First Baptist Church, 106 N. Roberson St., will recognize the season of Lent on Wednesday nights through March 12.

Services will begin at 7 p.m. The First Baptist associate ministers will deliver the evening message.

For information, call 942-2552.

Lighthouse Baptist welcomes new pastor

The Rev. Ralph L. Neal has been named lead pastor at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Chatham County.

Neal, a native of Carrboro, attended Bob Jones University and served as pastor at Centerville Baptist Church in South Boston, Va.

For information, call (704) 214-1983.

Services, events at Binkley Baptist

Binkley Baptist Church, 1712 Willow Drive, holds regular worship services each Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Church school starts at 9:30 a.m.

The Contemplative Prayer Group meets each Monday morning in the Binkley chapel at 9:15 a.m.

Spring Adult Christian Classes are held each Sunday through May at 9:30 a.m. Classes include "Re-Thinking Basic Beliefs," "An Active Faith in Daily Life," "Emmaus Class," and "Learning About the Twelve Steps."

The Lenten Art Display, featuring a variety of symbolic trees from the Celtic Christian tradition of seeing the sacred in nature, will continue through Lent in the sanctuary.

"Exploring Incarnation," a workshop for women only, will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. Sliding fee scale is $25-$40. Today is the deadline to register. Forms are available at www.binkleychurch.org.

The Chancel Choir meets tonight at 7:30.

Binkley Readers meets Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will discuss "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison.

For information, call 942-4964, or visit www.binkleychurch.org.

Lecture scheduled on 'Spiritual ID'

Sarah Hyatt, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, will give a lecture titled "Spiritual ID: The Key to Freedom" on Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Wesley Foundation, 214 Pittsboro St.

For information, call 942-3372.

Series on Buddhism to begin tonight

The series "Introduction to Buddhism" will be presented Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9 p.m. through March 5 at Piedmont KTC Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center, 35 Perkins Drive off Weaver Dairy Road. Call 933-2138 or see http://www.piedmontktc.org. 933-2138.

Quilt exhibit at Community Church

An exhibit called "Layer Upon Layer: Art Quilts" by Scott Murkin, a nationally acclaimed quilt artist, teacher and judge from Asheboro, is on display at the Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist through Feb. 27.

The church is at 106 Purefoy Road. For information, call 942-2050.

Services, events at United Church

Sunday worship services at the United Church of Chapel Hill, 1321 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., are held at 8:45 and 11 a.m.

Sunday's services will feature storyteller Frank Boyd. The Children's Choir and Handbell Choir will play at the 8:45 a.m. service. The Youth Music and Drama Team will sing at the 11 a.m. service. Church school for all ages begins at 10 a.m.

Iglesia Unida, the Spanish language worship service, will be held at 11 a.m. in the new assembly hall in the west wing of the building.

The February Follies variety show will be held Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Kate Svajian will lead "Just Eating," an exploration of the sense of justice around food, Sunday at 6 p.m.

The Monday noon book group is reading Stephen Finlan's "Problems with Atonement." Copies of the book are available at the church for $12.

The Lenten Series begins today and includes sessions on faith questions, economic justice, grief, transformation, children's faith practices and wood carving. Sessions begin with a meal at 5:45 p.m., and the programs are from 6:30 to 7:30.

Sermon Shaping meetings are held every Wednesday at 7 a.m. in the library. One of the pastors leads a look at the lectionary texts for the next Sunday.

For information call 942-3540 or see www.unitedchurch.org.

Workshop on shamanism set

Victoria Johnson, senior staff member of the Four Winds Society, Healing the Light Body School, will lead a workshop on shamanism Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Unity Center of Peace Church, 8800 Seawell School Road.

Johnson is also an acupuncturist and a practitioner of the shamanic arts. She maintains an energy-healing practice in Brevard and teaches with the Four Winds in North and South America. She is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest Law School and the National College of Oriental Medicine.

Sunday services at the Unity Center are from 11 a.m. to noon. The Adult Forum precedes the service each Sunday from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.

Mark Malachi and Barbs Burman will lead a workshop called "Fulfilling Your Heart's Desire: Three Techniques for Discerning Divine Guidance" on Feb. 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. A $50 donation is suggested.

Malachi facilitates Jewish Erev Shabbat services on the last Friday of each month. The service begins at 7:30 p.m.

A healing circle meets weekly on Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Call 968-1854 or see www.unitychapelhill.org.

Services held at Advent Lutheran

Sunday services will begin at 10:25 a.m. at Advent Lutheran Church, 230 Erwin Road. Classes for all ages begin at 9 a.m.

Lenten devotions will be every Wednesday through March 19. Soup suppers will be at 6:15 p.m., followed by services at 7 p.m. Choir practice follows.

Call 968-7690.

Services, events at Chapel of the Cross

Sunday services at Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, 304 E. Franklin St., will include Holy Eucharist at 7:30, 9 and 11:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. A service of Sung Compline will be held at 9:30 p.m. in the church.

A brief service of evening prayer will be in the chapel Monday and Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. A special service for people with developmental disabilities will be held in the church on Monday at 7 p.m.

Adult Education on Sunday will begin at 10:20 a.m. with the second in a series of presentations titled "Reviewing the Baptismal Covenant." The Educational Stewardship Committee will focus on a "carbon fast" by offering a computer analysis of carbon emissions and providing resources to decrease carbon emissions.

The weekly Tuesday morning Bible study will meet Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. in the parish library. This self-led study welcomes newcomers.

An adult inquirers' class for those wishing to join the Episcopal Church or learn more about it will meet Monday from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Centering Prayer Groups will meet Monday at 10 a.m. and Feb. 20 at 5:15 p.m. in the parish house.

Lenten programs for adults include a four-part series on Mondays called "Christological Highs and Lows: A Theological Exploration of the Christology in the Gospel of John," a six-week Christian yoga class and lectio divina prayer groups using passages unique to John's gospel. Registration forms are available in the parish dining room and the office.

The Short Story Reading Group will meet on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss "The Jilting of Grandma Weatherall" by Katherine Anne Porter. Reading with a View to Spirituality, a book study group that meets during the Lent and Advent seasons, will meet for brown-bag lunch and discussion on Feb. 23 from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the parish library. The group will discuss "The Ascent to Truth" by Thomas Merton.

Episcopal Campus Ministry will meet Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the campus center for dinner, fellowship, and worship.

See www.thechapelofthecross.org or call 929-2193.

Bereavement group meets on Mondays

UNC Hospitals' Bereavement Support Services is offering a community grief recovery group that will meet at the United Church of Chapel Hill on Mondays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. through March 10.

The group is free and open to anyone grieving a death regardless of faith background. For information or to enroll, contact Heidi Gessner, UNC bereavement coordinator, at 966-0716 or hgessner@unch.unc.edu.