ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993                   TAG: 9303040498
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-2   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: BY FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long


RELIGION BRIEFS

BETHLEHEM BIBLE COLLEGE, which offers evening classes to enhance spiritual growth, will observe Founders Day Saturday at 7 p.m. with a program at Hill Street Baptist Church, 111 Madison Ave. N.W.

The Rev. Frank Feather of Forest Park Baptist Church will speak. Special music also will be presented.

\ AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSIC of the gospel tradition will be performed tonight at 7 in Whitman Auditorium of Virginia Western Community College. Among the performers will be the Inspirational Choir of Garden of Prayer 6 of Roanoke, Gladys Dickerson of Rocky Mount and the Community Choir of the Roanoke County community of Kingstown.

The concert is free and is sponsored for Black History Month by the Minority Affairs Committee and the Black Student Organization at the college.

\ A CHILDREN'S MUSICAL, "O Jonah," will be presented Sunday at 10 a.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Salem. Directed by Rebecca W. Goodwin, it will include members of the Chorister and Cambridge junior choirs and is open to the public.

\ A MISSION AWARENESS WEEKEND involving several United Methodist churches in the Roanoke area is scheduled March 5-7. Marie Russo, director of The Neighborhood Center, a nationally-supported inner-city ministry of the church in Utica, N.Y., will be the featured guest.

The event will begin with a breakfast for clergy at Huntington Court Church. A community forum will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Greene Memorial Church.

The $5 fee covers lunch and registration. Call 345-7351 or 345-6781 by Friday for reservations. The March 5 activities will conclude with a tour of several Roanoke Valley service agencies.

Events on March 6 will include a talk by Russo at 9 a.m. at Bonsack United Methodist Church. She will talk about the work of the center, and several others will discuss their involvement the Neighborhood Center.

The awareness weekend will conclude March 7 when staff workers from the center will speak at several churches, including Thrasher Memorial Church in Vinton and Highland Park in Roanoke.

\ WORLD DAY OF PRAYER, an annual program of Church Women United, is scheduled March 5 at Belmont Presbyterian Church, 1005 Ninth St. S.E. The service, which opens with registration at 10 a.m., was written by Guatemalan women.

The women's group is ecumenical and interracial.

\ FIRST WESLEYAN CHURCH, 3706 Peters Creek Road N.W., will sponsor a presentation by Brass Dimensions on March 3 at 7 p.m. The brass and percussion ensemble is from Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. The ensemble has performed nationally.

A nursery will be provided. Call 563-4481 for more information.

\ BETHANY CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST), 3115 Fleming Ave. N.W., will observe Mission Sunday on March 7 at the 8:30 and 11 a.m. services.

Victor McAnallen, a Hendersonville, N.C., mission worker who is on furlough from Thailand, will speak at both. He also will show a video after a 12:15 p.m. potluck lunch.

Crafts from Lao Song will be on sale. Call 366-0968 Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings if attending the lunch.

\ THE SPIRITUAL SEVEN, a Wirtz gospel group, will sing March 7 at 3 p.m. at Truevine Church of Christ, 1132 Loudon Ave. N.W.

\ THE BENNETT COLLEGE CHOIR of Greensboro, N.C., will present a program March 6 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church, Fifth Street at Gilmer Avenue Northwest. The women's choir includes students at the Methodist-affiliated school. The concert is free.

\ A SPECIAL SERVICE with Doris Mack as the speaker is planned March 7 at 4 p.m. at Price Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 506 15th St. N.W. The Senior Choir of St. John A.M.E. Church will present special music for the service, sponsored by the Price Memorial Deaconess Board.

Mack is a member of Loudon Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

\ GREENE MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is raising funds and recruiting volunteers for the construction of a Habitat for Humanity house.

The house will be at 115 Harrison Ave. N.W., near five other Habitat residences. Work is expected to start in late March.

\ GRACE CHURCH, 2731 Edgewood St. N.W., will present the Bryan College Chorale of Dayton, Tenn., in concert on March 5 at 7 p.m.

The 44-voice choral group has performed nationwide and in Canada, Europe and the Bahamas.

\ SEVERAL GUEST TEACHERS will lead Sunday morning classes during Lent at St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke.

Beginning Sunday and continuing through March 28, Roy S. Bent, a retired religion professor at Roanoke College, will discuss "Contemporary Theological Visions."

Another class, "Living with Diversity," will feature Muriel Wiggins of Charlottesville on Sunday ; the Rev. Kathy O'Keeffe on March 7; and Ellen Brown on March 14. All classes will be from 10:15 to 11 a.m.

\ FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH in downtown Salem has scheduled a series of special Lenten programs for the community. On Wednesday mornings beginning at 10:15, the Rev. Jonathan Bennett, associate pastor, will lead a discussion group using "The Workbook on the Christian Faith." Call 389-5459 to register.

On Sunday nights, an adult study will cover the book "From Palm Sunday to Easter." The study will start after a 5 p.m. meal, which costs $3. Reservations for the meal are needed by the Wednesday prior to the meal.

\ ED KILBOURNE, Christian songwriter and humorist, will be guest leader of a Lenten program March 1 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Salem.

The free presentation by the nationally traveled recording artist will be after a potluck supper at 6. Call 389-9307 for more information.

Deadline for religion briefs for Neighbors is Thursday. Material must be delivered to Neighbors Religion Briefs, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010, by noon in order to run in the following Thursday edition.


Memo: ***CORRECTION***

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB