Tuesdays, Starting 1/8, 6 pm Potluck, 7 pm Book Study, Peace Community Church

This new book is a short, easy read about prayer. It's on "three essential prayers" and we'll be sharing a lot of our own experiences and responding to hers. Sponsored by Peace Community Church.

CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY CELEBRATION

Friday, 1/11, 7 p.m., First Church in Oberlin (UCC)

Crash (rated R) in one section of the church and The Lorax (rated PG) in another area. On Wednesday, 1/16, the Adult Education program will be a discussion of Crash. Folks are invited to attend either film. Popcorn and beverages will be provided. Below you will find descriptions of each film. We hope you join us for a fun night at the movies, First Church style.

Crash (2004): Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss, and redemption. A raw and unsettling morality piece on modern angst and urban disconnect, Crash examines the dangers of bigotry and xenophobia in the lives of interconnected Angelenos. Length, 1 hour + 52 minutes

The Lorax (2012), based on Dr. Seuss's book. In the movie, the main character, Ted, goes in search of a Truffula Tree to impress the girl he likes. In the process he meets the Onceler and learns about the Lorax, a creature who speaks for the trees. Come watch this amazing movie and learn that "UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." Length, 1 hour + 26 minutes.

SHAMANIC JOURNEYING

Saturday, 2/9, 6 pm, First Church in Oberlin, 106 N. Main Street

Oberlin's SEPA (Santa Elena Project of Accompaniment) will hold its annual Guatemalan dinner featuring Latin American fare with a live dessert auction following. A highlight of the evening will be a presentation by the Oberlin College and Community travel delegation, led by SEPA Board member John Gates, who will have just returned from a three-week teaching-and-learning experience in Guatemala. Individual tickets for the event are $10; family tickets (including 2 adults and children under 12) are available for $25. Tickets may be purchased until 2/4 at Ben Franklin (13 West College Street) or by contacting SEPA Board members Lori Taylor (774-8171) or Sue Simonson (774-8220). All proceeds from the evening support scholarships, teachers and projects in the Guatemalan communities of Santa Elena and Copal AA. To learn more, visit www.obsepa.org. 

Lutheran Volunteer Corps (LVC) is a community of faith that unites people to work for peace with justice. LVC matches volunteers with full-time positions in social justice organizations for one year in one of 14 U.S. cities. LVC volunteers commit to three core practices: building community, working for social justice and living simply and sustainably. When you join LVC,

your talent, strength and imagination will be valued in our collective struggle for justice. In addition to gaining valuable life and work experience, all volunteers receive health insurance, modest living stipend, two weeks vacation and additional program support. Apply at:

www.lutheranvolunteercorps.org/index.cfm/apply-today. Application Deadline: 1/14

1/25 3-5 and 6:30-8 pm, 1/26 10 am-2 pm (lunch provided), First Church in Oberlin

The English translator of "Drawn to Freedom" Dr. William Rader will facilitate this discussion that will address the role of freedom in the Christian life and the divide between Christians who place different emphases on personal morality or social justice. In his translator's preface, Rader recognizes that while it might seem counterintuitive to use a catechism as a springboard to discuss freedom, he sees Busch's work as a way to answer the question, "Why are you called a Christian?" and is primarily interested in the relevance of the gospel for this "tangled world." Eberhard Busch is best known for his biography of Karl Barth. $10.00 registration fee; $15 for registration and "Drawn to Freedom"; $20 for registration, "Drawn to Freedom" and "The Heidelberg Catechism". RSVP by 1/15 to Jim Deitz ejdeitz@centurytel.net, 988-2714 or Linda Slocum lrslocum@gmail.com, 775-2482.

Tuesdays beginning 2/12

Instructor: Rev. Greg McGonigle

This new course will explore the resources that various religious and philosophical traditions offer in efforts toward environmental sustainability. How do various religious traditions relate with nature or the environment, and the scientific claims that warn of its degradation? What resources exist in cosmology, scripture, theology, philosophy, law, ethics, ritual, mysticism, community, art, music, soteriology, and eschatology that relate to environmental concerns? How can environmentalists be helped to work in partnership with religious communities, and faith communities be motivated to participate in environmental action? The course will involve readings and class discussions about world religions and ecology and, as a community-based learning course, it will also require leadership in an applied community project. Limited to 15.

For more information, please email greg.mcgonigle@oberlin.edu

Illuminating Faith in the Russian Old Believer Tradition (Ripin Print Gallery)

This exhibition draws on the holdings of the AMAM and Oberlin College's Special Collections to present late-18th and early-19th century illuminated manuscript leaves of the Russian Old Believers, a Christian faction that split off from the Russian Orthodox Church in the middle of the 17th century.

The exhibition features art and instruments of ritual Yoruba performance from Nigeria and the broader Yoruba world. The diaspora in the Caribbean, North America, and England has been seminal in the construction of Yoruba ethnic identity, and the exhibition examines commonalities in rituals of divination and the performance of identity through the artwork of Vodun ("Voodoo") ceremonies, Orisha cults, and contemporary artists.

Modern Book Illustrations (Ripin Print Gallery)  This exhibition presents 19th-20th century works from the AMAM collection designed by artists to illustrate texts such as William Blake's Book of Job, Edouard Manet's The Raven, Claire Leighton's Wuthering Heights, and Oskar Kokoschka's King Lear."

Illuminated Manuscripts from Oberlin Collections (Ripin Print Gallery)

Wednesday, 2/13, 12:10 pm, Fairchild Chapel

The Newman Catholic Community will offer Mass and the Imposition of Ashes for Ash Wednesday. All are welcome to attend.

Friday, 3/8, 7:30 pm, King 106

In honor of International Women's Day, Loretta Ross will lecture on Reproductive Justice, Religion, and Human Rights. Ross is co-founder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, a network founded in 1997 comprised of 80 local, regional, and national organizations that focus on reproductive justice for women of color. Sponsored by the Mead Swing Lectureship Fund and the Oberlin Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies.