A UNIFY 2009 free rock music festival is being held from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, at Tomlinson Park in Williamstown.
UNIFY is not your typical church sing-along, according to organizer Melinda Stabler. She said it offers a chance for people from every segment of society to come together in an atmosphere of non-judgmental love and community.
"This is really good, really relevant music with a message that will speak to everyone, whether you go to church or not or even whether you believe in Jesus or not," said UNIFY emcee Joe Webb. "It's about people connecting with each other."
Four area bands will be performing throughout the afternoon. They are Redemption's Mirror, led by Jared Bryant, with cover songs and their own material; Cody Parman and the FBCW Praise Band, with contemporary praise music; PORTAL, an eight-member band with songs from their two CDs, along with well-known hits; and Dave Queen and his band Frequency, with hard-driving, riff-filled renditions of current hits.
Those attending should take chairs or blankets and a picnic lunch. There will also be free face painting by the Marietta High School Key Club, air brush tattooing, cornhole and volleyball. Pizza, soft drinks and water will be available for sale, along with some band CDs.
The event is being sponsored by the Mid-Ohio Valley Emmaus Community and is dedicated to reaching out to the community with love and music. The concert is the first of what organizers say they hope will be a yearly event.
The event was organized as a way of providing free family Christian entertainment that is contemporary and in line with current Christian music trends.
West African dinner and program planned
A West African dinner and program with Charles "Chip" Pickering will be hosted by the mission commission of First Presbyterian Church in Marietta on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the church at 501 Fourth St.
Dinner will be served at 6 p.m., followed by a PowerPoint presentation by Pickering at 6:30 p.m.
Pickering recently returned from his third trip to the Phebe Hospital and the medical clinics in Bong County, Liberia, West Africa, where he helped provide power and refrigeration to remote health clinics. Bringing in refrigeration to the clinics in Bong County enabled the health care people there to store vaccinations which, in turn, were given to the children to protect them from diseases such as measles, smallpox and hepatitis.
The public is invited to attend the dinner and program. Reservations are not needed to attend the program, but those wishing to attend the dinner are asked to call the church office to make a reservation. There will be a freewill offering to cover the cost of the meal.
For more information or dinner reservations: 373-1800.
Calais to celebrate Homecoming 2009
Calais Church at 29880 Miltonsburg Calais Road, Calais, will be celebrating its Homecoming 2009 on Sunday, Aug. 23.
Sunday school begins at 9:30 a.m. and morning worship is at 10:30 a.m. After the morning worship service, the church will have dinner on the grounds.
There will also be an afternoon service at 2 p.m. with Pastor Myron Guiler, who was the third pastor of the church, speaking. Special music will be presented by members of Calais Church and others from the area.
The church was originally organized as a Methodist church in 1876. In the 1950s it organized as an independent Baptist church after the Methodist conference withdrew. Thirteen pastors have served the church over the past years.
For some years, Calais Church was part of the three church itinerate work that included Beaver Baptist Church and East Sunsbury Baptist Church. One pastor covered the services of all three ministries.
Pastor Stan Anderson, the current church pastor, invites everyone to attend all services during the homecoming celebration.
Send church news to Janet Gossett in care of The Marietta Times, P.O. Box 635, Marietta, Ohio 45750. Information can also be e-mailed to jgossett@mariettatimes.com, faxed to (740) 376-5475 or submitted through the Virtual Newsroom on the Times' Web site, www.MariettaTimes.com. Deadline for information for the Focus on Faith page is noon Tuesday each week for that Saturday's edition.
