Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102220260
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Powell has been minister at Colonial Presbyterian Church since 1964 and though he took early retirement last month, he will go into the valley's church history as another of those who have stayed a quarter-century or longer.
The trend seems to know few denominational boundaries - except those posed by churches that force the rotation of ministers every few years. And even in those there are occasional exceptions.
Powell was Colonial's second minister, following the Rev. Bob Field. Field was the minister when the congregation was organized in 1957, a year in which Green Ridge and Covenant Presbyterian churches also were formed.
"If someone had told me in 1964 that I would still be here in '91, I would have laughed at them," Powell said in a recent interview. Now, he said, he's come to "believe the long-term pastorate is really a good thing. I've been here long enough to have married some of the young people I baptized as infants."
"This is a very harmonious and loving congregation," Powell said, "very loving and caring."
Powell arrived at South Roanoke County church after three years as associate pastor at a Southern Baptist congregation in Lenoir, N.C. He was frustrated by the strictly congregational government in the Baptist church and was looking for a denomination with a "representative" governing style.
That is what he found in the Presbyterian church, in which business is administered by an elected body - the session - which represents the congregation.
When he came, Colonial had about 140 members, Powell said, and was reaching a point where it had to take some risks to grow.
"One of things I enjoyed most," Powell said of his ministry, "was the building of a new sanctuary. It was a real revitalization for our church."
Powell said that although some members felt the construction shouldn't be attempted, the project was, in fact, accomplished fairly easily. "The expansion of the building helped lead to the expansion of the congregation, which moved from a period of pessimism to one of optimism."
In his 26 years at Colonial, the congregation has grown to 327 members, making it a "good-sized . . . medium to large" Presbyterian church.
Powell, 58 and a native of South Boston, said it was difficult to explain why the church has grown so much, "except that it is the nature of this congregation to make people feel welcome."
Colonial is an "eclectic . . . highly mobile congregation" that has responded to the challenge of assimilating new members, Powell said. Few of the original members are still there, and a majority of the congregation came from religious backgrounds other than Presbyterianism, Powell said.
A consequence is a congregation that is "very ecumenical in outlook," Powell said, and involved in outreach activities such as Roanoke Area Ministries and the Presbyterian Community Center in Southeast Roanoke.
That outreach extends into the national denomination through the church's pastoral internship program, another facet of his ministry Powell is particularly proud of.
In the last six years, the church has had four full-time seminarians serve internships. In addition to aiding in the practical education of the students, the internships "have proved most valuable for the congregation. We participate in a very personal way in the future" of the national denomination.
Now, Powell says, he is "thinking in terms of slowing down a little bit," but hopes to make a continuing contribution by serving interim pastorates. He also will continue the restoration of the 1939 Packard that he is working on.
He wanted to leave at a time when "everything was going well. . . . I felt it was a good time for me to leave, and a good time for the church."
Powell and his wife of 31 years, Elaine, have three grown children and one grandchild.
A search committee is already looking for Powell's successor. The Rev. Dr. William A. Cole of Salem, a retired Presbyterian minister, will lead the congregation in the interim.
by CNB