THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995 TAG: 9508150111
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: By VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
ON OCCASION, the Rev. Roy White of Epworth United Methodist Church has a little help in getting the message across. His helper, however, wears a child's size 4 clothing and only speaks when White has his hand up his back.
It's Isaac, his ventriloquist dummy, who has made special appearances with White at church and school events since 1983.
White, who became Epworth's new pastor this summer, comes directly from Poquoson where he was pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church.
Isaac made his first appearance at Epworth at a supper meeting for new members, where White said he was well received.
Isaac is Hebrew for laugh.
The name comes from the Biblical story of Abraham and Sarah. When God told the elderly Sarah that she was to bear a child, ``Sarah was tickled and she laughed,'' he said. ``So God told her that the child's name would be Isaac.''
White, who as a child was fascinated by Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney, started experimenting with ventriloquism ``just for fun'' while he was in college.
But he didn't become involved seriously until he became a minister. ``I was running out of ideas for children,'' he said, adding that he soon discovered ``that the kids loved it.''
``Isaac usually comes in with a problem, or when he's bothered by something, or when he doesn't understand a Bible verse,'' White said. The children then help Isaac figure everything out.
In addition to church events, Isaac has also gone into the schools to give programs on things like drug awareness or learning to read.
White bought Isaac from an auction of a ``gentleman's estate,'' he said. ``He was in bad shape, but you could tell he was professional.''
White shipped him off to Maher Studios in Colorado and ``had him overhauled.'' And he brushed up on his ventriloquist skills by taking a home study course from Maher Studios, which in addition to building and repairing dummies, operates a school of ventriloquism.
Ventriloquism, he said, ``is not as much of a skill, as it is an illusion.''
``Nobody can throw their voice,'' he said. ``You have to create a situation so that the person believes it is over there.''
The challenge, he said, of using the dummy to get the message across is ``knowing where the line is between inspiration and cheap entertainment.''
A native of Clifton Forge, Va., White has lived ``all over Virginia.''
He is the son, grandson and great-grandson of Methodist ministers. His father, the Rev. R. Marvin White, who is now retired, was pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church here in Norfolk. And his grandfather has been pastor of Ghent United Methodist Church. And his great-grandfather was a bishop.
Because of the family history, White said his 9-year-old son, Andrew, asked him once if he had to be a minister too. White assured him that he could be whatever he wanted to be.
White and his wife, Deborah, also have a daughter, Erin, 5. The children will attend Willard Model School when school opens in September. The family lives in the church parsonage in Lakewood.
White is a graduate of Lake Taylor High School. He attended Virginia Wesleyan College, St. Francis Theological Seminary and Duke University, where he received his master's degree.
He says he is ``delighted'' to be back in Norfolk, where he is settling into his role as pastor of a large urban church, whose membership is scattered all over Tidewater - mainly Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
White said he would like to ``expand the interest and focus from the church to the surrounding community.'' One of his goals is to attract more families and young adults to the church.
With Isaac, White said that he hopes to show that when you are in a worship setting there are times when it is O.K. to laugh.
``Life isn't all misery and dead seriousness,'' he said. ``There is a lot of frivolity in the Scriptures.'' MEMO: Epworth United Methodist Church is at 124 W. Freemason St., downtown
Norfolk. For more information, call 622-2970.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
The Rev. Roy White, pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church, gets
his ventriloquist dummy, Issac, ready for a photo session.
by CNB