Communities of faith
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Religion/225323/
Mount Sequoyah hails Fair Trade Day
FAYETTEVILLE — The gift center at Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center will celebrate World Fair Trade Day 9 a. m.-7 p. m. today by offering a 10 percent discount on all fair-trade items. Free coffee from Arsaga’s will be served from 5-7 p. m.
More than 70 percent of the items sold at the gift center are from fair-trade organizations, including Ten Thousand Villages, A Greater Gift, World of Good, WorldFinds, Originals From Africa and Equal Exchange.
Fair trade is a holistic approach to trade that aims to help the poor earn a fair wage. The gift shop has fair-trade coffee and teas, clothes, jewelry and handcrafts from communities around the world.
Information is available by calling (479 ) 251-7754 or (479 ) 443-4531. Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center is a Methodist institution and is located at 150 N. W. Skyline Drive. Buddhists to mark Vesak with picnic
FAYETTEVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Buddhists will celebrate Vesak, or the birth, enlightenment and passing of the Buddha, with a potluck picnic at 3: 30 p. m. May 18. The picnic will be at Agri Park on Garland Avenue, and all area Buddhists and those interested in Buddhist theory and practice are welcome.
Sometimes known informally as “Buddha’s Birthday,” Vesak is an official state holiday in many Buddhist countries. The celebration is also known as Visakha Puja, Buddha Jayanti and Saga Dawa. The date varies according to the various traditions. For many, Vesak falls on May 20 this year.
Participants are asked to bring food and drink to share, as well as plates, cups and utensils. Local groups are invited to bring information about their activities to share with others. Those who wish may bring offerings of fruit, flowers, incense or candles to be placed on the altar.
The event will feature silent meditation and a dharma talk. Geshe Thupten Dorjee, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, will discuss the Eight Precepts Vow, a 24-hour period of abstinence to begin May 20.
Information is available online at www. nwabuddhist. info. WorkMatters sets breakfast gathering
SPRINGDALE — Work-Matters will offer an Eight-to-Five Unplugged gathering Friday at the Holiday Inn, 1500 S. 48 th St. The free program will be 6: 45-7: 45 a. m., and will include breakfast.
WorkMatters is a nonprofit organization based in Fayetteville with the goal of helping people bridge the gap between faith and work. Eight-to-Five Unplugged is a monthly breakfast series held in Fayetteville and Rogers, and features business leaders sharing their own stories of faith and work. The May meeting will unite both groups as the season comes to an end. The series will begin again in September.
Steve Graves will be the featured speaker at Friday’s event. His topic will be “The Summer of Your Life: Making Progress Where It Matters Most.”
Graves is founder of Coaching By Cornerstone and co-founder of the Life@Work Co. He has been coaching business leaders and entrepreneurs for over two decades. Graves is the co-author of nearly a dozen books on leadership, business and the faith and work movement. His last two books, Life@W ork and The Power of One, were coauthored with best-selling author John C. Maxwell.
Information is available online at www. workmatters. org. Communities of Faith is a compilation of church and religion news for Northwest Arkansas. The deadline for submissions is noon Monday before Saturday publication. Please send information, including a phone number, to Christie Storm, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 515 Enterprise Drive, Suite 106, Lowell, Ark. 72745, fax it to (479 ) 770-8484 or e-mail:
cstorm@arkansasonline. com