Springwood Baptist Food Pantry
The Springwood Baptist Food Pantry will be open on March 1 and March 15 from 10 a.m. until noon. Additionally, Feeding America Southwest Virginia’s produce delivery vehicle, the “Veggie Mobile,” will be onsite on March 1 to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to community members in need free of charge. This program is part of the food bank’s Mobile Produce Program. Stop by and take advantage of this valuable opportunity to get fresh, healthy produce. The “Veggie Mobile” will visit the Springwood Baptist Food Pantry on the first Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m.
Springwood Baptist is located at 88 Copps Hill Road, Buchanan. For more information, call and leave a message at 540-520-4585 and someone will return your call, or email windyhillfarm444@aol.com.
Cloverdale Church of the Brethren Thrift Shop
The thrift shop has a huge selection of ladies jeans and sweaters all sizes for only $1 each. It also has a lot of infants’ and children’s clothes, winter and spring. There are several pieces of glassware suitable for wedding or shower gifts. The shop is open each Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Andrew Chapel Ash Wednesday service
Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church will observe the first day of the Lenten season with an Ash Wednesday service on March 1 at 7 p.m. This service is open to the community. Andrew Chapel UMC is located at 3936 Beaver Dam Road, just off Springwood Road in Springwood.
Peace Presbyterian Lenten Bible study
Peace Presbyterian Church, 5646 Cloverdale Road, is having a Lenten Bible Study and Soup & Sandwich Fellowship on Sundays, beginning March 5 through April 9.
Lenten study is from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and the Soup & Sandwich Fellowship from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
The title of the study is “Preparing My Heart for Easter” by Anne Marie Stewart and will be led by the Rev. Skip Hastings. Nursery will be provided if needed, let the church know. For more information, call 520-1313 or 977- 1829, leave a message.
Buchanan Area Ministerial Association Lenten Services
The Buchanan Area Ministerial Association invites and encourages you to attend the Lenten services at the following places, times with a list of the pastors who are preaching. Come just as you are. A free light lunch is served at the 12 noon service. Refreshments are served at the 7 p.m. services. Call 254-1390 for more information:
- March 7 – Trinity UMC -12 noon for lunch – Pastor Marc Barber
- March 14 – Lithia Baptist Church – 7 p.m. – Rodger Linkenhoker, CRE
- March 21 – Buchanan Presbyterian Church -12 noon for lunch – the Rev. Brad Turner
- March 28 -Buchanan Baptist Church – 7 p.m. – Pastor Doug Mitchell
- April 4 – Virginia Presbyterian Church -12 noon for lunch – Pastor Jerome Coleman
- April 11- New Beginnings Assembly of God – 7 p.m. – Pastor Randall Jackson
Soup, singing at Andrew Chapel
Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church will have a soup supper and hymn sing on Saturday, March 11, at 6 p.m. The public is invited to come and enjoy a complimentary hot meal, good fellowship and an old-fashioned hymn sing. A variety of soups, sandwiches and desserts will be provided. Andrew Chapel is located at 3936 Beaver Dam Road in Springwood.
Galatia Community Meal March 13
Galatia Evangelical Presbyterian Church invites everyone to the bi-monthly Community Meal on Monday, March 13 at noon. “Please come and enjoy fellowship and food with your community friends,” a church spokesman said.
Lenten services at Fincastle UMC
Fincastle United Methodist Church will hold five weekly Wednesday Lenten services and lunch beginning on March 8, in the Family Life Center, 137 S. Church Street. These short 20-minute services begin at 12:05 p.m. and will be led by area pastors. A home-cooked lunch will follow each service. The service and meal are designed to last about one hour. Child care will be provided. Takeout meals will be available.
The schedule for this year’s services is:
- March 8 – The Rev. Rob Lough, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, Daleville; Lunch – Vegetable Soup, Corn and Sausage Chowder, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Fruit, Dessert
- March 15 – The Rev. Marina Gopadze, Buchanan Presbyterian Church; Lunch – Chicken Salad Croissants, Vegetable Salad, Chips, Dessert
- March 22 – The Rev. Patrick Starkey, Cloverdale Church of the Brethren, Cloverdale; Lunch – Chili Beans, Cornbread, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Dessert
- March 29 – The Rev. Fr. Steven McNally, Church of the Transfiguration, Fincastle; Lunch – Chef Salad, Gelatin Salad, Bread, Dessert
- April 5 – The Rev. Kathleen Overby Webster, District Superintendent, Roanoke District, United Methodist Church; Lunch – Ham Biscuits, Potato Salad, Pea Salad, Fruit Salad, Deviled Eggs, Dessert
The lunch menus are subject to change. If Botetourt County Public Schools are closed because of inclement weather, the service will be canceled.
Everyone is invited to attend these services during the season of Lent.
Christians, Jews invited to program
Dr. Dennis Karp, a representative of Chosen People Ministries, will speak at Colonial Baptist Church on Sunday, March 26 during the 6:30 p.m. worship service. The program being presented is “Messiah in the Passover.”
Chosen People Ministries is an over 100-year-old mission that was founded in 1894 by Leopold Cohn, a Hungarian rabbi who came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. From humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York, Chosen People Ministries has grown into a worldwide ministry with outreach centers in Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Ukraine and the United States.
Throughout its long history, Chosen People Ministries has been unwavering in its commitment to bring the Gospel message of salvation in Jesus “to the Jew first and to the Gentile” throughout the world. In stressing the Jewish roots of Christian faith, Chosen People Ministries hopes to make the message of the Messiah more accessible to Jewish people and also to help Christian believers achieve a greater appreciation of the Jewish basis of their own faith traditions.
This meeting is open to the public and Colonial Baptist Church would like to invite the Christian and Jewish community to attend. This is a free presentation and a nursery will be provided. A love offering for Chosen People Ministries will be received.
Colonial Baptist Church is located at 221 Hillcrest Street in Blue Ridge. For more information, call 977-5683.
Episcopal bishop changes diocesan staff positions
With the retirement in January of Salemite Alan N. Boyce, who served as assistant to three bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, the current Bishop Mark Bourlakas has revamped duties in the regional body which covers the western third of the commonwealth.
The Rev. Canon Mark Furlow has been named the chief operating officer overseeing most business transactions of the diocese at its Roanoke office. He has been working especially in the Lynchburg/Bedford areas as Bourlakas’ liaison and supplying congregations.
The Rev. Canon Jonathan Harris, a former rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Buchanan and later St. Elizabeth’s in Roanoke, will now serve in transitional and pastoral development. He will help the lay leadership when a new rector is needed and maintain contact with clergy especially in times of special need.
Bourlakas will begin his fourth year as bishop in July.
Brethren associate winding down career
The Rev. Emma Jean Woodard, associate executive in the Roanoke headquarters of the Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren for the past 17 years, will leave the staff on May 22. She is the wife of the Rev. Edward Woodard, the long-time pastor of Oak Grove Church of the Brethren who left that position two years ago but continues active in interim work. Emma Jean Woodard has also served several congregations in Botetourt and in Roanoke as an interim pastor. The executive is the Rev. David Shumate. The district covers much of Virginia and a few congregations in North Carolina.
Soup for Seniors bring in many cans
Nearly 55,000 cans of staple food were donated last month in the Soup for Seniors mid-winter project promoted by the Local Office on Aging (LOA) in which many church groups as well as businesses and service clubs were involved.
Although the drive included other needed products, the canned items given surpassed the goal, according to Pam McAdams, director of community service for the LOA. The drive in its sixth year offers free non-perishable food to senior adults served by the Meals on Wheels program and ensures that older persons will not go hungry in severe weather.
Bonsack Baptist Choirs to sing commissioned work
On April 9, Palm Sunday, the choirs of Bonsack Baptist Church on Cloverdale Road will present the first sacred cantata ever commissioned by the church. Composed by the contemporary musician Pepper Choplin, “Psalm 23: A Journey with the Shepherd,” is a memorial to many deceased church members especially associated with the music ministry. Several performances during Holy Week are usually scheduled and will be announced later. Barry Green, long the church music director, has announced that he will leave the staff later this year.
