RICH RELIGIOUS ROOTS WIDE-RANGING HOUSES OF WORSHIP REFLECT VALLEY DIVERSITY.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Correspondent

As 82-year-old Bill Mouzis intently listens to an organist at his neighborhood church, he is overcome with the memories of worshipping at the parish for more than 50 years.

Back then, the 800 families who composed the parish at St. Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church met in a small house that stood on a vacant lot in Van Nuys. Many of its members were World War II vets who gathered at men's club meetings to ``discuss the war,'' Mouzis said.

``I was one of those men,'' said Mouzis, one of the few remaining original parishioners. ``We started out pretty rudimentary - there was nothing there. It was just land.''

In 1955, a church was built in the 16700 block of Gault Street. Today, the parish has some 1,600 families making St. Bridget of Sweden their spiritual home. In June, they officially celebrate their golden anniversary.

Other pioneers of more than 900 congregations who meet in some 350 houses of worship throughout the San Fernando Valley have similar stories as they celebrate milestone anniversaries.

Central Lutheran Church in Van Nuys and Magnolia Park United Methodist Church in Burbank both celebrated 75th anniversaries last year.

Four other churches are noted as celebrating their golden anniversaries last year: Woodland Hills Christian Church; St. John Baptist de la Salle in Granada Hills; Canoga Park Presbyterian Church and Our Savior's First Lutheran Church in Granada Hills.

And the day school at Adat Ari El in Valley Village - the oldest synagogue in the Valley - is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

``The day school has had a major impact on the development of the synagogue,'' said senior Rabbi Moshe Rothblum. ``There's a lot of leadership from the school.''

The Conservative congregation formed in 1938 with about 20 Jewish families, Rothblum said. They gathered at an old nightclub on Chandler Boulevard in North Hollywood.

He recalls traveling to the new synagogue as a teen in the 1950s.

``Coming over Laurel Canyon Boulevard was like going out into the wild and woolly West,'' he said.

Today, about 900 families make Adat Ari El their home. The day school, which educates kindergarten through sixth-grade children, has grown from about 70 students in 1980 to about 270 today, Rothblum said.

The Valley is now home to more than 20 synagogues - from liberal to orthodox congregations.

The San Fernando Valley's diverse faiths today stem from rich religious roots, said Barry Smedberg, president of the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, which celebrated its own milestone 40th anniversary in the Valley last year.

``Religion is very rooted in the Valley,'' Smedberg said.

``When you're new in the area, you want to go to a place where you feel like you're at home, which is why you have so much diversity in the Valley, because the houses of worship have been very welcoming to immigrants and folks from different areas that bring their traditions or religious heritage with them.''

St. Bridget of Sweden is among those homes welcoming a diverse congregation that includes Koreans, Indonesians, Filipinos and Tongans.

Each year, the church celebrates its varied groups with a multicultural festival in which foreign languages are used at mass and groups perform native songs and dances, said the Rev. Ray Morales, a pastor at the church for eight years.

``You have these different cultural groups that all come together as one and really make this a community,'' Morales said.

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(color) Saint Bridget of Sweden Catholic Church members Bill and Nancy Mouzis and the Rev. Ray Morales hold a photo of founder, the Rev. Patrick McGoldrick.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News