Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 21, 1994 TAG: 9405230110
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
McCOMB, Miss. - Dedication services were held for the new sanctuary building at Springhill Freewill Baptist Church, one of two black churches torched by three white teen-agers last year.
Black and white citizens in southwest Mississippi contributed to a rebuilding fund for the church, and many also gave their time and talents in the construction of the new building dedicated Sunday.
Churches go green
HARTFORD, Conn. - Leaders of Christian churches in Connecticut are urging their congregations to become more aggressive in supporting environmental efforts.
In a pastoral letter sent Tuesday to 2,400 Catholic and Protestant churches in the state, the religious leaders from 14 denominations termed environmental concerns a moral issue. They said they are concerned "that the environmental crisis is not yet viewed with the urgency it warrants."
Confirmation service
A joint Confirmation service for Episcopalians in the Roanoke Valley, Botetourt and Franklin counties, and the Martinsville area is scheduled Sunday at 3 p.m. in DuPont Chapel of Hollins College.
Conducted by Bishop A. Heath Light, the service is one of five being held throughout the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia in this 75th year of the foundation of the diocese. More than 100 adults and children are expected to reaffirm their baptismal vows or be received from another Christian group.
The usual Confirmation procedure is for the bishop to visit each congregation in the diocese at least once annually for the ritual. Light is continuing his pastoral visits this year but has encouraged members affirming their baptismal vows to do so in the joint service. Next year he will return to the usual practice.
Bethesda anniversary
The 150th anniversary of Bethesda United Methodist Church in Bedford County will be observed May 29 at 11 a.m.
A former pastor, the Rev. Wrightson Tongue, now retired and living in Lynchburg, will preach. Tongue is a poet and song writer and will use special music to enhance the service. Picnic lunch will follow the worship.
The church is on Virginia 24 at its intersection with 707. For more information, call 297-6250. Current pastor at Bethesda is the Rev. Robert Maas.
Commemorative bibles
The American Bible Society, which distributed New Testaments to the Armed Forces 50 years ago at the invasion of Normandy in World War II, has printed a commemorative Testament it will give veterans and their families on June 6 as the world marks the anniversary of the event which led to the end of World War II.
The 25,000 customized Scriptures with facsimile pages from the little books of 50 years ago will be in Contemporary English Version language rather than the King James Version in which the 1941 edition was issued.
About 300,000 people are expected to travel to Normandy in early June for ceremonies to remember the dead and living. Many veterans of the military engagement will be accompanied by their children and grandchildren.
Rethinking wisdom
Bishops in the United Methodist Church have called for a "theological analysis of the concepts of wisdom" found in the Old and New Testaments.
The action follows controversy in the denomination over the participation of some of its employees in the "RE-imagining" Conference last year in Minneapolis where references to "Sophia" a Greek word usually translated as "wisdom" have been criticized as heretical.
The bishops declined to specifically criticize the "RE-imagining" conference, but restated their commitment to the denomination's published "Doctrinal Standards and General Rules."
New seminary president
Louis B. Weeks has been named president of Union Theological Seminary in Virginia.
Weeks, now professor of church history at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, succeeds T. Hartley Hall IV who is retiring this summer after 13 years as president.
by CNB