The Midlands' response to Katrina’s survivors has been tremendous. The first week of planning, setting up, welcoming, re-arranging, staffing, and providing comprehensive care and services provided a pressure- cooker environment for those called upon to coordinate services at and through the Evacuee Resource Center.

The SC Christian Action Council is coordinating an Inter-religious Pastoral Care presence at the Center and other pastoral services as needed. In this role, the need for a corps of trained and certified Pastoral Crisis Interventionists representing the Midlands’ diverse faith community (and every community seeking to be prepared for a disaster) has been identified.

With two months of 2005's Hurricane Season remaining, we want to develop our trained and certified corps as quickly as possible. To this end the following training is being offered and is open to all Clergy. Space is limited, additional classes will be offered if the need is indicated.

• Pastoral Crisis Intervention Program
• Chaplain Ron Kenyon, SLED, Trainer
• Stavros Lecture Hall, Casey Education Center
• Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary

The Seminary is located at 4201 North Main Street, Columbia. Please call 803.786.5150 or visit www.ltss.edu for directions and campus map.

Normally $275 per person, the training is being offered by Chaplain Kenyon under the auspices of the South Carolina Christian Action Council for $30 per person.

First Class: Thursday-Friday, October 6-7. Thursday: 2:45 – 9:15 PM, bring a “sack” meal. Friday: 12:30 – 7:30 PM, dinner break on your own.

Second Class: Saturdays, October 8 and 15. Schedule both days: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM, lunch break on your own.

We realize the lead time is short. Please join us. It would help our planning if you could call the Council offices 803.786.7115 to register. You may bring the $30 registration fee with you.

October 6-7 and 8-9: Pastoral Crisis Intervention Program Classes. See article above for more information.

October 9: Out of the Darkness Community Walk. Sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Columbia Riverfront Park (entrance at the corner of Huger and Laurel Streets). For more information click here.

October 13: "Corridor of Shame" showing. The Trinity Cathedral in Columbia will be hosting a showing of Corridor of Shame on Oct. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. in Satterlee Hall, which is the original fellowship hall. (The new building is under construction and not yet open.) Parking is available in the parking lot behind the church on Marion as well as along Sumter and Senate. Discussion will follow the showing of the film. All are welcome. Jean Norman is the contact person at jmnorman@bellsouth.net.

October 14: Ten Thousand Villages Opening. Columbia's own Ten Thousand Villages store opens this month at the Forest Park Shopping Center, 4711 Forest Drive. Ten Thousand Villages offers an opportunity to purchase quality and unusual craft products while providing fair income for artisans in developing countries of Africa, Latin America and Asia. If you are interested in volunteering at the store, please contact June Metts, jbmetts@sc.rr.com.

October 20-21: 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The USC Law School will hold two days of symposium events to mark the fortieth anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act. All events are free and open to the public. Please register with Cyndi Nickerson (nickerson@law.sc.edu) to ensure adequate seating and refreshments available at the event. Lawyers seeking Continuing Legal Education Credit for the event must register with the S.C. Bar CLE Division.

Click here for a full schedule of conference events.

October 21-23: National Weekend of Faith in Action. This is an opportunity for people of faith to call on their congregations to pray and act on the issue of the death penalty. Check out People of Faith Against the Death Penalty and Amnesty International USA for information and ideas.

October 23-29: Domestic Violence Awareness Week. South Carolina ranks sixth in the nation for numbers of women killed by abusive partners. In response, ETV has produced a week of programming to promote the awareness of domestic homicide and abuse. Remember My Name is ETV’s Domestic Violence Awareness week sponsored in partnership with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. ETV 's Domestic Violence Awareness Week Schedule.

If you need help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Have other South Carolina community news? Let us know at sccac@bellsouth.net.

The Quixote Center, a non-profit social justice organization, seeks an exceptional, savvy, and experienced organizer to launch our Equal Justice USA (EJUSA) program’s Southeast Field Office. The Quixote Center is on the cutting edge of national and international movements working for structural change in church and society. Our EJUSA program is a recognized leader in the national movement to halt executions and raise public awareness about systemic inequities corrupting the imposition of the death penalty in the United States. Click here for details and job description.