Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411220003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Instead, turn off U.S. 460 near the New River Valley Mall, skirt a mobile home park and look west across a hilly field. There, on a big blue building that looks like what it used to be - a warehouse - you'll see Grace Assembly's name proclaiming the growth of one of America's fastest-growing religious groups.
Recently, the Assemblies of God made national news by announcing a plan to merge with several other pentecostal groups, including the Church of God in Christ. The merger will create a huge religious body that is racially integrated and held together by mutual emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit to produce joyous worship.
Claudia Goldstein, whose husband, the Rev. Bob Goldstein, is pastor of Grace Assembly, said she's not surprised by that news. It simply makes official, she said, what many pentecostal Christians have been doing for several years - breaking down the barriers to multicultural worship, a trend that is still a novelty in more traditional churches.
The group of 50 or so worshipers at Grace Assembly late last month was racially mixed.
Russ Sermon, a campus pastor for the Assemblies of God regional body, and Betty Shields, a Virginia Tech graduate student who led worship for the first half of the service, are among the church's black leaders.
The Goldsteins, a white couple in their mid-40s who "came out of the hippie culture," find nothing new in diversity, said Claudia Goldstein. She is a former Roman Catholic with Italian roots; he was raised Jewish in New Jersey. While they were living in North Carolina nearly 20 years ago, they converted to the Christianity in which the power of the Holy Spirit is emphasized.
Bob Goldstein, who said he has obtained his theological education mostly from correspondence and assisting in other churches, has been pastor of Grace Assembly for eight years. Until about a year ago, his small group of friends met in temporary places.
In 1993, the group negotiated to buy the empty warehouse at 2030 Redwood Road. Doing much of the renovation themselves, they converted the huge barn-like structure into a worship center with rose-colored padded pews, education space and a recreation area for indoor sports.
During the service, Bob Goldstein conveys his joy to everyone in the pews. "Praise God." "Hallelujah!" Hands clapping and hands raised in adoration are much a part of the simple service at Grace Assembly. Microphones allow for plenty of volume.
At 11 a.m., following an hour of Sunday school, a varied group assembled. Seniors were in the minority; a dozen children sat with their families for the service that lasted until 12:15 p.m. The dozen men and women in their street clothes led the singing for the first half of the service, later returning to their pews while Goldstein preached.
Out of the central pulpit as much as in, Goldstein played guitar in the musical portion of the service.
"We know the saints are rooting for us," he said. "Jesus said he's going to build his church in us.
"When people hear from God themselves ... they're ready to die for him ... I'm going to face him one day, and that keeps me going."
Following the sermon, Communion of grape juice and bits of unleavened bread was made available to all.
As of June, Grace Assembly became part of the Assemblies of God denomination with headquarters in Springfield, Mo.
The church recently made its building available to the Montgomery County Schools Even Start program to raise the educational level of both children and adults.
Sojourner appears monthly in the New River Current. Its purpose is not to promote a particular point of view but to inform readers of a variety of worship styles.
by CNB