Religion Offerings: 8-17

8/17/2013

Atheists Convene

The Great Lakes Atheists Convention 2013 continues today from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and tomorrow from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Best Western Premier Grand Plaza Hotel, 444 N. Summit St. The theme of this first convention is “Our America, Our Stories.” Speakers on today's schedule include Bria Crutchfield, director of Minority Atheists of Michigan; Darrell C. Smith, author of Black Nones; Mandisa Thomas, president of the Black Nonbelievers of Atlanta; Jerry DeWitt, author of Hope After Faith; and Sam Singleton, an atheist evangelist presenting during the dinner. Included on the Sunday speaker's list is Rebecca Vitsmun, the Oklahoma tornado survivor who was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN. For more information, go to glaconvention.com.

Hindu Festivities

The 24th annual Festival of India continues at the Hindu Temple of Toledo, 4336 King Rd., Sylvania, today and tomorrow. A carnival, food stalls, and merchandise including Indian movies, music, clothing, and jewelry are on the temple grounds from noon to 9 p.m. today, cultural programs will be presented, and tours of the temple will be conducted throughout the day. Two religious ceremonies take place from 8:30 a.m. to 11 and from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today, then two religious ceremonies are held tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 and from 10:30 a.m. to noon. From noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow a catered lunch is available to ticket holders. For more information, go to hindutempleoftoledo.org, download the festival app at http://my.yapp.us/KZBS9K, or call 419-843-4440.

Chicken and Longenecker

“Big Guys—Little Guys Night Out” features barbecued chicken and Clinton Longenecker at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 611 Woodville Rd., Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mr. Longenecker is a business professor at the University of Toledo and played footbell there when he was a student. He is also a Christian missionary. Tickets for the intergenerational event are $7 for adults, $5 for age 12 and under, sold in advance only, available through Monday. Call Madonna Bury at 419-693-1689 for tickets and further information.

Neighborly Tea

The Monroe Street Neighborhood Center, 3613 Monroe St., a private nonprofit organization that began as a service of Monroe Street United Methodist Church providing food, clothing, transportation, and other services and is still housed in the church's building, hosts its annual Hats Off Tea saluting those who make a difference in the community on Saturday, Aug. 24, at 11:30 a.m. The tea will be held at the University Hotel, 3100 Glendale Ave., and tickets cost $35. For more information, call the neighborhood center at 419-473-1167.

Address and Other Changes

Church of the Cross isn't moving, but it will no longer have a Cass Road address. As of Sept. 5, its location will be at 1750 Eastgate Rd. The church has entrances at both Cass and Eastgate roads, and being “right down on the edge of Cass Road,” the Rev. Steve Judson, the church's pastor, said, “we've had issues of people not finding us.” The church even had to contact Google Maps and Mapquest to have its geographic location corrected. So Church of the Cross ended up going through the getting the City of Toledo to approve its having the Eastgate Road address, which, along with a new electronic sign coming this fall, will make it easier to find.

The address change is somewhat minor, Pastor Judson said, in that it “percolated up” from many other changes at the church—in leadership, programming, building projects, and otherwise—after bringing in consultants a year ago to help with reenvisioning. Members of the community can see some of the changes on Sept. 29 from noon to 3 p.m. when the church holds a community outreach event complete with inflatables, free food, a car show, and other attractions.