ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604080051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
LIKE MODERN DISCIPLES, volunteers Saturday guarded the traditions of their churches during this season, positioning the lilies, checking sound systems and even portraying Roman soldiers.
Teen-age sentinels Annie Trent and Andrea Ogier were already shivering 20 minutes into their turn guarding the tomb of Christ on the lawn at College Lutheran Church Saturday. Their red and green wool gloves clashed with their breastplates and helmets, but they were necessities in the raw weather.
For the second year, youths at the Salem church had set up a symbolic tomb built from foam on a wood frame. They stood two-hour guard shifts from 8 Friday night until a service scheduled for 11:30 Saturday night, after the stone was rolled away from the empty tomb that signifies the Resurrection.
"Where Jesus was, the weather would have been a little rainy, but not quite as cold," said Paula Skaar, College Lutheran's junior youth administrator.
Judging from Skaar's red nose, she was chilly, too. Her face gleamed when she mentioned the bonfire that would follow Saturday night's service.
Carey Harveycutter, manager of the Salem Civic Center, watched as committee members prepared the altar at his church, St. Paul's Episcopal in Salem.
The altar had been stripped bare on Maundy Thursday as part of a service commemorating Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet at their last meal together.
Lois Hurdle and her daughter, Nancy, stood with Harveycutter. With Katherine Garst, they had just finished tucking lilies into the chicken-wire cross put on the wall each Easter since 1969 in honor of a former rector, the late Frederick Griffith.
"I like Easter. I like the smell of Easter," Harveycutter said.
If the sun shines at daybreak today, it may do so into the eyes of hundreds of people expected to gather at Sherwood Memorial Park for a 7 a.m. service. Easter sunrise services have been held at the Salem burial park for almost 50 years, said Randy Gleason, the park's corporate secretary.
When the park built an amphitheater in the 1950s, it was positioned so that the congregation was seated facing east, said Gleason. This is his 21st service.
Last year all 500 bulletins prepared were given out. Seven hundred bulletins were printed this year.
Gleason said he'd be up at 4:30 this morning so he could meet the sound system operators by 5:30.
The Easter egg hunt at Roanoke's Garden of Prayer No. 6 Church of God in Christ was nice for the children, but it was not what the season is all about, said Linda Preston.
"Easter is not so much about bunnies," she said. "Easter is about him being killed for our sins."
The time when salvation was granted - "when He got up from that grave" - is a reminder of how blessed Christians are, she said.
The seasonal hymn "He Lives" is on today's program at Garden of Prayer. The pastor, Elder Malverse Simpson, said he'll start his sermon on the theme of the "power of the empty tomb."
But the service at the church on 19th Street in Northwest Roanoke likely will flow freely, carried by a congregational spirit that's always high but that will be especially elevated today, Preston said.
A message engraved on the cross behind the church altar - "Where the Spirit of the Lord is There is Liberty" - means "if I feel like I want to holler I can," she said.
There probably won't be enough seats for the people who come, she said.
Investment banker Ned LeGard slipped an instrumental version of "Amazing Grace" into the tape player at First Baptist Church in downtown Roanoke and raised the volume. He then brought up the lights, beaming in on the banner hanging behind the pulpit.
The sound system is styled after one at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and run by volunteers, LeGard said as he stood in the engineer's box high above the sanctuary, which can seat almost 3,000.
The banner he highlighted was made by church members. It sparkled with the message, "He Is Risen," and was the centerpiece of a grouping of banners that said it all.
"Son of God."
"Lord of Lords."
"Resurrection and The Light."
"Lamb of God."
"King of Glory."
"Holy Spirit."
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Just as people root for a favoriteby CNBfootball team, Doris Jeffries (left) said she and Linda Preston,
members of Garden of Prayer No. 6 on 19th Street Northwest, are "not
afraid to let the public know about the Jesus we serve.'' 2. Annie
Trent (left) and Andrea Ogier of College Lutheran Church youth group
guard a re-creation of Jesus' tomb outside the Salem church
Saturday. color.