There will also be the usual sits Saturdays at 10 a.m. (with Jacques) and Sundays at 11 a.m. (with community discussion and/or speakers) in the Asia House Multipurpose Room (in the basement). Sponsored by Oberlin Meditators.

On Saturday, 1/26, a group from Oberlin will be traveling to Lakewood, OH, for a meeting from 11-1 p.m. to meet with the group FRACT. It is a religious coalition of churches and individuals responding to fracking in Ohio. If you want to attend or get more information, contact steve.hammond@oberlin.edu or samrubin25@gmail.com. 

Tuesdays, 1/29-2/12, 7-8:30 pm, Peace Community Church

A three-week study of the book "The Comforting Whirlwind: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation," by Bill McKibben, founder of the environmental organization, 350.org. Bill McKibben has spoken at Oberlin College. It is a three chapter book, and we will read the first chapter before the first meeting. For more information contact Mary.Hammond@oberlin.edu.

Tuesdays, 1/8-1/22, 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

Please join us for a community celebration of The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Voices of a Movement." This program will feature live music and a panel comprised of local voices, sharing their personal stories about the civil rights era in Oberlin. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Office of Community and Government Relations.

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.