ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
In the center of the prayer circle stood lay minister Burt Franks in steel-toed boots. He preached over the hiss and pop of machinery in the Yokohama Tire Corp. factory in Salem.
"How many of you believe when Jesus comes in, joy comes in?" Franks asked.
"Amen," a chorus of voices responded.
This is church for Sunday employees at the giant tire factory. Here, workers remember God, their loved ones and their big, troubled company in 10 a.m. weekly prayers while on break.
Begun about four years ago as a small gathering near a tire machine, the service draws up to 60 of the 200 employees on duty Sunday mornings and is a rarity in industry. The plant employs 1,000 people and operates seven days a week.
Jack McDaniel, a regular churchgoer, organized the gatherings after he took his job at Yokohama and was required to work Sundays. Most of the service is like any other. But a portion is devoted to prayer for "the welfare of the plant and the safety of the people," said the tire production supervisor.
This past weekend, the 25 people in attendance briefly remembered the 44 people who received layoff notices earlier this month to slow production. Yokohama's remaining workers face additional concerns.
To curtail production, the company extended its regularly scheduled, unpaid Labor Day leave, which begins Sunday, from three days to eight. A major customer plans to reduce its purchases starting in October, which could lead to job cuts.
Each service is structured to take place during a 10-minute work break. But in that time, Franks covered a biblical passage before turning over the service to McDaniel, who called for strength against common concerns as all joined hands. "Lift up Yokohama; lift up those who have been laid off," he urged. He also asked employees to think about an employee whose mother had recently died.
Employee Mike Anderson - who preaches at God's Church of Deliverance and Power in Salem - closed his eyes and prayed aloud. Then the group recited the Lord's Prayer. After a quick exchange of handshakes and some hugs, the workers returned to the production floor, where about 18,500 tires are built daily.
"I feel this does good. It's better than a cup of coffee," said Franks, who runs tire parts to those who assemble them and who reads from a black folder when he is preaching.
Even though he and the others must work, "we still feel like it's the Lord's day."
When weather allows, the worshipers meet outside the plant at 1500 Indiana Ave. Sunday's drizzle forced them into a foyer where workers enter the shop floor. The room, hung with productivity and safety charts, smelled faintly of chemicals.
The plant's health and safety manager, Bill Jones, said, "I think this has been a positive thing for the plant."
"It's very important for us to be able to do it," said quality inspector David Yates. "It means a lot to us."
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN SPEARMAN Staff. 1. Lay pastor Burt Franks (center)by CNBpreaches to workers gathered to pray for their friends, families,
and last but not least, their jobs. 2. Workers at the Yokohama Tire
Corp. factory in Salem hold hands and pray in a practice that is
considered a rarity in industry. color.