Religion Offerings: 7-15
7/15/2017‘Compassion Experience’
Compassion International, an organization that focuses on child poverty issues, will bring its “Compassion Experience” to Maumee on July 21-24.
The organization will set up a display on the grounds of First Presbyterian Church, inviting visitors to take a self-guided tour that shares the stories of children living in the Philippines or Dominican Republic. Exhibits include replicas of the homes of two young Compassion International beneficiaries. The experience, which will incorporate interactive tools such as iPads and headsets, aims to give visitors “a sense of what life is like in extremely poverty-stricken areas around the world.”
First Presbyterian sent a group of volunteers to the Dominican Republic through Compassion International in 2016. The trip sparked a local fund-raising campaign to purchase a water system that gives almost 60,000 Dominicans access to clean water.
The local exhibit will be free and family friendly. First Presbyterian Church is at 200 E. Broadway, Maumee.
100 years in Holland
Living Faith United Methodist Church in Holland celebrates its 100th anniversary Sunday. The congregation will host a picnic — including a free barbecue chicken lunch, music, and games — between noon and 2 p.m. The picnic follows a service at 10:30 a.m.
Living Faith is at 240 Columbus St. The anniversary picnic is open to all, with a particular invitation extended to former church members and pastors.
The congregation originally met on Airport Highway, near Springfield Township Cemetery, in a church that was constructed in 1858. It moved to its current location in 1917 after the donation of several lots in 1916. Today the Living Faith congregation counts about 60 members.
Catholic lecturer
The Rev. James Bacik will speak Thursday on “Pope Francis and his critics on justice issues” in a continuation of the theologian’s lecture series at Sylvania Franciscan Village. The lecture will address justice in terms of refugees and immigrants, contrasting “the bridge-building of Pope Francis and the wall-building of President Trump.”
The theme of the lecture, originally announced as climate change, has changed.
The lecture is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Sylvania Franciscan Village is at 6832 Convent Blvd., Sylvania. Tickets are $10 per lecture in advance or $15 at the door. Register at sylvaniafranciscanvillage.org.
The next lecture in the series, “Pope Francis and his critics on gender issues,” is Aug. 24.
Azusa Cleveland
Hundreds of Toledo-area Christians are preparing to attend Azusa Now Cleveland, a major revival organized by TheCall, in Cleveland July 22-23. Bill Herzog, of Merge, a network of pastors in the area, estimated that as many as 500 individuals from 50-or-so congregations in the greater Toledo area could attend.
Merge hosted Lou Engle, co-founder of TheCall, in a prerally in May.
Azusa Now Cleveland is set to bring “fasting, prayer, worship, miracles, and the proclamation of the Gospel” to the region. TheCall has been facilitating this type of gathering across the country for more than 15 years.
Azusa Now Cleveland will take place at Quicken Loans Arena between 3 and 11 p.m. July 22, and 2 to 5 p.m. and 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. July 23. Registration is free and required and can be completed online at thecall.com/azusa/cleveland.