Church Hall

FAITH COMMUNITY Church will conduct its 1996 Sweetheart's Banquet at 6 p.m. Feb. 10. The program for the banquet, titled "Hearts Knit Together," includes a concert by Bob and Patti Fisher.The cost is $15 per couple. The church is located at 1306 Waugh Chapel Road in Gambrills.Information: (410) 672-3698.Legion fund-raiserThe Howard L. Turner Post 276 American Legion will conduct a Past Commander Bull & Oyster Roast from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday in the legion hall. Music will be provided by Just Cruisin'.

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church's Youth Ministry is offering a deal on Nov. 8 that's hard to beat. Carrabba's Italian Grill is preparing a complete dinner at the church hall and selling it at discounted prices. A meal of chicken marsala, penne pomodoro, salad, bread, soda, coffee or iced tea costs $7 for adults and $5 for children younger than 10, if purchased in advance. Tickets at the door are $8 for adults and $6 for children younger than 10. Wine and desserts can be purchased separately.

The roof of the fellowship hall of Calvary Chapel International Worship Center in Severn collapsed Wednesday afternoon, most likely from the weight of the snow, Anne Arundel County fire officials said. There were no injuries, said Battalion Chief Steve Thompson. "We have a school in there," said Pastor Shawn Murphy, who said the congregation and school families are blessed that no one was inside. "We did have a couple of classrooms in there, and I'm told that two of our classrooms collapsed also."

A three-alarm fire tore through a church in the 4300 block of North Point Blvd. in Sparrows Point on Tuesday night, causing parts of the roof to collapse, according to a Baltimore County fire official. Responding to a 7:38 p.m. call reporting a fire at Pleasant Zion Baptist Church, fire crews found a shed and wooden pallets at the rear of the church engulfed in flames, said Lt. Jay Ringgold. The fire quickly spread to the roof of the church, and the crew requested a second alarm, Ringgold said.

The Howard County Historic District Commission reversed itself last week and approved the demolition of a former church hall that is fire- and water-damaged but still architecturally valuable, members said.TC safety hazard, the commission -- which has advisory authority over demolition in the county's historic districts in Ellicott City and Elkridge -- said the structure has architectural integrity and is of "unusual importance."The building is one of three remaining turn-of-the-century social halls -- serving the community's social, religious and educational needs -- in the county, the commission said.

St. Martin's Players, the Severna Park theater group that took its name from the church that rented it space for its productions, has a new name, Second Stage Playhouse. After this month it will be searching for new space.St. Martin's in the Field Episcopal Church has decided not to renew the group's lease on the church hall on Benfield Road.For two more weekends, the theater company will bring us the magic of "The Wizard of Oz" with some 50 children in Munchkin costumes, clever choreography, hilarious character parts and a beautifully played Dorothy, the child from Kansas who follows the yellow brick road.

On March 9, 2006, WILLIAM RICHARD FEFEL, beloved husband of Peg Fefel, devoted father of Jennifer Fefel Jahromi, cherished grandfather of Nathan and Briana, loving brother of Clarke B. Fefel. Interment will be private. A Memorial Service will be held at Waugh United Methodist Church, 11453 Long Green Pike, on Tuesday March 14 at 6 P.M. Reception to follow in the church hall. In lieu of flowers, contributions to William R. Fefel Memorial Fund, c/o Waugh United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 144, Glen Arm, MD 21057.

On April 14, 2006, EDWARD C. OPHER, son of William and Grace Opher. Family will receive friends at JOSEPH L. RUSS FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 2222-26 W. North Avenue, on Thursday, April 20, 3 to 8 P.M. Service will be held Friday, April 21, at Hunting Ridge Presbyterian Church, Edmondson Avenue and Winans Way. Family hour, 10 A.M. and services 10:30 A.M. Interment Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery at 1 P.M. Repast at Church Hall following the interment.

Thieves broke into a West Baltimore church today and stole an estimated $300 from four poor boxes, then moved to the downstairs church hall where they took 200 pounds of frozen chicken and 150 pounds of butter that was to feed the homeless."

On Thursday, December 8, 2005 BALBINA B. BRUBAKER (nee Zelinski), 87, beloved wife of the late J. Paul Brubaker, died peacefully in her sleep of heart complications. Born in Nanicoke, PA, she was a 60 yr resident of Catonsville. She is survived by her sisters, Florence and Audrey; her children, John Brubaker, Michael Brubaker, Paula Snyder, David Brubaker; also survived by eight grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, three great-great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held at Catonsville Presbyterian Church, 1400 Frederick Rd, Catonsville, at 11 A.M. on Monday, December 19, 2005.

Julia Seeley, 10, burst into the bustling kitchen in a church hall shortly before 5 p.m. and shouted, "There's buses here!" The first guests began arriving nearly an hour early for a traditional Thanksgiving feast that was still in the making, Although they were preparing about 200 meals, organizers of the 31st annual Greater Towson Jaycees dinner for seniors remained unruffled and on task. They mixed stuffing with herbs and broth and tended steaming caldrons brimming with sweet potatoes, green vegetables and sauerkraut, relying on the dining room help to tend to the guests.

The roof of the fellowship hall of Calvary Chapel International Worship Center in Severn collapsed Wednesday afternoon, most likely from the weight of the snow, Anne Arundel County fire officials said. There were no injuries, said Battalion Chief Steve Thompson. "We have a school in there," said Pastor Shawn Murphy, who said the congregation and school families are blessed that no one was inside. "We did have a couple of classrooms in there, and I'm told that two of our classrooms collapsed also."

The most recent addition to the list of Harford County landmarks won its place for its simplicity, history and role in the life of its community. Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1838 on donated ground that was owned by former slaves. Named for the street in Churchville where it was built, the parish was, for much of its history, the only church in the county where African-Americans were invited to worship. "My family gave the land and helped build the church," said the Rev. Lewis Smith, a retired Methodist minister.

At St. Leo's Roman Catholic Church in Little Italy, parishioners call Lucy Pompa the matriarch of meatballs, ravioli and the thick red sauce she calls gravy. She presided yesterday over an assembly line of volunteers, joining them in making about 6,000 meatballs that will be added to hundreds of gallons of spicy tomato sauce for the church's biannual spaghetti and ravioli supper today. Pompa, 88, and several other women had earlier kneaded homemade dough into 14,000 pasta squares and stuffed them with ricotta cheese.

For the second time in a history that spans 160 years, the Church of St. Patrick in Havre de Grace blessed a polished slab of granite and rededicated its imposing stone building to another century of ministry. The blessing of the cornerstone, imprinted with a cross between the years 1847 and 1907, launched a yearlong celebration of the building's centennial and drew nearly 500 parishioners on Thursday. They posed on the church steps and followed a bagpiper to a social in the church hall, which was filled with parish memorabilia.

The MOMS Club of Elkridge, a support group for stay-at-home mothers, will meet at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday at the Elkridge Baptist Church hall, 5929 Setter Drive, Elkridge. Children are welcome. The group, which meets on the third Wednesday of each month, offers playgroups for children of similar ages. Information: www.momsclub ofelkridge.org. 4 fantasy writers to meet the public Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the Long Gate Shopping Center, Ellicott City, will present the "Fantasy Fiction Tour."

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church's Youth Ministry is offering a deal on Nov. 8 that's hard to beat. Carrabba's Italian Grill is preparing a complete dinner at the church hall and selling it at discounted prices. A meal of chicken marsala, penne pomodoro, salad, bread, soda, coffee or iced tea costs $7 for adults and $5 for children younger than 10, if purchased in advance. Tickets at the door are $8 for adults and $6 for children younger than 10. Wine and desserts can be purchased separately.

REHOBETH -- When Francis Makemie, the father of the Presbyterian Church in America, built a sturdy little chapel near the banks of the Pocomoke River, he intended it to be a magnet for his fledgling flock. Three hundred years later, the austere building with brick walls that are 3 feet thick still draws the faithful every Sunday to this rural corner of the Eastern Shore dominated by chicken farms and soybean fields. Yesterday, nearly 100 church members, friends, former members and visitors - including two from Scotland - gathered at Rehoboth Presbyterian Church for a "homecoming" service.