Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 26, 1994 TAG: 9402260042
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Chapel Choir of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J., will perform March 9 at 7 p.m. at Salem Baptist Church, 103 N. Broad St., Salem.
Directed by James Jordon, it is one of five performing choral groups from the professional school attended by many Western Virginia church musicians. The program will include music by Britten, Bruckner, Duckworth, Gibbons, Handel, Hassler, Maxwell Davies and R. Vaughan Williams as well as folk and spiritual selections. An offering will be taken.
1st Baptist is host
First Baptist Church, 515 Third St. S.W., will be host to the annual state meeting of the Woman's Missionary Union, an independent auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The meeting will be March 15 and 16 with sessions on the first day beginning at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and the following day at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
"Serving Christ: The Rest of the Story" will be the theme.
The speaker at each session will be Anne Davis, dean of social work studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
In Addition to business sessions, the convention will include a seminar known as Lydia's Project at Vinton Baptist beginning at 9 a.m. on March 15. It will be led by Wilford Lindsey of Detroit and aims to revitalize the lives of urban residents through Baptist congregations.
Music by the First Baptist choirs and by Bert Raitt of Newport News will be part of the program .
Lent in Martinsville
Christ Episcopal Church, 311 E. Church St. in Martinsville, has begun its Wednesday night spiritual-growth programs for Lent.
The March 2 speaker will be Sam Darby of Roanoke, who will discuss "How to Be an Episcopalian and an Evangelist at the Same Time."
The weekly series, which continues through March, begins with a meal at 6:30, worship at 7 and the program at 7:30. Call 632-6605 for a full schedule.
`How to Use Bible' series
R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church, 123 W. Washington St. in Lexington, has announced its Lenten speakers.
Beginning with a potluck meal Wednesday at 6 p.m., "How to Use the Bible" will be the theme. Dr. Byron McCane, an American Baptist pastor and visiting professor of religion at Washington and Lee University, will begin the series. Other speakers will present Southern Baptist, United Methodist and Episcopal approaches to Bible study. A nursery will be staffed.
The Rev. Barbara M. Taylor, a member of the R.E. Lee Memorial staff since 1990, will become interim rector of St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in eastern Maryland in late March.
Sign up for camp
Registration is open for several summer programs at Camp Bethel, a Church of the Brethren conference center in Botetourt County.
Day trips for school children, a backpacking camp for families, a two-day overnight for senior adults in September as well as children's and youth camps throughout the summer will be available.
Call 992-2940 for a full schedule.
Same-sex marriage opposed
SALT LAKE CITY - Mormon Church leaders have called on their nearly 9 million members to actively oppose same-sex marriages.
"Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God to fulfill the eternal destiny of his children," the church's governing First Presidency said in a recent statement.
"This sacred family setting, with father and mother firmly committed to each other and to righteous living, offers the best hope for avoiding many of the ills that afflict society," church leaders added.
Church spokesman Don LeFevre said the statement came in response to debate in Hawaii over efforts to legalize homosexual marriages.
In May, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriages may amount to sex discrimination and thus be unconstitutional.
A bill before the Hawaii Legislature would modify the state constitution's equal-protection clause to limit marriages to heterosexuals.
Resolution to study unions
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Delegates from Colorado Episcopal churches have decided they want a study before deciding on a resolution condoning the union of homosexuals.
After a 20-minute discussion at the recent convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, an overwhelming number of the 360 delegates voted to approve an alternative resolution allowing parishioners to discuss the matter further.
The original resolution, presented by St. Barnabas Episcopal Church on Denver's Capitol Hill, asked that the diocese recommend that the national Episcopal Church write a liturgy for same-sex unions.
Opponents of the St. Barnabas resolution have said the church's 1991 General Convention reaffirmed that physical and sexual relationships should be a lifelong commitment between a husband and wife.
Under the alternative resolution, the 106 Colorado congregations will have an open dialogue on same-sex marriages.
by CNB