’s our outreach — our gift to the community so our whole congregation is involved,” he said.