Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991 TAG: 9103150465
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Saturday, the current congregation will dedicate a gleaming new edifice at the junction of Russell Avenue and Clay Street. It represents three years of faith and hard work, much of it provided by church members themselves.
The new, natural brick-faced, 25-room building, sporting a slender white steeple, stands right next door to the modest cinder-block structure that had served as the congregation's home for about three decades.
The pastor, Elder Ronald A. Watson Sr., sees the success of his church's building program as a matter of faith and a philosophy that says: "If you don't know you can't do it, you can do it."
"We'll have this done by the dedication," the pastor predicted confidently 10 days before the ceremony as he surveyed the new church's half-finished second floor.
Doors and flooring remained to be installed. Paint cans, tools, and construction debris still were scattered about.
But Watson, a congenial father of five and grandfather of five, has his faith and his philosophy on his side. He didn't know it couldn't be done.
When finished, the upper level will serve as the church's youth center. It also will house two small suites to accommodate guests.
On the main level, deep red carpeting accents the completed sanctuary. A wood-panel backdrop rises nearly to the vaulted ceiling behind the altar.
At an electronic keyboard to the right, Watson's son Mark, a Radford University student, enthusiastically runs the choir through its paces in preparation for the big day.
In another room, a half dozen women work frantically to compile a commemorative booklet for the dedication. It will include congratulatory letters from President Bush and other dignitaries.
Watson grinned broadly as he related how they tried without success to get Gov. Douglas Wilder to attend. But Wilder did write.
The new church also features a computerized business office and a well-equiped audio-video booth. Watson said that all services are videotaped.
"So if someone is sick, we take the service to them," he explained. "We're very community-oriented."
Watson's 150-member church is part of the 4 million-member Church of God in Christ, with headquarters in Memphis, Tenn.
"We're the largest black Pentecostal church in the world," he said.
Watson said his church has white visitors from time to time, but has no white members. He looks forward to the day when that will change.
"I think that it's needed," he said.
On dedication day, members of the congregation and visitors will march out of the old church building next door, circling around the block through the neighborhood where several members live, to the new building.
There, they'll cut a ceremonial ribbon before the dedication service featuring the denomination's Bishop of Virginia Samuel Green, who was Watson's mentor. Watson said he expects hundreds of people.
Indeed, he hopes to see many church members from all over Virginia, attending a meeting in Roanoke all week, at his church's dedication.
Watson, a Philadelphia native, says he came to his vocation naturally.
"I came from a very religious background," he said. "It's just something that I think I inherited."
When he retired after 20 years in the Air Force, he became active full time in the church.
"This is not a profession, it's a possession," he said.
When he came to Radford from the Tidewater area 10 years ago, he predicted the church would expand to the right of its present location. At the time, he had a handful of members and few financial resources.
A few years ago, however, he was able to arrange some private financing for a new building, and "then someone gave us the land" next door, he said.
The new church cost more than $200,000 to build, but Watson said it would have been much more if members of the congregation had not pitched in to reduce labor costs.
When the project is complete, the old and new church buildings will be connected by an enclosed walkway.
As Watson sees it, the new building was a gift from God to reward the members for their efforts in helping those in need and carrying out mission work.
"This is the way the Lord gave back to the congregation," he said.
by CNB