Blessed Junípero Serra Church in Camarillo will host the first of two fundraising events to benefit the St. Camillus Center for Pastoral Care in Lincoln Heights and its outreach ministries.

"Dining in the Kingdom: An Evening of Song, Prayer and Reflection on the Spirituality of the Eucharist," with Bob Hurd and Anawim, will take place Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. The evening will be repeated at St. Bede the Venerable Church in La Canada Flintridge on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.

Because the weekend coincides with the beginning of Lent, participants will be invited to begin their Lenten journey with a deeper sense of their baptism and mission as Catholics, and to support ministry to some of society's most vulnerable through the work of St. Camillus.

"This year our focus is on the whole sense of welcome that we are called to bring --- it is such a big part of our ministry at the hospitals and outreach to the homeless, the incarcerated, and those on the margins," says Father Chris Ponnet, pastor of St. Camillus. "Bob has picked up this focus in the theme of the Eucharistic table."

"This evening is many things at once," explains Hurd, whose liturgical compositions have been utilized in parishes for three decades. "It is part-benefit for the St. Camillus Center, part-concert, part-prayer and part-reflection, making use of eucharistic icons and artwork through a power-point presentation.

Hurd --- a systematic theologian has served as a teacher, composer and liturgist in various pastoral and academic settings, including the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, the Graduate Pastoral Ministries Program at Santa Clara University and St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park --- will invite participants to delve more deeply into something they already know: sharing in the body and blood of Christ.

St. Camillus was founded in 1954 as a parish and provided a spiritual presence to what was then known as General Hospital. In 1985 the parish was renamed St. Camillus Center for Pastoral Care after the hospital became L.A. County-USC Medical Center/Health Care Network and the subsequent establishment of Norris Cancer and USC University hospitals.

"We are one of five institutions that sends ministers to county hospitals; 10 chaplains with professional training work full time," explains Father Ponnet. "We have people come to us (at County-USC) because other hospitals have turned them down for legal status or financial reasons, or because of the level of trauma or injury they have. We also receive inmates and we get to be a spiritual presence for them at a time when they are not feeling welcome at all. Our outreach ministry includes those afflicted with HIV and AIDS."

The mission of the St. Camillus Center is "to accompany patients, families, our staff and people in our Outreach ministries with Christian hope in the midst of frailty, sickness, injury, abuse, injustice and violence."

St. Camillus Center ministers to some who do not feel comfortable or welcome at their local parish. "They come to us for support and affirmation whatever their circumstances or life situation," says Father Ponnet. "That welcome at the table and at the door is important affirmation, especially to those who are struggling."

Hurd, who brings a deep spiritual dimension to his concerts and workshops, has presented benefit musical events for St. Camillus in the past, but this evening will be not a typical concert. With his extensive background in theology, Hurd will challenge participants with such questions as: "What happens to the Church in the Eucharist? What does Christ do to us by gathering us, speaking his word to us, and giving himself to us as our food and drink? And when we receive him, to what, exactly, are we committing ourselves?"

The evening will include stories - some from patients - about the impact of the spiritual presence and sense of welcome provided by St. Camillus and its outreach ministries.

Itself a community of poverty, St. Camillus is one of the parishes that receives support from the archdiocesan annual appeal, Together In Mission. "We are grateful because we would absolutely not survive without this support," says Father Ponnet.

"I see this evening presented by Bob and Anawim as a way to affirm those who support the center and our ministries," he adds. "People will come away both uplifted and challenged to help their brothers and sisters through this ministry."

Tickets will be sold at the door; suggested donation is $15 per ticket, $10 for seniors and students. Information: (805) 482-6417.