2330 South Jefferson Street
Roanoke, Virginia 24014

Phone: (540) 344-4437
Fax: (540) 345-8041

Where do you see our church in five years?  Where do you feel God is calling us?  What can we begin to do as a congregation this next year to get us there by God’s grace?

 I believe the life of South Roanoke Church is at a particularly pivotal moment just now.  I say this because it is my experience that the future direction and mission of a church and its pastor together have found their focus within the first two years of a pastor’s ministry.  Decisions we make now and discernment we determine now lay the foundation for the unique witness and ministry to which God has called us for this particular time in this particular place.

 By now you have had ample opportunity to review the goals for our congregation that our leaders have discerned for us in 2005 and beyond.  It is my hope that this process involving a series of “focus groups” has been a fruitful one for us.  As we anticipate our Charge Conference on November 29 it is my prayer that our goals, budget, and leadership are in keeping with God’s guidance for us.  I know God will bring to completion what is intended for our mission.

 Where do you see our church in five years?  Let me encourage you to be open to the invitation of your church to share fully in our covenant of service in the name of our Lord that we may fulfill God’s dream for us just now!.

Our staff is on premises at the following hours to serve you:  (September-May)

Senior Pastor Bill Davidson
Sunday                     8:00 am—12:30 pm 
Monday—Thursday  8:00 am—12 noon
(also meetings, appointments, visitation, activities as scheduled.)

Administrative Assistant Penny Haynes
Monday—Thursday 8:00 am—12 noon &
                     12:30 pm—4:30 pm
Friday           8:00 am—12 noon

(also meetings as scheduled)

Minister of Music Joe Kennedy
Sunday          9:00 am—12:30 pm &
                     4:30 pm—7:15 pm
Monday        8:30 am—5:00 pm
Tuesday        8:30 am—4:00 pm
Wednesday   8:30 am—4:00 pm
Thursday       8:30 am—4:00 pm
                     7:00 pm—9:00 pm
(also meetings as scheduled)

Two of our youth were awarded our annual South Roanoke United Methodist Church scholarships this year, each in the amount of $1,350.  Congratulations to Randi Dayton at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and Thomas Oshida at Virginia Commonwealth University.  The amount of the scholarship awards each year is determined by the funds available and the number of candidates who apply.  If you would like to support this ministry of our church please designate your contribution for “scholarship.”

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ADULT FELLOWSHIP GROUP

Wohlfahrt Haus Theatre, Wytheville
November 17, 2004

Travel with us to Wytheville for a great meal and theatre production celebrating Christmas. Cost: $33 (includes meal show taxes and gratuity, transportation) 

Lunch at Church

The Making of an American Christmas: The Evolution of Our American Tradition in the 19th Century

November 18, 2004

YOUTH NEWS

INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY NETWORK

HANGING OF THE GREENS

CHARGE CONFERENCE

Dear Friends of South Roanoke UMC,

For a country with limited resources, the people of Kenya have brought coping to a fine art. For example: the other Saturday, I was returning by bus from Nairobi. The trip usually takes about 5 ½ hours, but this trip took about 8 hours. Part of the reason was that the engine overheated about an hour out of town. The driver pulled into this service station to cool the motor. He did the usual things we would do in such a situation - pouring cold water over the radiator until it was cool enough to remove the cap safely. While the radiator was cooling, he noticed that it was quite loose in the motor well. So a mechanic got a length of stout wire and wired it to the motor box frame. It didn’t wiggle overmuch then. When the radiator was cool enough to refill with water, the driver had a problem. The radiator was leaking, so we couldn’t travel another 250 kilometers with a leaky radiator. We would purchase a sealant at the service station which then would solve the problem, at least temporarily. Well, in this country of limited resources, sealant was not to be had. So the driver coped. He dumped 2 packets of curry powder into the radiator with the water! We made the rest of the journey without a problem. The take-home message: always keep 2 packets of curry powder in your glove compartment in case your radiator leaks!

To our way of thinking, this solution to the problem was rather bizarre, but it does illustrate to a degree the temperament of persons here. When you travel, the countryside looks like a gigantic construction site - there are piles of building materials almost everywhere you look as well as structures in various states of construction. Some of these partly constructed places have been this way for months. This is because when the money runs out, the building stops until some more cash is found, then building recommences and the cycle continues. Eventually, things get finished. The building material is mostly stone, quarried from the surrounding hills. All work is done by hand, including finishing the stone so that the surfaces are smooth and look attractive when mortared in place. Scaffolding is usually stout branches from trees, which serve the purpose. Like in the example above, the people use what they have, use it well, and often shape it into structures of beauty. As a Kenyan friend of mine remarked, the country may be poor in resources but not in ideas.

How well do we as a society and as persons cope with our limitations? Paul says in Phil. 4:11 that he has learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. I really miss all the conveniences I enjoyed in the US. One of the lessons the Lord is teaching me is the lesson Paul learned. Being content is not simply being passive. We need to do whatever we can to cope with a situation, like the bus driver, but having done all, rest content in the knowledge that God will provide our needs, if not all our desires. (I suspect God enjoyed the curry powder trick). There are many persons here in desperate straits, with AIDS, or malaria, or TB - to name the most common. As medical providers with VERY limited resources, we do what we can with the facilities and supplies available. From the point of view of American medicine, the patients do not get optimum care - certain resources are just not available, alternative drug regimens are either not available or too expensive. However, we use what we have, and God indeed does the rest. For example, persons with a CD4 count of 4 (a practically nonexistent immune system) should practically be at death’s door, yet they walk into our HIV clinic apparently healthy and when anti-retrovirals are started many of them bounce back over several weeks to CD4 counts of over 200 and climbing! God is clearly working daily here. Without Him truly we can do nothing.

I thank God for your prayers and support.  Truly I believe this is a joint effort. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

GUESTS and VISITORS are welcome to join us at South Roanoke for worship and fellowship. We invite those who have no church home to make South Roanoke your church and add your witness to ours.  And for a modern worship experience, join us each Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. for our contemporary service.

PLEASE SEND ARTICLES for the December issue of the Tower Times by November 15 to Joe Kennedy, or email to joesrumc@aol.com. Articles can be sent at any time prior to the deadline. 

THERE WILL BE a meeting of the Business Committee on Wednesday, November 3, at 7:00 p.m. 

THERE WILL BE a meeting of the Preschool Committee on Thursday, November 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the library/conference room. 

THERE WILL BE a meeting of the Council on Ministries on Monday, November 8, at 7:00 p.m. 

THE FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE of the United Methodist Women will meet on Tuesday, November 9, at 10:00 AM in the Wimmer Classroom.

THERE WILL BE a meeting of the Finance Committee on Monday, November 15, at 7:00 p.m. 

THE ADULT FELLOWSHIP GROUP will leave at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, November 17 for a trip to Wytheville, Virginia. They will have a great meal and attend a theatre production celebrating Christmas. The cost is $33 (includes transportation, meal, show, taxes and gratuity.)

May 16-19, 2005 (tentative) to St. Simon Island, Ga (Wesley Museum, Georgia Conference Center “Epworth by the Sea,” and Bob Garner on the Wesley’s) Cost approx $100/day ($400). Call Romona Williams, 774-6568 or Joe Kennedy, 344-4437 if you are interested. 

THERE WILL BE a meeting of the Administrative Board on Sunday, November 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wimmer classroom.

THERE WILL BE a Charge Conference meeting on Monday, November 29, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wimmer Classroom. All members of the Administrative Board are members of the Charge Conference. Your attendance is very important.