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Eight years ago, Lelia Moore came up with an idea that has since changed the way houses of worship respond to the health needs of their congregations.

Moore launched the Congregational Nursing Program at Moses Cone Health System, which involves more than 50 area congregations. Programs pair nurses and churches to offer free health education, screenings and consultations.

Moore was recently recognized for that work by UNCG's School of Nursing Alumni Association. The 1971 graduate received the group's 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award last month.

The screenings "have made an impact in efforts directed to some of our economically challenged areas, and the Hispanic, Korean and Vietnamese communities, among others," said Robert Hamilton, director of pastoral health care services at Moses Cone Health System. "The program has representation in congregations that cross ethnic-cultural, racial, denominational and social lines, and has served also to build relationship and understanding among diverse groups."

Moore volunteers or serves on the boards of numerous area agencies, including the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the Hospice Circle of Care.

She recently worked with UNCG and N.C. A&T on a first-in-the-nation venture: pairing social work students with congregational nurses to meet community needs.

For information about the Congregational Nurse Program, call 832-8602 or go to http://www.mosescone.com and look for the Clinical Service link.

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A community forum featuring an interfaith panel of Greensboro clergy Monday will present perspectives on "Religious Traditions and the Death Penalty." The gathering hinges on recent rulings by the Supreme Court and the ongoing legislative challenges within the General Assembly. The justification and manner in which the death penalty is administered, organizers say, touches on legal and spiritual dimensions.

The 7 p.m. event is at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 607 N. Greene St., and is sponsored by the Greensboro Chapter of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.

Participants leading the discussion include Masoud Awartani, representing the Islamic perspective; David Bills, New Garden Friends Meeting; Father Louie Canino, Franciscan Center; Rabbi Fred Guttman, Temple Emanuel; and Arnie Johnson, Congregational United Church of Christ. The Rev. Frank Dew of New Creation Presbyterian Church will moderate.

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Hal Warlick, dean of the chapel and professor of religion and philosophy at High Point University, has published a collection of sermons titled "You Can't Keep a Good God Down: Messages of Hope and Inspiration from a University Chapel."

Warlick, who delivered all the sermons to students in the university chapel, wrote the book to share his findings about discussing God with young adults.

"Some may not imagine hope and inspiration to be proper fare these days for addressing college students about God," Warlick wrote in the book's preface. "Yet the past 18 years of preaching to large congregations of eager young listeners have proved to me that those lives can and do willingly embrace, and are shaped by, enduring biblical truths."

The book is for sale at the Barnes & Noble on the HPU campus.

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