Grace Covenant Church of Oak Ridge will serve its regular third Thursday community meal on Thursday, December 17, from 5-6 p.m.
The menu includes Honey Baked ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, congealed salad, and dessert.
The meal is free, and all members of the community are welcome. Please park in the church’s upper parking lot at 320 Robertsville Road, and follow the sidewalk to the Social Hall on the lower level.
Disabled parking only is available in the lower parking lot.
Sharon Youngs
The holiday season can be difficult for many folks. It can be marked by sadness and disappointment. The color of Christmas for some is blue, not “merry and bright,” red and green.
Recognizing this truth, the staff of First Presbyterian Church (Oak Ridge Turnpike at Lafayette Drive) will hold the third annual Service of Memory and Hope on Tuesday, December 8, at 6:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary.
The service will provide comforting words and music for those who find the holiday season difficult.
In addition, “Everyone who desires a quiet, reflective worship experience will find it in this service,” said the Rev. Sharon Youngs, church pastor.
“It is a helpful way to remember loved ones who are no longer with us, to gather strength for present challenges and to simply be still in the midst of a bustling, frantic season,” Youngs said.
The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Annual Holiday Craft Fair will be held on Sunday, December 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.
A tradition in the community and a holiday favorite, the Craft Fair has become a source of inspiration and a place of diversity for those “one of a kind” gifts on one’s gift giving list, a press release said. Featured will be work of some of the region’s finest artisans working with glass, clay, wood, quilts, and other hand sewn items, and photographs.
A percentage of the sales will benefit the Senior High class. The class will hold a fund raiser lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For more information call the ORUUC church office at (865) 483-6761.
Kern Church will host its annual Alternative Gift Fair Saturday, Dec. 5, in conjunction with the UMW Bake Sale/Mini-Bazaar. Thelma Douglass, center, will bake her famous apple stack cake. Beautiful Fair Trade items such as the scarves worn by Debbie Shope, left, and Ashley Lockridge, right, will be offered for sale, and Santa, back, will be available for free pictures. (Submitted photo)
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Kern United Methodist Church will hold its annual Alternative Gift Fair Saturday, December 5, in the church’s Family Life Center from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
“Shop the World Gifts” of Englewood, Tennessee, a Fair Trade ministry, will have booths full of beautiful, useful gifts for everyone on your list. Fair Trade is a global ministry that has been fighting world poverty and hunger successfully for more than 60 years. They help some of the poorest people in the world…third world artisans who certainly are among “the least of these.” These artisans have been blessed with tremendous artistic ability but have no market for their products. Every purchase makes a difference. By bringing these handmade creations (e.g., jewelry, purses, pottery, woven goods, baskets, table linens, musical instruments, shawls, scarves, skirts, etc.) to their customers, “Shop the World Gifts” helps these artisans feed and educate their children and build better lives. Their customers benefit by receiving a unique quality product at a reasonable price, knowing there was no forced or child labor involved and that the product was made in an environmentally sustainable manner.
At the Heifer International booth, shoppers may choose to donate farm animals to help families around the world become self-reliant. In honor of Heifer, a live llama will visit Kern Church during the Alternative Gift Fair. Your favorite Fair Trade Equal Exchange coffees and chocolates will be available for purchase. Local programs that serve people in our community and beyond will also have items for sale. All proceeds go to support ministries and programs for people in need. [Read more…]
Sherith Colverson
Sherith Colverson, senior planner for the City of Oak Ridge, will discuss the changing demographics of Oak Ridge at the Women’s Interfaith Dialogue meeting on Monday, November 2, at 11 a.m. The program will be held in the social hall of Grace Covenant Church, Trinity Center, 320 Robertsville Road.
Colverson will focus on the historical and current demographics of the city, a press release said. In a synopsis of her presentation, she said that these demographics tell the story of how Oak Ridge has changed, “both in form and function, throughout the past seven-and-a-half decades.”
She will also discuss how the city’s current demographics can help shape the future of our neighborhoods. Colverson said she is also very interested in ideas of how to gain more involvement from all citizens in the future social and structural development of the city. [Read more…]
Barbara Tolbert
By Carolyn Krause
Human trafficking—forcing people into sex acts or labor against their will—is a growing threat to children, students, and young adults worldwide. It’s present throughout Tennessee and our nation, regardless of economic, social, or racial background.
Teens who run away from abusive homes and those enticed to leave “good” homes by promises of a fun job or an exciting time may become victims of sex trafficking. Other youths are “rented out” as prostitutes or sold into sex slavery by their own parents, especially those addicted to drugs or challenged by economic stress.
Some 300,000 American kids are estimated to be victims, or at risk of becoming victims, of the multibillion-dollar sex trafficking industry. [Read more…]
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Grace Covenant Church of Oak Ridge will serve its regular third Thursday community meal on Thursday, October 15, from 5-6 p.m.
The menu calls for creamy baked chicken, rice, salad, and dessert.
The meal is free, and all members of the community are welcome.
Please park in the church’s upper parking lot at 320 Robertsville Road, and follow the sidewalk to the Social Hall on the lower level, a press release said. Disabled parking only is available in the lower parking lot.
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Bargain hunters have come to rely on the low prices for much-needed or desired items at the upcoming Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Rummage Sale. It will be held Friday, October 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, October 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ORUUC is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. Proceeds raised will help to support various ministries of the church.
Along with the necessities such as linens, kitchenware, small appliances, furniture, home décor items, clothing, shoes, and accessories for the entire family, there will be DVDs, CDs, children’s books, baby items, toys, tools, athletic equipment, plants, low-cost computers, and other electronic devices, all in working order.
Silent auction items including a work bench with a lathe, drill press, and grinder; table saws; pianos; and a brass bed frame. The Boutique will feature art, designer wear, and collectibles. Prices are doubled on Friday evening for the preview sale.
“Being advocates for recycling and repurposing, this sale saves items from loading our landfills, and instead finds a home with someone who can reuse it.” said Betsy Bauer, who for more than two decades has been the sale organizer.
For more information call the Church office at (865) 483-6761.
The 65th Annual St. Mary’s Fall Festival is this weekend.
“The public is welcomed and wholeheartedly invited to join us,” a press release said. “We will be celebrating this tradition and community celebration the weekend of October 16-17, and we look for the turnout to be the best yet!”
The festivities begin on Friday, October 16, with the Knights of Columbus Spaghetti Dinner kicking off at 5 p.m. The dinner will be held in the family life center/Columbus Hall until 7 p.m., with “take out dinners” available.
“The most exciting part of Friday evening is the live auction that begins at 7 p.m.,” the release said. “Attendees thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to bid on those prized items! Some up for bid this year are date nights and family fun packages, artwork, vintage glass and silver serving pieces, exercise equipment including a bow flex and elliptical, living room, bedroom, dining and outdoor furniture, handmade quilts and afghans, jewelry, golf clubs, and a craftsman 42” riding mower. And this is to name just a few!” [Read more…]
Erica Buchhammer, music therapist (Submitted photo)
“Music Therapy and Mental Health” is the topic for the Mental Health Ministry program to be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, October 17, at Grace Lutheran Church.
The presenter, certified music therapist Erica Buchhammer, will discuss and demonstrate with numerous musical instruments how music may be used in the treatment of individuals challenged by mental illness or other health issues.
In her synopsis about the presentation, Buchhammer describes music therapy as “a psychotherapeutic method that uses musical interaction as a means of communication and expression, with the goal of developing relationships and addressing issues where words alone may not suffice.”
A part of the presentation will be interactive, demonstrating the various categories of music activities used in the therapy from listening and responding to playing and composing to movement, recreation and relaxation, or combined with other expressive arts. [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: We are including this column on our news page in addition to our opinion page because it includes information about upcoming community forums.
Last November, a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown. Given the many strong feelings all over the country, several clergy in Oak Ridge decided to address our community. In our public statement, we called for “inspiration, perspiration, and collaboration” in our shared efforts for racial justice. We concluded, “We, the faith community, look forward to partnering in 2015 to foster holistic, long-term, and systemic solutions to the complex set of social, economic, and community challenges that plague our great society.”
In the 11 months since, painful conversations about race across our country have continued in Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; and even now, in Oak Ridge.
This summer, the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church began to display a message on its electronic Oak Ridge Turnpike sign, which reads, “Black Lives Matter.” Given the national scope of this slogan, people have taken this to mean different things. Some have responded, “All lives matter,” while others have answered with, “Police lives matter.” One thing is sure: It has stirred conversation and fostered what Martin Luther King Jr. called “a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” [Read more…]
