Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410240069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At 75 years of age, people can be a little creaky, houses may need repairs, cars may not run anymore.
But for the past year, the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia has been celebrating its 75th birthday by demonstrating the vitality of its 56 congregations.
Parishes took $75 in seed money from the Diocese and during the past year used it as a starting point for mission projects of their choice. They raised money for scholarships, supplied food pantries and meals programs for the needy, supported schools and agricultural projects in Africa, provided aid to the unemployed and helped build houses for the working poor.
Saturday afternoon, representatives of parishes throughout the diocese met for worship in Roanoke to thank God for their blessings and hear the praise and admonitions of their denomination's presiding bishop.
The Right Rev. Edmond L. Browning, leader of the nation's 2.8 million Episcopalians, pleased his audience early by declaring that this diocese is "one of my favorites."
He went on to applaud the diocese and its congregations for their innovative mission projects and to urge them to focus on caring for the children of their congregations and communities.
In an interview earlier in the day, Browning declared his belief that the "health of the Episcopal Church is all right. We are not without our struggles and controversies," he said, but "we've done a lot of good stuff."
Homosexuality continues to be a source of strife in the denomination, but Browning said he thinks the debate is becoming more civil.
He said he believes the church bears some of the responsibility for the "fouled up" lifestyles of some gays, because the church's message was that it didn't care for them and it failed to offer moral and ethical guidance to them.
"Gay Christians are tired of being treated as an issue," Browning said. "They want to be seen as children of God, bringing gifts to the church."
Browning praised his denomination for "finally making the word 'evangelism' part of our vocabulary." Members "need to be able to tell our story, to articulate 'what Jesus means to me personally.' Everybody has that story. We all can tell it if we choose to. That is part of what we need to do."
On Virginia's Senate race, which features three Episcopalians, Browning declined to offer an endorsement. He did offer his personal considerations in voting. Rather than listening to campaign promises, he asks "what values their lives have spoken to through their actions."
Browning wasn't the only celebrity participant in Saturday's festivities.
For the past 10 years, the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia has had partnerships with the Anglican dioceses of Bradford, England, and Sudan. Bishop David Smith of Bradford and the Rev. Oliver Duku, M.D., of Sudan participated in the celebration. The worship service also offered thanks for some of the diocese's trailblazers, including its bishops, lay leaders and clerical innovators.
The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia stretches from Staunton, Lynchburg and Martinsville westward to the Virginia state line. It was carved out of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, which dates back to 1892. The first Diocese of Virginia originated at Jamestown in 1607.
by CNB