Your faith

Adult education

A Sunday Morning Adult Education Class at the Congregational United Church of Christ, 1001 W. Kirchoff Road, Arlington Heights, will study Phillip Yancey's book "The Bible Jesus Read" at 8:30 a.m. Sunday mornings through Nov. 4. The study includes seven selected books from the Bible including Job, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Ecclesiastes and the Prophets. Classes are led by the Rev. Rex Piercy and lay leader Mark Silet. Newcomers and nonmembers of the church are welcome. For more information, visit www.CongUCC.org or call (847) 392-6650.

Children, teens

The Feed Your Spirit group of high school youth will meet at the Congregational United Church of Christ, 1001 W. Kirchoff Road, Arlington Heights, from 6:30-8 p.m. Sunday. Newcomers are always welcome. Check www.CongUCC.org or call (847) 392-6650 for information.

Lectures, seminars

Jason Evert will speak on the virtue of chastity at 5 p.m. Sunday while headlining the Life Night III Youth Rally at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish, 434 W. Park St., Arlington Heights. The 29-year-old Evert, a graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, is the author of numerous books that challenge young people to embrace the virtue of chastity.

Catholic worship leader Rob Kaczmark, who hosts and directs SPiRiT jUiCE, the Catholic music program that can be found at www.spiritjuicestudios.com, will join Evert at the rally. There is no charge to attend the event, which is open to the public and is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese's Chastity Education Initiative and Office of Catechesis and Youth Ministry.

Evert will also lead four additional sessions at the following times, days and parishes:

• 7 p.m. Monday, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, 15050 S. Wolf Road, Orland Park

• 7 p.m. Tuesday, Holy Family Parish, 450 Keller Ave., Waukegan

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, St. Pascal Parish, 3935 N. Melvina Ave., Chicago

• 7 p.m. Thursday, St. Norbert Parish, 1809 Walters Ave., Northbrook

For information and group registration for all these events, contact Alicia Torres in the Respect Life Office at (312) 751-5355

News personality John Callaway will be this year's presenter at the Annual Speakers Series hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, 302 N. Dunton Ave. The event will at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in the church sanctuary. Callaway is best known for his work as host of WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" and "Friday Night" programs. In addition to his talk on his life journey, both professional and personal, he will answer questions from the audience. Everyone is invited. For information, visit www.fpcah.org.

Miscellaneous

The community surrounding the Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church in Arlington Heights worked hard to increase its recycling rate and was chosen a winner for the Abitibi Paper Retriever Whats Your Goal? program. For their efforts, as a group they earned $1,000 for their place of worship from Abitibi Paper Retriever.

What's Your Goal? challenged participants to reach established recycling goals that represent increases of at least 20 percent over past rates. The contest ran from April 1 through Aug. 31.

A new support group, "A Time to Grieve, A Time to Heal", will be forming at St. Peter Lutheran Church, 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights. It will meet for seven weeks on Mondays from 7-8:15 p.m. beginning Oct. 22. This support group is for people dealing with losses in their life. To register or for information, call the church office, (847) 259-4114, ext. 133.

First Presbyterian Church, Arlington Heights, will offer the Grief Share Support Group seminars on Monday evenings beginning this week and running for 13 weeks. Professionally produced videotapes will be used to assist those who have lost loved ones. For more information or to register, call Paul Nordskog at (847) 222-0392.

St. Colette Church, 3900 Meadow Drive, Rolling Meadows, is holding its Fall Blood Drive from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 7. Life Source will be in Halpin Hall to collect pints of blood. A donor must be at least 18 years old (16 with parental permission). Please refrain from coffee that morning but eat a good breakfast and be sure to drink plenty of water. For details or to schedule an appointment, call Kathy at (847) 255-2471 or Jean at (847) 392-0842. Walk-ins are also welcome.

Performances

Enjoy noontime organ concerts this fall played on First Presbyterian Church's 45-rank Schantz organ, at 302 N. Dunton Ave. in Arlington Heights. Eleven church organists will participate in the weekly series of concerts from 12:10 to 12:45 p.m. on the following Wednesdays: Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28; and Dec. 5. For more information: www.fpcah.org.

Special services

Missions Sunday will be celebrated during the 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship service, Sunday, at the Congregational United Church of Christ, 1001 W. Kirchoff Road, Arlington Heights. "Generous Spirit" is the sermon theme as members celebrate the local church's mission commitments in both financial support and hands on activities. Church School will be held during this service. Visitors are welcome. Check www.CongUCC.org or call (847) 392-6650 for information.

The people of Harvest Bible Chapel are inviting their neighbors to church this week. This unprecedented outreach includes mailing nearly 200,000 postcards, a billboard on I-90, more than 25,000 personal invitations, and ads on the back of 25 PACE buses and five bus shelters. This campaign will culminate this morning, with nearly 1,000 people going door-to-door in the neighborhoods surrounding their campuses in Rolling Meadows, Elgin, Niles, and Crystal Lake.

A new 2,200-seat worship center is opening in Elgin Sunday, with services at 9 and 11:15 a.m.

For more information, go to harvestbiblechapel.org or e-mail ssmith@harvestbible.org.

Women's programs

A new Mothers of Preschoolers group is starting this fall at Arlington Countryside Church in Arlington Heights. MOPS meetings provide a friendly and fun place for mothers to relax, encourage and learn from one another about how to handle this rewarding, but sometimes tough time in their lives.

During a typical MOPS meeting moms enjoy food, adult conversation, interesting speakers and creative activities. While moms are meeting, their children are divided into age-appropriate groups and enjoy stories, games, crafts, singing and other activities.

MOPS is for any woman who is either expecting her first child or has at least one child in kindergarten or younger.

Arlington Countryside Church MOPS meets every first and third Thursday. September through May from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Arlington Countryside Church is at 916 E. Hintz Road Arlington Heights.

For information, call (847) 255-2140, e-mail mops@acchurch.org or visit the Web site at www.acchurch.org/mops.

"Fair Trade: Who's, What's, and Why's" will be the topic of the Monday forum meeting of Church Women United in Northwest Cook County. The meeting will begin at 9:15 a.m. with fairly traded coffee, tea, and cocoa, at the Christian Church of Arlington Heights, 333 W. Thomas. No preregistration is necessary. For directions, call Gail Radtke, (847) 255-2977.

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