Frances Stebbins
{Frances Stebbins has been covering events in Western Virginia, especially those relating to faith communities, since 1953. Her column now appears monthly.}
Until I moved in 2014 around the corner in my Salem neighborhood, I was never a regular feeder of birds. I knew the names of a few like the colorful Blue Jays or the red Cardinals, but that was about all.
Things changed when I bought a smaller house on a narrow lot and discovered that my three immediate neighbors all had feeders hanging from their trees. With a large open deck on the rear of my cottage to catch one of Salem’s famous views, the wood railing soon became a feeding station.
My daughter, accustomed in Florida to bird feeding, presented me with a bag of black sunflower seeds, a favorite with most of our avian friends. Now each morning a flock of doves—the symbol of the City of Salem—sit patiently on the railing awaiting their breakfast. There are Sparrows and Cardinals galore, an occasional yellow Oriole and once, to my delight, a red-headed Woodpecker.
I’ve learned in my old age that Jays fight off less aggressive birds, and that some neighbors go to the trouble to buy special homes for Hummingbirds.
Turning to Scripture, Jesus used birds to show that God cares for the smaller creatures that, seemingly, do not work or spin.
And one of my favorite musical compositions is “The Birds” by the Twentieth Century Italian composer, Ottorino Respighi.
I’m glad to have become familiar with songs, colors and a few habits of our flying friends. They are a poor substitute for my beloved cats, the last of which passed over the “Rainbow Bridge” nearly a year ago. During the coming holiday season, I may treat myself to a visit with the three neighbors who all own cherished felines.
These are all indoor cats, and these neighbors are the same ones who are the feeders of birds.
New faces
At any given time, clergy are coming and going in the Roanoke Valley. Several new faces are becoming familiar to churchgoers in Salem.
As spiritual and administrative leader of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson will not live in Roanoke, for headquarters of the conference are in Richmond. The new leader was assigned recently at the Southeast Jurisdictional Conference to serve a large portion of the state.
She will succeed Bishop Sharma Lewis who will be moving to the Mississippi Conference. I attended a service several years ago when Lewis introduced some local Methodists to the African American style of singing.
In the highly organized system of United Methodist church government, spiritual leaders such as bishops, as well as pastors of congregations, are rotated in a regular pattern annually. Haupert-Johnson, who will be assisted by a group of district superintendents, will soon be getting acquainted with members from parishes in the Roanoke District.
Bishop Haupert-Johnson is from Florida and was a lawyer before answering her call to ordained ministry. Her academic education includes the University of Florida, the Florida College of Law and Candler School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta. Ordained a bishop in 2016, she is married to the Rev. Allen Johnson and is the mother of a daughter, Samantha.
At Salem Presbyterian Church, welcome is being extended to the Rev. Chris Vogado who has been serving New Hope Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Members are awaiting the arrival of the Rev. Matthew H. Cox who is coming from the Eastern Virginia town of West Point to Fort Lewis Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.)
At St.Paul’s Episcopal Church the Rev. Dr. James Hubbard is driving from his Amherst home weekly to serve as interim rector. Of retirement age and trained as a professional interim priest, he replaces, for at least the next two years, the Rev. Dr. David Compton who left the past April.
SALEM AREA ECUMENICAL MINISTRIES (SAEM) was nominated for the Virginia Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award as a “faith-based” organization. Though not the top finalist, SAEM was recognized for its work over the past 25 years in providing food, clothing and educational resources for low-income residents of the City of Salem and the western part of Roanoke County.
Established by the late Joan Dorsey, SAEM now includes a free clothing closet bearing her name, a summer feeding program involving eligible school children in the Salem area and other free services. It is financially supported by about a dozen Salem area congregations as well as numerous businesses, service clubs and individuals.
Recently elected to one-year terms on the board of SAEM are Cindy Neathawk, chair; Artice Ledbetter, vice-chair overseeing the feeding program; Trula Byington, vice-chair for the Joan Dorsey Clothing Closet; Carey Harveycutter, treasurer, and Garry Lautenschlager, secretary.
Volunteers are needed to staff the clothing closet. For more information about it, call Byington at 540-389-4889. Lautenschlager at 540-357-7691 may be called for information about financial support.
