Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 11, 1993 TAG: 9304090079
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
EPISCOPALIANS' PALM SUNDAY A RICH PAGEANT
As Christians celebrate today the central event of their faith - Jesus' Resurrection from the dead - they have just come through seven dramatic days that began with Palm Sunday a week ago.On that day, the Sojourner joined with the people of Christ Episcopal Church for a service that revealed a maximum of pageantry for the beginning of Holy Week. As in other liturgical churches, members of the congregation join the clergy in offering themselves as participants in the worship.
A procession of worship leaders and the congregation carrying palm fronds often gathers outside a church, and, following the reading of the story of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the people march into the church singing a hymn associated with the day.
With a chill wind and rain threatening, the outside ritual was moved into the church last week at the 11:15 a.m. service where about 80 worshipers celebrated not only Palm Sunday, but the annual visit of Bishop A. Heath Light of Roanoke.
Light came to administer the rite of confirmation to nine youths and adults who previously had received instruction in the church's beliefs and practices. For Episcopalians this service is always performed by a bishop, generally at a predetermined time annually.
Sojourner missed the confirmation ritual, for that had taken place at the 9 a.m. service. The Rev. Michael K. Thompson, who is serving the parish temporarily since its former rector, Martin Townsend, was elected a bishop of Maryland, noted that the late-morning service usually has fewer in attendance than the family worship at 9.
Last Sunday, he said, the small nave was packed with about 200 worshipers for confirmation. In addition, 21 had been on hand at 7:45 a.m. for the regular early-morning Communion, bringing to 300 those who overcame the Daylight Saving Time adjustment to celebrate with processions and palms.
A majority of those at the 11:15 service were people in their later decades, some members of the parish for 40 or more years. But some, like Dr. John Tamminen and his young family, represent a baby-boom generation of those who have moved to the New River Valley in recent years. Most young people, including some students, attend at 9, Thompson said.
When the bishop visits a parish for confirmation, he also preaches the sermon and receives the financial gift for the work of the church in the world outside the congregation. This year Tamminen gave him a check for $23,000, which Light accepted with remarks about the generosity of members "who are good at nurturing people in their faith."
Not only, Light said, are these people students with whom the Rev. Rod Sinclair works, but also their former rector Townsend and himself.
Over the past 20 years, a feature of Palm Sunday in many Episcopal churches has been a dramatic reading of the Passion narrative, the account of Jesus' last week as recounted in the Gospels, with a different version used each year.
At Christ Episcopal last Sunday, the role of narrator was taken by the Rev. Herbert G. Myers, a retired priest who assists with many services. A choir member, Jono Shultz, read the part of Jesus, and other laity joined in in the roles of Peter, Judas, Pilate and the high priest in this account from Matthew. At frequent intervals the congregation chimed in with crowd responses.
Because it was a special festival day, some of the responses from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer were chanted by Light and the people. A 12-member choir in black and white robes performed an introit, "Hosanna," and a Tchaikovsky anthem, "The Crown of Roses." At Christ Church, Susan T. Howell directs the singers while Susan J. Kemp plays the pipe organ.
Using the 1982 Hymnal, the congregation sang the music heard only on Palm Sunday, with most of the sound at the late service coming from the choir.
Hymns began with the triumphal song "All Glory, Laud and Honor" and ended in the touching spiritual, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" and "Ride on, Ride on in Majesty," the latter hymn sung to a somber tune unfamiliar to most in the pews.
In his seven-minute sermon, Light spoke of the thief Barabbas, whom, the Gospel stories recount, escaped a death by crucifixion so that the crowd could enjoy the spectacle of Jesus of Nazareth suffering on the cross.
Those who wrote about the event indicate that Barabbas was a thief, murderer and insurrectionist - the sort who would bomb the World Trade Center, the bishop said.
Yet this seemingly unworthy man, who gave no indication that he cared anything for God, was the first to receive the gift of Jesus' sacrifice, according to Light. God's love fora new rec-
Through a national computer network, this is matched with profiles of ordained men or women who want to move soon, as well as candidates suggested by members.
Meanwhile, Thompson, a former Radford clergyman, holds the title of priest-in-charge; he is completing graduate work ad is not eligible to become the permanent rector in Blacksburg. At least a year is expected to elapse following Townsend's departure before a new man or woman occupies the pulpit, Thompson indicated.
Sunday Sojourner appears monthly in the New River Current. Its purpose is not to promote a particular point of view but to inform readers of a variety of worship styles.