Chapel Hill's annual CROP Walk for Hunger is set for Sunday, March 22, with step off at 2:30 p.m. from Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m.

Organized by the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service in partnership with Church World Service, the walk raises funds to feed the hungry, both locally and around the world. Last year, Chapel Hill had about 700 walkers and raised $60,000.

Walkers will make their way through the streets of Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the UNC campus. A new feature this year is a two-mile course in addition to the four-mile course which participants typically walk.

"This is the 23rd year that community members will join together to raise money to address hunger," said Chris Moran, executive director of the IFC. "Over the past 22 years, we have raised more than a million dollars to fight hunger both in our community and throughout the world. IFC is seeing significant increases in the demand for our services due to the economy. So it's more important than ever to have a record number of participants and sponsors to help us raise money to help keep our Food Pantry fully stocked."

Seventy-five percent of money raised goes to Church World Service, a nonprofit established in 1946 to fund global hunger education, refugees, disaster relief and self-help projects in more than 80 countries. The remaining 25 percent stays in the Carrboro-Chapel Hill area to support the IFC's hunger-relief programs, including the Community Kitchen and Food Pantry.

Church World Service is stepping up its humanitarian forces in Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of people face a severe food shortage and are not assured of even one meal a day. CWS is working to provide food, shelter, potable water, sanitation and long term help in the hardest hit Afghan provinces. No other organization is consistently providing this desperately needed help, said Mary Catherine Hinds at the CWS office in Durham

Community members who are interested in walking invite friends, businesses, organizations and employers to sponsor them with contributions before the walk. High school students can also get service learning hours by participating. Walkers include IFC clients and residents who walk with a group called the "IFC Striders." After the walk, all participants are invited to return to the town commons for refreshments provided by UNC Health Care and EVOS.

Contact Shannon Gigliotti, organizer of this year's walk, for more information at 929-6380, ext. 20, or cropwalk@ifcmailbox.org or visit www.ifcweb.org.

CROP Walks also are held in other communities, including Durham. Last year the Durham walk had about 4,000 walkers and raised $190,000.

Parish Mission reaches out

The Catholic Community of St. Thomas More is hosting a Parish Mission from Saturday, March 21, to Tuesday, March 24, with sessions intended to encourage Catholics to be more active in reaching out to others, and for any who may have been separated from the church but who are considering a renewal of their faith.

Evening sessions on Sunday through Tuesday from 7 to 8:15 p.m. will be led by Father Ed Nowak, director for vocations of the Paulist Fathers in New York City, and Kim Balbach, founder of "The Women at the Well" ministry. Discussion will center on prayer, social justice and how to become more fully alive in one's own faith and how to freely share one's faith with others.

Father John Durbin of St. Thomas More said he hopes people who have not been to church in some time will attend at least one of these sessions. All are welcome, he said.

"Lent has been a traditional time for people to think more seriously about their relationship with God and church," he said.

"I don't think I've ever had a Lenten-Easter season when someone didn't mention that they came back to church because of the season," he said. "Perhaps it's the awakening of spring and the newness of it all that makes us wants to be new or new again in our own lives."

For more information, call the church at 942-6221.

New pastor will serve at Binkely

Binkley Memorial Baptist has called the Rev. Peter Carman as its new minister. He will begin his work at the church on May 15.

Carman is now senior minister at Lake Avenue Baptist in Rochester, N.Y. He and his wife, the Rev. Lynn Carman Bodden, have lived in Rochester for 16 years with their sons, Luke and Benjamin.

During his tenure in Rochester, his church became welcoming and affirming to people of differing sexual orientations and has been deliberate in seeking to become more fully multi-racial and muti-cultural. The church was recently a focal point in welcoming several hundred refugees from Burma. Carman also served on the Rochester Commission on Christian Muslim Relations, which has been active in forming partnerships for the revitalization of an urban neighborhood. He has a longstanding concern with issues of peace and justice.

Carman was born in South India to a Dutch mother and an American father. He was raised in India and the metropolitan Boston area. He is a graduate of Haverford College and Yale Divinity School. He has served churches in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Film addresses religion, sexuality

On Sunday, March 22, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Hillsborough will present a screening of the documentary "For the Bible Tells Me So." Through the experiences of five average Christian American families the film reveals how people of faith handle the realization that someone they love, a child or other family member, is gay. The film also delves into what the Bible says about homosexuality.

The screening at 12:30 p.m. is open to the public. Subway sandwiches will be available at cost. The church is located at 1710 Old N.C. 10.

Lenten suppers include dramas

Mid-week Lenten soup suppers and devotions are continuing on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m. at Advent Lutheran Church, 230 Erwin Road.

The devotions include a short drama centered on a two-person encounter of biblical characters in the time between the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection. The dramas are from a series of short plays titled "Encounters Before the Dawn" by Keith Madsen.

Today, the encounter is between Mary the mother of Jesus and John, the son of Zebedee, and is titled "This Cross Has Made Us Family."

The encounter on Wednesday, March 25, will be "Right There in Front of Me," between Pilate and his wife. On April 1 the encounter will be "When We Had No Hope," between Mary and Martha."

All are welcome.

Buddhist session offers meditation

This year's Tantric Empowerment! is planned for Saturday, March 21, at the Buddhist Center of Carrboro and Chapel Hill, 711 W. Rosemary St., Suite C, in Carrboro.

Ordained Buddhist monk and teacher Gen Kelsang Tilopa will provide the Empowerment of Prajnaparamita.

Prajnaparamita is the female Buddha who is the embodiment of Wisdom. An empowerment is a blissful guided meditation through which one receives a Buddha's inspiring blessings. These blessings can help develop wisdom.

Gen Tilopa will guide participants in the brief practice of Prajnaparmita self enlightenment. This event is an introduction for those new to Vajrayana teachings.

Everyone is welcome. The retreat runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $55, $28 for students and seniors.