"Evening of Praise and Worship" will be held on November 14 at St. John Lutheran Church. The church is located at 4608 Brambleton Ave. You will enjoy a relaxed evening of worshipful praise music, prayer, dessert and coffee. We all know the stresses of the Holidays as they approach and our prayer is that this evening will bring us all to a greater understanding of God's peace and his desire for us to focus solely on worshipping him. All are invited. Bring your friends and neighbors.
For more information, please call the church at 774-0712.
When the going gets tough, it's always nice to know that you have a community ready to help you out and stick by you. Which is exactly what a local church, Haran Baptist, has been doing for a local family- one many of them have never even met.
Bobby Ferguson, a Deacon at Haran Baptist and a Marine, learned from his mother about his cousin's wife, Ashley Weeks, of Goodview who was diagnosed with breast cancer just a few short years ago.
A little more than a year ago, Weeks, only 27-years-old, was diagnosed with breast cancer and the doctors gave her anywhere between five and ten years to live. She's been unable to work and recently her husband was laid off from his job (only to get it back a few weeks ago).
The Weeks' family has two daughters, one 4-years-old and one 6-years old.
And according to Ferguson, Weeks' doctors recently told her that she only had a year to live.
Haran Baptist Church wanted to do something to help. They collected canned goods, gave them gift certificates, donated money, cards- just to let them know that they care about the family.
"She's a really good Christian and trusts in God and knows there can be a miracle," Ferguson said.
Most recently the church held a yard sale, on Saturday, Oct. 17 and donated the proceeds to the family.
"We had done one for the youth one time and that did really well so we just decided to do another one and raise some money. If anything to help them catch up on some bills or with the holidays coming up."
"The church has been talking about finding a family in the community and helping them out. There are families out there that need help and they don't know who to turn to. It's a chance to get the church involved with them and it gets the families involved in church and it can change your life."
Ferguson said that Haran Baptist Church has a goal to embrace a family every quarter and help them, whether it's doing some work around their house or raising money or food.
The church has helped many others in the past and are involved in the community. Just a few of the things they have done include cutting firewood for the elderly, creating fruit baskets for people are shut-in, they also participate in Women on Mission, Operation Christmas Child, raising money for missionaries, and donate to the homeless shelter.
"Our members are just wonderful. I cant say enough about what they've done. The things they've donated and their time- it's just great," he said.
Do you have news from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com.
Woodlawn United Methodist Church, located at 2922 Corbieshaw Road, will host a Children's Halloween Party on Saturday, October 31, from 2 to 4 p.m. Come in costume and have fun with games, crafts and treats! Need directions or more information, call 774-8126 or go to www.woodlawnumc.org.
Submitted by Beth Wilson
Do you have news from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com.
Pastor Mike Anderson and Courtesy of Mike Anderson
Mike Anderson isn't new to the Roanoke area, but he is new to Haran Baptist Church. Anderson began his pastoral duties in Southwest Roanoke County officially on September 1.
Anderson said he grew up in the Roanoke area and raised his kids, Nicole (Anderson) Thrasher, JasonAnderson and Chris Anderson. He has been married for over 25 years to his wife, Sandy. He also has two grandchildren, Ashlynn and Camden.
"I got involved in church late in life," Anderson said.
In the fall of 2000 Anderson began working on his undergraduate degree which he received in 2005. He then received his Master's from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary School in Louisville. He completed that in May of this year.
Anderson said that he found out that Haran Baptist Church was looking for a new pastor from an acquaintance. And the timing was perfect- he was finished with seminary and ready to start his walk with Christ.
"It felt like the right fit for the church and right for me, so I moved to Roanoke about six weeks ago. I'm just grateful to move back here."
Prior to becoming a pastor, Anderson was a car salesman and worked in the restaurant business.
"My wife got involved in church and I saw the change it made in her. So I went and I took on leadership roles and one thing led to the other. Christ got a hold of me," Anderson said about his journey to Christ.
"I really felt that God was drawing me into full-time ministry. I just felt like if I got my Bachelor's and went to seminary to get my masters it would equip me to serve God better. I felt it would put us in a better position to serve Him full-time."
Anderson said that his experience thus far at Haran Baptist has been great and very welcoming.
"I'm still getting adjusted and meeting people and learning their names. Everybody has been very warm. It's a very loving church. It's been great."
Anderson also said that the church has a passion for the community.
"We are trying our best to see how we can impact the community for Christ," he said.
Upcoming events at the church include Trunk or Treat which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31. They are also holding a yard sale for Ashley Weeks of Goodview who is battling cancer. The yard sale will be held Saturday, Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Haran Baptist Church, 7539 Old Bent Mountain Road. The church will also be holding Christmas programs, youth programs, and an Adult Cantata.
"We are considering things they (the church) haven't done in the past and continuing things they've always done," he said.
Sunday School begins at 9:45 in the morning on Sunday's at Haran Baptist and Worship is at 11 a.m. They also have bible study, youth group, and a children's program every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
"We are a warm and accepting fellowship," Anderson said. "Bottom line is we're all sinners and no one is perfect. We hope people will come worship with us. I think we have a great future ahead of us. It's good to be back in the area."
Do you have news from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? You can share at news@swo-co.com.
ROANOKE, VA: On Saturday, November 7, Cave Spring United Methodist Church will hold its annual church bazaar to usher in the fall and this year’s holiday season. The hours this year are 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.
This event, sponsored annually by the United Methodist Women of the church, will feature a wide range of church bazaar items, and is the culmination of weeks of work by the men and women of the congregation.
The selection of home made merchandise includes crafts of all kinds for fall and the holidays, baked goods, jams and jellies, and much more. The “White Elephant” Rummage Sale, always a popular attraction with shoppers, will be repeated again this year. And, food and drinks will be available for hungry shoppers in the “Bazaar Café”.
“The gifted ladies of the church have been working hard for weeks making many original crafts for holiday decorating and entertaining”, explained Bobbie Rust, Bazaar Chairman. She added, There will be lots of wonderful gifts for teachers, neighbors, friends, co-workers and shut-ins”.
Proceeds from this sale go towards mission work locally, nationally and globally...plus other projects sponsored by the United Methodist Women. There is plenty of free parking at the church located at 4505 Hazel Drive, SW, just off Colonial Avenue between Routes 419 and 221. For additional information, contact the church office.
In its 24th year, Church of the Holy Spirit will dedicate its second, new sanctuary at 10 a.m. this coming Sunday. Anglican Mission in America bishop, The Rt. Rev. Terrell Glenn of Pawley’s Island, will be the guest preacher.
The new sanctuary has a huge sweeping view of Masons Knob and a state of the art sound and light system and a gently sloped floor.
A reception and time of fellowship will follow.
Please bring a dish and try to car pool due to limited parking at this service.
Families and friends can park at Penn Forest Elementary School and car pool over if the lot fills up.
For more information, e-mail Kim Worrell at Kimw@coths.org
Submitted by the Church of the Holy Spirit
You can view photos of the new sanctuary in the slideshow above or in this gallery format.
Do you have news from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? You can share at news@swo-co.com.
Both Cave Spring and Hidden Valley High School students have the opportunity to participate in Young Life, an international, non-profit, non-denominational christian group. Young Life has been in the words for 70 years in every state in the nation and 50 different countries.
Young Life area director, Andy Fetzer said,"the uniqueness with young life is contact work, we go to where the students are. It is an outreach ministry and we have an interesting group. We are folks that love Christ but we do it in a very non-threatening atmosphere."
Fetzer says that Young Life is not big into numbers but in Roanoke County between the high schools and the middle schools they have 200 students at least, which includes about 100 from Hidden Valley and 75 from Cave Spring.
Young Life is made possible by a group of adults in the community who volunteer to spend time with students to develop relationship with them. Young Life has eight volunteers in Roanoke and two staff members, 250 donors and eight churches that sponsors Young Life.
Carey Schneckenburger, a volunteer was also involved in Young Life growing up and has been leading at Hidden Valley for the past eight years.
"Young Life made me who I am today," Schneckburger said. "It's the people who made me who I am. I wanted to give back and I fell in love with it in high school. It's a privilege for me to hang out with these students. I feel like I get more out of it than I can offer them."
Young Life is not sponsored by the school, but Fetzer said they have a relationship with the school system.
"We really want to serve the schools. Many of our volunteers are coaches and teachers," Fetzer said. "We are acting as a bunch of adults that are joining the schools and what they want. We have relationships with the good kids and the kids people say aren't good kids."
Those who participate in Young Life often meet on Monday's at one of the participants homes. They also have other events throughout the year.
"It's a heart to heart, life to life type thing," Fetzer said. "We'll meet kids and hang out, we'll play wiffle ball, eat at Katie's Ice Cream. Most of the time there is no agenda- we just hang out. We sing songs, there's skits, a 15 minute talk where we share a story in the bible."
Every year, Young Life holds a Fall Weekend and sends about 150 kids to Rockbridge.
"It's build on our philosophy," Fetzer said about the weekend in Rockbridge. "If these kids knew how much they are worth in the eyes of God. We spend tongs of time figuring out how we can reach these kids and teach them who Christ is, so that they'd want to know Him more."
Another event that is held annually is the Dodge ball Tournament in January where 500 kids get together and play dodge ball. And during the summer, Young Life participants have the opportunity to attend one of the 23 summer camps that Young Life has in the country.
They also participate in service projects like, Adopt-a-Highway or the Rescue Mission and once a month all area Young Lifers meet at churches like St. John Lutheran Church or Church of the Holy Spirit.
Young Life is also made possible by the students, who Fetzer called "campaigners" who reach out to others in the school who have a vision for their school, like Abby Broughton, who has been involved with Young Life since she was in middle school.
"I found out about Young Life through a friends. We had one Wildlife meeting and we thought it was cool. Carey has had a big impact on my life. Anything I feel like I can't talk to my parents about and I need an adult to talk to, I can go to them (Young Life). It's a good place to hang out and not feel pressure," Abby said. "It's more than just learning. It helps me to be a better person. It's helped me to be closer to people I wouldn't have known."
Adam Hager, a young lifer and senior at Cave Spring High School became familiar with Young Life after his friends finally convinced him to go to one of the meetings.
"I went to my first young life club two years ago, during my sophomore year. I was asked to go by all my friends and my sophomore year, a teammate of mine on the basketball team decided he was going to drag me to one of the meeting. I go and end up having the best night of my life," he said.
Hager said that during that particular night, for about 20 minutes they just hung out and met new people. They then had mixers and games and watch a skit put on by the leaders and then listen to a 15-minute message.
"It's no different than just hanging out at a football game," Hager said. "The funny thing about it, is it's an entirely different environment than anything and the leaders get up and talk about God in a relational way and everything is based on love. What I get most out of it is fulfillment and satisfaction."
Hager said that he plans to attend Mary Washington next fall and hopes to reach out to kids the way that his leaders reached out to him. There currently is not a Young Life program there, Hager said.
"The leaders, they commit so much of their time and their life just loving high school kids where they are at. Our leaders give us this great picture of who God is by they way they live their lives. They spend so much of their time just hanging out with kids and just loving them," Hager said.
Young Life also has Capermaum with an emphasis on disabled kids, Young Lives, for teen moms and girls in a crisis and a middle school ministry.
Young Life has been available at Cave Spring for 20 plus years and at Hidden Valley since they opened.
Oak Grove Church of the Brethren, 2138 McVitty Road, off 419 across from Allstate, will hold their annual Fall Bazaar on Saturday, October 17, from 8:00 until 3:00 in the Fellowship Hall. We will have seasonal and home decorating crafts, flower arrangements and wreaths, a country store with canned vegetables, jellies and fresh produce, a bake sale, and SERRV handmade crafts from artisans in other countries, as well as fair trade coffees and candy bars. Our chuck wagon will be in the parking lot with homemade breakfast biscuits, and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. The funds raised will support our Samaritan Fund, an outreach ministry to the community helping individuals with utility bills, rent and groceries. Please come and join us on Saturday, October 17. We look forward to a day of fun and fellowship.
Submitted by Martha Gregory
Do you have news or photos from your church in Southwest Roanoke County? If so, you can share at news@swo-co.com.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Churches and religion category.
About this blog
Welcome to The Notebook, the community gathering place for news and tidbits from SWoCo, by community journalist Emily Flora. You can share your comments, stories, links and ideas here, too. This is your community conversation.
For more news and information from Southwest County -- and to see the photo galleries, stories and letters from the SWoCo print edition, check out www.swo-co.com.
