European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday october 1994 religion the stars and stripes Page 11 priest at embassy wears Many hats a and a badge by de Reavis staff writer Bonn Germany a father Bill is a familiar face and popular Man in the american Community Here. His presence evokes Waves and shouts of greeting when he walks through the shopping Center or around the Community underscoring that he is a kind of institution for the americans Here. Small wonder a he has been serving americans Here for 17 years. His full name is William l. Travers. He is a Man of the cloth and of Many skills Catholic priest for the american embassy Parish Pilot paramedic and California sheriff. Travers a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington d.c., also has a degree in music a a. A a a a a a a it was touch and go on whether to go into a singing career or the Church for a White a he said. But travers a a Praise the lord and pass the ammunition combat Christian chose to join the air Force in 1949 As a chaplain. He Learned to Fly jets while stationed with the 7330th flying training Wing in 1955 at the former nato base in Firstenfeld Bruck near Munich. A the air Force was teaching germans and other nato pilots How to Fly the jets and i was allowed to take part in the course. You could do that in those Days a he said. A i later flew 10 Jet missions in f-80 shooting stars in Korea with the 49th fighter bomber Wing a he said. Travers at 76, is a Man full of anecdotes and humorous stories he uses to Pepper his sermons. A during a bombing raid Over North Korea i was on the Back sea of a Jet while we were hitting tanks below. All of a sudden i looked up and we were headed straight for a Mountain and i knew we were going to get killed. A i was surprisingly Calm about the the whole thing and decided to say a prayer but apparently i Wasny to Calm at All because All that came out was the words for the table Blessing a dear lord make us thankful for what we Are about to travers went through 16 weeks training at the police Academy and became a member of the sheriffs air Squadron in Vacaville Calif. He also picked up paramedical training at the sheriffs office in Fairfield Calif., and is a lifetime member of the Solano county firefighters association. A i Learned to sew Loose arteries but can to sew on a Button a he said. Travers who Speaks German Quot French Spanish and russian came to Bonn in August 1978 at the invitation of the Parish Council of the american Catholic Community attached to the american embassy. The member of the monastic order of carmelites was a retired air Force colonel with service in Ger Many England Spain Korea and Vietnam when he was asked to come to Bonn. A i intended to stay Only three years and it became 17. Today i am the Cardinal of colognes Delegate to the 5,500 English speakers in the one of the first things travers did was to suggest changing the name of the Bonn group from a american sussed Reavis the Rev. William l. Travers known As father Bill is the Catholic priest for the american embassy in Bonn Germany he is wearing his California sheriffs badge. Catholic Community to a Parish with a Patron saints name a St. Thomas More. The group accepted the name change. More was Chancellor of England under Henry Viii a a diplomatic Post. After More refused to take an oath supporting the Kings takeover of the Church in England More was beheaded on charges of treason. He was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1935. A the second thing i recommended to the Parish Council was that we should adopt a sister Parish somewhere in the third world a travers said. The Parish then adopted one in Akore Uganda which he visited in 1991, and the glenmary Home Mission Sisters based in Rural parts of Kentucky. Travers said he wants to retire next year a but i done to plan on being inactive. Ill be flying a Cessna for the sheriffs office.�?�. Who could doubt the words of father Bill coptic Pope consecrates . By the St. Louis Post dispatch St. Louis a the bittersweet fragrance of incense momentarily masked the lingering construction doors of plaster Wallboard sawdust and chemical insulation. Incense wafted upward into the five Golden domes of the new Church St. Mary and St. Abraam coptic orthodox Church. The Golden onion domes and their still Pink Copper bases form an exotic landmark. After 20 years of worshipping in a converted garage and at a Hospital Chapel 45 egyptian american families joined their Pope sunday in the consecration of their own holiness Pope Shenouda Iii in a traditional Black silk a Crown of St. Mark led the prayers in the ancient coptic language of North Africa. Two Gray bearded Bishops eight grizzled priests and a congregation of 400 egyptian americans chanted with him the ancient six hour rite of the consecration of a Church. A mass and communion followed. Patterns of the coptic crosses and some old velvet curtains with paintings of Mary and St. Abraam decorated the whiteness of the unfinished Church. The building still requires flooring paint i doors and other Interior finishes it will be Mon Interior months before egyptian american architect Awad Iskander and the construction companies sign off on the project. But the congregation scrambled to have the building sufficiently completed so that their Cairo based Pope could consecrate it during his current visit in the United we have our own culture our own hymns our own language our own theology a the Pope said in an interview after the service. Since 1971, 54 coptic orthodox churches have opened in this country carrying on the ancient tradition of the native Christian Church of North Africa. Until 1971, there were Only two churches and two priests. Distributed by Scripps Howard news missionary learns volcanoes destroyed Home from the associated press Hutchinson Kan. It took eight Days for a Baptist missionary from the Kansas Plains to learn that volcanoes had destroyed much of his dream. Richard Crotts a native of Hutchinson was on leave in Kansas when he Learned that volcanoes had destroyed his Papua new Guinea Home and the. Church school and Bible College in which he had invested a Good part of his said he has lived and worked at the Mission in Rabaul with his wife Joyce since 1985, before travelling overseas he was the pastor at Westside Baptist Church in Hutchinson. He tried to Contact the ministry s staff in Rabaul for eight Days beginning sept. 19 when he first heard about the disaster Ana realized that his Mission located less than a mite from the volcanoes was in the path of destruction. When Crotts finally got through to the Island he Learned that everyone had gotten away safely but that the Church and his House had collapsed. Crotts said the future of the Mission is a up in the a a a a a "�n.h. Candidates surveyed Manchester the roman Catholic diocese of Manchester has mailed questionnaires to political candidates and plans to prepare a voting guide to be distributed in churches. The diocese distributed a 25-auestion Survey to the winners of local and statewide primary races. The questionnaire asked if candidates support policies ranging from paying for education through property taxes to issues of health car abortion gun control and Casino gambling. The results will be published in a guide alongside the churches teachings on the issues. The guides will be distributed the weekend before the nov. 8 election. Interactive Bible released Nashville Tenn. The Bible like Many. Classics of literature has been available on computer software for years. Some pastors look to a personal computer for that elusive corollary for sundays Sermon. And travellers with laptops find diskettes Are a lot lighter than the traditional printed Bible. A but the latest offering in religious software is interactive cd rooms that Combine text video and sound in a user Friendly format the american Bible society introduced its Pilot project on the gospel of St. Mark to a roomful of Church representatives in Nashville. The cd experience a full of color sound and action was remarkable said Angela Gay Kin cad a 37-year-old United methodist youth director. V a i was excited to see this. Good video Good music. Its not cheesy a she said. Jeannette Russo of the nonprofit american Bible society said the cd rom puts the Christian message in the video and computer formats that youngsters prefer. A a we re taking advantage of what Young people do and do Well a she said. Baptists catholics talk Columbia . A the Bishop of the roman Catholic diocese of Charleston said he did t know what a Southern Baptist actually was. The minister at one of columbian a largest Baptist churches said he used to think catholics worshipped idols. Breaking through those stereotypes was one reason leaders of both churches met last week. Fifty religious officials from around the state Talkea about facts fallacies and Faith during the Baptist Catholic dialogue at Greenlawn Baptist Church. The room erupted into laughter when Bishop David Thompson a native of Philadelphia asked what exactly a Southern Baptist is. A i really did no to know a Thompson said. A i was wondering if there were such things As Northern baptists or Western baptists. Its a cultural title but i did no to know a from the Southern Baptist perspective i used to think that catholics worshipped Mary and idols a said Greenlawn a minister the Rev. Marion Aldridge. A a that a just a childhood fallacy that gets dispelled once you actually Start talking to 1. The important thing is both sides Are talking he said. A
