Jewish Congregation
Shabbat Torah services are held the first and third Saturday of the month, 10 a.m., and Shabbat evening services and potluck every second and fourth Friday, 6 p.m., at the Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation.
The synagogue is at Santa Margarita 113, Riberas del Pilar (mountain side of the Carretera, diagonally across from Mom’s Restaurant). Contact (376) 766-2668 or lakechapalajewishcongregation.com.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
The Rev. Liza Spangler will preside and preach on Sunday, September 2.
St. Andrew’s service of Holy Eucharist begins Sunday, 10 a.m., and bilingual Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m. Coffee hour, a time of fellowship and welcome, follows the service.
Every Sunday, Operation Feed, the program supported by St. Andrew’s, welcomes donations of non-perishable food items. Boxed milk and empty cardboard egg cartons are especially welcome, in addition to rice, beans, pasta, lentils, garbanzos, oats, oil and salt. The parish distributes the donations to Lakeside’s neediest families.
St. Andrew’s is at Calle San Lucas 19, a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Abundant Life
Does God teach peace or war? You may be surprised to find out that in fact Jesus did not come to bring peace but rather to provoke a war. Mt 10:34 says, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” The warfare we are fighting is not in the physical, but in the spiritual realm and God wants to teach every believer how to be a warrior. Sunday, September 2, Pastor Gary gives biblical instruction on warfare.
Abundant Life Church’s worship service in English is held Sundays, 10 a.m., and Bible Study Wednesdays, 3 p.m. Spanish-language services are Sunday at noon. Spanish Bible studies are Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. A children’s ministry is held Saturday, noon, and bilingual youth meet Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Communion is celebrated the first Sunday of each month.
The church is at Carretera Chapala-Jocotepec 140, San Antonio Tlayacapan, a block from Super Lake. Information: 331-417-7038.
Lake Chapala Baptist
What does it mean that God can redeem a soul?
A little boy crafted a small sailboat and took it to the lake. As he sailed his boat a strong wind came along and blew it out of sight. He was heartbroken. A week later, walking through his village, he looked in the window of a toy shop. There, on display, was his little boat. He rushed into the store and told the owner that that was his boat. The man didn’t believe him and said “You’re welcome to the boat, son, but you’ll have to pay the full price.”
The boy replied, “Please don’t sell it, I’ll go home and see if I have enough and I’ll be back.” He went home, scraped together everything he had and returned to the shop and bought back his boat.
God created man but sin separated us from Him. Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. His sacrifice can buy us back and return us to our rightful owner. That’s redemption.
Lake Chapala Baptist Church is at Santa Margarita 147, Riberas del Pilar. Sunday worship is at 11 a.m.
Lakeside Presbyterian
Sunday, September 2, Dr. Wayne Cook poses a timely question: “Have you ever spent good money on something you expected to last a long time, and then were disappointed as it wore out quickly?” What really lasts? In 1 Corinthians, Paul concludes Chapter 13 (known as The Love Chapter) with a list of three gifts from God which are durable: faith, hope, and love. Paul says these three are the greatest gifts of all, but even they are not of equal importance. How can that be?
Outreach News: Free Blood Pressure checks Sunday, September 2, 11:15 a.m. LPC Volunteers distribute hundreds of meals, food staples, clothing, footwear and medical care weekly. LPC is running low on children’s clothing, particularly shoes. All donations are welcome, some children cannot attend school because they have no shoes. Two for One Good Deed (help the earth and children as well): bring your plastic bottle caps and leave them beside the water dispensers, they are recycled, and proceeds underwrite children’s cancer treatment.
Interested in volunteering? Contact LPC’s office/administrator at (376) 106-0853.
Lakeside Presbyterian Church, San Jorge 250, Riberas del Pilar. English services, Sunday, 10 a.m., Spanish services, 9 a.m. Sunday School for Adults, 8:30 a.m. in the Library. Fridays, Bible Study at 9:45 a.m. in the Library.
Christ Church Lakeside
Christ Church Lakeside, a mission of the Diocese of the West in the Anglican Church of Mexico, will observe the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Sunday, September 2, with the Holy Eucharist at the new time of 11 a.m. in the La Huerta Eventos Center. Fr. Danny Borkowski will preside and Lay Reader Conley Stamper will give a message “Hypocrisy” based on Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23.
The Lunch Bunch will meet at 12:45 p.m. and dine at the Casa Linda restaurant, Rio Bravo 7 in West Ajijic, tel: (376) 108-0887, following the refreshments and coffee after the service.
The Bible Study meets Tuesday, September 4, 1 p.m., in the home of Elizabeth Carroll, at Galeana 35 in Ajijic. All are welcome to learn about and discuss the inspired contents of the Bible.
Tuesday, September 4, a food distribution event will take place in Ajijic. Contact John Jones at 331-838-5192 for more information.
The Lakeside Singers, a CCL outreach ministry, will conduct a sing-along at Casa Nostra, Santa Margarita 8, Riberas del Pilar, Wednesday, September 5, 4:30 p.m. Those who want to eat out after singing will decide where.
Little Chapel by the Lake
St. Augustine said “Jesus is usually sought after for something else, never for His own sake.” Take the famous miraculous feeding of the five thousand. It didn’t take long for enormous crowds to form in search of the Miracle Food and Healing Man. Was there even one person who might have sincerely said, “Ya know, I’d really just like to be His friend.” Even the disciples quickly grasped the opportunity for fame and glory by association. To be “one of the twelve” came with astonishing prestige. But as was always the case, Jesus had quite different motivations. He came to meet humankind’s deepest needs – spiritual poverty, famine, and sickness. The loaves and fishes, the healing miracles, they were mere superficialities and yet consistent with Jesus’ Mission (in His own words): “I’ve not come to be served but to serve and give My life a ransom for many”.
Join us this week at the Little Chapel as Pastor Jim Andrew takes us back to Sunday School for a re-telling, and maybe re-learning, of one of the greatest miracles – the Feeding of the Five Thousand. “Life’s Story” will be shown, the first in a video series of two, in the Little Chapel’s Fellowship Hall Wednesday September 5, 5:30 p.m.
The Little Chapel by the Lake is at Chapala-Ajijic Highway 10 in Chula Vista opposite Mirasol. Information: Belva, (376) 766-2538.
Little Chapel will present a sing-along Monday, September 4, 4 p.m. at Ohana’s Assisted Living Care Center, La Paz 6, in San Juan Cosala. Carpool from the Little Chapel at 3:30 p.m.
Unitarian Universalists
At the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday, September 2, the topic is “What is Left Behind?” Most of us don’t like to think of dying, but it is one thing we all get to do, whether we want to or not. Among the many questions dying brings is: what do we leave behind? Some will leave a trail of clutter and unrepaired relationships. Others leave a legacy of stories and models of virtuous living. Some will leave material assets which they may dedicate to improving the lives of many.
What legacies will we leave? We’ll explore ways to leave well, and leave behind well. September is Mexican Will Month, when discounts are offered to people preparing their wills. After the service, our Legacy Team will talk about their work creating a legacy program for the Fellowship, so that we might be ready to receive gifts from wills and bequests. Rev. Matt will talk about our personal legacies as well as our fellowship’s Legacy Project. Heidi MacLennan is the service leader.
The Unitarians meet Sundays, 10:30 a.m., at Hidalgo 261, on the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar, opposite the Catholic Church.
San Andrés
“We rejoice in the Law of God which is pure religion, totally different from any man-made law or human tradition. It is fulfilled in this Sacrament of Love.”
Fr. Basil G. Royston, D. Min., will offer the homily “The Commandments of Life” at San Andrés Catholic Church’s English service, Sunday, September 2, 9 a.m.
The San Andrés English congregation holds a “First Sunday of the Month Food Drive” to help support the children at Villa Infantil orphanage in Jocotepec and the sisters who care for them. Consider bringing a non-perishable food item, toilet tissue, cleaning products, and the like to Sunday’s Liturgy.
San Andrés is at the corner of Ramon Corona and Parroquia, one block from the Ajijic main plaza.
The Lord’s Church
The Lord’s Church meets at Carretera Chapala-Jocotepec 131 in San Antonio Tlayacapan. (Look for the “No. 131” sign, across from the Corona castle.)
Sundays, 10 a.m., enjoy praise music by Redeemed, followed at 11 a.m. by TLC’s “Extraordinary Service,” including worship, praise, communion and this week’s conversation.
The Lord’s Church is a non-denominational Christian congregation following a biblical model of church leadership.
Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Meditation Circle
The Chapala Meditation Circle of Self Realization Fellowship holds meditation services Thursdays, 7-9 p.m. Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic “Autobiography of a Yogi,” founded Self Realization Fellowship in 1920 to make available the universal teachings of Kriya Yoga, a sacred spiritual science originating millennia ago in India. These teachings embody a complete philosophy and way of life for achieving all-round success and wellbeing, as well as methods of meditation for achieving life’s ultimate goal – union of the soul with God.
Information about the meditation service: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 333-598-7577. The website for Self Realization Fellowship is yogananda-srf.org.
TLC Bikers Church
TLC Bikers Church was founded for bikers, motorcycle enthusiasts and others who want to know more about God, but don’t exactly feel comfortable walking into a traditional church.
TLC Bikers Church meets Thursdays, 4:30-5:30 p.m., at the Iron Horse Saloon & Garage in Riberas del Pilar (on the Carretera, next to ORMA Auto Parts). Information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
HU Chant
Chanting HU, an ancient name for the Divine while in a contemplative state, is a simple technique to open your heart to greater happiness, love, inner peace and understanding. Join in Saturday, September 1, 10:30 a.m., at the Center for Spiritual Living at Nicholas Bravo 17, Ajijic, for a 30-minute group HU Chant followed by refreshments and fellowship time. Information: Hallie Shepherd, (376) 766-1047, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Sponsored by Eckankar, Mexico.
Home Church Int’l
Aggravation is a very common life experience. The intensity can vary greatly, depending on the issue involved, and upon our own personal attitude. Take, for instance, a fairly common experience of someone in the vehicle you are driving constantly telling you how to drive or where to turn. They are called “backseat drivers.”
“Backseating” is not limited to the hurry-scurry world. In the church arena a common observance is when “lookers” enter a sanctuary hoping to avoid attention. They pick a location on the back pew or row. Too, there are often regulars who hope to be out of gun-range in case the preacher “quits preaching and goes to meddling.” Worshipers need to “fess up” to why they are really there. Pastors Paul and Susana Allen urge all to know their value amongst the crowd of believers and refrain from hiding. Information: (332) 242-8648, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Riberas Meditation
Mindfulness Meditation: Two periods of quiet meditation and a guided Mindfulness Meditation video are offered Tuesdays 3-4:15 p.m. This is for anyone who wants to practice Mindfulness Meditation, beginner to advanced.
Ramana Maharshi Satsang: Listen to current-day teachers of non-duality, then a period to practice self-inquiry, Wednesdays, 3-4:30 p.m.
No cost. Free books provided for both groups. Hosted by Richard Clarke and Carol Johnson. San Luis 73, Riberas del Pilar. Call (376) 765-6976. Space is limited, so call first to confirm and to get directions.