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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994                   TAG: 9412010009
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: N8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOR 1ST TIME, BOTETOURT CATHOLICS HAVE A PARISH THAT'S THEIR OWN

A dream of members such as the Erbes came true Oct. 2, when the Catholic Church of the Transfiguration was dedicated as a house of worship. Under the direction of Sister Eveline Murray, who has served as the full-time pastoral coordinator since 1992, the congregation of 120 moved into its own building on a hill above U.S. 220. It's slightly less than a mile from downtown Fincastle.

"It means so much to have our own building," Erbe said. "We've had to do everything on Saturday evenings. Now we can plan better for things like choir practice and socials."

The service of Mass, which is central for Catholics, still will be held at 5:15 p.m. on Saturdays as it was in the six years the growing congregation borrowed two nearby United Methodist buildings. The major weekend event had to be held then because St. Mark's United Methodist at Daleville and Fincastle United Methodist needed their space on Sunday mornings.

An additional reason is that a shortage prevents the Transfiguration folk from having an ordained priest in residence. The church does not permit women to be ordained, but in recent years, arrangements have been made for professionally trained women to be given the responsibilities of administering a church's work.

Officiating at the weekly Saturday Masses are clergymen from St. Andrew's and St. Gerard's in Roanoke. They take turns driving out to Fincastle on Saturday evenings when they are free from their own parish services.

Otherwise, Murray is in charge. It's the second parish she has served while a new building was under construction. The first was St. Francis in Rocky Mount, where she also helped develop new work.

Like Erbe, Murray is looking forward to more community-building in the new parish. The church activities tie together suburban families in the scattered new and old neighborhoods and villages of Botetourt.

Erbe said her sons - Graham, 11, and Reed, 8 - now can attend church with children they go to school with. Both boys made their First Communion at Transfiguration. Erbe is the lay minister of liturgy; her husband, Keith, was persuaded to play his trumpet for the recent dedication, when Bishop Walter Sullivan came from Richmond to congratulate members of one of the newest congregations in his diocese.

Showing off the new pink-stone building, which is roughly L-shaped, Murray pointed out its ample narthex with glass doors at each end. Here families will gather for fellowship before and after services in the adjacent church.

A sweeping view of the Botetourt hills and fields will delight all who work in the parish office as well as worshipers in the nave with its big, clear windows.

Eventually, stained glass will decorate high wall windows in a small meditation chapel, Murray said. Like shrubs and a prayer garden on the north side, they will come as the building matures.

The congregation already is using some of the gifts and purchases that make up the basic furnishings. Solid oak pews, "very comfortable" despite the lack of padding, according to Murray, came from a Baptist church in Franklin County.

The altar, the central article in every Catholic church, formerly was used at a school in Richmond where Murray once taught.

The building is fully equipped for those who cannot use stairs. It contains a large expansion area on the west side that will double as space for meals, socials and storage. There the Erbes and their friends expect to enjoy "some wonderful potlucks."

About 280 can be seated in the nave with its rose carpet that harmonizes with the exterior.

R.L. Price Construction Co. of Salem built the church for about $400,000. It has been under construction for a year.