DATE: Sunday, July 20, 1997                 TAG: 9707180249

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

SOURCE: BY BETSY MATHEWS WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  146 lines

NEW MINISTERS MOVE IN THEY'RE GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS AS THEY CARRY ON A TRADITION THAT BEGAN IN EARLY AMERICAN METHODISM.

EVEN THOUGH the new United Methodist preachers in town have given their first sermons, unpacked most of their books and maybe even attended a meeting or two, they're still in a honeymoon period with their respective congregations.

That might explain why the Rev. Clarence Brown, the new pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church on Providence Road, sounds a lot like a love-struck bridegroom.

``We had a wonderful, wonderful first Sunday,'' said Brown, speaking of the church's July 6 worship service. ``Attendance was good. Giving was good. Many of my friends and family members were here and the congregation gave us a very warm, welcoming reception following the 11 o'clock service.''

Then Brown, a former campus minister at Norfolk State University, shifts into a more serious tone.

``But now we must begin to move through the process of getting to what it is we've been called to do here.''

Getting down to business. That's what the next few weeks will bring for Brown, and for all the new United Methodist ministers in town. Brown and three others here are just a small fraction of more than 300 United Methodist ministers across the state - 18 in Hampton Roads - who took over new duties on July 1. Their move is part of that denomination's pre-Revolutionary War tradition of itinerant ministry, a tradition that developed in early American Methodism as a way of getting clergy to the people.

In the mid-1700s Methodism had taken root in England and was quickly exported to America, where hundreds of Methodist lay people rode horseback to carry the Gospel to those who dotted the frontier. These ``circuit riders'' followed the example of their English founder, John Wesley, who believed in taking the Christian message to the people, no matter how remote. They were young, single, celibate and poor. Most died in their mid-30s.

About 100 years later, Methodism had separated from its denominational mother, the Anglican Church, chiefly due to the success of the circuit riders. Also, it was assumed that Methodist ministers also would move around frequently. Early ministers changed churches every year.

Methodists believed - and still believe today - in an episcopal, or ``sent,'' system in which churches receive their pastors by assignment from church officials. Other Protestants, like Lutherans, Baptists and Presbyterians, follow a ``called system,'' by which pastors are called to a church by a congregation who carries out its own search.

``The itinerant system grows out of our theology,'' said Dr. Joe E. Pennel Jr., bishop of Virginia's 345,396 United Methodists. ``Jesus sent his disciples. In the early church, Paul sent the apostles. In the history of the church, the church sent its missionaries.

``When one is ordained in the United Methodist church, a person enters into a covenant to itinerant, or to be sent where one is needed. This means that in our system every pulpit has a pastor and every pastor has a pulpit.'' At 58, the bishop himself is no stranger to the itinerancy. He served 36 years in numerous appointments within the Tennessee Conference prior to his move to Virginia last year. By church law, a bishop cannot be assigned to his or her home conference.

While the appointment process is by no means his only job, it does consume much of the bishop's time and energy. Each year, from the beginning of January until the third week in June, the bishop and his cabinet - the district superintendents, one from each of the 18 districts in Virginia representing 1,235 churches - work out the appointments, trying to match the right pastor to the right parish.

``They are,'' Pennel said, ``undergirded with a lot of prayer, a lot of thought and a lot of consideration.''

The Rev. Clarence Brown believes his match at St. Paul's is a good one, even though he knows it will be a challenging one. Brown, 44, is the first African-American pastor of the predominately white, 400-member, 25-year-old congregation.

``I have a heart for people,'' Brown said. `` . . . a desire to lead churches through changes for growth and a desire to reach out to the community.''

As the conference's chairperson for its Commission on Religion and Race, Brown said he is keenly aware of the push to make the Virginia Conference a more inclusive place.

``Of more than 1,200 churches, only 66 are ethnic and very few are mixed,'' said Brown. ``We - by that I mean the commission and the new bishop - feel that it is only being faithful to the Gospel that we United Methodists reach out to all members of a community and not just some . . . We must also move forward with the agenda of having a truly open itinerancy, which means any preacher can go anywhere.''

For Brown and St. Paul's, it helps that he is no stranger to the church.

``As the former campus minister of Norfolk State University, I've preached here and done talks here and done workshops, so I wasn't an unknown quantity. I'd established a relationship with key members of the laity.''

Brown is a graduate of Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Ga. He lives in Chesapeake with his wife, Jarun, and his two children, Jordan and Collin. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]

Photo by GARY C. KNAPP

The Rev. Clarence Brown blesses the congregation at his new church,

St. Paul's United Methodist. Methodist ministers change churches

frequently.

Staff photos by GARY C. KNAPP

The Rev. Clarence Brown is settling in as pastor of St. Paul's

United Methodist Church in Chesapeake.

Brown greets members of the congregation at the end of the Sunday

morning worship service. He is St. Paul's first black minister.

OTHER NEW UNITED METHODIST MINISTERS

Christian

Robinson

Singleton

Mark Christian, pastor of Good Hope United Methodist Church,

Benefit Road.

Age: 42; minister for 17 years.

Spouse/Children: Wife of 20 years, Cathy; three children at home.

Graduated from: Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

Last appointment: Christiansburg Charge, Christiansburg.

What gifts do you bring to this new ministry? ``I guess I bring

the same gifts as I brought to the old ministry. Musical gifts,

piano and guitar. I play music and write my own music. I also have

the gift of relational ministry. I work well with youth and

children.''

E. Kirk Robinson, pastor of Oak Grove United Methodist Church,

Battlefield Boulevard.

Age: 62; minister for 30 years.

Spouse/Children: Wife of 41 years, Connie; two children; three

grandchildren.

Graduated from: Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Last appointment: Christ Church, Arlington.

What gifts do you bring to this new ministry? ``I'm a strong

leader. I believe in church growth. I think the church's job is to

transform lives for Jesus Christ and I believe there are thousands

around us who haven't been reached. One of my strengths is knowing

how to equip the laity for that job.''

Dawn-Marie Singleton, associate pastor of Aldersgate United

Methodist Church, Bruce Road.

Age: 29; minister for three years.

Spouse/Children: Single; no children.

Graduated from: Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C.

Last appointment: Trinity United Methodist Church, Alexandria

What gifts do you bring to this new ministry? ``One of them is my

ability to communicate and work well with youth. There's always a

thin line between being a friend and being a mentor, and I feel I

know when it's time to be one or the other. I also think that

preaching is one of my gifts.''

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