Religion Briefs

Roast and auction to benefit center

The Outreach Learning Center at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church is hosting an oyster roast and silent auction to benefit the center's services and programming.

The "Pearls of Wisdom" event is 3-6 p.m. today at the Elks Lodge, 1113 Sam Rittenberg Blvd. Tickets are $25 at the door and $10 for children under 12. Live bluegrass and folk music from Wood & Steel will be featured, along with a menu of oysters, fish stew, hot dogs, coleslaw and dessert.

The center, 405 King St., provides job and life skills training, technology instruction and English language classes. It also runs an emergency food pantry and after-school program. Visit www.connectinghands.org.

Turkey on menu of TFM luncheon

Tricounty Family Ministries will host its annual Thanksgiving Luncheon at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday at 3349 Rivers Ave. in North Charleston.

The luncheon will include traditional dishes prepared by Charleston Chefs Feed the Need and feature a turkey drawing. Turkey donations from local organizations are encouraged. The Stall High School Band will perform.

Tricounty Family Ministries provides food, clothing, medical care, counseling, transportation, shelter, financial assistance and other services to the needy in the area. Call Executive Director Sue Hanshaw at 747-1788.

Interfaith holiday service planned

The Christian-Jewish Council of Greater Charleston is sponsoring an interfaith community Thanksgiving service at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Morris Brown AME Church, 13 Morris St., downtown.

The Most Rev. Robert E. Guglielmone, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, will deliver the message. Members of the Christian-Jewish Council will participate. Parking is available in the lot across from the church. Worshippers are encouraged to bring canned goods for the Lowcountry Food Bank.

Outreach initiative to feed homeless

For the fourth consecutive year, Without Walls Ministry is rallying Charleston churches and businesses to prepare a free Thanksgiving feast for homeless and needy. The holiday meal will be 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Thursday in Hampton Park.

About 300 volunteers will serve 50 turkeys, 30 hams and all the fixings. Entertainment, children's activities, and a winter clothing giveaway will accompany the meal.

Contact the Rev. Gordon Cashwell, director of Without Walls, at 958-0703 or gordon@withoutwallsministry.org.

Families to receive food donations

On Tuesday, volunteers from Rural Mission and Pearlstine Distributors will give boxes of warm Thanksgiving food to Sea Island families in need.

The distribution begins at 1 p.m. at Rural Missions offices, 3429 Camp Care Road on Johns Island. Families from Johns, Yonges, Edisto and Wadmalaw islands will receive the dinners.

Pearlstine Distributors, the local Anheuser-Busch distributor, purchased and packaged the food. Rural Mission, a human services organization, identified families in need.