Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412190025
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Marion Baptist Church will begin the celebration of its 150th anniversary on Jan. 8 with the Rev. Dr. Keith Parks, a former president of the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board, as the speaker.
Parks now is global missions coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Throughout the year the church will have guest speakers with the major celebration on Aug. 27. For more information, call 783-8121.
Gifted workshop
"All are Gifted" will be the theme of a workshop scheduled Jan. 8 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Stone Church of the Brethren, Forest Avenue at 22nd Street, Buena Vista. The program, which is ecumenical in content, will be led by Shirley Bruffey and the Rev. Terry Shumaker, pastor of the church. Those participating will be guided through a discernment process to discover their gifts and how they can best use these for God and others. Call 261-6946 or 261-7474 for registration information.
The church also plans to offer a six-week program to enhance spiritual growth through the disciplines of prayer, fasting and meditation. This will introduce several methods effective for Christians in the past as well as currently. Shumaker also can provide information about this series.
Faith conference
A Roanoke couple, Carole and Ray Mayberry will lead a conference, New Spiritual Beginnings, Dec. 29-Jan.1 at Lake Junaluska, N.C. Faith stages will be its focus. Other leaders will be Junaluska staff member Evelyn Laycock and Bonnie Jones Gehweiler, a contemporary church musician. Call 1-800-222-4930 Ext. 725 for registration information. Ray Mayberry, a psychiatrist, has undertaken several mission trips to overseas sites. His wife is an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Virginia's program in Roanoke.
Pentecostal groups grow in N.C., S.C.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Pentecostals are gaining members across South Carolina and North Carolina.
While this corner of the Bible Belt is still dominated by the often button-down approach of other Protestant denominations, Pentecostals have increased their numbers and visibility.
Membership in the Church of God - one of the biggest organized Pentecostal movements - has increased to 54,000 from about 40,000 in the past five years in North Carolina.
In South Carolina during the same period, the number has increased from 34,000 to 39,000.
The Rev. Bill Sheeks, head of the western North Carolina office of the Church of God in Charlotte, believes the Pentecostals' highly emotional style of faith is striking a more powerful chord among those for whom quiet prayer and sermons are not enough.
``We clap our hands, we're joyful, we weep,'' said Sheeks. ``They like that more than a standard service.''
Church remains open
CHEBOYGAN, Mich. - A church once threatened with closing will stay open as a mission church.
``It's the best Christmas present we could have,'' Rich Jankoviak, chairman of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church pastoral committee, said after parishioners voted recently to become a mission church.
When details are worked out, Sacred Heart will become a mission church of St. Anthony's Parish in Mackinaw City, with Stanley Szczcpanski serving as deacon under the Rev. Leonard Jocys of St. Anthony's. When the diocese tried to close it in 1992, Sacred Heart was a mission parish of St. Francis of Alverno.
Bishop Patrick Cooney had at one point proposed closing the church or giving it oratory status, meaning it would be an official place of prayer.
Members of the 140-family parish voted to accept another option - missionary status. Sacred Heart was established in 1885 in Riggsville in Cheboygan County.
``The bishop has come out here and made peace with all the people,'' said Kashamer Tryban, 83, a lifelong parishioner.
Float sparks controversy
CARBONDALE, Ill. - A minister says he put a live, ``bloody'' Jesus on a parade float at an annual city Christmas celebration to illustrate a point. But some in the community are outraged.
``We weren't out there trying to stir controversy,'' said the Rev. Terry Haynes, pastor of the 70-member Door Christian Fellowship Church. ``We were out there trying to identify the whole meaning of Christmas, and the ultimate meaning is Jesus did give his life, God gave a gift.''
The float featured a young man depicting the crucified Jesus, wearing a loin cloth and blood-like makeup all over his face and body.
Haynes said his church has not received any complaints, but Lights Fantastic parade coordinator Diane Dorsey said she has received plenty.
``I'm not saying this was an inappropriate float,'' she said, ``but it certainly was perceived that way by a lot of people.''
The Lights Fantastic started in 1991 as a family oriented Christmas parade sponsored by the city and a host of business and other groups. This year, more than 40 floats and three-dozen other entries wound through downtown while about 25,000 people watched.
by CNB