Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409060015
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
His theme will be the Sudan Accompaniment Program, which offers opportunities for American Christians to combat violence and oppression in the war-torn African nation.
Radcliff is a former Roanoke area resident who now works out of Brethren headquarters in Elgin, Ill. Call 483-2087 for more information.
World Hunger Auction
A World Hunger Auction supported by many members of Franklin County church and civic groups in August raised $22,175 for relief of hunger throughout the world.
The total does not include donations made for a hike and a bicycle ride taken earlier in the season. As part of the auction 500 pounds of ground beef also was donated to nearby food pantries.
201st anniversary
Members of Pisgah United Methodist Church in Tazewell County celebrate their 201st anniversary of the church's founding on Sept. 11 beginning at 10 a.m. with a gospel music program by Dan Tatum.
Speaking at 11 a.m. will be the Rev. Ray Amos of Kingsport, Tenn. Lunch on the grounds follows at 12:15 p.m. At 7 p.m. the Rev. Clifford Schell of Princeton, W.Va., will begin a regional revival meeting.
Pot luck supper
Members of Ephesus United Methodist Church on Virginia 715 in Bedford County have scheduled a Labor Day Weekend rally today at 6 p.m. with pot luck supper and gospel music.
An offering will be taken for victims of the recent Martinsville area tornado. Call 297-6250 for more information.
New church formed
SALT LAKE CITY - A group of excommunicated Mormons in central Utah have formed their own church with members who are taught to embrace plural marriage and prepare for the end of the world.
The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ, Saints of the Last Days is led by Jim Harmston, a retired real estate agent who lives in Manti with his two wives. He recently declared himself president and prophet.
The church has as many as 500 baptized members and 1,000 or more ``closet believers'' in Sanpete County, Harmston claims. About half of the church's male members have more than one wife, he said. Polygamy is illegal in Utah, but the law has not been enforced since the 1950s.
If Harmston's membership figures are accurate, the sect could be the largest group to break from the Mormon Church in more than 70 years.
Many members of the group have strongly denounced the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as evil and corrupt. They claim the nearly 9-million-member faith has liberalized doctrine in an attempt to be popular.
However, the new church has embraced Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith, who some members say has visited them and stated his approval of their efforts.
Service to the needy
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The associate pastor of a Baptist church says some members of his congregation felt better about not attending worship services on a recent Sunday morning.
Members of Park Road Baptist Church skipped services to fan out across Charlotte to serve the needy, homeless and lonely.
``I think everybody says, `Why didn't we do this sooner?''' said associate pastor Dean Minton.
About 200 of the church's 600 members went to work at a nursing home and homeless shelter. Others spent part of the day at the church making blankets and tote bags for the homeless.
Harriet Bryant was one of the congregation members who walked into a homeless shelter for the first time in her 60-plus years. She got down to business serving pancakes, eggs, ham, grits, fruit juice and coffee.
``People perceive missions as something you do in Africa and not what you do in your own backyard,'' project leader Leslie Sellers said.
Lessons criticized
SALT LAKE CITY - A tendency by Mormons to talk about sexuality in terms of prohibitions and damnation may have destructive effects, according to some therapists and researchers.
For instance, some young Mormon girls have been warned that ``it's better to be dead than to let someone take their chastity away,'' said therapist Kathy Galloway.
Galloway was one of several Mormon therapists and researchers who participated in a discussion of the subject during the annual Sunstone Symposium, which showcases independent Mormon scholars and their work.
``I don't see spirituality and sexuality as mutually exclusive,'' said Glen Lambert, executive director of Odyssey House.
But girls who kiss or experiment sexually before marriage also have been compared to wilted flowers and told they are damaged goods.
Lessons like those, Galloway said, cause guilt, despair and destroy self-esteem.
``This legacy of dysfunction is rooted in Victorian values,'' Galloway said. ``It's not OK and it needs to change.''
Former church President Spencer W. Kimball once said the No. 1 cause of divorce among Mormon couples is sex, he said. ``Yet I can't turn to a church [lesson] manual that deals in a positive way with human sexuality.''
by CNB