Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992 TAG: 9201310062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES LEARN FAITH THROUGH DISCOURSES
The spacious parking lot on a hilltop off Givens Lane was still icy from the previous night's snow as I approached the Kingdom Hall where members of the Blacksburg congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses learn doctrines of their faith each week.A woman with a small girl offered a hand, and we made our way into the 4-year-old hall where the 10 a.m. teaching was about to begin. Eventually about 80 men, women and children of all ages and three races would occupy about half the seats in the room brightened by the glistening snow outside. I noted the full accessibility to those in wheelchairs.
The rows of attached chairs, with soft, green, padded seats that harmonized with the carpet, contained neither hymnals nor worship bulletins that generally guide this Sojourner through worship. Instead everyone carried a Bible, a magazine and a small brown songbook.
Because singing was opening the worship, I sought a book from an usher, but he had none; a child was persuaded to hand one over. A pianist accompanied the singing of "We Must Have the Faith," one of 225 songs in the "Sing Praises to Jehovah" hymnal. It was issued in 1984 by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, the publishing arm of the church.
I was unfamiliar with any of the songs. All were accompanied by a Scripture verse to show the origin of the lyrics.
A "discourse" came immediately after the hymn. Richard Putman of Vinton was the visiting speaker for the morning because of an exchange with Neal Carwile of the Blacksburg congregation. Elders, those who are especially well-informed members, rotate their speaking sites, allowing for some diversity of faces as well as unity of congregations in a given area.
Diversity of thought, however, is hardly a Witness characteristic, for all adherents are instructed in the Scriptural interpretation of the Watchtower Society. All who are baptized into the faith are regarded as ministers and are constantly instructed so that they can spread the joyful word of Jehovah to the rest of the world.
Though there are no ordained clergy, each Witness congregation has a presiding overseer. In Blacksburg this is Charles Dean, a member of the Givens Lane congregation since 1974. Dean said five opportunities exist for learning each week in the Kingdom Hall, the generic Witness name for the worship and teaching center.
Two meetings are held on Sundays with the morning session lasting from 10 a.m. to noon and another later in the day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays other sessions are held for specific purposes such as praying and healing, training, and service, he said.
Though the building has several smaller areas where restless children can be taken if necessary during the long-sitting sessions, Dean said even the smallest are expected to attend the teaching and be there with their parents.
Witnesses are a fast-growing religious group throughout the world. Dean pointed out an African woman, and during the second half of the morning program - when a leader asked programmed questions and individuals responded by reading from the magazines - several foreign accents were evident.
Following the opening hymn, Putman said he would discuss for 45 minutes the meaning of the Noah story in Genesis, and he did so in a closely reasoned argument.
He said the flood of prehistoric times truly took place and can be proved by other Bible references. The people in the chairs flipped back and forth their Scripture pages from Genesis to Hebrews and on to the apocalyptic passages in Matthew and some comments in Peter.
As part of their firm conviction that the Bible is to be taken literally, Witnesses regard the books bearing certain Christian leaders' names as being written by them. Other Christian scholars assert that groups of writers, some living long after the events described, are the authors.
"The Bible presents the flood, not as a fable, but as a real historical event," Putman said repeatedly. He went on to assert that the scientific ice age when prehistoric animals died was caused by God's releasing "the canopy" that separated Earth from heaven - and kept the temperature uniform - and a vast amount of water dug out oceans and raised mountains.
The Vinton elder continued his exposition by telling of God's evil angels who, contrary to Jehovah's wishes, left heaven and mated with humanity. The resulting mixture of abnormal beings brought to Earth violence unparalleled until the current days of "sexual perversion, Ouija boards, demon influence and false religious teachings," Putman said.
Putman was applauded when he finished at 11 a.m. A few worshipers left then, but others arrived and most stayed in their seats. Another song, "Rejoice in the Hope," opened the second hour.
In contrast to the listening mode for the first hour, the second included audience participation. George Davis and a younger man, Rob Burdge, now occupied the platform. Having been given one of magazine study guides, I followed along as Burdge read a few sentences from the material, Davis asked questions and most in the chairs offered answers.
Many such answers were read directly from the book though some members paraphrased or offered additional thoughts. The process went on until the six-page lesson, "Rejoice in the Kingdom Hope," was done. After another hymn, the group dispersed.
Lisa Cutts, 28, and her husband, Bill, were among the several who greeted me at noon. The daughter of a circuit minister, she said she chose to stay a Witness as an adult even though her father exposed her to other ideas. Her husband, a convert, gave me materials which state that Witnesses do not regard Jesus as the equal of God but do regard themselves as Christians. The difficulty in making this distinction has made them "denounced everywhere," the pamphlet says.
Janice Moore, baptized a Witness in Chicago 17 years ago and nurtured in the faith in Cleveland, became active at Blacksburg in 1987. Owen McKinnie, a young banker, has been with the congregation since well before it moved from Ellett Road.