Staten Island Advance Religion News

Announcements, news & more from local congregations

• Interfaith observance planned for World AIDS Day Monday
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islanders will gather in Port Richmond Monday evening to observe World AIDS Day 2008.

• Salem Church says 'Merry Christmas' with its Live Nativity
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Salem Church will present its Live Nativity beginning Friday outside the West Brighton church.

• New book service with a Jewish focus
Survival Through Education, a Willowbrook-based group that believes Jewish education is key to Jewish survival, has announced the formation of a Jewish Book of the Month Club.

• Catholic Charities leading a coat drive
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York and Staten Island's Republican City Council members are conducting a winter coat drive for adults and children.

• Daughters of St. Paul look ahead to an interactive future
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Time doesn't march on anymore; it races like a 100-meter sprinter going for a new world's record.

• Faith communities to come together for Thanksgiving
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island will host an "Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration" Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Temple Emanu-El in Port Richmond.

• Hanukkah Boutique at Arden Heights
Arden Heights Boulevard Jewish Center will host a Hanukkah Boutique from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday in the synagogue at 1766 Arden Ave.

• With a little help from his friends
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The pink walls date back to when the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Girls' School was in residence some 15 years ago.

• Daughters of Divine Charity honor the Lay Associates
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Mary Jane Truckenbrodt was the first one invited.

• Discussion of human trafficking Tuesday at Wagner College
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A discussion on human trafficking and what ordinary people can do to help end it will take place Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Wagner College's Spiro Hall.

• Imagine 2,276 shoeboxes filled with love, and toys
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Once again, Calvary Chapel in Mariners Harbor will collect shoeboxes full of small gifts for Operation Christmas Child, which will distribute the boxes to needy children all over the world.

• Staten Island Hindus hear 'message of the scripture'
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Members of the Staten Island Hindu Temple heard a story Sunday about the power of music.

• Independent films to be shown Sunday and Monday at JCC
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As part of its Fall Film Marathon, the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community center will show two independent films and two short films Sunday and Monday.

• Youth Group Social at Temple Israel
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Youth Group Shabbat Social will follow the 8 p.m. service this evening at Temple Israel Reform Congregation.

• Center for Jewish History plans talk on faith and 2008 election
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Three observers of religion in America will meet Tuesday in Manhattan to share their observations about the historic election of Barack Obama in a forum titled "The Pulpit and the Bully Pulpit: Religion in the 2008 Presidential Election."

• Woodrow Church to commemorate Asbury's historic visit
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In 1771, when settlers in the New World needed some reassurance that God was in their midst, the English preacher Francis Asbury came to America. Peter Van Pelt, a resident of Staten Island, heard Asbury preach in Philadelphia and invited him to come to the Island.

• Nov. 18 Lecture to focus on 'Becoming a Spiritual Synagogue'
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- "Becoming a Spiritual Synagogue in a Post-Ethnic Era" will be the topic of a lecture by Rabbi Dr. Lawrence Hoffman at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 in Wagner College's Spiro Hall.

• Obama's win gives all Americans right to be themselves
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In his acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential nomination this past summer, then-Sen. Barack Obama said, "This election has never been about me. It's been about you." He was right.