Marcie Cohen Ferris, assistant professor of American Studies at UNC and associate director of the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, will present a lecture on "Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Passover Tales of the Jewish South" tonight at 7 p.m. at the Beth El Synagogue, 1004 Watts St., Durham.

Ferris is the author of "Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South," which was nominated for the 2006 James Beard Foundation Award. Ferris' research and teaching focus on the intersection of food and culture, and she has written extensively on how food, culture and identity are intertwined for the Jews of the American South.

Following the lecture, a Kosher-for-Passover wine tasting will be presented by Seth Gross and Craig Heffley, co-owners of Wine Authorities of Durham.

This lecture is made possible by a grant from the Charles H. Revson foundation in honor of Eli N. Evans and the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is free and open to the public.

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.

The Handbells/Brass will play at the 8:45 a.m. service and the Chancel Choir will sing at the 11 a.m. service. Church School for all ages is at 10 am.

Theologian and artist Charles McCullough will give a presentation on "The Art of Parables: Reinterpreting the Teaching Stories of Jesus in Word and Form" Sunday at 10 a.m. Using a power-point presentation and showing several of his parable sculptures, McCollough will help offer new interpretations of the New Testament parables.

People wishing to learn more about United Church of Chapel Hill will meet with the pastors between the two worship services in the Assembly Hall Sunday at 10 a.m.

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

Ray McGinnis, a United Church of Canada minister and the author of "Writing the Sacred Psalm," will offer the workshop "A Write Way to Wellness" Monday at 7 p.m.

The workshops will explore how qualities such as love, forgiveness and compassion can accompany the healing process.

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 http://www.unitedchurch.org.

Professorship to be named for alumnus

A $1.5 million distinguished professorship in Jewish studies at UNC will be named in honor of alumnus Stuart E. Eizenstat, who served as the lead negotiator for Holocaust reparation agreements and deputy secretary of the treasury during the Clinton administration.

The Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat Distinguished Professorship in Jewish History and Culture will be in the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies in UNC's College of Arts and Sciences.

Eizenstat helped acquire more than $8 billion in compensation from European companies for victims of the Holocaust and Nazi era. His book, "Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor and the Unfinished Business of World War II," tells about securing property restitution, insurance payments and reclamation of looted art and bank accounts.

David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group in Washington, D.C., has pledged $500,000 to help establish the UNC professorship.

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.

Christian Education on Sunday will begin at 10:20 a.m. with poetry readings focusing on the Easter season. Participants are invited to bring their own poems to share.

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

The Centering Prayer Group will meet on April 2 at 5 p.m. in the parish house.

Episcopal Campus Ministry will meet Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The group will tour the Ackland Art Museum to study religious art, and afterward will meet at Spanky's for hors d'oeuvres.

A social hour begins at 12:20 p.m. each Sunday, following the 11:15 a.m. service.

See hhttp://www.thechapelofthecross.org or call 929-2193.

Series to study meaning of Methodism

The Rev. Verson Tyson leads a series called "What Does It Mean to Be a Methodist Christian in 2008" on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at Amity United Methodist Church, 825 Estes Drive. The series will continue through April 29.

Sunday worship service is at 11 a.m. with a special Children's Time during the service. Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m.

The Youth group meets Sundays at 5 p.m., and has Bible Study on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. at Starbucks on Franklin Street.

For information call 967-7546 or see amityumc.org.

Bible Church presents women's conference

Dee Brestin will be the featured speaker at a one-day women's conference hosted by Chapel Hill Bible Church, 260 Erwin Road, Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Brestin is a speaker and author. For information about her, see http://www.deebrestin.com. For information or to register see http://www.biblechurch.org.

Services, events at Unity Center

Sunday services at the Unity Center of Peace Church, 8800 Seawell School Road, 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 facilitates Jewish Erev Shabbat services on the last Friday of each month. The service begins at 7:30 p.m. and includes chanting, Hebrew prayers and music.

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

The Course in Miracles continues on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and on Sundays at 7:30 p.m.

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

Sunday services at Advent Lutheran

The Sunday service at Advent Lutheran Church, 230 Erwin Road, begins at 10:25 a.m. Bible Classes for adults and children begin at 9:05 a.m.

For information, call 968-7690 or see http://www.adventlutheranch.org.

ERUUF schedules dream workshops

Dreams as a way to understand ourselves is the subject of a public lecture and two workshops on April 4 and 5 at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4907 Garrett Road, Durham.

The Rev. Jeremy Taylor will be the lecturer and facilitator. Taylor is the author of "Dream Work" and a co-founder and past president of the Association for the Study of Dreams. Based in San Francisco, he teaches at area universities and seminaries and leads workshops all over the world.

The April 4 lecture, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., is titled "Why Do We Dream?" Taylor will discuss why we dream, why dreams matter and how they can help us to understand ourselves. Child care will be available by request for this event only.

On April 5 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Taylor will conduct a beginner's workshop on "Working with Dreams." A presentation of the basic principles for dream interpretation in a collective context will be followed by dream work with individual workshop participants.

An intermediate workshop with Taylor titled "The Next Level" concludes the series from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. This workshop is for those who have taken a previous workshop with Taylor or who practice projective dream work. Taylor will discuss dream archetypes, the transpersonal dream and the numinous dream, among other topics.

To register or for more information, contact office@eruuf.org or 489-2575. To learn more about the Rev. Jeremy Taylor, go to www.jeremytaylor.com