THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 9, 1996 TAG: 9608090520
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 36 lines
Guess who's coming to dinner Saturday night?
Thirty mainstream and home-grown ministers who spread the word of God with hand and mouth and heart.
Organizers hope the banquet at the Princess Anne Recreation Center will be the start of a networking relationship for folks who've devoted their lives to reaching out to others.
From Norfolk's Annie Yancey, who's practiced her prayer ministry for 30 years, to Virginia Beach's Dr. Fritz Stegemann, pastor of Open Door Chapel and a Christian radio broadcaster, they'll all get the same full portion of thanks.
And Norfolk's Rev. Hattie Kindred, who's fed the hungry for almost two decades, will have a chance to swap notes with Norfolk's Dr. Wilbert Daniels Sr., pastor of St. Paul Church of God in Christ and Portsmouth's Peggy Britt, gospel choir director.
The get-together was put together by two outreach ministers from Norfolk's Macedonia Church. The husband and wife ministry of the Rev. James Murphy, 35, and the Rev. Jackie Murphy, 32, is in its infancy, but interacting with those who help the needy has already been identified as one goal of the Murphys' Living Sacrifice Ministries.
Jackie Murphy said that the ministers she and her husband will honor Saturday all work in ``troubled areas'' but have no forum in which to come together to exchange ideas. It is this need the Murphys hope to fill in their first major project and in future ones.
``We hope to create a large network from the small ministries,'' said Jackie Murphy. ``Then all can see that the body of Christ is not negligent, though so much seems bad news'' today. MEMO: For more information, call 479-4691. by CNB