Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508080010
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Bedford Habitat for Humanity organization has bought land in the city on which to build a house for a low-income family. The group will hear Bill Kemp, who has worked with several Virginia Habitat projects, at a planning meeting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council quarters.
Habitat, an international organization, uses volunteers to build interest-free homes for the working poor.
Anniversary celebration
Terrace View Union Church on Virginia 705 in Bedford County will observe its 75th anniversary Aug. 27. Worship is at 11 a.m. with potluck luncheon and an afternoon program following.
Historic celebration
A service reminiscent of the early Christian catacomb days in Rome will take place tonight at 7:30 at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church, 2339 Grandin Road S.W. The Communion service, for which informal attire is appropriate, is sponsored by several Episcopal congregations in the Roanoke Valley. Call 774-5183 for more information.
Pay what's pledged
PORTSMOUTH - The message to parishioners was simple: Pay up or find another church.
Nearly 200 people, about one-fourth of the members of Noble Street Baptist Church, received a form letter recently warning them that they would lose their membership if they did not make good on pledges.
``If you have found another church home, we certainly want to wish you well,'' the letter said.
Members deleted from the church rolls are still allowed to worship at the church, but cannot vote at church meetings. If they want to have a wedding or funeral in the church, they must pay to rent it.
``In the New Testament, Jesus talked more about money than he talked about salvation,'' said the church's pastor, the Rev. Ronnie T. Northam Sr. ``What does that say to me? When you get to the point in your life where you can give to him, then you are willing to follow him.''
People who can't afford to pay what is owed get a clean slate by talking to a deacon about their problems, Northam said.
``Say `Brother deacon, I can't meet my financial obligation and I want to be forgiven,' '' he said.
At least one family, long a member of the church, is looking for a new place to worship.
``It's like you have a credit card or something,'' said Kathy Chambliss, a 32-year-old secretary who has attended Noble Street for 16 years. ``I'm so glad God is not that way.''
Responding to hate
COLUMBIA, S.C. - African Methodist Episcopal churches must respond to a dangerous time filled with hate, Bishop John Hurst Adams says.
``Affirmative action is under attack [and] the budget is being balanced on the backs of those least able to defend themselves,'' Adams said recently at a district leadership conference at Allen University.
More than 500 representatives from AME churches attended the conference to discuss the role of the church in the political arena.
There is an ugly and hateful climate in the country, with the most recent general election bringing enemies of freedom and progress into political power, Adams said.
Most troubling about the political climate, he said, is its fundamental religious tone.
``This new vision has been vigorously supported by those who blasphemously call themselves the `Christian right' ... and push a brand of religion that is neither Christian nor right,'' Adams said.
Church investigation
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Results of a four-month investigation into a church where children were tied to chairs and pounded on the back to drive out ``demon devils'' will be turned over to the state Department of Social Services.
No criminal charges will be filed against the Grace and Truth Fellowship Church, though the findings raise ``serious concerns,'' prosecutor Joe Watson said recently.
Deputy Solicitor Regan Pendleton said former and current church members indicated children were given the harsh discipline after they misbehaved.
``My understanding from the statements given by witnesses, any misbehavior or even the inability of the child to sit still, was treated as demonic type things. It was the devil. It was not done allegedly to punish the child, but allegedly to rid the child of the demons making the child misbehave,'' she said.
But parental consent to the children's treatment made the case difficult to prosecute, Watson said.
Jim Carpenter, attorney for Gerald and Linda Southerland, pastors of the church, would not comment.
Mormons honored
SALT LAKE CITY - The Mormon Church's ``Homefront'' radio and television advertisements have won an award as part of the inaugural National Parents Day.
The National Parents Day Foundation included The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints among the organizations it honored recently in Washington for their work to strengthen families.
The church's Homefront series, launched in the early 1970s, has been sent to 1,400 television and 11,000 radio stations nationwide. The series also has won three Emmys and 18 Clios, the top award of the advertising industry.
Church officials say that while the United States has been the primary audience for the ads, they also have been sent to several other countries.
``Wherever I go, people say, `Oh, yes - you guys are the ones who do those fabulous commercials about families,' '' said T. LaMar Sleight, public affairs director for the church's North America Northeast Area.
``We believe in strong families - they are the basic unit of the church - and we believe that our society will only be as strong as its families,'' he said.
Singer Pat Boone, who served as honorary chairman of the first observance of National Parents Day, echoed the church's affirmation of the family.
``I think [God's] favorite people are parents, because he's trusted into their hands other people who are created in his own image,'' Boone said. ``Parenting is a sacred challenge and perhaps the most important one in this or any society.''
by CNB