ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512040068
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-16 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Sunday Sojourner
DATELINE: NEWPORT
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
The spirit of modern United Methodism, which includes a woman pastor and a renewed look at the sacramental roots of the church, is evident these days in the Newport congregation worshipping in a 145-year-old building tucked under the towering Giles County mountains.
The Rev. Jeanne T. Finley, who came to the Newport-Mount Olivet Charge last July from the Danville area, is somewhat familiar with the New River Valley. From 1981 to 1983 she and her husband, Bill, who is on leave this year, together served six small congregations in and around Christiansburg. Since then most of her time has been spent in campus ministry at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.
Before her ordination to deacon 19 years ago, Finley was a student at the seminaries of Emory and Vanderbilt universities. There, she said following last Sunday's service, she grew accustomed to ideas now incorporated into the 1989 United Methodist hymnal and service book which contains much ecumenical material and "new" services which actually are based on those used in the earliest Christian times.
Newport's congregation, on the other hand, still sings from "The Methodist Book of Hymns." It was issued 30 years ago before a national merger with the United Brethren Church added "United" to the denomination's name. For many in the congregation, Finley has found, new liturgies and music are unfamiliar.
So last Sunday a sojourner found the friendly greetings of folk like Emma Phlegar and Annette Price, who represent rural Methodism going back many generations in Southwest Virginia, combined with Finley's efforts in sermon and liturgy to make the sacrament of baptism a real part of a contemporary Christian's life.
Newport's relative isolation on scenic Virginia 42 near the U.S. 460 intersection is balanced by its being only six miles up a mountain from Blacksburg. Finley likes that; her 15-year-old daughter attends Blacksburg High School, and the family is enjoying the stimulation of the university town.
Church historian Doug Martin, chairman of the congregation's board, said people like Phlegar - a longtime parishioner - are now adjusting to people associated with Virginia Tech. The 90 who comfortably filled the quaint nave last Sunday included people of all ages. A dozen youngsters making up the Youth Choir led all the music, as they do every third Sunday.
The aura of the past is appealing in the ornate white building with its old bell that is rung at 11 a.m. Hardwood pews are unpadded. The sun last week streamed through the sharply arched windows with their yellow, blue and mauve panes. A small stream babbles beside the church and the village dog welcomes everyone.
As the Giles border community has become a Blacksburg suburb, the Newport Methodists have expanded and renovated their old building. An education and fellowship area, added about 20 years ago, was carefully harmonized in architecture with the 1850 structure. Even more recently, a kitchen made possible events like the volunteer firefighters' fund-raising Thanksgiving dinner.
Last Sunday Finley consecrated a small baptismal table, presented on behalf of an anonymous donor.
The gift gave Finley a chance to teach about baptism. Since most United Methodists nowadays are baptized as infants, many miss the significance of the sacrament, she said.
Baptism, she said, has three major ingredients - the giving of a name, the giving of a history and the conferral of a promise.
A baby given a name with profound associations for her elders has all her life to live up to it, the preacher noted. In time, the name becomes a better fit. It defines the identity, sometimes changing as its owner's life does.
Baptism as history brings the possessor of the name into the Judeo-Christian tradition. Finley pointed out that it represents a covenant with God.
This covenant leads to the promise aspect of baptism. As Martin Luther is reported to have done when discouraged, any Christian can touch his forehead and remind himself that "I am baptized," Finley said. The ceremony, whether performed for children or adults, makes those who have undergone it "an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven."
Following her message, Finley led the congregation in a litany of affirmation of their baptismal covenant, a gift, she said, from God.
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.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: FRANCES STEBBINS. 1. The Rev. Jeanne T. Finley and herby CNBhusband, Bill, served several small congregations in the Newport
area in the early 1980s. 2. Newport United Methodist Church is
located on scenic Virginia 42 near the U.S. 460 intersection, six
miles up the mountain from Blacksburg.