ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 26, 1996 TAG: 9610280108
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Islam subject of Friday forum
A public forum on "The Religion of Islam and the Nation of Islam: What is the Difference?" will be held Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Forest Park School, 2130 Melrose Ave. N.W.
The event is being sponsored by Jamaat Al-Qawiyy, a "Community of the Strong," that worships at Masjid An-Nur, the orthodox Islamic worship center in Roanoke.
Mikal Al-Qahhar said the purpose of the community is to "call people to Islam - true Islam from the Koran."
The speaker will be Washington, D.C.-based Idris Palmer of the Society for the Adherence to the Sunnah or "the example of the Prophet."
There is no charge for the event, which is open to everyone.
Additional information is available by calling 985-0139 or 343-5745.
Lutherans, Episcopalians, Catholics to convene
The registration deadline is Friday for the annual ecumenical conference sponsored by Lutherans, Episcopalians and Roman Catholics known as LARC. It will be in session Nov. 22 and 23 in Lynchburg. The $15 fee is payable to LARC and sent to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 133, Forest, Va. 24551. The meeting this year will focus on two major ecumenical agreements being considered by the participating liturgical denominations. For Catholics and Lutherans this is removal of Reformation-era condemnations that have kept the two Christian groups apart for nearly 500 years. Episcopalians and Lutherans will vote in 1997 on a Concordat of Agreement that will permit sharing of clergy and sacraments.
The LARC conference will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 7336 Timberlake Road. On Saturday morning it will move to Holy Cross Catholic Church, 710 Clay St. Following lunch at 12:30 p.m. participants will conclude the dialogue sessions at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 605 Clay St. The meeting will include small groups and messages by supporters of ecumenical cooperation from each of the three denominations. Call 804-525-5511 for more information.
Physician-Clergy Dialogue Nov. 19
"Care of the Terminally Ill" will be the theme of a Physician-Clergy Dialogue on Nov. 19 at Columbia Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem. The discussion will follow a free breakfast at 7 in the hospital cafeteria. Leading the discussion, which is open to laity as well as medical and religion professionals, will be Dr. William Fintel, a cancer specialist, and the Rev. Branan Thompson, a Southern Baptist pastor. Other dialogues are scheduled Jan. 21, March 18 and May 20. They are sponsored by the Roanoke Academy of Medicine and the Roanoke Valley Ministers Conference.
'Law, Religion and Politics' lectures
Emory & Henry College at Emory will present free lectures on the early Christian scholar St. Augustine and on the contemporary theme of "Law, Religion and Politics" beginning Sunday. William Mallard, professor of church history at Emory University in Atlanta, will be the Staley Lecture Series presenter for "A Confession: Augustine of Hippo and Our Life Today." His two talks will begin at 8:15 on Sunday and Monday nights in Mason Fellowship Hall of the college chapel.
Two speakers, Harold J. Berman and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, also from Emory University, will be the Bays Blackwell Series guests. Berman will discuss "Religion and the Development of Western Legal Tradition" on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Wiley Hall Auditorium. On Nov. 14 An-Na'im will discuss "Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Islamic and Western." For more details about the programs call 944-6130.
Brethren to celebrate new lake ministry
A celebration of the new ministry of Smith Mountain Lake Church of the Brethren at Moneta is scheduled Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. The meeting hall now used for services will be dedicated and recognition given to volunteers who have called community residents and in other ways have helped with establishing the ministry. Services led by the Rev. Judy Mills Reimer are held each Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Lakewood Professional Center at Virginia 122 and 616. Call 721-1816 for more information.
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