Interfaith Center

Ensemble to perform at interfaith center The Prometheus Chamber Ensemble will perform at Owen Brown Interfaith Center at 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets are $20; $10 for youths to age 18. Proceeds will benefit the mission and outreach programs of Christ United Methodist Church, an interfaith center congregation. The ensemble will perform during worship services Sunday at the interfaith center. Services begin at 10 a.m. Information: the Rev. Marilyn Newhouse, 410-381-6329 or www.gbgm-umc.org/christcolumbia.

3-night revival at St. John Baptist St. John Baptist Church, 8910 Old Annapolis Road, Columbia, will hold its annual revival for three nights, Oct. 15-17. Services are to begin at 7 p.m. This year's theme is "Maximizing Our Potential" (1 Corinthians 15:58). The revival speaker will be the Rev. Henry P. Davis III, pastor of First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover. Everyone is welcome. Information: 410-992-6977, or www.stjohnbaptistchurch.org. Oktoberfest, auction being held today Our Shepherd Lutheran Church will sponsor an Oktoberfest and silent auction from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at 8940 Route 108, Suite D, Columbia.

The Howard County Board of Education will hold a "Coffee and Conversation" session from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Media Center at Thunder Hill Elementary School, 9357 Mellenbrook Road, Columbia. The sessions, which are held at schools around the county, provide an opportunity for residents to share a cup of coffee and chat informally with board members. Everyone is welcome. Information: 410-313-6682. Blood drive May 5 at interfaith center Owen Brown Interfaith Center will hold its next blood drive from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. May 5. Sign-up in advance is requested.

Authors' Forum tomorrow at church The Iota Lambda Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. will sponsor an Authors' Forum from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at St. John Baptist Church, 8910 Old Annapolis Road, Columbia. Selena Johnson, author of The Sin of Racism, will speak. She will be joined by other local authors. Iota Lambda Omega is celebrating 35 years of service to Howard County. Since its inception in 1972, the sorority has offered scholarships, tutoring, mentoring and other programs to reach people in need.

At the beginning of Mass, the Rev. Richard Tillman usually welcomes the congregation of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church of Columbia, talks about the Scripture reading for the day and makes one of the corny jokes for which he has become well-known. He also asks if anyone is visiting from outside the parish so he can personally welcome them. "I think that is a really nice touch," said Anne Brusca, a former president of the parish council. Tillman's congregants say that welcoming touch along with his approachability and his respect for people of all faiths have been hallmarks of his 30 years in Columbia.

Choir to perform at interfaith center The adult choir of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church will perform That You May Have Life, by Marty Haugen, at 8 p.m. Sunday at Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, 10431 Twin Rivers Road, Columbia. Admission to the concert is free, but donations will be accepted in honor of the late George W. Martin, a longtime leader in ecumenical and community activities. Martin, a Columbia pioneer and deacon at St. John's, died March 9 last year. The money will be used to establish a Columbia Interfaith History Fund to defray the costs of documenting the development of the interfaith concept in Columbia.

FOR ALMOST 70 years, the church at the southeast corner of Charles Street and University Parkway in Baltimore was home to a Protestant congregation.DTC But soon it will house a much more diverse mix of worshipers, including Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and Jews.The Johns Hopkins University last month bought the former Alpheus Wilson Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, which has been closed for the past year, and plans to reopen it by early next year as an interfaith center for the Homewood campus.

Congregants at Temple Isaiah have pledged $1.7 million over the next five years to establish a free-standing building and leave their longtime home at the Meeting House interfaith center in east Columbia's Oakland Mills village.For more than 20 years, the 1,100-member congregation has worshiped at the interfaith center, but it has outgrown the space.In February, the congregation hired a consultant to devise a plan to build a free-standing building or buy a building and renovate it. About 80 percent of the congregants voted to leave the interfaith center.

Twenty years ago, the concept of several congregations sharing a worship space worked well, saving land and money and promoting James W. Rouse's ideals for his planned city of Columbia. Now, two of the community's oldest congregations are leaving Wilde Lake Interfaith Center amid tensions among religious leaders.In three to five years, St. John the Evangelist Baptist Church plans to build a 27,000-square-foot church on 45 acres at U.S. 40 and Marriottsville Road in Ellicott City. St. John the Evangelist Lutheran Church is pursuing the purchase of 8 to 12 acres in Clarksville or Ellicott City to build its church.

The last of Columbia's village centers opens its grocery store Sunday, a 63,000-square-foot Giant that dwarfs the supermarkets in the planned community's older village centers.At that size, it is clear that the Giant -- and the center -- is expected to draw shoppers from beyond Columbia's River Hill village.Wayne A. Christmann of Columbia Management Inc., a division of the Rouse Co. that manages the centers, expects River Hill Village Center, near Routes 108 and 32, to draw customers from a 10- to 12-mile radius to the west, a fast-developing area of Howard County.

The UU Chalice Concert Series will present its final concert of the season, a solo performance by pianist Irene Kim, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way. A student at the Peabody Conservatory, where she studies with Boris Sluts ky, Kim has performed in the United States, Canada and Spain. Tickets, available at the door, are $20, $12 for students. Children to age 12 are admitted for free with a paying adult. Patron tickets are $27. Information: 410-381-0097 or www.uucolumbia.

HC DrugFree, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower the Howard County community to raise drug-free children, will offer "Teen2Teen: Alcohol, Drugs and All in Between," a panel of young adults who will share their experiences with alcohol and other drugs, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. March 18 at Hammond High School, 8800 Guilford Road. The panelists will describe their lives and how they recovered from addictions, and answer questions. Registration is not required. Information: 443-325-0040.

The Greater Howard County CROP Hunger Walk will be held at 2 p.m. today, starting and finishing at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, 5885 Robert Oliver Place in Columbia. It's approximately a three-mile walk. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. Last year's walk raised about $17,000, and organizers hope to raise $25,000 this year. About 250 walkers are expected, and everyone is invited to participate. The event raises money to help stop hunger and poverty in the community and around the world through self-help initiatives.

Bon Secours center slates workshops Bon Secours Spiritual Center, 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, will offer "Grounded in Gratitude," a workshop focused on the seasons and their changes, challenges, beauty and constancy, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow. Stories, music, art and quiet time will help participants discover the gifts of winter and cultivate its seeds of growth. The cost is $55 and includes lunch and art supplies. The center will celebrate "40 Years of Peace, Healing and Hope" with an open house from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Workshop for care givers Feb. 7 Bon Secours Spiritual Center, 1525 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville, will offer a workshop for professional health care providers, chaplains, spiritual directors and others who comfort those who are dying, "Returning to Yourself in the Midst of Caregiving," from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 7. The workshop will focus on fears, assumptions and expectations that distance caregivers from the people they seek to help. Information: 410-442-1320. Ruut to perform at Unitarian Universal ist Singer-songwriter Ruut will perform at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia's One World Coffeehouse.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia will sponsor a community blood drive from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way. Appointments are available but not necessary. Registered donors will receive priority. The congregation holds blood drives three times yearly. Information or to schedule an appointment: Pat Fort, 410-381-4546 or uuccblooddrive@comcast.net. Around Town Seeking volunteers -- The A-OK (Assisting Our Kids) mentoring and tutoring program, a project of Oakland Mills Interfaith Center, is recruiting and training volunteers to work with individual children and small groups in elementary and middle schools.

The Oakland Mills Interfaith Center will present an afternoon of musical selections performed by the center's resident congregations and Bet Yeladim School. The theme is "Celebrate Community: Songs of Love and Praise." The program, to be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 27, will feature performances by each group. Participating are representatives from Bet Aviv, Bet Yeladim School, Columbia Baptist Fellowship; Columbia Jewish Congregation; Columbia United Christian Church; Iglesia Cristiana de Columbia; Living Word and Abiding Savior Lutheran Church; and St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church.

Grandmothers for Peace will sponsor a "Hootenanny for Peace," with the Columbia Psychedelic Hoot Band, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way. Those who attend are invited to sing, along with the band, wear 1960s clothes and bring 1960s pictures for a "Guess Who?" board. Floor pillows are welcome. The suggested donation is $10; $5 for students. Most of the proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Information: 410-917-3190 or e-mail dwmatherly@aol.

Faith, mental illness to be forum topics The Howard County chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and the Pastoral Counseling Program of Loyola College will present a forum, "Faith Communities: Supporting Families Affected by Mental Illness," from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 210 on the college's Columbia campus, 8890 McGaw Road. The program for ordained and lay religious leaders will include a presentation on the experience of mental illness, dialogue on supporting families affected by overwhelming challenges and information on local mental health resources.

Ensemble to perform at interfaith center The Prometheus Chamber Ensemble will perform at Owen Brown Interfaith Center at 8 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets are $20; $10 for youths to age 18. Proceeds will benefit the mission and outreach programs of Christ United Methodist Church, an interfaith center congregation. The ensemble will perform during worship services Sunday at the interfaith center. Services begin at 10 a.m. Information: the Rev. Marilyn Newhouse, 410-381-6329 or www.gbgm-umc.org/christcolumbia.