Chant and meditation event

Last January, more than 400 people from across the Twin Cities area joined forces -- and energies -- to meditate for peace. And that's just counting the people who showed up; those who couldn't make it were encouraged to join in by meditating wherever they happened to be at the time.

An even bigger crowd is expected at 7 p.m. Thursday for this year's Peace on Earth Meditation. The leader of last year's event, Chunyi Lin of the Twin Cities-based Spring Forest Qigong studios, will return to guide the meditation, which will be preceded by chanting from the monks of the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery.

With a large turnout expected, participants are encouraged to arrive early. The event is being held at St. Maron's Church, 602 University Av. NE., Minneapolis. A freewill offering will be collected.

It's BYOC -- bring your own cushion for sitting on the floor. There will be chairs available for those who don't want to sit on the floor. As with last year, those who can't make it are encouraged to join in from their private meditation spots.

For more information, including directions, contact the Meditation Center at 612-379-2386 or www.themeditationcenter.org. Do not call the church; it is simply renting out the space for the event.

Magi magic Although T.S. Eliot was primarily known as a poet and playwright -- winning the Nobel Prize for literature will pigeonhole a person like that -- he also wrote extensively on theological matters.

He's finally getting his day in church as part of the Epiphany observation at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Av. S., Minneapolis.

Youth is served Minneapolis-based YouthWorks, a ministry that focuses on mission trips, has acquired Youth Specialities, a leader in the training of youth pastors and youth ministry leaders that had been operating under the auspices of the Christian publisher Zondervan.

The addition will double the reach of YouthWorks, adding the 10,000 churches that Youth Specialities serves to the 10,000 churches that YouthWorks deals with.

The two operations should be easy to combine because they are naturally compatible, said Paul Bertelson, president and founder of YouthWorks. Both "were founded to serve the church by serving youth," he said.

What's it all mean? Adath Jeshurun Congregation is offering a class for adults who learned to read Hebrew phonetically as teenagers and now are wondering what the words mean.

The class will meet every other Sunday at 10:15 a.m. at the synagogue, 10500 Hillside Lane W., Minnetonka, starting Jan. 10 and concluding March 21. Instructor Rachel Levitt will lead the class, which is called Prayerbook Reading Practice.

Costs for the classes range from $45 to $75 depending on whether the participants are members of the synagogue. Contact Nina Samuels at 952-215-3904 or ninas@adath.net.