ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995 TAG: 9512120025
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
Advent service
A German Advent service, conducted annually in Lynchburg for more than a decade, is scheduled Sunday at 6 p.m. at Holy Cross Catholic Church there. Worship will be conducted in German by the Rev. Berndt Kaut with the congregation singing traditional carols. The service is open especially to German-speaking people and any others interested in the religious culture of that country. A social period follows. Call (804) 384-0695 for directions and other information.
Adjoining property
Main Street United Methodist Church in Bedford has purchased the house and small tract formerly used by Bedford Christian Ministries ecumenical service agency. The property, which cost $52,000, adjoins the church's parking lot. Bequests have paid most of the cost. Specific use of the property has not been decided.
New camp director
Bob Giesy, formerly of Loudoun County, will begin his work Friday as director of Camp Alta Mons, the United Methodist conference center near Shawsville in Montgomery County. For the past 14 years Giesy has been superintendent of the civic center in Rockville, Md. He has also directed a YMCA camp and another United Methodist facility in Northern Virginia. The director's job, changed after a period of study, will include relating to churches in the Roanoke and New River valleys, management of the 750-acre camp, overseeing summer programs and increasing use of the facilities for non-Methodist groups. Giesy and his wife, Rosemary, have two grown daughters.
Male bias removed
CLEVELAND - In the new United Church of Christ hymnal, God is both father and mother.
The church is not changing its historical Christian understanding of God. But its New Century Hymnal, the church's revised song book, uses less male terminology to refer to the deity. Old hymns have new lyrics, new hymns were added and, in some cases, hymns that had fallen out of use were brought back.
The book is an attempt to show that everyone is created in God's image, said Andy Lang, a spokesman at church headquarters in Cleveland.
``Language should reflect that truth,'' Lang said.
He said many traditional hymns were filled with predominantly male metaphors, including concepts such as ``kingship.''
In the 19th century hymn ``Father Almighty, Bless Us,'' the first verse begins with the title words. The third verse begins, ``Father of mercy ....''
In the new edition, the first verse begins the same way. But the third verse begins, ``Mother of mercy ....''
The old favorite ``Faith of Our Fathers'' comes out after the makeover as ``Faith of the Martyrs.''
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