Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510020006
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV23 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
DATELINE: VICKER LENGTH: Medium
The word ``apostolic'' distinguishes this 19-year-old congregation, which worships in a former United Methodist building on Peppers Ferry Road a few miles west of New River Valley Mall. Peters, who said he learned his theology in an apprenticeship at a Charleston, W.Va., church and teaches math at New River Community College, was careful to tell me after the service that the national religious group with which he works does not accept the doctrine of the Trinity, ``a Catholic belief system that didn't come into Christianity until 300 years after Jesus.''
The Vicker church instead takes its doctrines from the New Testament book of Acts with emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not, however, Pentecostal like many other Western Virginia groups, Peters said. To a sojourner, the emotional worship and the literal Bible interpretation from the King James Version do resemble the Pentecostal. Women at the apostolic fellowship wear no makeup, and most keep their hair long.
The church's bulletin does offer a sojourner hints of what to expect, along with a welcome message to all who visit. Several worship practices - joyful singing, praying together, clapping hands, public testimony, anointing for divine healing, the need to have a personal encounter with the Holy Spirit - are listed with a Bible verse to authenticate.
Shortly after 10 on a cloudy morning with the feel of fall, about 45 people ranging from 10 days in age to lively children to senior adults gathered to hear the children's fathers, Gary Thurman and Jerry Rinehart, begin the praise time with singing. Thurman accompanied on drums, and Peters thundered forth on an electronic organ.
Already I had been greeted by a half-dozen members and invited to fill out a guest card. ``Praise the Lord!'' and ``Hallelujah!'' filled the air as ``sisters'' and ``brothers'' greeted each other. On display were the two newest children of the community, newborns Kayla Rachelle Thurman, one of Peters' four grandchildren, and Nathan Allen Rinehart.
Three groups of young people - preschoolers, elementary and youth - were in Sunday school for the first half-hour, joining their elders in three songs, ``Praise God, My Sins are Gone,'' ``I've Got the Holy Ghost Just Like the Bible Says'' and ``I've Got It!''
Birthdays - the spiritual ones as well as the chronological - were requested for attention by the minister.
Before a young boy passed the offering plate, Peters admonished everyone to give generously. One dollar is a poor excuse for a Christian who thinks nothing of spending $5 for lunch, he said as bills were dropped in the plate.
A special delight for Peters, 49, was performing a baptism the previous day, in a bathtub, of a man believed to be terminally ill with a variety of ailments. The minister asserted that the sicknesses would be healed and rejoiced in the certainty that the former sinner would be freed from the lake of fire that awaits the unbaptized.
After each such assertion of sin and salvation - and there were many - the minister received applause and affirmations, especially from the rear of the red-carpeted church.
During announcements, he noted that the church's new Christian school was under way, serving eight children. More applause greeted his announcement that it had met curriculum and facility standards as a Christian school.
``Some Folks Never Learn'' was the lesson from Peters. Based on 10 quotes from the Old and New Testaments, the lesson articulated clearly a familiar belief based on an Old Testament writer's conception that God punishes erring man in order to teach who is boss.
``You'd better suffer a little oppression than be cast into the lake of fire. ... We know God is not afraid to punish us - not because he hates us, but because he loves us. ... Sin has a big price tag and it will cost you big,'' Peters asserted, his voice filled with conviction.
Though not all diseases are caused by sin, all too many, such as venereal disease, are, he said. He waxed further on the evils of life today, citing God's dealing with the ancient Israelites to prove that expensive cars, promiscuous living, the lottery, alcohol and ``most TV shows'' will invariably bring damnation, though salvation is always available, even at the last moment.
The Vicker congregation's parent community has headquarters in Somerset, Pa. Dating from 1927, it issues a newspaper that emphasizes the need for repentance, baptism and fidelity to the church or the surety of eternal torment.
Sojourner appears monthly in the New River Current. Its purpose is not to promote a particular point of view but to inform readers of a variety of worship styles.
by CNB