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People Gallery

The people of Bon Air UMC share their stories!

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Name: Diane Abato

Member Since: 2003

Your Reason for Joining: I came to speak to the congregation about the battered women's shelter that is operated by the YWCA. I was speaking at both services so I stayed for the 8:30 service, waiting to speak again. I was completely charmed by Bon Air. From the loaf of bread to the sermon to the coffee hour I loved it. I've been coming ever since. I have joined the church, been married in the church and now my husband and I bring his daughter to Bon Air. It's my church home.

Name: Larry Tingle

Member Since: 2004

Your Reason for Joining: Bon Air is our neighborhood church. When we retired to Richmond, we decided we would start attending our neighborhood church. We have been happy here and love the community/fellowship here.

Your Gifts & Graces: I am a retired United Methodist pastor. I spent forty years in active pastoral ministry with a passion to help others discover, celebrate and use their spiritual gifts. My gifts come to focus around enabling lay people to fulfill their call to ministry.

How Bon Air UMC Empowers These Talents: Bon Air has been wonderful in accepting me as a retired pastor and given me ample opportunity to continue to be involved in ministry in retirement.

Your Favorite Memories: I guess I could write a book about such things. My favorite memories are embodied in flashbacks of lives transformed by Christ, the faces of people receiving communion, the "knowing look" in the eyes of a baby being baptized, the names I can recall who received a call into ministry under my pastoral leadership, and the relationships. I thank God for the relationships with fellow travelers in the spiritual journey.
Your Favorite Bible Story: My favorite Bible story is not just one story but the account of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers and following through to the reuniting with his family. I love it because it has so many wonderful lessons and it helps us understand how the Jewish people ended up in Egypt, setting the stage for the next great story involving Moses and the liberation of God's people.

Your Faith Sharing Story: There have been three specific periods in which my faith has grown at Bon Air. First, when I was involved in teaching a couple of special classes with some wonderful seeking and searching fellow church folk. Second, when I served as Interim Senior Pastor for six months. Third, in my involvement in the mission outreach of the church.

Name: Mark Rooks

Member Since: 1996

Your Reason for Joining: Myrna & I began attending Bon Air after we moved back home to Richmond after being in Kentucky for two years. We chose this church because we had friends that attended here. Myrna began to attend about a year before I did but once we both were attending we checked out 2-3 Sunday school classes and finally settled on the Christian Home Class. We found wonderful loving people there who made us feel good about coming to church. We actually joined the church (you know where you stand up front and get introduced) on the Sunday when the cornerstone for the Christian Life Center was laid in place in 1996.

Your Gifts & Graces: I initially worked through a spiritual gifts assessment around 2003 when the whole church went through the process as part of a Sunday morning worship series. My gifts were things like Leadership, Administration and Healing (I haven't figured that one out yet).

How Bon Air UMC Empowers These Talents: After completing a spiritual gifts assessment Debra Lucas helped me to find a way to put my gifts to work in the church. God (through Debra) led me to serve on the Congregational Care Committee. It was the first time I had ever served in any way in the church...EVER! I was a,little nervous to say the least. Our first meeting was on 9-11-01. We couldn't decide whether or not to meet that day but we did. Our meeting was the most awesome example of what Congregational Care was all about. We talked, cried and shared with one another in a very Christian, loving way. The Holy Spirit was definitely present with us that evening. As I have continued to serve the church I have learned that the Spirit has always been there with me every time I have stepped out faithfully in service to the church. I believe that has happened because of the faith and spirituality of our church. In addition, I have found that as I continue to grow as a Christian, I am affirmed by those around me in the church. This has empowered me to grow in faith and grow in service to the church through the use of my gifts.
Your Favorite Memories: One of my favorite memories is of a Christmas Eve service just a few years ago. Lewis & Sally Loth's son Nicholas had been stationed in the Middle East while serving in the military. He had been gone for several months and was due to return that day. As the service began we got word that Nicholas had landed and was at Ft. Eustis on his way to Bon Air but may not make in time for the service. Just as the service was concluding and we were preparing to light our candles and sing Silent Night, who stepped in the back door to the church but Nicholas! He calmly walked down the aisle, still dressed in his desert fatiques and covered in desert dust and he took his place beside his parents and joined in as we sang. There was not a dry eye in the place! It makes me tear up even now just to think about it. It was definitely a God (and Hallmark) moment!
Your Favorite Bible Story: Several years ago I attended the United Methodist Men's Spiritual Retreat in Blackstone. Dr. George Morris was the speaker. His topic for the weekend was Luke 15. You will remember it as the chapter which tells the story of the Prodigal Son. This chapter taught me about the condition of being lost and being found. For me, this chapter has given me great peace. I certainly would say that I too have been lost at times in my life. Yet, however that may happen, I know that there is a God who finds me and claims me no matter how I come to be lost. I'm not sure I can say this is my favorite chapter but it does have a powerful message which speaks to my heart. It affirms for me that God is always there for me in all the times of my life, especially those times when I become lost.

Your Faith Sharing Story:

Wow, this is a difficult question! Not because it is hard to answer but because I don't have enough time, or web site space to answer it completely. I want to be specific in my response so I will answer it by saying that being a part of United Methodist Men has made a huge difference in my life. For me, being in the company of deeply faithful Christian men has been a humbling experience. I know that men want everyone to think that we're rough and tough, that nobody ever cries or hugs or shares deep feelings or talks about the things that hurt us, but let me tell you...that's just not what being a real man is all about (well...we are rough and tough). Real men love one another as Jesus Christ loves us. That's what I have received from the Christian men who participate in UMM. Let me say that I have received that same love from men who are not active in UMM, but being a part of this group has taught me how to grow as a Christian man because I have seen the example of it in other men in all kinds of settings. It has given me a place to learn, to share and to grow. Can you imagine being on your knees with 6-8 men and listening to them share their deepest feelings in prayer, having a Christian man tell you he is proud of you for the way you faithfully did something at church or sit next to him at a ball game and listen to him talk about how much he loves God, his wife and kids. That is powerful! Can you imagine being in an auditorium with 400 other men and singing "Amazing Grace" or "Rise Up, Oh Men Of God", while you cry and see others crying too because you feel so blessed by all that God has done in your life. That is powerful! Can you imagine the experience of listening to a man tell you about how he messed up his own life but when he asked God to help him he was blessed beyond measure. That is powerful! Can you imagine how much fun it can be just to hang out with, play golf with, share a meal with or just be together with a Christian man? It is powerful! And can you imagine the love that is shown when a brother is disabled or dies and men reach out to offer love and help. That is powerful! And there is so much more... UMM has made a HUGE difference in my life and in UMM my faith has grown. It was one of the first activities I became involved in when I began to attend Bon Air (thanks to Mark Corbelli). I remain active in UMM to this day.

Name: Natalie May

Member Since: 2006

Your Reason for Joining: "It Seems I Cry a Lot: My Bon Air Story"

It was October 2002, and our daughter, Maddie, was attending Bon View preschool. It was also the October of the D.C. snipers. One weekend the snipers shot a man in Ashland and were spotted at a gas station in the West End, so schools were closed all over the area for several days. When Bon View reopened, I dropped Maddie off at the door as usual; but this time the teachers took her quickly away from the car, and suddenly a woman appeared at my passenger-side window. She said, “We just wanted to let parents know that the children will have indoor recess today.” At that, I burst into tears. The woman was so kind and seemed to understand how terrified I was. The thought of someone using our precious babies for target practice nearly made me ill. The woman spent a few moments with me, leaning in my car window, until I stopped crying. It wasn’t until sometime the following spring when I learned the nice woman that morning was Rev. Rhonda Van Dyke Colby, the Bon Air Senior Pastor.

In 2004, I attended Easter services at Bon Air by myself. (Jim and Maddie were with my mother-in-law at another church.) It was a beautiful service. It had been a very difficult winter for our family, and I was nearly overwhelmed with happiness and gratitude that we were all healthy and fine again. I must have sniffled – lots of happy tears – through the entire service. When the service was over, the young woman sitting next to me with her family said, “I couldn’t help noticing you were crying. I hope everything is okay. Is there anything I can do?” That was when I knew that we belonged at Bon Air.

Name:Jeremy Stout

Member Since: 2002

Your Reason for Joining: Robert Crawford, Rhonda VanDyke Colby Steven Marsh, Sarah Peters, Sarah Bennett, Fran Givens and the whole BAUM gang at the time. I was church shopping, restless spiritually, and Bon Air UM church was extremely welcoming. The atmosphere had so much energy that I just knew I had found my church.

Your Gifts & Graces: I enjoy working with my hands and helping others.

How Bon Air UMC Empowers These Talents:
Working with the youth group, I participated in several missionary group trips and I even did an internship as a liason for a Reverend named Harry Howe in Marion, Va. I now take all the life lessons and positive influences with me as a United States Marine Corps infantryman in the scout sniper plt.
Your Favorite Memories: Missionary group trips, smiles on people's faces as we deliver them lunches or build a ramp for their front porches. I love and miss Bon Air, and I can't wait to return in November (when I come home for good and start going to college). I also want to thank everyone that sent me Christmas cards from Bon Air while I was in Iraq back in December. It was such a surprise and such a blessing. It seriously blew my mind away. I still smile as I think of all the people that showed their support for me while I was serving in Fallujah, as well as Haditha in my deployment a year in a half ago. Thank you all, you know who you are. (That fudge was deliciouso)
Your Favorite Bible Story: There are so many of Jesus' parables that speak out to me that it's hard to single out one, but I like the story of the Prodigal son because it reminds people that you can still change. I also see myself as both sons from time to time, and that story pops in my head when it seems like when I need to remember it.
Your Faith Sharing Story: Well, the good ole Sunday school class helped me learn more about the bible, however, when I delivered a "sermon" to a missionary group in Marion Va, I knew God was with me as I researched and delivered my testimony with them. Sometimes I recall that story of the footstep-tracks in the sand. My memory is fuzzy, but from what I remember, or "my version", as I like to call it; I was walking down Kailua beach when suddenly the wind changed and I looked back, only to notice a pair of footstep tracks right next to my footstep tracks. I thought, 'where did these fresh footstep-tracks come from?' A voice in my head said "it must have been Jesus, Jesus was walking next to me" and my heart was filled with gladness. I began to retrace my steps, and I suddenly noticed that Jesus' footstep-tracks were no longer with me. Worry and despair clogged my mind, so I looked up at the sky and asked out loud "Why was Jesus not walking with me here." Another voice popped in my head "I WAS STILL THERE, YOU HAD FALLEN, SO I PICKED YOU UP AND CARRIED YOU" There's more to that story; maybe you remember the rest and can add on, and pass along "your version". Just know that sometimes you might feel like Jesus isn't with you, maybe even God has forsaken you. Don't feel that way. I've felt that way, and either I find God, or God finds me. The moral of the story is God was there all along.

Name: Paula Squires

Member Since: 1984

Your Reason for Joining: Following the birth of our first child, we moved to Chesterfield County and were looking for a new church home. We liked the friendly people and the ministries of Bon Air.

Your Gifts & Graces: Music, communications, writing, hospitality, evangelism

How Bon Air UMC Empowers These Talents: Opportunities to grow in faith are plentiful at Bon Air. For me, my talents have found expression by singing in the choir, helping with musical productions, writing promotional materials for fund-raisers, studying the scripture and serving as a youth mentor and chaperone.

Your Favorite Memories: Infant baptisms. The Bon Air assembly line that unloads thousands of pumpkins for the youth's fall fundraiser. Moods 'n Tunes choir shows. The congregation's anticipation and joy on Christmas Eve. The smile of a homeless person who has a hot meal and a warm bed on a cold winter's night.

Your Favorite Bible Story: I'd have to say my favorite Bible story is the one about Martha and Mary found in Luke, Chapter 10, verses 38-41. My daughter, Jessie, preached a sermon on this text last summer in North Carolina. The story of the two sisters and how they respond when Jesus visits their home reminds us to slow down. So many people stay so busy these days that they miss the spiritual significance of an event or, even, simply the joy. Like Martha, we become distracted by our busy preparations. It would be better to follow Mary's example and sit quietly at the feet of our Lord, listening, so that we don't miss his message.

Your Faith Sharing Story: Through the years members of Bon Air have blessed me and my family with many demonstrations of God's steadfast love. Shortly after my mother died, we drove 13 hours back from Florida to a snowy Virginia. With my spirit sagging, I dreaded the thought of having to shop for groceries as soon as we returned home. Yet, there was no reason to fear. Our fridge was stocked with milk and a meal that only required heating. A loaf of bread and freshly baked cookies sat on the counter, next to a plant and a card. These acts of compassion warmed our hearts and provided comfort at a sad time. On another happier occasion, my daugther Jessie was working as an intern at Bon Air. They decided to let her preach. Members packed the pews on a week day evening. They gave Jessie the gift of belief in her ministry. No wonder she's now a divinity student at Duke University.