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

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007200315
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FUND-RAISER WEAVES HIS MINISTRY INTO HIS WORK

Formerly a denominational fund-raising expert, he now has a private practice. Among his current clients are the Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren and Virginia Lutheran Homes, Inc. He also has directed the drives for individual churches in those denominations.

His work is a ministry, Uhl says, and he still regards himself as primarily a pastor and teacher. The same concerns for people's relationship to God that was important when he served churches in Pittsburgh, Annandale and North Miami, Fla., has carried over into his dealing with them on church boards and executive offices today.

Knowing the church thoroughly builds confidence, he said. It's especially vital when he is working with people in smaller communities where some still must be convinced that saving money is not always the best stewardship.

Uhl, 58, said it has been a real education for him to meet with Brethren and Lutherans in parts of Virginia where the economy is still dominated by agriculture.

But in many of those areas, he's found, few church people make a living any more by farming alone. Many small farmers now commute for an hour or more each way to an industry which gives them their primary income.

The way this changing society translates for a church fund-raiser is the education of members to give a pledge spread over a specific time, probably three years, rather than a lump sum.

The Brethren drive called Mission and Ministry has a $1 million goal. Uhl is working now with major givers prior to the campaign being taken to congregations this fall. Funds are designated for upgrading Camp Bethel conference center, for starting new churches in growing urban areas such as Richmond and Raleigh, N.C., and for strengthening the youth program.

Uhl also has worked in the promotion of the Brandon Oaks retirement center for middle-income adults. Ground-breaking for that project is expected by early next year.

Church-related fund raising is a second career for the man who spent nearly 30 years in parish ministry. He was educated at a Columbus, Ohio, college and seminary and spent nine years in a Pittsburgh suburb. He and his family discovered Virginia when they moved to the Washington suburb of Annandale.

They went on to Miami, arriving, as Uhl recalls grimly, just as a blight hit the palm trees and the city was overwhelmed with Cuban refugees. The bad publicity the city got during the 1980s has outlived the reality, Uhl says.

"Miami's a wonderful city, international and progressive. . . . We left, not because of Miami vice problems but because my wife couldn't stand the heat."

Uhl became a temporary national fund-raiser for his branch of the Lutheran church in 1985 before it became part of the merged Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He learned there, he said, the skills of church public relations and stewardship education.

After the national drive was over, he and Robert Gronlund of West Palm Beach, Fla. formed a partnership for consultation and fund raising.

Barbara Uhl's job as assistant to the Rev. Robert Fellows brought the couple to Roanoke. With Fellows' recent retirement after 16 years as CEO for Virginia Lutheran Homes, Inc., she also will seek other employment, her husband said.

Meanwhile, the Uhls have become active in St. John Lutheran Church in the Cave Spring area near their home. Harold Uhl says they find the Roanoke Valley an excellent place to ease into retirement though it lacks the opportunities for specialized jobs found in larger cities.

When newspaper articles several months ago drew attention to the plight of emotionally disabled adults living in group homes, more than 80 church people in the Roanoke Valley knew they are doing something to help.

They are volunteers honored recently by Mental Health Services at what has become an early summer tradition, a free Oriental meal at a valley church.

The volunteers, who include many active retirees and a few youth, show off programs they have enjoyed sharing at the twice-monthly socials for the adult-home residents. This year music performed on simple rhythm instruments was a big hit.

The social clubs have been going strong since 1982 and are found in United Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic and Lutheran churches, primarily in the Northwest and Southwest areas.

John Sabean, an Mental Health Services coordinator of the program, said he is still seeking one or more Salem churches to start a program there.