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Yes, it’s really free.

Calvary Chapel of the Triad will wrap Christmas gifts from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday for shoppers at the Wal-Mart on Wendover Avenue.

Donations and tips are not accepted.

Calvary Chapel’s goal this year is to double the 3,700 gifts wrapped last year. It also gives church members the opportunity to share their faith — if asked. Tables will be set up in front of the store, at 4424 W. Wendover Ave.

“It is important for us to remember that Jesus is not only the reason for this season but He is the reason for all seasons,” said senior pastor David McGee. “When folks see the church out wrapping the gifts morning until night, it naturally raises questions to those wondering why a church is providing this free service. This gives us an opportunity to tell them about the free gift that God provided in Christ to us for our salvation.”

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Six films, including “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” will be shown during the 2010 Triad Jewish Film Festival, which runs Jan. 16 through Feb. 4 at the Regal Grande Cinema at Friendly Center.

Presented by the Greensboro Jewish Federation, the films highlight the Jewish experience and celebrate diversity and understanding. A six-film pass for one is $50.

“Seven Minutes in Heaven” had its international premiere at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. Another, “A Matter of Size,” draws praise from a Variety magazine reviewer as recalling “audience-pleasing fare such as 'The Full Monty.’” The others include “Letters for Jenny,” “The Debt,” “Where I Stand: The Hank Greenspun story” and “The Little Traitor.”

For tickets and more information, go to www.mytjff.com. Contact the Greensboro Jewish Federation at 852-5433.

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Each year they come throughout the day and night, these peace seekers coming together in prayer and worship.

First Friends Meeting provides not only a welcome, but pamphlets of peace prayers, meditations and songs, including pages of quotations on peace from such people as Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Jimi Hendrix.

This annual 24 Hours of Prayer for Peace lasts from noon Dec. 31 through noon New Year’s Day. It is sponsored by the Quaker meeting house but usually as many non-Quakers as Quakers go.

Although prayer is according to the tradition of Quakers is silent meditation, those who come are welcomed to bring their own prayer meditation.

The hours of scheduled worship:

* Noon-1 p.m. Dec. 31, Loren Pierce Coleman of First Friends.
* 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., New Garden Friends.
* 11 a.m.-noon Jan. 1, Interfaith Community Prayers for Peace and Song.

For more information, call First Friends Meeting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 299-8869.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com