Fox Valley religion events

Prairie Fest: For the fifth year, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Elgin is sponsoring its free community conference on sustainable living Saturday, Oct. 4 at the church west of Elgin. The fifth annual Prairie Fest is a one-day program of workshops, presentations, exhibits, and interactions is free to the community and explores the meaning of sustainability and how to live more sustainably. The free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the church, three miles west of Randall on Highland Avenue in Elgin. There is plenty of free parking. In addition to panels, and presentations there are all day programs for children, guided prairie and labyrinth, tours, sustainable living exhibits, and nominally priced healthy lunch. For presenters, schedules, and other information, visit www.uucePF.com or email PF08@uucePrairieFest.com.

Jammin' for Justice: Fox Valley Citizens for Peace and Justice Presents the second annual Jammin' for Justice Benefit Concert from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5 at the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren, 783 W. Highland Ave., Elgin. The concert features national Blues, Folk, Rock, Slide Guitar champion Kraig Kenning (KraigKenning.com), with special guest: harmonica virtuoso Kevin Purcell (nightburners.com). Tickets are $15. For details, call Betsy Ducote, (630) 372-9543.

Life Chain: On Sunday, Oct. 5, hundreds of Christians and their clergy will line the sidewalks along routes 72 and 31 in West Dundee (beginning across from Spring Hill Mall), in solidarity with over 1,200 Life Chains across the U.S. and throughout Canada. The hourlong event will be held at 2:30 p.m. and will be entirely prayerful and peaceful. Life Chain participants will quietly pray for an end to abortion. Signs will be available near the west parking lot of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church on routes 72 and 31. Elderly or disabled participants are welcome to bring wheelchairs or folding chairs. Small children are welcome with parental supervision. For information, call (847) 426-7326.

High Holy Days: Congregation Kneseth Israel, 330 Division St. in Elgin, continues ts schedule of services for the upcoming observance of the High Holy Days for year 5769 in the Hebrew calendar. Services for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will be held at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, and 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, with Yizkor prayers said at approximately noon. Children's services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 9. A break of the fast will follow the concluding Yom Kippur service which begins at 4:15 p.m. Oct. 9. Rabbi Jonathan Kohn, CKI's religious leader, will conduct this year's services, which promise to be an engaging blend of traditional Jewish melodies, and Hebrew and English readings. He will again be joined by Cantor Jack "Yankel" Falk, a nationally-known vocalist from Portland, Ore. Tickets are required for admission, and new members are welcome. For information on tickets or CKI membership, call the synagogue office at (847) 741-5656.

Chocolate. The Festival: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 357 Division St. in Elgin, invites the public to "Chocolate. The Festival" from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11. The festival will include handmade chocolates for sale, raffles for a quilt, cakes, and gift certificates, a lunch counter featuring chocolate chili along with hot dogs, a bakery of chocolate desserts, a bake sale, a craft, home party, and flea market sale, and a garage sale. There will also be a petting zoo and games for children. For information, call (847) 742-2025 or visit holytrinityelgin.org.

Special prophetic meeting: On Sunday, Oct. 12, join Morning Star Church for a special prophetic meeting featuring Jeremy Lopez at 10 a.m. Lopez holds a doctorate of divinity degree and is founder and president of Identity Network International. He has prophesied to thousands of people and releases the prophetic word of God everywhere he goes. He desires to see every believer awakened to their destiny, and when he ministers through this prophetic teaching gift, a spirit of revelation and understanding are released. There is no charge for this meeting. Morning Star Church is at 41W350 Powers Road, just north of the I-90 Route 47 exit in Huntley. For details, call (847) 669-9800 or visit www.morningstarwoc.org.

Fall rummage sale: The First Congregational Church of Huntley will host its fall rummage sale. Sale hours will be noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17 and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 18. Items will be reduced on Saturday to $3 per bag. This sale, sponsored by the Women's Circle, has become so large that the entire church is involved in making it happen. The fellowship hall will be filled, as well as many classrooms throughout the church. There is a room with kitchen items; another looks like a gift shop, etc. Items include many toys, adult, youth and children's clothing, a boutique, games, books, jewelry, furniture, holiday items, and more. Items to be donated for the sale may be dropped off in the fellowship hall from Oct. 12-14. There is no storage available for items before Oct. 12. The church is at 11628 E. Main St. in downtown Huntley. For details, call (847) 669-3691.

Worship conference: On Friday, Oct. 17 and Sunday, Oct. 19, join Morning Star Church for a special worship conference featuring Sean Feucht. Feucht is the founder and director of Burn 24-7. He is a prophetic psalmist with a vision for planting Davidic houses of vertical worship and prayer and "resting places" for God all over the earth. His passion is to see people of all nations come into their destiny to release the sounds and fragrance of Heaven through night and day worship and prayer that will usher in the Presence of God until all of the world burns with the Glory of God. A Night of Worship with Feucht will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 with Worship and Ministry with Feucht will be at 10 a.m. Oct. 19. There is no charge for these meetings. Morning Star Church is at 41W350 Powers Road, just north of the I-90 Route 47 exit in Huntley. For details, call (847) 669-9800 or visit www.morningstarwoc.org.

Celebrate Calm: A workshop for parents and teachers, "Celebrate Calm," will be held 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Congregational Unitarian Church, 221 Dean St., Woodstock. It is free and open to the public. Free child care will be provided. The workshop will offer ten keys to a stress-free home and school from Kirk Martin, founder and education director of Celebrate Calm, who has trained over 400 parents and teachers. Martin is known for his humorous, practical approach and providing workshop participants with hands-on ideas they can begin using immediately. His strategies focus on: creating a stress-free home by eliminating yelling, arguing and whining; improving a child's focus, attention and behavior; creating stress-free discipline and homework time; channeling disrespect and defiance into positive experiences; and relieving anxiety and sensory integration issues. Martin will explain why some children are bossy, anxious, easily overwhelmed, like to argue, fidget and make noises. Medication, nutrition and handling siblings will be addressed as well. While Martin's strategies work for all families, he specializes in working with intense children and their families, including those affected by anxiety, sensory issues, Asperger's, autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. According to a July 2008 Washington Post article, Martin believes that something isn't necessarily wrong with children who struggle because of these conditions. He believes they are simply wired differently and have gifts, talents and passions that are not compatible with traditional educational settings. Rather than asking how to fix these kids, he says he asks, "What are the advantages, what are the ways we can work with this mind to obtain good results?" Martin, who majored in international business and marketing at Towson University in Maryland, first developed the approaches that led to Celebrate Calm in helping his own son, who was diagnosed with ADHD. In addition to giving workshops throughout the country, Martin has written several books, produced self-help CDs and runs a camp for children with ADHD. For information on the Celebrate Calm Workshop, call Congregational Unitarian Church, (815) 338-0731, or visit CelebrateCALM.com.

Gingerbread Lane Bazaar: On Saturday, Oct. 19, Epworth United Methodist Church in Elgin will hold the annual Gingerbread Lane Bazaar from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sweets, treats, hand-crafts and decor will be showcased by local crafters and confectioners. Jellies and jams, candies and holiday items will be available, and there is something for every age. There is still time to reserve a space for all interested crafters. Call the Epworth Church office for details on registration. (847) 931-5400, or log on to www.epworthumcelgin.org.

CROP Walk rally: Join your neighbors in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Cardunal CROP Walk Against Hunger on Sunday, Oct. 19. And what better way to celebrate than by making this year's walk the best ever. People in Carpentersville, Algonquin, Dundee Township, and Lake in the Hills have been participating in the walk together since 1984. Over the years, they have raised over $221,900 to fight hunger around the world and here at home. One-quarter of the money collected supports FISH Food Pantry and Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Interfaith Pantry. And the rest of the money goes to the global humanitarian agency Church World Service, which uses the funds for both domestic and international poverty-reducing efforts. The 2008 CROP walk will step off at 1:30 p.m. starting from Joy Community Presbyterian Church, 108 S. Lakewood Road, Lake in the Hills. Registration starts at 12:30 p.m. For details, call (847) 515-8800. If you can't participate, consider sponsoring those who can.

Pastors from Columbia: Presbyterian pastors from Columbia will speak at Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, 8505 Church St. The Rev. Milton Mejia will speak on Sunday Oct. 19 at 9:30 and 11 a.m. on his work to seek a negotiated peace to Colombia's 40-year civil conflict. The United Nations has called this conflict "the greatest humanitarian catastrophe in the Western hemisphere." After he began receiving death threats, he fled with his family to the United States in 2006. The Rev. Diego Higuita, recently elected executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, will speak at the church about his experiences as a pastor in the midst of the Colombian conflict on Wednesday, Oct. 22, with supper at 6 p.m. and his presentation at 7 p.m. Call (815) 459-1132 for supper reservation. Both pastors will speak in Spanish, and English interpretation will be provided. For details, contact Ann Legg at ataglegg@sbcglobal.net.

Music of South India: On Sunday, Oct. 19, Prema Bhat will present a concert of classical music from South India at 4:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 461 Pierson St., Crystal Lake. An accomplished vocalist, she is widely known for her clear, expressive voice and elegant improvisation techniques. Her singing of Carnatic music has received widespread appreciation, including praise from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Her presentation of the Carnatic tradition will both be informative and provide an exquisite experience for listeners. She will be accompanied by Chicago area musicians Manjula Rao, violin (Indian style), and Ravishankar on the mridangam (percussion). Born in Karnataka, South India, where she began performing music at the age of six, Bhat started to give full concerts in the Carnatic style by age eleven. For nearly four years, she hosted "Sangeet," an Indian classical music radio program. She has lectured and given demonstrations at Princeton, Emory, Rice and other universities, the United Nations, Atlanta's Goethe German Institute, etc. She recently was featured on National Public Radio. Bhat has received many awards and reviews. Her mastery of the technical aspects of Indian classical music and her ability to convey its deeply spiritual quality make her one of the top vocalists of her generation. Everyone is welcome. There will be no charge, but a free will offering will be collected. For information, call the Rev. Gilbert "Budd" Friend-Jones at (815) 459-6010, ext. 11.

Financial workshop: Want to get your finances under control? Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in Elgin welcomes the community to attend a "More than Money Matters" workshop series beginning on Oct. 29. The six sessions include "Stewardship and Values," "Communicating about Money," "Setting Goals," "Credit and Debt," "Finding Money to Save," and "Budget and Net Worth." It will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at the Nesler Road and Route 20 Christian Life Center. There is no cost to attend. Registration is required by Sunday, Oct. 19. For details, call the preschool office at (847) 697-4745, or visit goodshepherd-elgin.org.

Learning to Pray: Westminster Presbyterian Church will hold a Prayer Seminar from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 at the church, 2700 W. Highland Ave. in Elgin. The seminar is titled "Prayer Life-Learning to Pray in a Distracting World." Many are quietly defeated in their private prayer lives. They have tried praying but it just doesn't seem to work. So they feel a combination of frustration and guilt. In this study you will learn step-by-step how to begin a private life of prayer. This study is for all Christians, particularly those who find themselves defeated in the trenches. It deals with such practical questions as: "How do you stay focused when you are distracted with so much to do? How do you pray longer than 5 minutes? How do you pray when your own life is messed up?" The seminar is led by Bob Allums who is special sales manager for Crossway Books and Bibles in Wheaton, where he is part of a team bringing the ESV Study to market Oct. 15. You may recognize the Crossway name because it has become one of today's leading publishers of evangelical Christian fiction, nonfiction, gift and children's books. As associate pastor of Presbytery Ministries of Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Roselle, he specializes in teaching PrayerLife which is being taught in churches (in various denominations) and seminaries throughout the U.S. and in some foreign countries. "Of everything I am doing these days, my favorite calling is the teaching of the PrayerLife course. When Christians begin to pray again, following the stories of what God is doing, the Christian life becomes an exciting adventure of following Jesus. But, one thing I have learned is that preaching a good sermon or publishing a good book on prayer by well known pastors, as great as these are, doesn't get it done. Prayer has to be discipled into someone. That adventure begins with concentrated teaching so the PrayerLife seminar is just a start. It is exciting to see God moving His church to pray and it is a joy to be a small part of that movement of the Holy Spirit." He graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1979 and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree in 1985. Bob and his wife Helen of 28 years live in Algonquin, and have 3 children. Adult registration for the seminar is $20 if received by Oct. 17 and $30 after Oct. 17. Student registration is $10 if received by Oct. 17 and $15 after Oct. 17. The fee includes the book and a sack lunch. There is no refund or child care. Registration must be made with the church office in person or by mail with checks made payable to Westminster Presbyterian Church. The church office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and the phone number is (847) 695-0311.

Craft show: Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School will host its 23rd annual "Doorway to the Holidays" fundraising craft show and luncheon from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. The craft show is at Good Shepherd's Nesler Road and Route 20 Christian Life Center in Elgin. The sixth- to eighth-graders of Good Shepherd Lutheran School will serve a luncheon in the gathering room. There will also be a bake sale and cookie walk. Crafters are needed. For information, call the school office at (847) 741-7795 or visit goodshepherd-elgin.org.

Bazaar, food expo: The St. Sophia Philoptochos Society presents its annual Christmas Bazaar and Food Expo from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8 in the St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church's recreation center, 525 Church Road (near Route 31 and I-90) in Elgin. There will be an assortment of vendors, from jewelry to designer handbags, as well as handcrafted items such as holiday decorations and floral assortments. Another highlight will be the Greek Gourmet Shop where you can find imported goodies from Greece, and after you shop the vendors, take a moment to sit and enjoy some authentic Greek cuisine such as Grecian chicken, gyros, pastitsio, spanakopita and Greek salad. For dessert, they will be offering Greek as well as American coffee and homemade Greek pastries. They will once again have their "Grandma's Attic" section, where shoppers can find hidden treasures among the various donated items. Get a raffle ticket for $2 to win prizes. There is no admission fee. For details, call (847) 888-2822.