Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 29, 1992 TAG: 9203270065
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
A Sojourner entering the nave on Sunday saw at once the free-standing cross veiled in black as well as the purple pulpit hangings that matched the pastor's stole. Clearly, a penitential time of waiting for Easter was being marked on this dreary morning as soggy snow negated the spring promise of blooming trees.
Rhea, one of an increasing number of ordained women serving Disciples congregations, had planned the service around the theme of the cross. Her 15-minute sermon, "The Turning Point," was focused on the incident from Luke 9 in which Jesus asks his followers if they know who he is. Peter, the Gospel recounts, asserts that Christ is the messiah, the long-awaited savior of the Jewish people.
Rhea told about 60 adult worshipers of all ages that the writer of the gospel of Luke was a skilled storyteller. Beginning with the remarkable birth story, he is almost saying "Once upon a time." Later "the plot thickens" as enemies plan to overthrow the strange prophet from Galilee. Finally, "the turning point" is reached when Christ tests his followers on their understanding of who he is and prepares to die.
Despite his bold assertion, even Peter, Rhea pointed out, really did not know the suffering the cross soon would bring to Christ as well as to all who remained faithful to him. The disciples, said the pastor, "still saw him as a super nova" and probably expected positions of importance when he entered into his kingdom in Jerusalem, to which he said they were all going.
They saw Christ sentimentally - as most people still do, said Rhea. As in such books as "St. Maybe" and "The Prince of Tides," unpleasant facts are pushed aside so people can maintain a serene front.
People don't like Lent, either, the pastor noted, because sermons, prayers and hymns bring up such images as crowns of thorns, blood, and being nailed to a cross.
"There's no detour around the cross for a Christian. . . Some might go to Jesus for fun, but Jesus knew he'd be alone and vulnerable with only the wind in his ears and not the faintest whisper from God . . . We love the old cross now, but how despised and ugly it was then."
Earlier in the service, Rhea introduced to about 20 children in a five-minute message the idea of suffering associated with the cross. When asked, several youngsters knew Jesus had died on it. Their pastor tried to drive home the message that "God loves us very much and Jesus does, too. It's a sign or symbol. Whenever we see the cross, we're reminded that Jesus loves us."
Music, too, suggested the cross. All three hymns sung by the congregation - "The Way of the Cross Leads Home," "In the Garden" and "The Old Rugged Cross" - suggested Christ's passion.
And the anthem presented by the choir's dozen members, directed by David Thompson, was a medly of hymns relating to the crucifixion.
These hymns all were sung from a paper-backed "Spiritual Life Songs" book issued four years ago. It contained Protestant standards mostly from the past 150 years. Also in the pews was a larger and older volume, "Christian Worship - A Hymnal" issued by a combined Disciples and Baptist team nearly 40 years ago. Neither its music nor the Scripture responses were used last week.
The service moved along from opening praise to childrens' sermon, introductions and greeting of visitors - people rise and speak to each other with handshakes - to the pastoral prayer, receiving the offering, reception of the Lord's Supper and the sermon.
Since Disciples are among churches that stand for believers' Baptism and a public profession of faith, time is given at the end of each service for older children, youth and adults to express this desire. No one did Sunday, although a number of visitors were in the congregation.
Despite the austerity of the service, a congregational potluck lunch lifted spirits in the fellowship hall. It was one of many events, the parish weekly newsletter revealed, that hold the congregation together and suggest a large and caring family.
Children at First Christian past toddler age attend the first half of the service sitting together near the front with adult supervisors. On Sunday, Rhea directed a dozen of them in two simple anthems, "This is the Day" and "Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us with Your Love."
The sick and troubled are on an intercessory prayer list in the bulletin, and the pastor prays for them and others whose names are requested by anyone in the congregation.
The partaking of tiny square wafers and grape juice in plastic glasses as a memorial to Jesus' last supper is a part of the service every Sunday in Disciples churches. Rhea said the consecration prayer, and three men and a woman passed the food to those in the pews.
Helpfully for a visitor, two instructions are in the bulletin: Say "trespasses" in the Lord's Prayer and hold the symbolic bread and wine until all have been served. Then each is eaten together.
First Christian celebrated its centennial two years ago. What is now the fellowship hall was the worship area between 1938 and 1966. Additions and improvements have been made over the years following the dedication of the present church more than 25 years ago.
When Rhea came to the church in 1979, it was in a team ministry with her husband, Richard. They were divorced several years later and the congregation in 1988 asked Gina Rhea to remain as its sole pastor.
Since then members of the congregation have involved themselves in a nursery school, an ecumenical clothing store that sells to the needy at low prices, in food banks and in a variety of intellectual programs appealing to the university community.
by CNB