Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994 TAG: 9402180182
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roman Catholics in the Diocese of Richmond are being asked this year to give $850,000 for the annual Lenten Bishop's Appeal. A portion of the money will go to a Catholic high school to serve the Virginia Beach area. The remaining $600,000 will be used for mission development, food and fuel for the poor, Catholic schools, seminary assistance, retreats and needs of the elderly.
The appeal, which was begun 14 years ago by Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, represents a 10 percent increase this year. Sullivan said that a total of more than $8.7 million has been donated to the appeal over the years.
New face at center
Jean Butler has been named coordinator of the Bishop Marmion Resource Center, an ecumenical ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia housed at 1010 First St. S.W. Butler's part time position represents a reorganization of duties at the diocesan office. She succeeds Pamela Wiegandt who left the job four months ago.
Lexington pastor retires
The Rev. Dr. Randolph L. Harrison has retired to Staunton after a pastorate of nearly 19 years at Lexington Presbyterian Church. An interim minister, the Rev. Richard Webster of Louisville, Ky., will begin service at the church on March 1.
Conferences in N.C.
Lake Junaluska Assembly Center, a United Methodist facility near Asheville, N.C., is offering two conferences ,"The Storyteller: A Tool for Ministry," and "New Life for Dying Congregations." The first, led by Mildred Sanders, will be Feb. 25-26. The second, led by church renewal specialist Dr. Rose G. Sims, will be in session March 7-10. For more information, call 1-800-222-4930.
Martyr in translation
The Rev. Dr. Paul Matheny, pastor of Westhampton Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Roanoke and the Rev. Dr. Patrick Kelly of Lynchburg are among board members of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works Translation Project.
Matheny, who also leads a Bonhoeffer study group at his church, said support is needed to make available in English a 16-volume set of the German Theologian's works. Though martyred by the Nazis in 1945, Bonhoeffer remains a strong influence on Christian thought today, Matheny recently told the Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference. For more information about the project, call 774-5394.
New minister in Bedford
The Rev. Dr. Charles T. Dorman has begun his work as interim pastor of Bedford Baptist Church.
The native of South Carolina has begun a career as an intentional interim, a minister who serves churches for a specific time while a permanent pastor is being sought. Most recently Dorman has been at a Wilmington, N.C. congregation for 17 months. He is a graduate of Duke University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, was pastor of a Fuquay-Varina, N.C. church for 17 years and has served as a Navy chaplain. He and his wife, Sue Johnston Dorman, have three adult children.
Since the Rev. Dr. Ron Blankenship went to a Tennessee church late last year, the Rev. Karla Gee, minister of education and youth, has led the congregation.
Ex-Roanoker publishes
A former Roanoker, Judy Gattis Smith, now of Lynchburg, has published a new book for Christian educators, "Needing, Kneeling, Knowing." The focus of the book moves from recognition of a need for God to an experiment with several types of prayer and finally to ways people come to know God as personal friend.
Retreat sets record
Attendance at Resurrection '94, a retreat for youth in the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, topped 6,800.
The record number, which included many teens from the New River Valley and Southwest Virginia whose churches are part of the conference, was attributed to having two sessions of the meeting. It was held in Gatlinburg, Tenn. in late January. A second weekend was added because the conference had outgrown its meeting place last year. More than 300 parishes in Tennesssee and Southwest Virginia sent teens this year.
Conservative nominated
Fred Wolfe, pastor of a large church in Mobile, Ala., will be a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention at its annual meeting in June.
Associated Baptist Press reported this week that Wolfe, a long-time Executive Committee member and a visible member of the conservative faction that controls the national convention, will seek the top job.
He may be opposed by another prominent conservative, Orlando pastor Jim Henry. Henry, 56, says he hasn't made up his mind whether to allow his nomination, but "I've prayer seriously about it."
Wolfe, who also is 56, said a group of 60-70 conservatives have asked him to run for the post.
by CNB