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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 28, 1994                   TAG: 9404280093
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RELIGION BRIEFS

THE REV. NELSON HARRIS, pastor of Ridgewood Baptist Church, has been elected president of the Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference, an interfaith group of religion professionals who meet monthly from September through May. He and other officers will be installed Monday at Camp Bethel Conference Center. The other officers are: George Hill and the Rev. David Henderson, vice presidents; the Rev. Philip Motley, treasurer; and the Revs. Michael Nevlin, Gene Edmunds and Carl Savage, secretaries for correspondence, minutes and yearbook editing.

\ AN ORGAN AND ORCHESTRA GALA to mark completion of restoration and additions to the 68-year old pipe organ is scheduled Friday at 8 p.m. at Greene Memorial United Methodist Church in downtown Roanoke. Richard Cummins, organist at the church, and Carolyn Victorine and Rebecca Wallenborn, pianists, will perform. The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, directed by Victoria Bond, also will perform. The organ celebration is part of the Greene Memorial Fine Arts Series with additional sponsorship by the orchestra. Call 344-6225 or 343-9127 for the $20 tickets.

\ HIGHLAND PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH will begin on May 7 a weekly Saturday evening service starting at 6. The worship is especially for those who cannot attend on Sunday or prefer an informal service, according to the Rev. Louis Timmons, pastor. The church is at 624 Ferdinand Ave. S.W.

\ WEST END UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 1221 Campbell Ave. S.W., has scheduled its homecoming for May 15 beginning at 9:15 a.m. with worship at 10:30. A former pastor, the Rev. Kenneth K. Patrick, who is now at Trinity United Methodist Church in Lexington, will preach. Special music with former choir members and guest performers will be included. For reservations for a noon luncheon, call 344-0205 mornings before May 8.

The West End congregation also recently honored two nursery workers for a combined 85 years of service. Marguerite Peyton marked 50 years of caring for the small children, and Sadie Love 35 years.

\ THE TRANSITIONAL LIVING CENTER, a temporary home for singles and families operated by Total Action Against Poverty, recently received seven bed coverings crafted by a group of women members of St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church. The ongoing project has attracted knitters and quilters from other churches, according to coordinator Jean Taylor. Fabric and more volunteers are needed. Call Taylor at 774-4398 for more information.

\ AT JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH, 1014 Norfolk Ave. S.W., youth revival services are in progress through Friday. The Rev. M.D. Mays, pastor of Otterville Baptist Church in Amherst, is the guest evangelist. Special music is being presented nightly at 7.

Also, at Jerusalem, the J. Eugene Young Mass Choir will observe its sixth anniversary Sunday at 5 p.m. Worship will be led by the Rev. Leonard Hines and the Mass Choir of First Baptist Church at Cloverdale.

\ VIRGINIA HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHURCH is among Virginia Southern Baptist congregations that sent vegetable seeds to Croatia, Angola and Mozambique, where war has seriously depleted the food supply. The 250 packets were divided among the three countries.

\ BUDDY CRUMPACKER, maintenance supervisor at Camp Bethel Church of the Brethren Conference Center in Botetourt County, has left the staff to return with his family to his former home in Lynchburg. Crumpacker had worked at the center for two years.

\ THE REV. K. LANDON MADDEX, a Southern Baptist pastor, has marked 50 years in the ordained ministry. Maddex served from 1944 to 1979 as pastor of Villa Heights Church and has been active in visiting residents in nursing homes.

\ THE REV. NOEL C. TAYLOR, pastor of High Street Baptist Church, is being honored during May services marking his 33rd anniversary at the church. The congregation will honor Taylor, former mayor of Roanoke, at a salad social Sunday. A donation is asked.

An anniversary musical, under the direction of William Keen, will be held May 15. The final event will be May 22 when the Rev. P.L. Barrett will preach at a special service. All events will begin at 4 p.m. and are at the church, 2302 Florida Ave. N.W.

\ THE REV. EVERETT KIER JR. has joined the staff of Salem Baptist Church as minister of youth and outreach. He is a former pastor of Grace Church, an independent evangelical Christian congregation in Southwest Roanoke but has been attending Salem Baptist for the past year.

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.

by CNB