<i>Faith Notes are for announcements and events in the faith community, including special holiday services. Send to reston/herndon@connectionnewspapers.co.m Deadline is Thursday.</i>
Award-winning political commentator and analyst Mark Plotkin is a guest speaker as the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Hazak Chapter at Congregation Beth Emeth on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. Attendance is free to members, $3 for non-members and guests. Light refreshments will be served. Hazak, the conservative Jewish movement’s organization for mature Jews, meet the third Tuesday of each month, from 1-3 p.m., at Congregation Beth Emeth. Meetings are a time to socialize, enjoy light refreshments together and often listen to a guest speaker on a topic of interest to seniors. For further information or to RSVP, please visit www.bethemeth.org or call (703) 860-4515, ext. 101.
Earnest Pugh and Kim and Kelly Butler will perform in Music Explosion ’09, the Reston United Christian Parish music festival on Oct. 24. Proceeds will benefit Graceful Spaces, a nonprofit that provides household furnishings and supplies to clients of Reston Interfaith transitioning from homelessness to housing; and the North County Hypothermia Prevention Program, providing homeless people with indoor sleeping accommodations and hot meals. Also performing: the UCP Adult Choir, Praise Dancers and Bell Choir; Heritage Fellowship Teen Choir; the Washington Plaza Baptist Church choir; Sterling Community Choir Voices of Worship; the choir of Iglesia Bautista Shalom; and the choir of Martin Luther King Church of Reston. Tickets are $20 for the 3 p.m. show and $30 for the 7 p.m. show. www.unitedchristianparish.org
This November, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) will unveil its fall course, SoulQuest: The Journey Through Life, Death, and Beyond. The twin mysteries of life and death have fascinated philosophers and laymen alike since the dawn of time. Many questions have been asked, but far fewer have been answered. Lessons will examine a range of classic Jewish sources, drawing extensively from the Talmud and Kabbalah. Rabbi Fajnland of Chabad will be teaching this course at Chabad of Reston – Herndon for six Tuesdays, starting Nov. 3, 7:30-9 p.m. Potential students are welcome to call (703) 476-1829 for more information.
Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon, is looking for people to sing in a choir. Floris UMC has a season of music including concerts featuring Schubert's "Mass in G Major", Handel's "Messiah" and more. Rehearsal on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and singing most Sunday mornings at the 11 a.m. service. Scott Glysson at sglysson@florisumc.org or 703-793-0026.
Congregation Beth Emeth, 12523 Lawyers Road, Herndon, will host a Yiddish Club on the first Tuesday of each month. Members will engage in a variety of activities that utilize the Yiddish language, including reading stories, listening to music and radio broadcasts, reading Yiddish newspapers and more. Free. Call 703-860-4515, ext. 127.
Every Wednesday, at 12:15 p.m., St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 432 Van Buren St., Herndon, offers a lunch-time Healing and Holy Communion service. This half-hour service is offered to all and allows people an opportunity to worship during the work week when they may be away from their regular church. All baptized Christians are welcome to receive the Sacrament and all who have not been baptized may receive a blessing at the Altar rail. Call the church Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at 703-437-3790 or visit www.saint-timothys.org.
Knitters needed the first and third Wednesdays of the month, at 7 p.m., at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 432 Van Buren St., Herndon. The church's Shawl Ministry is offering free knitting instruction while providing shawls, blankets and other knitted items for people in need. No cost and yarn can be provided. E-mail shawl@saint-timothys.org or visit the Pastoral Care page at www.saint-timothys.org.
Nondenominational Christian businessmen meet for prayer, Biblical discussion and fellowship every Friday, at 7 a.m., at Anita’s, 1051 Elden St., Herndon and every Thursday at noon at 555 Grove St., Suite 200, Herndon. Call 703-795-1257.
Adult Sunday school will be held every Sunday, at 9:30 a.m., at the Washington Plaza Baptist Church at Lake Anne Village Center. The group is studying the Gospel of Mark. Services follow every Sunday at 11 a.m.