Meditation & Chanting
Chanting followed by silent meditation will regularly include live Kirtan Music at least once a month.
Everyone is welcome and no experience is necessary. The experience is every Sunday, 5 to 6 p.m. with refreshments to follow.
The first gathering and live music event begins Sunday, December 16, in a beautiful home overlooking the lake at Calle Manzanillo 4 (light yellow house), Chula Vista Norte. Doors open 4:30 p.m. with refreshments and a social gathering, chanting and meditation, 5-6 p.m. and refreshments and a social goodbye afterward. Chairs, pillows and refreshments are provided. There is no charge for this event.
Directions, inquiry, ride-shares contact: Doug Reid, 331-354-1558, doug4yoga@gmail, or Rocky Lipkowitz, 333-461-6017, 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..
Lake Chapala Baptist
How can you tell if someone is a real Christian. The Bible says it’s by their love and there are three different words used for love in the original biblical language. The first word is the love of passion, lust and sensual desire, “eros.” Christianity could find no use for that word. The second is “philos,” the love of impulse, affection and natural inclination.It’s used in words like philosophy, the love of wisdom. The third word is “agape.” It expresses character determined by will, not spontaneous natural emotion. This love chooses its object and becomes self denying. This love has compassionate devotion for the one chosen. Christianity took this word and infused it with new meaning. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This kind of love should be the mark of a Christian and the mark of a New Testament church.
Lake Chapala Baptist Church is at Santa Margarita 147, Riberas del Pilar. Sunday worship is at 11 a.m.
San Andrés Mass
“We celebrate our joy in Christ’s redeeming work among us, realizing that he who is to come is indeed already with us, ‘unknown to us’”
Fr. Basil G. Royston, D. Min., will offer the homily, “Our Joy in Christ,” at San Andrés Catholic Church’s service in English, Sunday, December 16, 9 a.m.
San Andrés is at the corner of Ramon Corona and Parroquia, one block from the Ajijic main plaza.
Little Chapel by the Lake
Sunday, December 16, Pastor Bill Nichols speak to the congregation. After the service join a friendly “comida” open to all. Little Chapel will hold a candlelight Christmas Eve service with carols, Monday, December 24, 6 p.m. This week we will be Christmas Caroling Monday, December 17, at Nursing Home Lake Chapala, 4 p.m. Meet at Little Chapel, 3:30 p.m. to carpool. Thursday, December 20, noon to 1 p.m., carolers will head to La Paloma, followed by La Valentina. Meet at the Little Chapel at 11:30 a.m.
The Little Chapel by the Lake is at Chapala-Ajijic Highway 10 in Chula Vista opposite Mirasol. Information: Belva, (376) 766-2538. Sunday worship is at 11 a.m.
Christ Church Lakeside
Christ Church Lakeside, a mission of the Diocese of the West in the Anglican Church of Mexico, will observe the second Sunday of Advent, December 16, with the Holy Eucharist at 11 a.m. in La Huerta Events Center.
Rev. Chris Wysock will preside and give a message, “Listen and Rejoice,” based on Luke 3:7-18. All are welcome.
Coffee and refreshments are available before and after the service.
The Christ Church Lunch Bunch will meet 1 p.m. in Pranza Restaurant in La Floresta.
The Bible Study meets Thursday, December 20, 3 p.m. in the home of Elizabeth Carroll, located at Galeana 35 in Ajijic. All are welcome to learn about the inspired contents of the Bible.
Lakeside Presbyterian
Lakeside Presbyterian continues to expand its ministry to the needy and forgotten among us. Almost 200 students now receive breakfast every school day. Several thousand meals are prepared and distributed each month; packages of staple food items are provided to hungry families. Members of the congregation have stepped up to create cozy blankets and hats to help our Mexican friends through the chill of winter.
Fresh produce is always more than welcome. Do your trees or garden produce more than you can consume? Please drop off whatever you don’t need at the church. God bless You for helping!
Current events: Flu shots free, Saturday, December 15, 11:30 a.m. Lake Chapala Chorale holiday concert is Sunday, 4 p.m. at the church. A “Senior Walk In” with games, fellowship, and free lunch is held every Tuesday, 10– 2 p.m.
Free English, computer and sewing classes (for Spanish speakers) are held Saturday, 10:30 a.m., at the church. We need more Eng1lish instructors. Could you help? Contact LPC’s office 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, Pastor’s Forum, 11:15 a.m. following worship. Fridays, Bible Study at 9:45 a.m. in the Library.
Abundant Life Church
There is a good reason for going to church. We are all very busy but are we too busy? I imagine all the things that Mary and Joseph had to do after the birth of their son. They were there to be registered and the lines must have been long, but they still found time to go on the eighth day to the temple to complete all that the law required. Sunday, December 16, come to church and you may also discover what Jesus and his family did… God was waiting for them and had a special blessing to give.
Abundant Life Church’s worship service in English is held Sundays, 10 a.m., and Bible Study, Wednesday, 3 p.m. Spanish-language services are Sundays at noon. Spanish Bible studies are on 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.
Unitarian Universalists
Trudy Crippen will give a sermon on “Holding Onto Trust In the Dark” at the next meeting of the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Sunday, December 16.
The Winter Solstice is a time of celebration because of the hope that comes when you believe that the light will return. This is a reassuring time because of its cyclical nature. It comes every year, along with the holiday traditions we celebrate. We know that the light will follow the dark. Gala Kolmsee is service leader.
The Unitarians meet Sundays, 10:30 a.m., at Hidalgo 261, on the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar, opposite the Catholic Church.
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
Sunday, December 16, Rev. Winston Welty will preside and preach.
St. Andrew’s service of Holy Eucharist begins Sunday, 10 a.m., and bilingual Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m. Coffee hour and a time of fellowship and welcome follow 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.
Decluttering? Clearing out your closet? If you are, don’t forget St. Andrew’s resale shop, Todo Bueno. Every donation or consignment made benefits the Outreach Ministry of St. Andrew’s. Clothing, kitchenware, electronics, books, bric-a-brac, furniture, appliances, collectables, sports equipment, etc., brought to Todo Bueno enables the parish to financially support a number of charities around Lakeside.
Todo Bueno needs volunteers to serve as sales clerks. Shifts are 10 a.m.-12.30 p.m. and 12:30-3 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Contact Patti Gonzales at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information and to volunteer.
Todo Bueno is located on the Carretera, just west of S&S Auto in Riberas del Pilar. Open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
St. Andrew’s is at Calle San Lucas 19, a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Home Church Int’l
Truth is the trustworthy foundation of society as a whole. The simple-minded, and often the devious, will simply assert that truth is what you want it to be. That could lead to almost anything, good or bad. The problem is that anyone can twist any word or issue into what they desire, usually for their own selfish benefit.
Most remember the cop-out uttered by Pontius Pilate at Jesus’ trial, “What is truth?” One of the older affirmations in the Bible is found in Psalm 119, which says “The entirety of Your word is truth.” This speaks of principles, foundation, and eternal value. We recall Jesus saying, “You shall know the truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” The freedom that this brings bears great fruit in each life. Jesus told His Father, “Thy Word is truth.” Truth exposes the fact that a lie or half-truth can only be covered by another, or confessed and disposed of. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
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 to 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 to 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.
Meditation Circle
The Chapala Meditation Circle of Self Realization Fellowship holds meditation services Thursdays, 7 to 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.
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.
Namaste Lake Chapala
This is an interfaith community focusing on the non-dual teachings found at the center of all spiritual paths. Sunday service is 11 a.m. and the goal is to enter into the direct experience of the peace that surpasses understanding. Drawing on the sacred writings of many religious traditions, including A Course on Miracles, Namaste seeks to fully embody the spiritual oneness and message at the heart of them all.
Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m., join author James Twyman and other teachers as Namaste awakens through music, song, laughter and heart-centered sharing.
Namaste Lake Chapala is at Angel Flores 5, in Ajijic.