CHAPEL HILL -- Chabad of Durham/Chapel Hill serving Duke and UNC will host several events for the Jewish High Holidays.
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Friday and continues through Sunday evening. Chabad will host prayer services and meals a the Student and Academic Services Building, 450 Ridge Road, Chapel Hill.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will begin Sept. 27 and continue through Sept. 28. Chabad is also planning services for Yom Kippur to be held at The Carolina Inn, 211 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill.
All prayers will combine the original Hebrew as well as translated English. A special children's program will accompany the adult services.
For information call Rabbi Zalman Bluming at 630-5129.
Humanistic Rosh Hashanah services
DURHAM -- Rabbi Miriam Jerris of the Society for Humanistic Judaism will lead a Rosh Hashanah service from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. 4907 Garrett Road. For tickets, call 968-7888 or e-mail info@kolhaskalah.org.
Kol Haskalah: A Humanistic Judaism Congregation is hosting Jerris' visit. A children's Rosh Hashanah celebration, led by Jerris, will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at ERUUF. Free, with a potluck to follow. If possible, bring your own plates, cups and cutlery to help save the planet.
RSVP to Yezmin Perilla at yperilla@nc.rr.com. Also on Saturday, an adult discussion will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at ERUUF. Drawing on the themes illustrated in her commentary on Rosh Hashanah evening, Jerris will read a selection from the movie, "The Reader" to initiate discussion.
At 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Tashlikh will be held at Duke Gardens near a stream. Meet at the gazebo. Tashlikh marks looking back at the year just completed and looking forward to the year just beginning. The rain date is 10:30 a.m. Sept. 27.
For information contact Marv Axelrod at maxel36@verizon.net or 383-4848; or Jane Heuser at 933-8341 or janeheuser@hotmail.com.
Organ concert at Christ UMC tonight
CHAPEL HILL -- Daniel Steinert will perform an organ recital at 7 p.m. tonight at Christ United Methodist Church, 800 Market St.
Steinert will perform on the church's Allen 3-manual Renaissance organ. The recital commemorates the 10th anniversary installation of the organ and dedicates the addition of the antiphonal division of the 67-rank instrument and the Kay Rosin Organ Library. Also performing are the chancel choir, Belltones hand bell choir and brass. The solo organ repertoire includes J.S. Bach, Dupre, Reger and orchestra works by Ives, Grieg and Morricone. CUMC member Michael Bennett, 10, will also make his debut on the organ. A reception will follow. For information, call 969-1686.
Episcopalian book study in Carrboro
CARRBORO -- A book study on "Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another" by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tonight, Sept. 24, Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 at the Church of the Advocate officess, 403 W. Weaver St., Carrboro.
Ray Barfield, associate professor at Duke Divinity School, will lead the study series. Bring a brown bag dinner. For more information, visit www.ouradvocate.org.
Spaghetti meal at Mt. Sinai Baptist
DURHAM -- Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, 5222 Mount Sinai Road, will host a spaghetti dinner and fellowship time from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
The meal will include baked spaghetti (both vegetarian and meat sauce), garlic bread, salad, dessert, tea and water. The cost is $6 for age 12 and up, $3 for children under 12. There will also be a raffle for a handmade quilt.
For information, call Edna Mitchell at 489-4851 or Bonnie Kielwasser at 732-2834.
'Prayer in Hard Times' workshop
DURHAM -- The Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton will lead a workshop, "Prayer in Hard Times" from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the parish hall at St. Phillip's Episcopal Church, 403 E. Main St.
St. Philip's Episcopal Church Women invites the community to attend.
Crafton is an Episcopal priest, spiritual director and author of several books, as well as the "Almost Dailey eMo" on her Web site, The Geranium Farm, at www.geraniumfarm.org. She served as rector of St. Clement's Church in Manhattan, a chaplain on the waterfront of New York, and served Trinity Church on Wall Street and St. John's Church in Greenwich Village. She served at St. James, the American church in Florence, Italy, through August as interim rector.
Also an actress, director, and producer, she has worked to combine the arts and the life of faith. She has been on television as a preacher and as a commentator on Hallmark's "New Morning" and "America at Worship." The $30 cost includes lunch. For more information and to register, visit www.stphilipsdurham.org or call 682-5708.
Pack meals for Stop Hunger Now
CHAPEL HILL -- Advent Lutheran Church, 230 Erwin Road, will host its first Stop Hunger Now event from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. The church invites the congregation and friends to help package more than 10,000 meals for the hungry.
Participants will be scooping rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamins into small meal packages to be sent around the world to people suffering from severe hunger. The assembly line process allows for many different jobs for volunteers of all ages.
To sign up, go to www.adventlutheranch.org and click on "contact us" then Advent Lutheran Church or e-mail Advent_Lutheran@bellsouth.net. Include names of volunteers, a phone number and e-mail address. Or call 968-7690. Free will offerings will also be accepted.
Hymn expert to lead music retreat
CHAPEL HILL -- The United Church of Chapel Hill, 1321 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, will hold "A Musical Retreat for Everyone" featuring Mel Bringle from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Bringle is professor of philosophy and religious studies and chair of the humanities division at Brevard College. She received her doctorate at Emory University and taught for 17 years at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg. She now serves as president of The Hymn Society and is chairing the committee of the Presbyterian Church USA to create a new denominational hymnal. She is an elder at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville.
The workshop will survey a variety of musical, verbal, and theological shifts over the past century. Bringle will also preach at the 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. worship services, where a "hymn fest" will accompany her messages.
She will also give a short presentation at the 10 a.m. adult forum in the fellowship hall. For more information, visit www.unitedchurch.org.
Disaster relief workshop
DURHAM -- Durham Interfaith Disaster Relief will offer a workshop from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 3011 Academy Road.
The hurricane response team orientation and planning session is for congregations who want to provide disaster relief support from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday. Today is the deadline to register via e-mail to Lori at lep.kg@verizon.net or call 682-5620.
Gospel chorus celebrates 40th
DURHAM -- The Gospel Chorus of Mt. Zoar Baptist Church, 2400 Cheek Road, will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a performance at 3 p.m. Sunday. The public is invited.
For information, call 688-9045.
Spiritual classes at Ridgecrest
DURHAM -- Ridgecrest Baptist Church, 1104 Milton Road, will begin its fall semester of spiritual growth classes on Sunday. The classes, held every Sunday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. through Nov. 22, offer a range of classes for adults, as well as classes for youth and children.
For preschoolers, there is a nursery and choir; and for children, choir and Bible study. For youth, there is middle school sports, recreation and "Glory!" study; and high school, "Glory!" study and leadership development. Adult classes offered include: "Experiencing God," $10; "Parenting -- The Early Years," $5; "How to Really Worship God," free; "The Excellent Woman," $10; "Please Seek the Truth," $5; and "The History of Man," $10.
For information, visit www.ridgecrest.cc or contact Marc Francis at mfrancis@ridgecrest.cc or 477-5426.
Immigration and faith discussion
CHAPEL HILL -- United Church of Chapel Hill, 1321 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, continues its series on "Building the Beloved Community: Sacred Conversations on Race" this fall.
The conversation about privilege, prejudice and power will now include immigration. UCCH will use the N.C .Council of Churches study guide, "For You Were Once a Stranger: Immigration in the U.S. through the Lens of Faith," and invite speakers to facilitate discussions.
Each evening begins with a simple meal at 5:45 p.m. in the fellowship hall followed by programs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. The first session, which was held Wednesday, discussed why the series talks about immigration. The next session is this coming Wednesday, with the topic "What Is the Immigrant Experience in North Carolina?"
The guest speaker is Hannah Gill of the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Upcoming session are "Story of Human Migration through Time and around the Globe" with Mary St. John of the Church World Service Refugee Resettlement on Sept. 30; and "Politically Achievable Goals to Build the Beloved Community" with Ilana Dubester of El Centro Latino on Oct. 7. For more information, call 942-3540.
'Purpose Driven Life' campaign
DURHAM -- Immanuel Baptist Church, 3610 Hillandale Road, will kick off a "40 Days of Purpose Campaign" on Sept. 27 using Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life."
The campaign features a sermon series at 11 a.m. each Sunday morning and six weeks of small group meetings featuring a DVD-guided study. The public is welcome.
More details are available at http://www.visitimmanuel.org/40days.
Send items for Belief Briefs to Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan at dvaughan@heraldsun.com.
