Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 11, 1993 TAG: 9312160301
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Frances Stebbins
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Grants totaling $65,450 have been made to several Western Virginia communities from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond's Fuel and Hunger Fund. The money comes from a drive held each year known as the Bishop's Appeal. Recipients include Roanoke Area Ministries, St. Francis House and Refugee and Immigration Services in Roanoke and Bedford Christian Ministries as well as service programs maintained by Catholic parishes in Lexington, Fincastle, Rocky Mount, Clifton Forge, Pearisburg and Wytheville.
Brethren leader spurns name-change advocates
The Church of the Brethren probably will make no decision on whether to change its name to something considered less sexist until after the turn of the century, the Rev. Earl K. Ziegler, current national moderator, has stated in a letter to congregations. Ziegler made the comment in response to a recent ecumenical meeting held in Minneapolis at which about 20 Church of the Brethren feminist members recommended the Church of Reconciliation as a more appropriate title. Ziegler expressed dismay at the group circumventing the usual decision-making process of the denomination and said a possible name change is being considered by a study committee. He said the year 2008, which will be the 300th anniversary of the beginning of the church in Germany, has been seen as a good time to make any change, if any is seen as warranted.
Potatoes delivered
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Potato Project food salvage ministry the sponsoring Society of St. Andrew of Bedford County delivered over 16 tons of potatoes to a Lynchburg radio station's special drive for food for the hungry in that city. Most of the potatoes will be used by the Salvation Army of Lynchburg, but 12,000 pounds were trucked by volunteers from Lynchburg Latter-day Saints congregation to Blacksburg for the annual Montgomery Christmas Store sale to the needy.
Social service grants distributed in region
Five Roanoke service agencies for the needy are among others in Virginia benefitting from Disciples of Christ national Reconciliation grants. The money is raised on a national level by a special Sunday offering. Of the $15,000 awarded to Virginia , the Roanoke agencies received nearly one-third. The ministry of the Rev. Richard Harris to jails and a public nursing home, The Parent's Place child abuse prevention center, the Presbyterian Community Center, Family Advocacy - a division of Roanoke Area Ministries - and the Outpatient Clinic Emergency Relief Fund each received up to $1,500.
Funds also helped agencies in Radford and in Franklin County.
Media flayed
The media is glorifying violence and should cut out some of the gore or be subject to more federal and state regulation, New York's religious leaders say.
"When the top of the news, for the first five to 10 minutes, consists of reports of rape, murder, gory episodes, criminal acts and then, incidentally, some important local news ... that's not news reporting, that's entertainment," said Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis.
"That's pandering to the basest elements of human society," he said.
Rosenthal and leaders of the state's Roman Catholic and Protestant churches released a six-page policy statement recently on how their faiths plan to fight the growth of violence in New York. The number of reported violent crimes across the state increased from about 125,000 in 1970 to more than 200,000 in 1992.
The statement calls on leaders of religious denominations to instill a greater sense of spirituality and self-esteem in their members, and to work "more compassionately and effectively" with crime victims.
by CNB