ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160115
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
CHURCH PEOPLE
The Rev. Gene B. Edmunds, a Presbyterian minister who has spent most of her life in the Roanoke Valley, has been named interim chaplain to inmates of the jails of Roanoke and Roanoke County. Edmunds said she will have the job for the summer on a part-time basis, and has the option to apply for it full time in August. She succeeds the Rev. Richard Harris, who resigned nine months ago after 12 years in the position. Since then, the program has been studied for greater financial stability and efficiency in working with church volunteers.
Edmunds, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, was most recently associate pastor of Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church; she left the staff several months ago, saying she felt called to specific service ministry. She has been a jail ministry volunteer.
The Rev. David Yingling will leave the pastorate of Central Church of the Brethren on June 23 after a 20-year ministry at the downtown Roanoke congregation. Yingling, 56, will become pastor of First Church of the Brethren in York, Pa. He came to Roanoke from Elizabethtown, Pa. in July 1976. In 1983 he served as president of the interfaith Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference. He and his family will be honored at a reception on June 9 at the church at noon.
Warren Whitaker, a graduate of Johnson Bible College in Knoxville, Tenn., begins his ministry Sunday as youth director at Salem Church of Christ. Whitaker, 22, and his wife, Rhoda, moved here from Berea, Ky. He succeeds Willie Purdee, who left the staff several months ago for a West Virginia church.
The Rev. Robert L. Cummins, a staff member of Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church for the past year, is being transferred June 1 to St. Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church of Virginia Beach in the annual rotation of priests. A farewell reception, which also marks the priest's 10th anniversary of ordination, is scheduled May 25 at 7 p.m. in the fellowship hall.
Cecelia Everitt, who has worked in music leadership of church and theatrical groups since moving to the Roanoke Valley in 1994 from Maryland, has become minister of music at Riverdale Baptist Church. She is directing adult, children's and a gospel music group and plans a patriotic musical for July.
The Rev. Dusty K. Fiedler, a former staff member of Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, will be the commencement speaker June 2 for Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. The service will be at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church there. Fiedler and her husband, Robert, are co-pastors of Clemmons Presbyterian Church near Winston-Salem, N.C.
Two staff members have retired from jobs at Peace Presbyterian Church. Joan Schiffeler and Sandra Gisiner have been replaced by Monika Bjorklund, secretary, and Eric Kinzie, the interim organist.
The late James A. Allison Jr. was honored posthumously by the Virginia General Assembly for his church and civic leadership to the Roanoke Valley in the 35 years he lived there. Allison was pastor of Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church for 30 years, chaired the city's School Board, served on many study groups to strengthen interracial ties, and continued to teach Bible classes despite poor health in his retirement. He died of cancer earlier this year.
MUSICAL EVENTS
Michael Brown, recovering drug addict and gospel musician on the staff of the Evangelical Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, will perform Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Airport Sheraton Inn. He will be joined by the Living Free Choir. The musical benefits Living Free Inc., an organization to help youth and adults addicted to alcohol and drugs become rehabilitated through the Christian message. Tickets to the musical and the accompanying banquet are $12. Call 776-3293 for more information.
The Rockingham Male Chorus, a men's choir from the Harrisonburg area that has traveled nationally, will perform twice in Roanoke Sundayf+bf-b. The choir will sing at Central Church of the Brethren, 416 Church Ave. S.W., at 3 p.m., and at Lynn Haven Baptist Church, 1501 Washington Ave. in Vinton, at 7 p.m. The programs are free, though an offering will be taken.
"A Technicolor Promise," a children's musical based on the rainbow covenant story of the Old Testament, will be presented June 2 at 11 a.m. at Bonsack United Methodist Church, 4493 Bonsack Road. It is free.
OUTREACH
Lutheran Cooperative Ministry, a human service agency supported by a dozen parishes in the Roanoke Valley, has set a goal of 36 scholarships to permit needy children to attend Camp Caroline Furnace in Shenandoah County this summer. Three groups of children will attend the church camp, with free transportation and supplies provided by members of LUCOM churches.
Southern Baptist congregations in the Roanoke Valley and Botetourt and Craig counties have set a goal of $390,000 for the annual Annie May Broyles Offering for Associational Missions, which is emphasized in the week beginning Sunday. Funds given in the annual drive help support two inner-city Roanoke centers, work with Haitian immigrants, assist missionaries on furlough, encourage aid to small out-of-state churches and recently built a cottage in Salem for mentally retarded women.
BUILDING CHANGES
Roanoke's Islamic community, which includes about 150 families, plans a fund-raising dinner June 1 for a future building. Imam Corelli L. Rasheed said the group has been given two acres in the 3700 block of Salem Turnpike Northwest, and has begun to work with a Muslim architect. The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at Quality Inn in Salem. Reservations for the meal must be made by Monday, and may be made by sending a check payable to Masjid An-Nur, P.O. Box 1442, Roanoke, 24007. Each ticket costs $12, with a maximum of $40 per family. Call 344-7106 for more information. The Muslims have been worshiping in a house at 2227 Clifton Ave. N.W. since 1989.
REVIVAL MEETINGS
Vinton Wesleyan Church, Jefferson at Poplar Avenue in Vinton, has scheduled enrichment services Sunday through Wednesday with the Rev. Gerald Rodgers, pastor and camp meeting evangelist, the preacher. Sunday services will begin at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., with those during the week at 7 p.m. Music will be led by the Rev. Greg Reynolds of Penn Forest Wesleyan Church. Child care will be provided.
Revival services are planned Sunday through Wednesday at Catawba Valley Baptist Church at Catawba. The Rev. Roger Roller, an evangelist from Forest, will be the preacher nightly at 7. The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday and will be followed by potluck lunch.
SPECIAL EVENTS
A March for Jesus, one of thousands of similar events to be conducted internationally on the same day, is planned in the Roanoke Valley on May 25. Skip Whitcomb, a supporter, said the march is nonpolitical and will involve members of many Christian groups. It has grown in the Roanoke Valley from 800 in 1994 to 2,000 last year; he predicts a larger turnout this year when the route is being moved to the Washington Park area of Northwest because the former Elmwood Park site will be in use by Festival in the Park. Assembly will begin at 10 a.m. with music and prayers. Since the March for Jesus was begun in England a decade ago to support solidarity of Christians, it has become highly organized and, according to promotional material, has touched millions of people.
Nathaniel L. Bishop, lay leader of the Roanoke District of the United Methodist Church and active in Asbury Church of Christiansburg, will speak Sunday at 11 a.m. at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 502 Fifth St. N.W. Bishop, who holds a master's degree from Radford University, is a former investigator with the Christiansburg Police Department. Currently he is on the staff of the Roanoke United Methodist Home. At 4:30 p.m. a musical program is planned featuring the Men of Distinction.
The Order of St. Luke the Physician, a Christian group devoted to prayer for spiritual healing, will move its monthly meeting place from Raleigh Court Presbyterian to Raleigh Court United Methodist Church, effective June 25. The Presbyterian building soon will undergo extensive renovation and enlargement. The United Methodist Church is at 1706 Grandin Road S.W. The group meets from 9:45 to 11 a.m. and is ecumenical.
Pilgrim Baptist Church, 1415 Eighth St. N.W., has scheduled its annual Memorial Day service May 27 at 7 p.m. It will be conducted by the Rev. Dwight O. Steele Sr., pastor, and is open especially to those who have recently lost loved ones.
Episcopal nominees for bishop of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia will be at St. Paul's Church in downtown Salem Saturday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. to meet members of Roanoke and New River Valley parishes and to answer questions about current issues. One of the five will be elected on June 22 to succeed retiring Bishop A. Heath Light. The nominees, chosen by a committee, are John E. Lawrence, 50, of Cincinnati, Ohio; David W. Pittman, 48, of Gainesville, Fla., formerly of Staunton; Frank N. Powell, 48, of Portland, Ore.; H.W. Reeves Jr., 58, of Cheyenne, Wyo. and Mark C. Sullivan, 46, of Easton, Md.
Send information to Frances Stebbins, Neighbors, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, 24010-2491 by noon Thursday. Please include a daytime phone number.
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