The Rev. Robert Schuller pioneered the drive-in...

The Rev. Robert Schuller pioneered the drive-in church in Garden Grove. The Rev. Jack Hayford pastors the Church on the Way in Van Nuys. And now . . . all aboard for the Church on a Bus.

Sit back and leave the driving and the entertainment to the Rev. Ed Casey and the Rev. Peggy Smyth, who are Church of Religious Science ministers and entrepreneurs of this new route to spiritual enlightenment for singles. After a musically oriented MASS (Mutual Admiration Society for Singles) on board an air-conditioned bus, the “congregation” will trek to a different Southland church or retreat center one Sunday each month.

The maiden trip begins at 8 a.m. Sunday at the Shilo Inn parking lot on Temple Avenue and the North 57 Freeway in Pomona. The destination is the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, where the singles group will attend a service in a rustic windmill chapel. After a champagne brunch, it’s back to the bus and the Shilo Inn by 3 p.m.

Other outings ($15 each, reservations (714) 946-2530) include the Philosophical Research Society; St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, both in Los Angeles; Astara metaphysical and healing center in Upland, and the First Church of Religious Science in Fullerton.

“Your self-esteem will rise to the 10 mark or more with your new single companions,” promises Smyth.

MOVE

Campus Crusade for Christ International, the giant evangelical organization based near San Bernardino, has narrowed the field for a new headquarters to four cities, with Colorado Springs, Colo., the most likely. Crusade spokesman Don Beehler said this week the group is signing a contract giving it 30 days to inspect and evaluate the 204,000-square-foot Tiffany Square Mall and theater not far from the Air Force Academy.

Crusade could buy the mall for $6.1 million--about one-fourth the construction cost of the complex, which went into foreclosure soon after its completion in 1985. About 450 of crusade’s 3,800 U.S. workers would move during the relocation, and another 300 local workers would be added within two years, Beehler said.

Crusade, with $150 million annual revenues, has its Arrowhead Springs headquarters up for sale and is also considering sites in Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Orlando, Fla. Colorado Springs development officials have courted evangelical groups for more than a decade and succeeded in drawing at least seven to the city.

CONFERENCE

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles will host the 65th annual session of the denomination’s Fifth Episcopal District Monday through next Sunday.

The theme of the conference, which is expected to attract as many as 3,000 people, is “Toward Unity and Community.”

Bishop Vinton R. Anderson of St. Louis, who presides over the fifth district of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, will speak at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at Bethel AME, 79th Street and South Western Avenue. His subject is “The Establishment of a Central Social Service Center” and what churches in the fifth district plan to do to provide food, shelter and clothing for the homeless and poor.

The fifth district of the largely black denomination, with more than 2 million members nationwide, is composed of about 225 congregations in 17 Western states, including Alaska.

MUSIC

Six years ago, Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino was the site for the US FESTIVAL--one of the biggest musical events of the decade. Next Friday and Saturday, the park will again resound with music: SUPERFEST 3, billed as one of the largest Christian music events in the West during the 1980s. The two-day concert, sponsored by Christian radio station KLRD-FM, will bring top national talent, including the Imperials, the Phil Keaggy Band, Steve Camp, Allies, and San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show, who will play jazz guitar.

Campsites are already filled, but discounted tickets are available for $15 ($20 at the gate) through Christian bookstores, Ticketmaster locations and (714) 740-2000. Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday and again on Aug. 26 at 9:30 a.m. KLRD president Jon Fugler expects SUPERFEST to draw a total of 15,000 by the time it concludes at 11 that night.

Also hoping to draw a big crowd to a Christian gospel concert is Los Angeles’ First Church of God Christian School, which has booked Inglewood’s Great Western Forum for the night of Sept. 16. Owner Jerry Buss has arranged for the use of the Forum for the “Rejoice in Los Angeles” festival, which is a fund-raiser for the Inner City Foundation for Excellence in Education.

The foundation founder, the Rev. Leroy Walker, said his goal is to build an inner-city high school to prepare students for college. Confirmed artists include Grammy winners Shirley Caesar and Andrae Crouch, Phillip and Brenda Nicholas, Beau Williams, Deleon Richards, and the vocal group Commissioned. Tickets are available through area churches and Ticketron.