St. Anne’s Altar Society to meet

St. Anne’s Altar Society will meet at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at St. Francis Parish Center, 2618 Seneca. Its business meeting will be followed by dessert.

Brookdale Preschool has openings

Brookdale Preschool, located in Brookdale Presbyterian Church at 31st and Edmond streets, will begin its 2008-09 school year right after Labor Day. Open houses will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. Sept. 2 through 3 for new and returning students, and the first day of school will be 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 4 or 5, depending on what days a child is registered to attend.

Brookdale Preschool employs the “Montessori method” in which classes contain multiple ages and students are introduced to new materials and then allowed to make choices during the school day to learn according to their own pace and interests. The day includes pre-academics — such as learning colors, shapes, the alphabet, phonics, numbers and counting — plus story times, fine and large muscle activities, art, songs and finger plays.

A few openings remain for 3-, 4- and 5-year-old students. Call Susie Thornton, director, at 233-2477 for more information.

Church Women United plan quilt preview

Church Women United will host a preview from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 5 of the quilts they will auction off at the Festival of Sharing in Sedalia, Mo., Oct. 18. The money raised will go toward missions here and around the world.

The preview will take place at Zion United Church of Christ, Ninth and Faraon streets, and there will be a $2 quilt-viewing fee. Refreshments and drinks will be served.

Sophia Center has presentations

Sophia Center, 751 S. Eighth St. in Atchison, Kan, will host “A Stone Soup Series” featuring presenter Sister Constance Krstolic, OSB, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 9, 16, 23 and 30. The fee for each individual session is $40, including a $10 deposit, and the fee for the entire series is $150, including a $40 deposit.

In addition, Sister Constance Krstolic will present “A World of Chaos” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Sophia Center. The fee is $40, including a $10 deposit.

For more information, call (913) 360-6151.

Oregon First Baptist has special service

First Baptist Church of Oregon, Mo., will host a service beginning at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 31 featuring special speaker Lee Winn. A dinner will follow, and everyone is welcome.

Church of the Nazarene to mark 100 years

First Church of the Nazarene, 2102 S. 22nd St., will celebrate the 100th birthday of the Church of the Nazarene denomination with a service at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 5. During this service, it will take Communion with all 1,600 Nazarene congregations around the world that together contain more than 1.5 million people. It also will share and celebrate its local church history — which includes 70 years in St. Joseph — and will honor people who have made a lasting impact on its local congregation.

A special gathering for children and nursery care will be provided during the service, and a dinner will follow. For more information, contact the church at 364-4550 or visit its Web site, www.stjofirst.org.

King Hill Christian plans breakfast

King Hill Christian Church, 5828 King Hill Ave., will host its Southside Fall Festival breakfast from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Sept. 20. It will charge $5 for adults and $3 for children and will serve biscuits and gravy and breakfast casseroles.

Auditions set for ‘Canterbury Tales’

Conception Seminary College will hold auditions for five to eight women’s roles for its upcoming fall theater production of the comedy spoof “The Canterbury Tales Or Geoffrey Chaucer’s Flying Circus.” Women’s auditions will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 in the drama department in the basement of St. Michael Hall on the Conception Seminary College campus in Conception, Mo. Production dates will be Nov. 7 to 9. For further information, call (660) 944-2837.

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at religion@npgco.com.