Providence HS to host parish pastoral council formation day
San Fernando Region Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson will be the guest speaker at a Parish Pastoral Council Formation Day Sept. 29 at Providence High School in Burbank.

Co-sponsored by the San Fernando and San Gabriel Regions, the event will offer workshops in both English and Spanish on topics including: understanding the role and function of a parish pastoral council; developing a parish mission statement; forming or restructuring a parish pastoral council; discerning God's people's gifts; conducting effective parish meetings; and developing skills for collaboration and communication.

The cost is $25 per person, which includes morning hospitality, lunch and materials. Checks payable to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles may be sent to: Synod Implementation Office, 3424 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010. For further information, contact Alicia Hernandez at ahernandez@la-archdiocese.org or (213) 637-7542.

OLPH plans summer's end American Festive-All
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Santa Clarita will hold its 63rd annual American Festive-All Sept. 14-16 with attractions that include a barbecue dinner, silent auction and raffle with prizes of up to $3,000.

New this year, the festival will present a "Battle of the Bands," featuring worship bands from all over Southern California. Kids' activities include thrill rides, games, the "dance-dance revolution" and paintball. A cornucopia of ethnic foods will be available, as well as a "Margaritaville" area for grown-ups with food, entertainment and games.

Festival hours are: Sept. 14, 3-11 p.m.; Sept. 15, 4-11 p.m.; and Sept. 16, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. For advance tickets and Battle of the Bands information, call (661) 312-6596. OLPH is located at 23233 W. Lyons Avenue, Santa Clarita.

BVM Sisters celebrate diamond jubilees
Three Sisters of Charity, BVM, former educators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, will gather this weekend at Mount Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa, for a liturgy of thanksgiving to celebrate 75 years in religious life. They are among 14 diamond jubilarians who entered the BVM congregation in Dubuque on Sept. 8, 1932.

The sisters include: Sister Monica Cahill (Monita), a teacher at St. Robert Bellarmine, Burbank (1940-46), and St. Bernard, Los Angeles (1946-49/1956-62); Sister Ann Patrice Durr, a teacher at Holy Family, Glendale (1954-58); and Sister H. Dorothy Townsell (Mildred Ann), a teacher at St. Brendan Choir School (1940-43).

St. Bernardine talk rescheduled for Oct. 25
A talk at St. Bernardine of Siena Church in Woodland Hills by Kristin E. Heyer, Ph.D., assistant professor of Christian Ethics at LMU, has been postponed from Sept. 6 to Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.

The author of "Prophetic and Public: The Social Witness of U.S. Catholicism," published by Georgetown Univ. Press in 2006, Dr. Heyer teaches social ethics and recognizes religion as a legitimate and potentially positive force in public life. Heyer's talk will be held in the St. Bernardine parish center, 24410 Calvert St., Woodland Hills. Information is available at (818) 888-8200.