ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607300018
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
United Methodists choose 2 new bishops
New United Methodist bishops to serve the two conferences covering Virginia have been elected and consecrated at Lake Junaluska, N.C. Bishop Joe E. Pennel Jr., most recently the senior pastor of Brentwood United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tenn., has succeeded Bishop Thomas B. Stockton as spiritual and administrative head of United Methodists in the Virginia Conference. His office is in Richmond.
Pennel, a native of Memphis, Tenn., took undergraduate study at Lambuth College and has a divinity degree and a doctorate from the seminary of Vanderbilt University. Now 57, he has been ordained for 34 years and has served several congregations in Memphis and Nashville. He and his wife, Janene Dunnavent Pennel, have two married daughters.
The new bishop for the Holston Conference, which includes United Methodist parishes west of the New River, is the Rev. Ray W. Chamberlain Jr., most recently the superintendent of the Richmond District in the Virginia Conference. He is a native of Pompano, Calif., and was reared in Jamaica by missionary parents. Educated at United Wesleyan College and Duke Divinity School, he has served churches in Halifax, Danville, Richmond, Lynchburg and Springfield and been a missionary to Zambia and a worker with the Salvation Army. His wife is Martha Gunsalus Chamberlain. The family includes three children. Offices of Holston Conference are in Johnson City, Tenn.
Both new bishops will begin their work Sept. 1 for a four-year term though they may be re-elected. Retiring Bishops Stockton and Clay Lee of Holston will move to North Carolina and Mississippi, respectively.
Virlina District moves against church arsons
The Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren has adopted a resolution deploring "the destruction of houses of worship" and calling "for repentance from the racial and religious hatred such acts represent." Congregations in the district have been asked to take special collections for distribution through the district office in Roanoke, to encourage volunteers to work in rebuilding projects through a denominational agency and "to invite adults and children to write letters of love and support to the congregations that have lost their churches."
Education workshop registration open
Registration is open for an ecumenical Creative Education Workshop to be held Sept. 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke. Supported by several major Christian denominations, it is for teachers of children and adults. The $10 registration fee covers lunch. Child care also is available by reservation for an additional $4. Registration is needed by Sept. 20; call 343-0377 or 389-2933 for a form and details. Keynote speaker will be Delia Halverson, nationally traveled Christian educator and author. Among the 11 workshops planned are those on making Bible stories come alive, children's worship, scripture drama for youth and young adults, teaching toddlers, Bible story songs and puppetry.
Virginia Synod gets communications grant
The Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been awarded a $14,500 grant by a denominational fraternal insurance agency to develop the use of electronic communications among parishes and church leaders. The grant will be used to provide 100 congregations and 25 synod leaders with six months of free access to LutherLink, a churchwide computer bulletin board connected to Ecunet. Goal of the project is to encourage those getting the introductory service to subscribepermanently. The system provides direct communication with regional and national offices as well as within the synod that covers the state.
Outdoor Gospel Sing scheduled for Friday
An Outdoor Gospel Sing involving at least eight performing groups and individuals is scheduled Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. at Faith Life Baptist Church in Montvale. Those attending the concert on Virginia 607 are asked to provide their own seating. Call 989-6270 for more information.
Russian patriarch won't meet pope
BUDAPEST, Hungary - The head of Russia's Orthodox Church has turned down an invitation to meet with Pope John Paul II when he visits Hungary this fall, the state news agency says.
The pontiff's visit will take him to northwestern Hungary to mark the 1,000th anniversary of a Benedictine monastery in Pannonhalma and to the western city of Gyoer to meet with Hungarian bishops.
Hungarian church officials also had invited Patriarch Alexy II of the Russian Orthodox Church to Hungary. The proposed meeting was seen as a way of overcoming tensions over what the Orthodox Church sees as overzealous missionary work by Roman Catholics in Russia - and possibly as an opportunity to plan a historic papal trip to Moscow.
The patriarch had proposed the date for a meeting with the pope, who will be in Hungary on Sept. 6 and 7, the MTI state news agency said.
But Pannonhalma Abbot Asztrik Varszegi and Gyoergy Nanovsky, Hungary's ambassador to Russia, said the Russian Orthodox Church leadership had decided to turn down the invitation.
Conservative Orthodox leaders feared the pope was trying to extend Catholic influence over their church, Nanovsky said.
Opportunity seen in Panthers games
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Charlotte churches are trying to make the best of sharing city streets and parking lots with Carolina Panther fans.
First Baptist Church plans to add an informal 8 a.m., come-as-you-are worship service designed to attract fans of the National Football League team. And St. Peter Catholic Church will sell hot dogs to the hordes headed past its sanctuary on four Sundays starting Sept. 1. The church is calling its new outreach ``The St. Peter's Pregame Garden of Eaten,'' with 75 percent of the proceeds going to help feed the poor.
The Panthers are expected to draw 73,000 fans and 25,000 cars each time they play at Ericsson Stadium.
Some of the dozen or so downtown congregations are concerned about parking and traffic. With churches generally letting out at noon and seven Sunday games starting at 1 p.m., the two crowds are likely to be on the streets at the same time.
Besides adding an 8 a.m. service, First Baptist has figured out another way to reach Panthers fans with something slightly more tangible than inspiration: The church may sell some of its parking spaces and give the money to missions.
``We're seeing the Panthers as an opportunity,'' minister of students Jim Cashwell said.
Cardinal targets abortion, assisted death
DETROIT - Ads and listings for abortion services take up 91/2 of the first 10 pages of the metropolitan Detroit Yellow Pages. People seeking out Jack Kevorkian manage to find him, even though the assisted-suicide advocate's home number is unlisted.
Neither would be called if Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida has his way.
The leader of southeast Michigan's 1.4 million Roman Catholics has unveiled Project Life, a 24-hour telephone referral service offering alternatives to assisted suicide and abortion.
Singling out Kevorkian, who has acknowledged attending 32 suicides since 1990, all but two in metropolitan Detroit, Maida said: ``I think of people who want to die with true dignity and not be poisoned with carbon monoxide. ... Although it is often called mercy killing, such euthanasia is not at all genuine mercy.''
Maida's vow to provide financial assistance to pregnant women and the terminally ill was challenged by attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who has won acquittals in each of Kevorkian's three trials on assisted-suicide charges.
``If he's going to pay the bills, I'm sure Dr. Kevorkian can send him thousands of patients,'' Fieger told the Detroit Free Press.
``I encourage him to make people suffer as much as they want to,'' Fieger said. ``But if he thinks that he has political power and that he can make his religious views into law, then - guess what? He can't, because there are people like me and Dr. Kevorkian who will stand up to him.''
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