ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601090006
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Sunday Sojourner
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
Trinity Lutheran's congregation was worshipping on New Year's Eve beside its big live pine tree and singing carols. This tradition is shared by all liturgical parishes - those that follow a church year in which the "season" of Christmas is from Dec. 24 to Jan. 5.
But the church's pastor, the Rev. Terrie Sternberg, who was celebrating her first Christmas in a pastorate, was delivering a message more of sorrow than joy.
The Scripture reading for the day, which for Lutheran pastors often is the focus of the sermon, recounted the terrible tale of King Herod who, fearful that the baby Jesus would usurp his throne, ordered the murder of all the boy babies in Bethlehem.
From earliest Christian times, Sternberg noted, the day has been observed as one of sad recollection of a time when terrible abuse was carried out on innocent children.
It is hard, she told her congregation of about 90, to reconcile this event with the joy of the Christmas season. It is, in fact, a topic few preachers undertake as they repeat the comforting Gospel that God sent his Son to save all.
But the story of the innocents, Sternberg pointed out in her 15-minute message, is as realistic a part of the Gospel as the joyous news of Jesus' birth.
She noted that two other important days fall in the church calendar immediately after Christmas. On Dec. 26, Stephen, regarded as the first Christian martyr, is honored for his forgiveness and faith. On Dec. 27, the writer of John's Gospel, known as "the evangelist," is remembered in prayers. The day of the innocents follows; collectively, the three days remind people of the cost of being a follower of Christ, the pastor said.
From the beginning, Jesus was "a man of sorrows," who suffered along with those he came to save. And so, said Sternberg, the sad story coming in a time of joy reminds believers that the murders of old times are not much different from those of today. Evil, never vanquished in an erring world, is coped with best by having faith that God will use it eventually for good.
The pastor, who at 39 is embarking on a second career after working for 17 years in marketing and communications for Union Carbide, received many compliments on her message. Diminutive and dark-haired with lively gray eyes, she admits to still getting confused finding her way around the innovative building on a steep hill where Pulaski's Washington Street is crossed by Fifth Street.
Ten years ago, the congregation of about 300 undertook a major renovation. The old brick building, with its steep steps and parking area on several levels, was hard for many with weak knees and aging backs to enter, to say nothing of those in wheelchairs. A parsonage next door also had outlived its usefulness.
Now, a long, covered ramp from one of the parking areas and several changes inside make the building inviting and modern. The house next door, joined by the entrance ramp and lobby to the church, now contains educational and administrative space. Sternberg said the fellowship area downstairs still needs better access.
Trinity Lutheran, however, is worship-friendly. Members spot newcomers and greet them after the service.
Sternberg is one of a growing number of ordained women serving as sole pastors of New River Valley congregations. Tennessean by birth, she is part of a generation whose fathers were transferred often through business. Her Southern accent was lost long ago, she laughed, by years in Indiana and New England. Her parents now live in Knoxville, Tenn.
Unlike many of her age, she remained active in Lutheran parishes through her college and young adult years, she said after last Sunday's service. Since her arrival four months ago, directly out of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in South Carolina, she is seeing the slow return of a few adults her age to involvement in a church. Trinity has a good mix of economic and education levels, she has found.
Some, like Erica Graham, the mother of a Lutheran pastor in Roanoke, have been active in the parish for nearly 50 years. Others, like Remy Nelson, a young Haitian immigrant who is attending seminary in Philadelphia, are relative newcomers to Trinity's extended family of faith. Nelson, who is nearly halfway through his ministerial education, is a graduate of Pulaski High School and Roanoke College. He is of Roman Catholic background.
Last Sunday, a combined choir of adults and youth presented a Christmas anthem. The congregation used two hymnbooks, the 1978 combined music and worship volume and a newer paperback issued in 1995.
While in seminary, Sternberg developed an interest in working with other denominations and said she is delighted that Pulaski churches have a strong program of help for people with many needs.
Sojourner appears monthly in The New River Current. Its purpose is not to promote a particular points of view but to inform readers of a variety of worship styles.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. FRANCES STEBBINS The Rev. Terrie Sternberg, pastorby CNBof Trinity Lutheran Church in Pulaski. She came to the church after
17 years in the marketing field. color
2. FRANCES STEBBINS Trinity Lutheran Church has a good mix of people
of different economical and educational levels.