ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996            TAG: 9602230017
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                PAGE: N-6  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS SPECIAL SERVICES 
   A Black History Program is scheduled Sunday at 11 a.m. at St. Paul United 
Methodist Church, 502 Fifth St. N.W. Margo Saunders, soloist, and the St. Paul
Mass Choir, directed by Earle Woodliff, will provide music. Youth of the 
church will present biographies of black leaders.


Hollins College Chapel Service Sunday night at 7:30 will feature Emma Clark, a senior active in the Black Student Association, as the speaker. The DuPont Chapel service is open to the community.

EDUCATION

Maranatha Fellowship Church, 2715 Green Ridge Road, will sponsor a seminar, "The Knowledge of God," beginning tonight at 7. Sessions will continue Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Rev. Roger Griffith, formerly of Salem and now living in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will lead the seminar, which is an extension of River of Life Bible College. Call 562-0075 for information.

The Welcoming Congregation, a 10-week program to understand and affirm homosexual, bisexual and transsexual persons, will be held Tuesdays, March 5 through May 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, on the corner of Brandon Avenue and Grandin Road Southwest.

A video series that is part of the program will be held Sundays at 12:30 p.m. from March 3 through April 28.

The series is sponsored by the Diversity Task Force and the Committee for Gay and Lesbian Concerns of the congregation. Call 345-8115 for more information.

Rise Up Singing, a workshop led by Bob Grubel, is planned March 3 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at Unity of Roanoke Valley, 3300 Green Ridge Road. The Floyd musician composes and also is a massage therapist and potter. The workshop costs is $15. Call 745-3978 for more information. Child care will be provided.

Empowering the Congregation, a series of breakfast discussion groups for religious leaders, will be led Tuesday at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem by the Rev. Judy Mills Reimer, pastor of the developing Church of the Brethren congregation at Smith Mountain Lake. She will discuss "Enabling the Congregation to Mediate Its Own Conflicts."

The free meal begins at 7:45; call 776-4730 by noon Friday for reservation. The series is sponsored by the Pastoral Care Department of the hospital and the Mental Health Association of the Roanoke Valley.

MUSICAL EVENTS

Combined Choirs of Oak Grove Church of the Brethren and Staunton Avenue Church of God will present a "singspiration" Sunday at 4 p.m. at Staunton Avenue Church of God, 1926 Staunton Ave. N.W. A potluck meal will be at 5:30 p.m.

The Imperials, a Roanoke gospel group, will perform Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Valley Word Ministries, 1928 Loch Haven Drive. An offering will be taken.

The Wesley Singers, a group of 40 Virginia Tech students, will sing at Woodlawn United Methodist Church, Sunday at 11 a.m.

OTHER EVENTS

St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke is expected to start construction by June 1 on a major renovation of its facilities and a new community life center. More than $3.5 million has been pledged for the project. An elevator will be added, and the kitchen, dining area, offices and classrooms will be updated.

Send information to Frances Stebbins, Neighbors, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010-2491 by noon Thursday. Please include a daytime telephone number.

RELIGION BRIEFS


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