Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 26, 1993 TAG: 9308260304
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The church also got the chance to support a Roanoke Valley craftsman, saving money in the process.
Bill Miller, a 30-year member of the just-relocated parish, had seen a distinctive wood cross suspended from the ceiling at a church in Florida. Interested in having a similar cross for the proposed new church two miles north of the old North Roanoke County site, Miller followed up on the advertisement of a new craftsman in the neighborhood.
That turned out to be Erwin, a native Roanoker who had returned in 1991 to practice his woodcrafting design art after some years away. He had settled down with his family in the old Bear community store building on Tinker Creek.
Erwin remembers telling Miller and later St. Philip's pastor, the Rev. Paul "Chip" Gunsten, he could make such a cross. Now it hangs high over the pulpit in the new church with its contemporary stained-glass window, altar surrounded by a kneeling rail for communicants and semicircular pews.
The Erwin cross is 7 feet long and 4 feet wide. Crafted of mahogany and birch from the Baltics, it actually is two crosses joined by brass rods.
The cross, which Erwin started in late March, was just the beginning. The pastor and building committee liked Erwin's work and soon offered him the opportunity to design and craft most of the other wooden worship items.
These include the processional cross, two tables on which are placed the offering plates and the bread and wine of Communion, three candlesticks, two tables for fresh flowers, an ever-burning lamp near the altar, the Communion rails, a pole for the parish banner and the base of the baptismal font.
The font is made with a huge clamshell Miller got from relatives in Florida. Now rare enough to be restricted from general sale, the shell is mounted on one of Erwin's carved stands.
Artist and pastor, both 39 and students together at Virginia Tech though not then acquainted, say the original woodwork has been one of the happy opportunities of the relocation project.
The commission was one of Erwin's largest orders financially, but equally important, he says, was the chance to design beautiful articles and learn about their significance. Erwin said he was unfamiliar with some of the articles Lutherans use to enhance worship.
Gunsten and Miller are pleased, too, not only for the distinction of having original articles but also because the church saved several thousand dollars by using a nearby craftsman. Liturgical supply houses, Gunsten noted, are "notoriously expensive" and probably would have charged the church as much as $12,000 for the pieces Erwin made for a fraction of that price.
With a building that will cost at least $900,000, any savings is a help, the pastor pointed out.
In addition to Erwin's work, two other artists have given their talents to the new church. Dominating the exterior is a metal cross made by Claude Holcomb. John Keenum created the burgundy-and-blue stained-glass window on the east side above the altar.
The only wooden pieces not new are the two essential items for any Lutheran church: the pulpit and the altar. They are one of the few links with the small building near Williamson and Peters Creek roads where St. Philip's members worshiped for more than 30 years. Too small except in the earliest years, the church could not easily expand, Gunsten said. Now an auto dealership, which also needed more land, occupies the old site.
The completion of the new home for the congregation of about 100 active members is the end of a long period of self-examination followed by two years of active planning and construction.
"We didn't build until we had carefully considered what our service to this community would be," said Gunsten. The building, he explained, expresses the diverse nature of the parish with people of all ages - not only younger suburban families in Roanoke and Botetourt Counties but also many longtime members who have stuck with the church since its beginning in 1958.
Several pastors and lay leaders considered whether the small group should merge with two other Northwest congregations, whether it should remain in the business center of Hollins or whether relocation in Botetourt would be best.
Finally, they settled on a seven-acre tract - visible from U.S. 11 and close to several new neighborhoods as well as Hollins College - and they hired Martin Bros. of Roanoke to build.
The design includes an ample gathering area, the bright and spacious worship center with Erwin's artistry, fresh new quarters for St. Philip Preschool's 60 children, a large fellowship hall, parlor for smaller gatherings, and offices - all easily reached by those who can't climb steps.
A formal dedication is set for Oct. 17.
by CNB