Virginia Synod Logo New

 

  
                                                                                       FEBRUARY 2017
      
                         The Virginia 
                      LUTHERAN 
Bringing you news of the Virginia Synod since 1921.


Bishop Eaton to speak at Virginia 
Gathering at  Hebron, Madison, April 29
 
           A major Synod event in the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation will be a Gathering of the Ministerium at historic Hebron Church at Madison to hear ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton speak on Saturday, April 29. The event is planned for rostered leaders. Hebron is the oldest church in the ELCA with continuous services since the first was held in 1717, 300 years ago.
            Pastor Patti Covington of Hebron will talk about the congregation's anniversary and President Michael Maxey of Roanoke College will speak of his school's 175th anniversary. The college began in Augusta County in 1842.
In This Issue
Lutherans in the news
Bishop's column
Bethel, Winchester, gives $8,500
Working with Afghani women.
Zuber, Farnsworth approved for ordination
Day for all People: Speak truth in love
A book for discerning laypersons
Lathrop to speak on Liturgy and the Reformation
Both Luther and King are needed
Deaths
Price will lead Catechism study.
Wheatland tractors help collect food
   
Lutherans in the news
Moore
        
           Pastor Heidi Moore, a Virginia Synod native who has been serving in Northern Virginia, has accepted a call to Resurrection, Fredericksburg, following Pastors Jim and Carol Kniseley, who retired. Moore has been associate pastor for youth and young adults at Lord of Life, Fairfax, and Lutheran campus pastor for Northern Virginia. She and her husband, Jim, came from Our Saviour's, Norge. She worked for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, graduated from the College of William and Mary and Southern Seminary. She interned and later was associate pastor and interim pastor at Emmanuel, Virginia Beach. She and her husband have two children, Caitlin, and Nathan.
            Pastor Colleen Montgomery of St. Thomas Lutheran, Bloomington, Ind., has accepted a call to Holy Trinity, Wytheville, starting in March.
 
Sims
          
Pastor George Sims,
who has been serving as director of philanthropy for the National Lutheran Communities & Services at Winchester for six years, is retiring on Feb. 1. A South Carolina native and a graduate of Southern Seminary, he has served over 41 years of ordained ministry. After serving churches in North and South Carolina, he came to Reformation, New Market, and then  
became executive director of the new Synod Office for Planned Giving for 10 years. His wife, the Rev. Martha Sims, is pastor Grace, Winchester.
            Pastor JoAnn Bunn has accepted a call to serve at Gladesboro, Hillsville, her home congregation. Bunn, who has been dean of the Southern Valley Conference, has served at Redeemer, McKinley, Augusta County, for 27 years and in leadership of Mt. Tabor for 12 years. Earlier, she served St. Luke, Stanley, and the Gravel Springs Parish.
            Retired Pastor Hank Boschen is serving as interim pastor at Bedford Lutheran, after Pastor Jon Myers and Sister Jennie Myers accepted a call to Oklahoma. Pastors Gary Scheidt, Lynn Bechdolt and Lyn Coppedge will join Boschen as supply pastors.
            Virginia Lutherans had an opportunity to join ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton in an online class discussing "What would Luther do today?" Jan. 16-30. This was a free, pre-recorded class series, part of the 500th anniversary commemoration of the Reformation.                            
 
Morgan (right) 
           Pidge Morgan
of Trinity Ecumenical Parish, Moneta received the Paul Harris Fellow award from the Smith Mountain Lake Rotary Club. The award recognized her work in securing Rotary grants for humanitarian work in Tanzania through Godparents for Tanzania and Rotary. They provide scholarships for Tanzanian children and support a technology institute and Door of Hope Masai Ministry. Morgan received the award from Susan Pillips and Case Pieterm.
            Historian Susan McArver of the Southern Seminary faculty will talk about the Lutheran heritage in the Shenandoah Valley during this 500th Reformation Anniversary year at Grace, Waynesboro, on March 18-19.
            Nineteen members of a gleaning team at Trinity Ecumenical Parish traveled to Blacksburg on Jan. 14 to pick up 2,000 pounds of potatoes from a Feeding America drop. The potatoes were distributed to Lake Christian Ministries and Heavenly Manna Food Pantry in Rocky Mount.
            Faraja Primary School for Children with Physical Disabilities in Tanzania, started through a family foundation of Don and Joann Tolmie, celebrated its 15th anniversary and 5th graduating class. All 29 graduating students passed a national examination. A new class started in January. The Tolmies, formerly of First Lutheran, Norfolk, live in Charlotte, NC. First Lutheran also supports the school.
            Several congregations are walking for a healthy new year. Jeannie Coffman, community nurse for Shenandoah Valley Lutheran Ministries Faith Community, has challenged Shenandoah County Lutherans "to walk together to Jerusalem by Easter." That's a distance of 6,356 miles from Strasburg to Jerusalem. Under a 12-week Passport to Good Health program, 20 minutes of any continuous exercise counts as a mile. By adding all the miles together, Coffman said she believes they can make the goal.
Members of St. Stephen, Williamsburg, have completed their walking to Bethlehem, a total of 15,406 miles, since October. They started by walking west, all the way to the Orient. Marcie Clark, parish nurse at St. Stephen, said. "We hope this virtual, communal walk to Bethlehem has been helpful both spiritually and physically."
            The Reformation anniversary observance at Grace, Winchester, starts with the movie, "Luther," in February; presenting a copy of Luther's Small Catechism to every member, planting a tree, a book group on Luther's writings, a Mighty Fortress Lego contest, picnic with a visit from Luther, Luther's music and writings at worship services, a trip to the National Cathedral and a German fest and birthday party for Luther.
            Pastor Dave Delaney, assistant to the bishop and director of youth and young adult ministries, will lead the ACTS spring course on the Old Testament on March 10, 11 and March 31-April 1.
             Bethel, Winchester, is holding three seminars for seniors on "subjects that many of us really don't want to talk about...decisions we'll need to make as we age."
The Saturday morning seminars present information about living arrangements, legal/financial issues and final arrangements.
            St. Mark, Yorktown, will hold a Heart & Sole Workshop on Feb. 11 to make pillows for open-heart surgery patients at Riverside Regional Medical Center and to make tops for close-toed shoes for Uganda children whose bare feet have been infected by sand fleas.   

It's not what we do    
     by Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton
 
Bishop Eaton 
            At the end of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John, many disciples who had been following Jesus left him.  Looking at the
12, Jesus asked, "Will you also go away?" Simon Peter answered, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:66-68). It was a kind of crisis at the beginning of the Jesus movement.
            Jesus had been teaching about the gracious gift of life that comes from the Father through Christ. People were amazed by the multiplication of the loaves and fish and all of the talk about the bread of life. They wanted to know what they had to do to be doing the works of God. Jesus' answer, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent (John 6:29)," didn't sit well the crowd. I suspect that the most fervent among them wanted marching orders and the more careful wanted a checklist to make sure they were on track.
            Questions in Scripture are fascinating: they are often more revealing than the answers. "What do we do?" "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matthew 19 :16). The people in John and the young man in Matthew wanted to know not only what they could do to save themselves, but to be assured that it was indeed in their power to save themselves.
           We don't ask different questions today. When it comes to the great metaphysical questions we ask, "How do I know? How am I sure?" It's a hard thing to believe that it's God's good and gracious will that all be saved from death, and since we can't save ourselves, God has done it through Jesus' death and resurrection. It's not what we do or even about that which we are certain, but what God has done, and God's faithful and sure promise. In a recent survey of ELCA Lutherans, Kenneth Inskeep, director for research and evaluation, asked the question: "What must you do to be saved?" Fifty percent answered: "Do good works." Fifty percent of Lutherans.
            At least half of us admit that, deep down, we believe it's still up to us. Let's not beat ourselves up-this isn't a Lutheran phenomenon, this is not an American phenomenon, this is not a 21st-century phenomenon-it's a human phenomenon. We either disbelieve for joy or don't want to give up control.
            This is precisely why we need well-trained confessional, scriptural, theological, liturgical, compassionate pastors and deacons: to keep us pointed to Jesus, to the law, to the cross, to the resurrection and away from the world's siren song of self-help, self-determination and self-righteousness.
            And this is precisely why we need confessional, scriptural, theological, liturgical, compassionate laypeople: so we "... fear and love God, so that we
do not despise preaching or God's word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it" (Martin Luther's Small Catechism).
             Two major initiatives requested by the ELCA Church Council and informed by your input have come to the same conclusion. The Theological Education Advisory Council and the Called Forward Together in Christ process both lifted up the importance of well-formed lay, consecrated and ordained leadership. We must keep the saving gospel of judgment and promise as our foundation and future.
            This is the work of the entire church. It's not up to the seminaries to identify and recruit pastors and deacons, nor is it the exclusive province of the ordained and consecrated to be grounded in the word. Start looking at fourth- and fifth-graders in your congregation. Support church camps, Lutheran campus ministries, and Lutheran colleges, universities and seminaries. Encourage Young Adults in Global Mission.
            We've received a $3 million gift to the ELCA Fund for Leaders, which will provide full tuition scholarships for up to 60 additional students over the next three years. This is just one part of a multifaceted leadership initiative that we are launching now. When people ask how the ELCA can be relevant, I answer: only if we are sure that our hope is in the living Christ and only if we share that with the joy of the gospel.
 
A monthly message from the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This article first appeared in The Lutheran 's February - 2017 issue. Reprinted with permission.
 
Bethel, Winchester, gives $8,500
for four Global Missions projects  
 
Gifts for Global Missions were
stacked at Bethel, Winchester.
          
            The congregation of Bethel, Winchester, brought in over $8,500 for its Global Christmas program, "pretty awesome," according to Pastor David Young. The funds will be used for Bethel's four mission partners in Tanzania, East Africa, Philippines and India.
            Bethel's Global Mission Team said it is "so grateful to our Bethel family for their continued support of the four mission partners we feature in our Global Christmas program, our only 'official' fund-raising outreach for our work. We are always grateful for and need the support that comes through the weekly offerings throughout the year!"
       The funds will be allocated this way:
  • Concordia Children's Services in the Philippines, $2,200, to be used for daily lunches for a Street Children program, diapers, laundry supplies, nourishing meals, medical care and immunizations and infant formula for an orphanage child and replacing worn toys and equipment.
  • Massai Girls' Lutheran Secondary School in Tanzania, $2,175, for internet access in a computer lab, a bible and Swahili/English dictionary for students, textbooks, uniforms and shoes, chemistry and biology lab supplies and sponsoring a girl for a year.
  • Seliana Lutheran Hospital School of Nursing near Arusha in East Africa, $1,605, for textbooks, stethoscopes, support for children recovering from surgery, skin grafting or surgery for children suffering burns and surgery for leg deformities.
  • Bethania Kids Ministries in India, $1,335 for uniforms, library and computer resources, meals for a children's home and medicine, vaccines and medical supplies for children.
            A special ornament brought in $1,200 to purchase sewing and embroidery machines for Bethania's Women's Empowerment Programs in India.
 
Working with Afghani women 
     by Kelly Schumacher Fuller  
           
              I arrived in Kabul for the first time in late June 2016 for a 9-week visit. At that point, I had been working with Ascend: Leadership for Athletics, a start-up youth development NGO headquartered in Norfolk, for about 5 months. We needed someone to run programming for the summer and I was anxious to get my hands in things from a closer proximity: to meet the 22 young women on the team; see their lives; participate in their intensive, 6 day/week programming; and to get some perspective on what was really going on in the Kabul office.
  
Fuller and Afghani girls stand on a hike in Kabul.
         
I had met Ascend's founder, Marina LeGree, before.. It was her vision and dream that drew me in: empowering young women in Afghanistan to become change-makers in their communities through a combination of mountain climbing, fitness training, leadership classes, and volunteer community service. Ascend trains young women to climb mountains and move mountains.
            Some context: the majority of the team members (ages 16-24) were born as refugees during the Taliban regime and came back to Afghanistan with their families sometime after 2002. Their mothers didn't have the opportunity to leave the house much, even to go to the store or school, let alone to climb mountains. While women in Afghanistan have been breaking down barriers in the last 15 years, girls don't have a lot of role models of Afghan women doing anything different than getting married young and having children.
            Over the summer, as the girls showed up for activities 6 days a week, I saw them transforming themselves into their own role models: I watched Somaya, a girl whose parents said "I'm not sure how she's going to climb mountains. She's so weak and small." But she can climb faster and farther than the other girls, thanks to Ascend training.
            I watched Hanifa, a former child bride who escaped her abusive husband and was nearly silent when she joined the team, grow more and more confident and start tackling literacy classes when she wasn't practicing push-ups.
            I listened as Fouzia, a 22-year old university student, told me, "I like mountaineering because it's hard, but not impossible. I want to do the jobs that are like mountaineering: hard, but not impossible. Before Ascend, I just went to school and stayed at home. Now that I've joined the team I've made many friends, my self-confidence has gone up, and I'm very active in my society."
            On my second visit this fall, I hiked and camped alongside the girls in the Bamyan province for 6 days. I watched as the girls tested their physical, emotional, and mental limits, reaching heights of 14,700' in the Koh-i-Baba Mountains. I saw them utilize their learned leadership and communication skills to care for each other and avoid conflict. I listened as they shared their experiences and knowledge during presentations to schoolgirls in Bamyan, serving as role models and inspirations.
            This week, as I finish up my third visit to Kabul, I'm doing so under a new U.S. administration that may have different policies and perspectives on our involvement in Afghanistan. I recognize that I don't know what the future holds for these girls and their country.
            What I do know is that these girls are growing, changing, and claiming their freedom in a way they hadn't dreamed of before. The Somayas, Hanifas, and Fouzias won't go quietly into the night regardless of their situation. How do you tell a girl who has climbed a mountain that she's incapable of making decisions for herself? You can't. So, I leave buoyed by the girls and their spirit, strength, and willingness to step outside of what is "normal" in Afghanistan and do something incredible.

            Kelly and her husband, Pastor Aaron Fuller, live in Portsmouth.
 
Zuber, Farnsworth approved for ordination  
           
            The Synod Candidacy Committee has approved Alex Zuber and James Farnsworth  for ordination, pending acceptance of a call. Zuber, a son of Christ, Roanoke, is scheduled to graduate from Philadelphia Seminary this year. Farnsworth from St. Peter, 
Stafford, will graduate from Gettysburg Seminary.
            The committee also voted to grant Lisa Geiger and Alyssa Kaplan, both of First Lutheran, Norfolk, entrance into ELCA candidacy. Kaplan is a student at Union Seminary in New York and Geiger is looking
at becoming an associate in ministry.
            Three others endorsed for the new Word and Sacrament roster are Ellen Clough, Muhlenberg, Harrisonburg; Kayla Edmonds, St. Paul, Rural Retreat, and Patrick Freund, Christ the King, Richmond.     
 
Day for all People: Speak truth in love
     by Joe Shaver  
  
Grace and Glory participants and friends at Day for All People were Pastor Sandy Wisco, Pastor Ken Albright, VICPP Director Kim Bobo, JoAnn Fawley, Jean DeMarco, Jan Crowther, Joe Shaver and Helen Ida Moyer.
       
            A small group of us from the Grace and Glory Lutheran Church in Palmyra once again made the journey to Richmond to be a part of the Day for All People Lobby Day at our General Assembly, sponsored by the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy in January. We were also accompanied by Retired Pastor Sandy Wisco as well as two non-members from our local community.
           This year was the first such event for the new director of Virginia Interfaith, Kim Bobo, and just short of 300 people participated in the day. Ms. Bobo came to VICPP early in 2016 from Chicago having been the founder of the Interfaith Worker Justice organization there. Again this year there was a presence of the Jewish and Muslim faiths in addition to a multitude of Christian denominations.
            The issues that were selected for the group's lobbying efforts by a survey of the membership of VICPP were Expansion of Health Care, Wage Theft/Fair Wages, Criminal Justice Reform and Welcoming All Virginians (Immigration).
Following the discussions with our various representatives, the group formed together on the sidewalk outside the legislative office building for a prayer vigil. We then returned to the site for the day, the Centenary United Methodist Church for lunch. Our guest speaker was Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring.
All People walking.
             We later gathered in the sanctuary to hear of some detailed support for all of the issues of the day. In closing we were asked to greet our neighbor with two phrases; "Don't be afraid to speak truth in love" and "Be bold to speak truth to power".
In a interview with Director Bobo, she indicated that she was pleased with the support for and how the day went. She somewhat laments that here in Virginia the legislative session is so short at just 6 weeks or so. And that requires a great deal of work and preparation ahead of time to be ready for the day.
             Ms. Bobo sees the organization moving forward with a primary emphasis upon employment issues (wage theft and fair wage) that can have a strong effect on the overall economy. Finally, she states that her sense is that people of faith find themselves in these troubled times to be urgently feeling a need to get involved in doing something positive to impact how we move forward. So, in summary, we again experienced a very productive day of putting our Faith in Action.

College cross made from historic tree

    
            A cross hanging in the Antrim Chapel at Roanoke College was built from wood of the poplar tree believed to have been planted by college founder Dr. David Bittle in the mid-1800s.

Chaplain Chris Bowen (right) and George Arthur stand by cross
 
 
            At the request of college Chaplain Chris Bowen, George Arthur, retired drama professor and a wood-worker, constructed the cross. The tree was dying when it was removed from the front campus of the college three years ago. The cross is relevant to the college's 175th anniversary observed this year, according to Bowen. Arthur, a member of St. Mark's, Roanoke, said the cross measures 7 feet, 6 inches by 3 feet 9 inches.
 
A book for discerning laypersons    

            Dr. Paul Jersild of First Lutheran, Norfolk, wanted to write a book that "will prove helpful to those people in the pew who bring questions and doubts about what they understand as Christian teaching." So he came up with "Christian in Our Time: Rethinking the Church's Theology," 152 pages of sound thinking about theological issues in a postmodern world.
            For those concerned about understanding doctrines of the church, Jersild writes about "the imaginative, metaphorical nature of the language of faith in speaking of a personal God---the language of Jesus himself." The author, professor emeritus of theology and ethics at Southern Seminary, addresses God as "Mystery, the Incarnation, Atonement, Cross and Resurrection, Sin and Salvation and the Trinity, among other teachings." He expects some readers to find it provocative but under responsible leadership it could provide the basis for a discussion in an adult Sunday School class.
            In his thoughts about language, Jersild writes about a "faith-based imagination" centering on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as God's man who brings a divine, redemptive love to the human story, according to a reviewer of the book. Another scholar called it "a short, tightly argued but lucid testament of faith."
            Jersild's earlier writing includes two books, "Spirit Ethics:; Scripture and the Moral Life" and "The Nature of our Humanity." "Christian in Our Time" is available for $21 from Cascade Books.
 
Lathrop to speak on Liturgy and the Reformation    

          Dr. Gordon W. Lathrop, professor of liturgy emeritus at Philadelphia
Seminary, will speak on the Reformation and liturgy at the fourth annual Spring Symposium sponsored by the Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund on Saturday, March 11, at the George Peabody Library in Baltimore.
            The symposium, held to benefit and support Lutheran scholarship and research, is named for the late Rev. Dr. Eric W. Gritsch, an internationally recognized Luther scholar who taught at Gettysburg Seminary.
            Lathrop, former president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and Societas Liturgica, will speak on "The Reformation & Liturgical Reform: Ecumenical Perspectives." Susan Wood, professor of systematic theology at Marquette University and a member of the U.S. Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue and the International Luthean Catholic Commission on Unity, will speak on "The Intersection of Ecclesiology and Liturgy as an Ecumenical Resource."
            A registration of $35 may be mailed to the the Rev. Dr. Eric W. Gritsch Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 23064, Baltimore, MD 21203-5064.
 
Both Luther and King are needed today    
Lischer

            Both Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr., were masters of the spoken word and the word "gets things done," said Dr. Richard Lischer, professor emeritus of preaching at Duke Divinity School, in a lecture in the Reformation 500 series at Roanoke College on January 19. "Each had a distinctive voice." Both preached continuously. Luther once preached 18 sermons in 11 days.
            In an information age, humans do not live by information and technology, he said. "Somebody has got to say, 'Here I stand.'" Lischer, also an ELCA pastor, addressed the question, "Why we need both Luther and King."
            King was named Michael at birth but his father attended a conference in Germany, learned of Martin Luther's work, came home and renamed his son for the reformer.
            No church was too small for Luther in the 16th century and now 500 years later "we are formed by Luther's grace ." When churches were burned in a time of segregation, King preached a sermon, "his way of symbolizing the triumph of the word of God over every attempt to destroy."
            In one famous incident in a Montgomery, Ala. kitchen, King prayed in despair, "God, give me strength, help me" and the response was "Martin Luther stands up for right and justice." Lischer said, "That was enough for him, it carried him forward...the voice of God." King said, "We stand at the daybreak of freedom," a "beautiful metaphor." Luther said, "the human heart is a ship on a raging sea."
            Lischer summed it up: "We need both Luther and King in the days that lie ahead, how can the gospel be true in a plural society ruled by a strong man.
 
Deaths    
           
Pastor Jack Martin dies at 89
Martin  
 
            Pastor Claude Jackson "Jack" Martin, 89, whose ordained ministry covered 39 years, died Nov. 16 in Harrisonburg. He was regional director for the Division for Mission in North America for nine years and he served at Muhlenberg, Harrisonburg;; St. John, Norfolk, Bethany, Kannapolis, NC, and St. Luke, Shallotte, NC.
            During his ministry, he preached in over 200 churches, promoted ecumenical activities in the community and served in several Synod posts. A son of Gladesboro, Carroll County, he was a graduate of Roanoke College and Southern Seminary.
            Surviving are his wife, Alvina Martin; three children, William "Bill" Martin, McGaheysville; Mary Bre, Staunton, and Susan Oehler, Harrisonburg, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; his former spouse, Shirley Martin, Harrisonburg; two step-sons, Robert and John Nelson, Singers Glen, and a brother, Robert Rush Martin, Max Meadows.
            A memorial service was held on Nov. 21 at St. Jacob's Spaders Church, Mount Crawford, and a funeral was held on Nov. 28 at Gladesboro, Hillsville. The family asked that in lieu of flowers contributions may be made to ELCA World Hunger.
 
Rev. Ira Wilson dies at 96 
            Rev. Ira J. Wilson, 96, a pastor who served Synod congregations from 1952 to 1957, died in Roanoke on Jan. 19. He served the former Shenandoah County Parish of Lebanon, St. Luke and Mt. Zion and Emmanuel, Roanoke. He later served Pennsylvania churches before he retired and worked as a counselor.
            Surviving are two daughters, Sandra Coakley and Janney Johnson; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was a World War II Army Air Corps veteran and a graduate of Gettysburg Seminary.
             A celebration of life was held at St. John Lutheran Church, Roanoke, on Jan. 24.
 
 
Price will lead Catechism study  
Price

            Pastor Chris Price, assistant to the Synod bishop, will speak on the theme, "Ambassadors for Christ: Luther's Small Catechism in a Time of Big Change" at the annual Gathering of Virginia Synod Lutheran Men at Roslyn Center in Richmond on April 22-23.
            In this 500th anniversary year of the Reformation, the men's organization plans to use the Small Catechism as a guide to explore, study and discuss the basics of Christian faith.
            Price, who serves in the eastern part of the Synod, retired after serving at Epiphany, Richmond, for over 29 years and as associate pastor at Trinity, Newport News, for four years. A son of Hebron, Madison, and a graduate of Roanoke College and Gettysburg Seminary, he has been dean of Richmond Conference, chair of the Synod Candidacy Committee and a member of the Lutheran Church in America Examining Committee and the ELCA Candidacy Committee. He has served on the Roanoke College board for over 20 years.
            Pastor Andrew Bansemer of Ebenezer, Marion, will return as chaplain for the two-day Gathering. He is an articulate and creative pastor.
            Registration for the Gathering, including meals and lodging, will be $160. Registration may be mailed to Adolph Moller, 1442 Tannery Circle, Midlothian, VA 23113-2644.
 
Wheatland tractors help collect food 
           
 
            At Wheatland, Botetourt County, they're still talking about the successful Tractor Trick or Treat enjoyed by 15 tractors and 600 people who contributed stacks of food for the Fincastle Food Pantry.
            Charles "Chuck" Miller, lay pastor, said plans are under way for another event next fall.
 

 
Painting honors Stan Umberger 
            
            A painting by Malina Umberger Busch in memory of her father, the late Stan Umberger, longtime Roanoke College librarian, was dedicated on Jan. 16 at Fintel Library which he led from 1985 to 2014. The painting, entitled "Bright Veils," hangs in the library.
            Umberger joined the library in 1982. He and his wife, Sheila, director of Roanoke City libraries, were members of Christ, Roanoke. Malina Busch lives in England.
 

THE VIRGINIA LUTHERAN

A MONTHLY NEWS PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA SYNOD, ELCA

 

Editor:  George Kegley   
Voice: 540-366-4607;  Email: [email protected]
Post:  301 Tinker Creek Lane, NE, Roanoke, VA  24019


Deadline for submission of articles is the 15th of each month.
Articles received after the 15th will be published the following month. 

 Photographs must be separate from text and in .jpg or .png format only.

 

Any portion of this publication may be reprinted

for use in local church publications with appropriate credit.