
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990                   TAG: 9005180671
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Frances Stebbins
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RELIGION BRIEFS

A NEW PASTOR, the Rev. Dr. Ronald Blankenship, 33, will begin service at Bedford Baptist Church June 10. The former West Virginian was educated at Marshall University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned a doctor of ministry degree. His wife, Evelyn, also is a Southern Seminary graduate. The couple have an infant son, Nathan.

Blankenship is coming from a six-year pastorate at Southside Baptist Church of Richmond and succeeds the Rev. Dr. Howard V. Pendley, who left a year ago.

\ TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH, Lyle and Pinecrest Avenues in Bedford, will add an 8:30 a.m. Sunday service starting May 27. The Rev. David L. Engleman, pastor, said the early service is being started to give families where both parents work more time together on weekends while allowing for regular time in church. The new service, being tried through Labor Day, will replace summer evening worship. The 11 a.m. service will continue.

\ THE SOCIETY OF ST. ANDREW, which recycles commercially useless vegetables, is adding a 3,000-square-foot headquarters building near Big Island, where the ecumenical Christian community has been based for the past 15 years. This summer, Mitchell Bond, a Bedford native who is attending Wesley Theological Seminary, will assist with the summer Harvest of Hope and Gleaning Network projects of the society.

\ SOUTHEASTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY has awarded the doctor of ministry degree to William L. Ross, pastor of Vinton Baptist Church for the past two years.

\ THE SOUTHERN STATESMEN of Roanoke will sing gospel music Saturday at 7 p.m. at Moneta Baptist Church.

\ A BIBLICAL ECONOMICS SEMINAR is scheduled May 29-June 2 at Valley Word Ministries, 1928 Loch Haven Drive. John and Patricia Avanzini of Trinity Broadcasting Network will lead the seminar. Four evening programs will begin at 7:30. Three morning sessions also will be held. Call 562-1500 to register. The seminars emphasize management of money for the individual and the church.

\ A PLEDGE DRIVE has begun to put an FM radio station on the air. The station would broadcast contemporary Christian music 24 hours a day. Mac Miller of Vision Communications, Inc. is leading an effort to get 800 people to pledge $25 monthly. A teen group at Cornerstone Church is among the supporters of the proposed station, which is seen as an alternative to "satanic" secular songs.

\ GOSPEL MUSIC will be presented May 27 at 5 p.m. at Macedonia Baptist Church, 2910 Cove Road N.W. The Gospel Chorus of Spring Hill Baptist Church of Brookneal will perform.

\ DISCOVER MEDITATION, a program to enrich spiritual growth through self-inquiry, is scheduled at Unity of Roanoke Valley, 3300 Green Ridge Road N.W. Elizabeth MacDonald, co-founder of the Association for Happiness for All Mankind, will speak during sessions at 9 and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday . On June 16, she will speak from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The Association for Happiness for All Mankind in Greensboro, N.C., is an organization that attempts to help people achieve their full potential. The Unity program is described as appropriate to the American lifestyle without special postures or disciplines associated with techniques from the Far East. Call 563-4906 for more information.

by CNB