                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996                 TAG: 9606060098
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                PAGE: N-47 EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS

RELIGION BRIEFS

CHURCH PEOPLE Bishop William DeJarnette Rutherfoord has retired as rector of St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church, a congregation he founded in 1979. The following year Rutherfoord was elected to head the Mid-Atlantic Diocese of the denomination established as a protest to the Episcopal Church's revision of its worship book and the ordaining of women as priests. He retired as bishop a year ago because of failing health. Last year, St. Thomas Church dedicated an expanded building at 4910 Hubert Road N.W. and has about 50 persons regularly attending.

Before 1979, Rutherfoord was a New York magazine illustrator and an Episcopal clergyman. He served churches in Tazewell and Botetourt County as well as in Georgia. Following his elevation to bishop of the Mid-Atlantic Diocese, he oversaw the work of traditionalist Anglican parishes in six states, including several in Western Virginia.

The Rev. Joseph P. Miller, whose home is in Torrence, Calif., has become interim rector of St. Thomas of Canterbury Anglican Catholic Church. The priest, retired from full-time ministry and a former engineer, is 71. Now leading the parish in ministry evaluation, Miller said he will serve for several months until a permanent rector is selected.

The Rev. David A. Kirk, pastor of Northminster Presbyterian Church, has been awarded a doctor of ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He was one of 79 men and women who received the earned degree, designed for clergy on the job. Kirk has been pastor of the Williamson Road church since 1980.

William Franklin Allen, assistant rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in Roanoke for the past year, will be ordained to the Episcopal priesthood Tuesday at 6 p.m. A reception will follow the service at St. John's Church in downtown Roanoke. Allen, a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, is from Pennsylvania. |OUTREACH| Salem Baptist Church will send a team of its members to Cranberry Baptist Church near Pittsburgh June 22-28 to assist the mission congregation in evangelism and summer programming.

Virginia United Methodists, including those from many parishes in the Roanoke Valley, will take to their Annual Conference in Virginia Beach next week kits to be distributed by Church World Service to needy people abroad. The three most popular kits are layettes, personal hygiene products and those for schoolchildren. The kits, which replace a blanket drive held for several years, will be distributed by CWS, an ecumenical aid agency based in New Windsor, Md.

The Thrift Shop, an outreach ministry of Trinity Lutherna Church at Epperly Avenue and Williamson Road, is now observing summer hours. Low-cost clothing and household goods are available each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |MUSICAL EVENTS| Godspell, a musical based on the Gospel of Matthew, will be presented June 15 at 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church, 2505 Electric Road S.W. Performers are the touring youth choir of McKendree United Methodist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga.

Altar of Prayer, a gospel group, will perform June 16 at 7 p.m. at Penn Forest Church of God, 4429 Buck Mountain Road.

New Grace, Southern gospel singers, will present a concert June 23 at 7 p.m. at Lynn Haven Baptist Church, 1501 Washington Ave., Vinton. An offering is taken.

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by CNB