Harvest party

Harvest party
BOARDMAN -- Glenwood Methodist Church will offer a Harvest Party through its Pioneer Club for youths from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. The party age 4 through grade 6 will feature a Christian illusionist, food, music and treats. Call (330) 726-2643
Gospel concert
NILES -- Evansville Baptist Church will have an old-fashioned Sunday Gospel Concert on Sunday. Services will begin at 9:30 a.m., and an afternoon concert is at 2. Call (330) 652-6793.
'Cotton Patch Gospel' set
GIRARD -- The Cotton Patch Gospel will be presented by Girard First United Methodist Church's theater ministry at 7 p.m. Friday, next Saturday and Nov. 3.
Jim Celedonia stars as Jesus, and Celedonia's son, Justin, portrays Jesus as a boy. This award-winning musical drama retells the Gospel of Matthew, translated into Southern vernacular and country music in a rural Georgia setting.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under and are available at the door. For information call (330) 545-4361. Proceeds benefit the church's pipe organ.
Diaconate celebrated
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 25th anniversary celebration of the Permanent Diaconate in the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Columba Cathedral.
Permanent deacons are clerics whose functions include preaching the homily, assisting the priest at Mass, administering baptism, distributing Communion, and presiding over funerals.
Currently, 68 men serve as permanent deacons in the Diocese of Youngstown.
Holiday loss programs
YOUNGSTOWN -- Several programs are scheduled for those who have lost loved ones.
Tabernacle Baptist Church is offering "Help for the Holidays, the First Year and Beyond" at 11 a.m. today.
Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes will offer "Holiday Hope for Grieving Families" at 2 p.m. Nov. 24 at its Boardman-Canfield Chapel. RSVP by Nov. 18 Call (330) 792-2353.
Help for teens will be from either 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at St. Michael Parish, Canfield. RSVP by Dec. 6.
Renovation concert
MERCER, Pa. -- United Methodist Church will celebrate completion of a two-year renovation of its Hook & amp; Hastings pipe organ with a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday. The concert will feature classical music as well as ragtime, show tunes and sing-along numbers played by Cindy Loveridge, church organist, and Tad Fryczynski, organ builder. An offering will be taken.
Pastor to speak
AUSTINTOWN -- Pastor and teacher the Rev. John Zerby from Corapolis, Pa., will be at Resurrection Life Tabernacle at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. The meeting will be at Best Western Meander Inn. Call (330) 539-4500.
Catholic youth rally
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The Catholic Diocese of Erie will host a senior-high youth rally next Saturday at Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage. Several hundred youths from the diocese will attend.
The headliner will be Tony Melendez, a singer born without arms who plays the guitar with his feet. He played for Pope John Paul II when he came to the United States several years ago. The daylong program begins at 9 a.m.
Speakers set
YOUNGSTOWN -- A program on the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services will be presented at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at First Unitarian Church. At 11 a.m., there will be a message on "Brooms, Stakes and Rope."
Commitment ceremony
VILLA MARIA, Pa. -- The Sisters of the Humility of Mary in Villa Maria, Pa., had a commitment ceremony last Sunday for lay people involved in the order's lay program. The men and women participate in the life and mission of the church through a more formal relationship with the sisters' congregation. The seven are Jo Ann Barto, Lisbon; Guy DiMarino, Lowellville; Kathryn Faccini, Youngstown; Pat Jones, Canton; John Leitner, Glen Burnie, Md.; Mary Lou Mack, Canfield; and Kim Tharp, Pulaski, Pa.