Serena Zelezny

St. Philip’s in the Hills will hold an Advent Festival of Lights service on Tuesday.

Classes, festival mark Advent season’s start

Christians will recognize the first Sunday of Advent Nov. 29.

The season leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus is one of anticipation, both for Christmas and the believed second coming of Christ.

Saint Francis United Methodist Church, 4625 E. River Road, will host a series of Advent classes from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. on each Sunday of the season, according to press materials.

Classes begin Sunday, Nov. 29, with “Unplug the Christmas Machine” and continue on Dec. 6 with “Centering Ourselves in Advent Through Art,” on Dec. 13 with “Waiting — How and What We Learn From It” and on Dec. 20 with “Finding Ourselves in Advent.”

For more information, visit stfrancisumc.org or call 299-9063.

St. Philip’s in the Hills, 4440 N. Campbell Ave., will hold an Advent Festival of Lights service at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1.

For more information, visit stphilipstucson.org or call 299-6421.

Talk to explore
‘Biblical Forgeries’

A talk hosted by the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will explore biblical books that are part of the Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha but not universally accepted as biblical canon.

Books in the Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed to authors, often biblical characters. The Apocrypha includes books that are not part of Scripture in Protestant and Hebrew bibles.

Ed Wright, an endowed professor and the director of the Arizona Center Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona, will speak about these books at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 30, at the Hillel Foundation, 1245 E. Second St.

“Biblical Forgeries: Creating a Biblical Book” is a free talk.

For more information, visit judaic.arizona.edu or call 626-5758.

Temple Emanu-El
to celebrate Shabbat

Temple Emanu-El will return to its first home at the Jewish History Museum, 564 S. Stone Ave., for a Shabbat service at 9:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4.

The Armon Bizman Band with Sam Golden, along with soloist Lindsey O’Shea and Rabbi Samuel Cohon will bring music and prayer together in this Shabbat service, according to press materials.

For more information, visit templeemanueltucson.org or call 327-4501.


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Contact reporter Johanna Willett at jwillett@tucson.com or 573-4357. On Twitter: @JohannaWillett