Religion Offerings: 9-28

9/28/2013

Peace in Tiffin

With the support of Project Peace, an organization founded by Sister Paulette Schroeder of the Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Francis in Tiffin, and the Tiffin Community YMCA, Tiffin holds its second annual peace fair today. A parade marches through downtown at noon, and from 1 to 4 p.m. the peace fair takes place on Courthouse Square at Washington and Market streets. Then at 7 p.m. at St. Francis Convent Chapel, 200 St. Francis St., Project Peace and the International Cultural Center present “An Evening of Peacemaking,” with Terry Lodge, an attorney from Toledo, giving a talk titled “There's No Cavalry: You've Arrived in the Nick of Time,” and musician Cecilia St. King returning for the second year to sing original songs. The show is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

Waterville chants

Yoga master and personal trainer Sunder Iyer speaks on “Kirtan: Singing Your Way to God” at the Center for Conscious Living, a New Thought religious center, Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Rocky Ridge Community Center, 7410 Noward Rd., Waterville. Kirtan is a type of chanting. Terry Baker and Charles Oswanski will provide music. A spiritual discussion will take place at 9 a.m. It is also the Sunday when Center-connected practitioners of techniques such as massage, reiki, and spiritual mind prayer treatment provide free mini-sessions. For more information, go to cclnwo.org.

Archbold rugs and a musical

This is far from a church rummage sale. About 300 hand-woven Bunyaad rugs from Pakistan, including floral patterns and hand-spun natural dyed rugs, will be for sale from Wednesday through Saturday at Ten Thousand Villages, 1201 S. Definace St., Archbold. The store will have an Introduction to Oriental Rugs seminar Thursday at 7 p.m. Admission is free, refreshments will be served, and reservations are encouraged. For more information, contact Ten Thousand Villages at 419-445-1926 or email archbold@tenthousandvillages.com.

Ten Thousand Villages is a chain of retail stores that sells fair-trade merchandise made in many countries, and it has been recognized for its ethical business practices. It began 67 years ago, started by the wife of a Mennonite Central Committee member. In 2000 Ten Thousand Villages became an independent nonprofit charitable organization owned by the Mennonite Central Committee, and in 2012 the Mennonites became partner owners.

Also in Archbold, on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Central Mennonite Church, 21703 State Rt. 2, the Off-Broadway musical The Cotton Patch Gospel will be staged—in a one-actor show, with Phillip Kaufmann playing more than 20 characters and 11 musical instruments (the show features songs by Harry Chapin). The performance is a hunger-fighting benefit; there is no admission fee, but a freewill offering will be collected. Half of the proceeds will go to Archbold's Fish Food Pantry, 25 percent goes to WhyHunger, and the remainder is for the Mennonite Central Committee food program.

Muslims in Morenci

The Stair Public Library in Morenci, Mich., begins a series tied to the national “Let's Talk About It: Muslim Journeys” project with a discussion of the book In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The session will be led by Adrian College history professor Michael McGrath. The Stair Library is one of 125 sites participating in “Let's Talk About It,” which makes the people, places, history, faith, and cultures of Islam more familiar. The library's theme for the project is “Points of View.” Other books will be discussed once a month through February, with Mr. McGrath as the leader. The Stair Library is at 228 W. Main St. in Morenci. For more information, call 517-458-6510 or go to www.stairlib.org.