ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606090015
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
United Methodist congregations to meet
Representatives of United Methodist congregations in the Holston Conference will gather Monday through Thursday at Lake Junaluska, N.C., for the annual business and inspirational meeting. Churches in Southwest Virginia west of New River are part of the conference. The meeting will be the last presided over by Bishop Clay Lee, who will retire in July. A new bishop will be elected in a special four-year gathering then. Business will include consideration of reducing from 12 to 11 the districts of the conference. On the final day of the meeting, appointments of pastors to congregations will be announced.
Ferrum College actors plan folklore program
The Jack Tale Players of Ferrum College will present a program of traditional Blue Ridge Mountain folklore June 23 at 7 p.m. at Main Street United Methodist Church in downtown Bedford. An offering will be taken.
Youth pastor to preach on Baptist Youth Day
The Rev. Darryl Brown, youth pastor of Washington Street Baptist Church in Bedford, will preach for Youth Day June 23 at 11 a.m. at Bold Branch Baptist Church on Virginia 43 in Bedford County. A teen choir from Washington Street Church also will be present.
Habitat for Humanity benefit pig roast set
To benefit Bedford County's Habitat for Humanity project, a pig roast meal will be served today from 5 to 8 p.m. at Bethlehem United Methodist Church in Moneta. The cost will be a donation. Small building supplies also are needed. Call 890-2298 for more information.
College continues work to endow chaplaincy
Roanoke College in Salem has received contributions of $1.4million toward the $1.8million goal to endow the college chaplaincy program. According to Judith Nelson, vice president of college resource development, the money has been raised over the past five years and includes a major gift from Timothy Pickle, a member of the board of trustees and retired Richmond business executive. The chaplaincy program includes a full-time Lutheran chaplain and an Episcopal assistant chaplain. They oversee the spiritual life of the Lutheran-affiliated school by offering regular worship and study opportunities as well as pastoral counseling to students and staff. The Lutheran Brotherhood fraternal insurance agency also has contributed to the fund.
Christian group seeks aid to feed hungry
The Society of St. Andrew, an ecumenical Christian community in Bedford County, has issued a challenge to Virginians to combat hunger in the war-torn African country of Sierra Leone. The Rev. Ray Buchanan, co-director of the community and a recent visitor to Sierra Leone, said that after five years of fighting almost two-thirds of the people have been driven from their homes. Buchanan said $25 will buy enough rice in the capital of Freetown to feed a family of four for a month. Donations may be made to Sierra Leone Fund, and sent to the Society of St. Andrew, P.O. Box 329, Big Island, Va. 24526.
Ordination controversy lead to cancellation
The Little Rock Conference Committee on Older Adult Ministries in Arkansas has canceled an April 1997 "intergenerational day of celebration" because its keynote speaker, Bishop Leontine T.C. Kelly, wants her United Methodist Church to liberalize its position on ordination of homosexuals. Kelly, a former Virginia United Methodist leader, is retired from serving a California conference. She was one of 15 bishops who, at the recent national convention of United Methodism, offered a resolution that would have changed the current rules of the church on gay acceptance into professional ministry. Backers of the Arkansas meeting said they feared the senior citizens who were the target of the conference would be offended by Kelly's presence. The bishop's reaction to the cancellation was that, as a black woman, she has experienced discrimination and in studying the Bible she found no quote from Jesus regarding sexual orientation.
Music performance Sunday at city church
The nationally traveled group of adults and children known as the Fox Family will perform Sunday at 10:15 a.m. at East Gate Church of the Nazarene, 2002 East Gate Ave. N.E., Roanoke. The group, which now travels from Nashville, Tenn., began 13 years ago in Florida. It has recorded several albums. An offering will be taken.
Christian delegation reports growth in China
A World Council of Churches delegation returned from an 11-day visit to China to report that, "We have encountered a rapidly growing Christian church in all the provinces visited." The Rev. Dwain Epps, the WCC's international affairs coordinator, said church-state relations were "positive," although strict regulation by the government is the rule and foreign missionary activity is officially prohibited. Epps noted that the church struggles to be "truly Chinese" and maintain a prophetic tradition in a time of economic expansion.
Franklin County church adds summer volunteer
Antioch Church of the Brethren in Franklin County has added to its staff for the summer Brandy Fix, a student at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. She will spend 10 weeks at the church as part of a denominational Volunteer Summer Service program.
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