ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701240022
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS
PEOPLE
The Rev. Gene Edmunds, a Presbyterian minister, has been named chaplain to inmates in the Roanoke and Roanoke County jails. The new chaplain, who has spent most of her life in Roanoke, is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in Richmond and has been on the staffs of a Charleston, S.C., church and Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. The chaplaincy position has been vacant for 18 months, since the resignation of the Rev. Richard Harris. Edmunds, who has been serving as interim chaplain for several months, will be assisted part time by the Rev. Theresa Sawyers. For 30 years the jail chaplaincy has been an outreach of the interfaith Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference.
Clarine Langford, a member of the administrative staff of Cave Spring Baptist Church, has returned after 22 years of service. Langford will remain in the Roanoke area after a trip West with her husband.
Toni Laurenson has been promoted to minister for congregational life at St. John Lutheran Church at Cave Spring. The Rev. Mark Graham, pastor, said the promotion represents an expansion of the laity and recruitment training program of the parish, which assists those in and out of the church. |SPECIAL EVENTS| Keith Deltano, a Christian comedian from Julian, N.C., will present a program Friday at 6:30 p.m. at New Life Temple, a Pentecostal Holiness church at 5745 Airport Road N.W. The speaker, a former middle school teacher and police officer, will be joined by Mount Zion, a youth musical group. An offering will be taken. Call 563-4989 for more information.
Peace Presbyterian Church, 4365 Cloverdale Road, will offer a big-screen viewing of the Super Bowl on Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. The admission fee will be a donation to the Presbyterian Community Center in Southeast Roanoke.
Crossroads, a new ministry to provide emergency financial help and long-term job and emotional assistance to several needy households, has been established by St. John's Episcopal Church. Kevin Reyer, its chairman, said the program will help people burned out of their homes, those facing utility cutoffs because of crises, and poor immigrants to the valley.
The Annual Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia will take place Friday through Sunday at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. This will be the first time in 20 years that the annual business and fellowship gathering has not been on the grounds of Virginia Tech. The change has been made, according to a diocese spokesman, because better facilities for displays, parking and lodging are available at the hotel. The meeting, which attracts about 300 ordained and lay leaders, will be the first for Bishop F. Neff Powell, who began his work three months ago. A service open to the public is scheduled Friday at 8 p.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown Roanoke.
Unity of Roanoke Valley will observe Random Acts of Kindness Week beginning Feb.9. Part of a national celebration of people helping each other in small ways, the celebration will include on Feb.9 a donation of teddy bears to be given to social service departments to help children in crisis.
Church Women United, an ecumenical and multicultural organization, will hear the national president of CWU at its annual meeting Friday. Susan Shank Mix, a resident of Lynchburg and wife of the chaplain of Lynchburg College will speak at the 10:30 a.m. meeting at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1008 Franklin Road S.W.
Bethlehem Bible College has begun its spring session with classes held on Mondays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Registration is still open for classes in First and Second Kings, John, Acts and the art of preaching. Call 362-2586 for more information about the 10-year-old program, with classes held at 1578 Golfside Ave. N.W.
Grandin Court Baptist Church, which began an experimental, informal early Sunday morning service in September, will continue to offer it for six more months. A survey of those who have attended the 8:30 services revealed support for the informal attire, flexibility of hours, style of music and potential for reaching those unaccustomed to traditional worship. Further evaluation of the alternative service is planned.
The Roanoke Valley Baptist Singles Association will sponsor a Valentine banquet Feb.14 at 6:30 p.m. in the ballroom of the Clarion Hotel at 2727 Ferndale Drive N.W. The social is open to single people as well as couples, and will include special music. Cost for the buffet meal and entertainment is $10 per person. Call 774-9798 for more information.
The board of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Salem has approved a study on enlargement of the building on its south end and possibly the relocation of St. Anne's Day School to another Salem site. The long-range plan is intended for implementation by the time the parish celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2002. Growth of the congregation and its early childhood education weekday and Sunday classes were cited as the reasons for the study. The church has about 600 members.
Rebecca St. James, a contemporary Christian musician, will perform with accompanists March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Lakeside Baptist Church, 447 Dalewood Ave. in Salem. For tickets call 343-8100 or 774-9798.
A community Bible study, "A Vision of Our Pilgrimage With Christ," will continue for the next five weeks at Oak Grove Church of the Brethren, 2138 McVitty Road S.W. Led by the Rev. Richard Gottshall, interim pastor of Williamson Road Church of the Brethren, it will begin each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Call 774-7577 for more information.
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