ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 9, 1994                   TAG: 9404130013
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long


RELIGION BRIEFS

Holocaust tribute

Western Virginia Jews will mark next week as "Days of Remembrance" for victims of Hitler's Holocaust a half century ago. On Sunday at 3 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, 1163 Persinger Road S.W., an interfaith service with the theme ``The Righteous Gentile: Raul Wallenberg'' is scheduled.

This service will be preceded at the temple by the public reading of names of victims of the Holocaust, beginning at 9 a.m.

Lisa Lipkin, will speak at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Roanoke Unitarian-Universalist Church, 2015 Grandin Road S.W., on ``What Mother Never Told Me: Reminiscences of the Child of a Holocaust Survivor." On Friday at 10 a.m., Lipkin will tell ``Tales of the Holocaust'' for a high school student assembly held in DuPont Chapel at Hollins College.

The programs are jointly sponsored by the Roanoke units of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Jewish Community Council and he department of philosophy and religion at Hollins College.

Feminist theology

``To Love Delilah: A Look at Feminist Theology'' will be the theme of the Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference Monday at 10:30 a.m. It will be presented by a panel of three ordained women, Jan Fuller-Carruthers of Hollins College, Linda Kusse-Wolfe of Williamson Road Church of the Brethren and Tammy Estep of Windsor Hills United Methodist. The meeting will be held this month at First Presbyterian Church, South Jefferson at McClanahan Streets. New officers will be elected.

New president

Dr. William B. Tolar, a member of the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for nearly 30 years, has been named acting president of the Fort Worth, Texas, school.

He succeeds Dr. Russell Dilday who resigned last month after refusing to accept an early retirement offer made by the seminary's trustees, who have been in conflict with him for several years. In a statement issued by trustee Chairman Ralph W. Pulley Jr., Dilday was criticized for his ``repeated criticism of denominational leaders, members of the board and others''; for his support of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which follows a more liberal denominational position than that of the trustees; and for his commitment to a broad position on Bible study. His views, the statement charged, ``assail those who hold the Bible to be God's inerrant, infallible and authoritative word.''

Ministers school

Registration is open for the 65th Virginia Town and Country Ministers Summer School. It will be July 18-21 at the Virginia United Methodist Assembly Center at Blackstone.

``Changes in the Church to Meet 21st-Century Needs'' will be the theme. The leader will be the Rev. R. Woods Kent, regional minister for Disciples of Christ in Virginia. Full cost for the conference is $165 with lesser amounts for spouses and those who commute. Registration deadline is July 8. For more details the Virginia Council of Churches, which annually sponsors the ecumenical event, at 804-321-3300,

Revival services

The Rev. LeRoy V. Jones and his wife, Peggy, of Chatham will lead revival services May 1-4 at Emmaus United Methodist Church on Virginia 749 in Moneta.

The Jonses will be at the church at 9:45 a.m. Sunday and nightly at 7:30. LeRoy Jones, a former Roanoke pastor, now is an approved evangelist for the Virginia Conference of the denomination. The meeting will include programs for children 4 through 12 with a nursery for those younger.

Woman's Day

Edith Woods Morgan, an employee of Norfolk Southern Corp. for 20 years and active in Roanoke service and cultural affairs, will be the Woman's Day speaker Sunday at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church on Patterson Avenue in Rocky Mount. Currently active in High Street Baptist Church of Roanoke, Morgan is a 1973 graduate of Franklin County High School. She attended Norfolk State University and is a graduate of Virginia Computer College in Reston.

A long holiday

OSLO, Norway - An Easter exodus takes place here each year during one of the world's longest state holidays.

Since the 1700s, the Easter holiday in Norway has legally been five days long, starting Thursday and lasting through Monday. But many Norwegians stretch it to 10 days, starting the exodus last Saturday.

Any Norwegian who has a vacation cabin, and many do, heads for the mountains. Many others pack ski resorts, leave the country on charter flights, or visit relatives.

Actually, only about one-fourth of Norway's 4.3 million people leaves home for the whole Easter break. Others take shorter trips, mostly to the ski slopes, stay at home to read or pack the movie theaters.

Whatever their plans for the long, religious holiday, few Norwegians seem to be thinking about church. Although almost 90 percent belong to the state Lutheran Church, a recent poll said only 16 percent were considering going to church during the five-day break.

Statue will remain

ST. CLARA, W.Va. - In 1921, a priest awed by a statue of Jesus on the cross labored to bring it from France to West Virginia.. Today, it sits atop a hillside cemetery in Doddridge County, attracting visitors from around the country.

St. Clare Catholic Church is scheduled to close in June as part of a statewide reorganization by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

But the 12-foot iron statue, which also depicts two figures flanking the cross and one at Jesus' feet, will remain.

``We've had people here from about every state,'' said Priscilla Schulte, who lives a few steps from the cemetery. Her husband, Matthew, is the church caretaker.

``It makes you stop and think what he went through for the rest of us,'' she said of the statue, which is placed high on the windswept cemetery hill.

The Rev. Camile Delaux, a priest at the St. Clare church, spotted the statue while serving in France. Awed by its beauty, Delaux vowed to bring it back to West Virginia. He returned home and raised $1,500.

The 1,000-pound statue was transported by boat to Hoboken, N.J., by rail to Long Run and then by wagon to St. Clara, whose parish was founded in 1849.

Mormon message

SALT LAKE CITY - Spiritual integrity and tolerance are attributes all Mormons should aspire to in trying to live the Christian ethic at home and in the world, church leaders say.

In a message during the faith's 164th Annual General Conference, Thomas S. Monson of the governing First Presidency said that despite humanity's desire for peace, violence rules the streets, many nations are wracked by warfare and too many families are failing.

``Perhaps we stray from the path that leads to peace and find it necessary to pause, to ponder and to reflect on the teachings of the Prince of Peace and determine to incorporate them in our thoughts and actions and to live a higher law, walk a more elevated road and be a better disciple of Christ,'' he said.

Monson was one of 11 top church leaders who spoke on the second and last day of meetings on Temple Square.

Ezra Taft Benson, the infirm 94-year-old president of the 8.7 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did not attend the conference. Church officials said he watched the proceedings on television at his Salt Lake apartment.



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