Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9201310369
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RELIGION BRIEFS
Ex-4-H center manager to head Camp BethelWayne Garst, who took early retirement from management of the 4-H Conference Center, will become the new manager of Camp Bethel Feb. 17.
As the top staff person at the Botetourt conference center, he will succeed the Rev. Robert Jones who is retiring after 23 years of service as an administrator of Brethren district work.
Garst, a member of Green Hill Church of the Brethren in Salem, has had many years of experience in planning and management of centers, according to the Rev. Richard Gottshall, chairman of the search committee.
He will be assisted by Mary Sink, who last year was named resident program director. At times in the past, Jones held both jobs.
Jones will leave his post officially on Feb. 28. He and his wife, Doris, will be honored at a reception Feb. 29 at Lord Botetourt High School from 3 to 5:30 p.m. A program will follow from 6 to 7:30.
Camp Bethel is affiliated with the Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren but is available year around for rental by other church and human service groups. Last year, according to Sink, it provided camping experience for more than 600 youths.
Jones is the first of two Church of the Brethren administrators retiring this year. The Rev. Dr. Owen Stultz, 64, who holds the top job of district executive, has announced that he will step down by Aug. 31. - Staff
Prayer service planned at old state prison site
Religious leaders associated with the Richmond-based Interfaith Action for Humane Corrections will gather at the site of the old State Penitentiary Friday to pray for all who were affected by the 200-year-old penal institution. The penitentiary, now razed and its former inmates incarcerated in other Virginia prisons, was on the James River in inner-city Richmond.
A staff member of the Virginia Council of Churches, of which the humane corrections group is a part, said prayers will be offered for those executed behind the walls in the prison's long history as well as for all who worked with inmates and for victims of crime.
The service, which is open to the public, will include a ritual of cleansing and blessing the land. Representatives of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and other faiths will participate. The interfaith group aims to educate the public to what it considers more humane and effective ways to treat those who break laws. - Staff
Orthodox Jews to rethink intermarriage policy
NEW YORK - An Orthodox Jewish study paper says that in light of recent statistics showing 52 percent of Jews presently marry non-Jews, a serious reappraisal is needed of Orthodox treatment of intermarried couples.
While in the past they were essentially excommunicated by the Orthodox community, the study by a think tank of the Rabbinical Council of America says that "totally punitive attitude" now may not be appropriate. - Associated Press