Prayer's and Processions - Dhamma Talk

Udom Budsriphoom steps behind the desk and takes his seat in front of a bucolic woodland scene. He's wrapped in saffron orange, save his right shoulder, which is bare.

He peers over one of the monitors and takes a breath. A red light indicates that the DV recorder is on. The sound-proof room sucks up his words as they spill over the silver microphone.

Welcome to Dhamma Talk, a nightly installment of the teachings of Buddha at Wat Pasantidhamma in Carrollton, Va. Each night for about an hour the head monk records teachings of the Buddha to be posted on the temple's Web site.

“It's a way for us to tell the teachings of the Buddha.” says Budsriphoom, the head monk and a native of Thailand. “It's also a chance for us to give spiritual advice to people.”

Tonight's lesson is a rumination on nature and the involvement of humans. The teachings are a quiet pursuit for the monk, who longs to help show people Buddhism.

“Sometimes you feel lonely,” Budsriphoom says. “Sometimes we feel shy – you don't feel comfortable when you talk alone.

“You try to imagine many people listening to you around the world.”

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Prayers and Processions - A Baptism

Chris McQuay eyes the line of robes and softly says, “You're going to need to get the biggest one.”



Tom McPherson pulls a large white one from the rack and hands it to McQuay. “It's going to be wonderful,” McPherson says. “Yes it's a glorious day, brother, a glorious day.”



Associate Pastor Tom Armbrister, who is about to baptize McQuay, steps into the room and smiles.
They turn from the London Bridge Baptist Church changing room and walk to the baptismal pool. A curtain shields them from the congregation, and on the other side church members sing “God You Reign.”


"Two weeks ago I was listening to the sermon, and it touched my heart,” McQuay says. “This is the second time I've been through this. I felt like the first time I didn't do it for the right reasons.”

The curtain draws up.

McQuay gently falls back into expectant arms as Armbrister baptizes him, and water ripples around his face underneath.
He takes a deep breath as he emerges. Warm water drips from his bare feet as he returns to the dressing room.
 A shy smile moves across his face. “I feel great,” McQuay says. “It's a new start.”

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Prayers and Processions - Gospel Aerobics

Monday nights they gather to the gospel – not in a book but a in a beat.


It's a beat led by Alexis Rogers, 34, above, who started Gospel Aerobics seven years ago at First Baptist Church in Norfolk. Each week a group of mostly women meets in the activity room.

 “It's really taken off,” says Rogers. “They yell and scream like they're at Bally's.”


While most of the music is gospel, Rogers admits she sometimes slips in a little Michael Jackson.“I have to stay motivated,” she says with a shy smile.

 Ages range from the 90s to G'Yanee Parker, 5, lower right. 
Sandra Fenner, lower left, is one who attends regularly. “I started doing it for health reasons -- I needed to firm up and tune up,” says Fenner, who looks younger than her 68 years. “I enjoy the workout, and I really enjoy the fellowship.

“You don't get a chance to fellowship with people on Sundays that you get to at gospel aerobics.”

Fenner adds with a laugh, “And after a workout, I sit in the tub and get rid of all the aches and pains.”

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Prayers and Processions - Peninsula Healing Rooms

Lillie Fields has been down this road before.


“I've been healed twice in my life, and I'm praying for it again,” she said. The Hampton resident has cancer. She needs God to heal her.

On a rainy February night, she came to the Peninsula Healing Rooms of Virginia, located at New Covenant Church in Hampton. The church hosts free weekly healing prayers sessions.



Fields, who is 78, said she heard about the prayer rooms from a family member. “It's a blessing to have people who will come and pray for me,” she said. “I really believe God wants people healed. That's why I come to him.”



Cloaked in black, Fields sat surrounded by church members (l-r) Barbara Jo Howard, Gerry Miller, and Kent Stewart, who seemed eager to pray for her healing. The group spent a half-hour talking and praying with her. Miller called for her to be healed and asked that her illness be cast out.


“I believe God sent you to us,” said Miller, of Newport News. “Jesus loves you and we do too.”

Fields wiped a tear from her eye and said, “Thank you very much. I feel blessed.”

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Prayers and Processions - An Intimate Prayer

Sulaiman Banwal, 24,  opens the door to his bedroom and slips on his white prayer cap. He unfurls a prayer rug and bends bedside to the floor. He's wearing in a black perahan tunban, the traditional garb of Afghan men. He faces a wall draped with inspirational Islamic sayings.

The silence is broken by the rustle of his clothing as he bows prostrate. Somewhere in the distance is Mecca.

“Praying is a responsibility for every Muslim,” said Banwal, who, despite living 7,000 miles from home, still prays five times a day. He is a Fulbright Scholar from Kabul, Afghanistan. He attends Old Dominion University and is earning a master's degree in civil engineering.

He believes that praying to Allah helps him with his daily life. “In our religion you never lose hope, because losing hope means you're not believing in God anymore."

Banwal uses a computer program through the Web site www.islamicfinder.org that sounds automatic calls to prayer. “Whenever I'm becoming hopeless or stressed -- when I hear this it calms me down.”

"You feel like home, you don't feel alone,” he said of the call to prayer. “You're never alone, because God is with you.”

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Prayers and Processions - Hospital Chaplain

Jeff Klein's eyes open slightly, and he whispers that it's okay to come in.

Strings of lights wave across a monitor -  a record of his heartbeat - and lines of oxygen thread through his nose to aid his breathing. His wife Kathy rests against his bed rails to the left, and her downward gaze is filled with concern.

The Rev. Jill Kundtz gently smiles at both, steps up to the right and gathers her hand. Their arms drape over him like a curtain. Kundtz is the hospital chaplain for Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. “I want to make sure that patients have support, whether it be physical support, emotional support or spiritual support,” said Kundtz. “Essentially I journey with my patients.”

Kundtz is a Christian, but she supports anyone, regardless of their faith. “We don't put God in a box.”

Klein, 52, who was admitted earlier due to chest pains, is grateful for her prayers.

“You feel like God is all around you, it's almost like you're immersed in his presence,” said the Great Bridge resident. “You feel like God is next to you, you feel his touch.”

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Prayers and Processions - Wedding Day

“It was exciting and terrifying at the same moment,” said Rebecca Segall. “It was a great moment that we were all able to celebrate, but at the same time I'm scared of heights.”

Smiles scattered through the dance floor as she was twirled around, tethered to her husband, Craig Segall, 22, by a tiny cloth, as part of the Jewish tradition of the Horah. The two were married at the Lesner Inn in Virginia Beach.

During the Horah, a newlywed couple is lifted into the air and carried around by their loved-ones. For these two, it also was a symbol of the couple's new unity as a Jewish couple, since Rebecca was a recent convert to the Jewish faith.

“For me religion wasn't too important,” said Rebecca. “I realized how important it was to him, and I identified with it more than any other religion that was out there. It was easy for me to make that transition.”

“I felt so happy for my side of the family” said the 22-year-old the Norfolk resident. “They've been so supportive (of the conversion) and it was nice for them to take part in that moment.”

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Prayers and Processions - Home Prayer

Jacob Kendrick, 2, pounces in his padded dinosaur pajamas onto his father, Mike Kendrick, as his other son, Dylan, 3, drapes over his back. His daughter Lily, 5, laughs.

It's all under the watchful eye of a Jesus Christ poster that proclaims "I Am."

It's a prelude to a nightly event – altar time – which is worship time for the Virginia Beach family. On this evening, the kids are wound up and needed to bounce out some energy before prayer.

“I think it's what holds us together, having the altar time,” said Nereida, Mike's wife.  “It's important  for them to know that we're there for them, and that Christ is there for them as well.”

Mike describes his family as Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ.

“The most important thing is leaving a legacy, and for them to know Jesus personally,” said Mike. “It's probably the most significant thing I'll do in my whole life.”

The poster hangs as a centerpiece of their living room.  “It's important for our kids to constantly see that he is our solid rock,” said Mike. “It's like having a picture of a loved one in your office.”

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Prayers and Processions - Cowboy Church

Tim Kirkpatrick bows his head and slips off his cowboy hat. He begins to pray.   Below him, a small terrier mix named Sheriff Woody wags his tail and scampers in the dirt. Kirkpatrick, 40, is a part-time pastor of the Hickory Ridge Cowboy Church.   “We started it so we could reach people with an outdoors mind,” he explains. “There's a lot of farmers, horse people and animal people around here. This is the avenue that we use to reach them.”   Members meet Saturday nights in a large tent set up on the grounds of Hickory Ridge Community Church in Chesapeake.   Kirkpatrick says he caters to Christians who aren’t comfortable with traditional services. He recalls one uneasy congregant who told him, “If I can come with manure on my boots, wear my blue jeans and if I don't have to put my teeth in, then I'll come.” Kirkpatrick will take the a full-time position of the church pastor in February, which will also be the first anniversary of the church.

“It's God leading it, I'm just along for the ride, said Kirkpatrick. “These are my people, and it's a great way to reach them for Christ.”

Story and photos by Ross Taylor

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Prayers and Processions - Home Communion

A clock clicks, and her hands wring in cadence. A silver walker waits to Beth Massel's left - just in case.

John St. John quietly stands and slips a small wafer into Massel's palms, which are spread in front of her like a platter.

“I feel like if I don't get this, I feel like I'm missing the family dinner,” said Massel. It's something I need.”

Massel is a member of the Eastern Shore Chapel Episcopal Church in Virginia Beach. She's unable to attend church, and communion, because of knee replacement surgery.

“To have someone come to the house when I can't come to the church – it's the greatest thing,” said Massel, of Virginia Beach. “I just feel empty if I don't get to communicate with people at church and commune with God.”

“It fills me up again.”

St. John is one of several church members who bring communion into the home.   “When they can't go to church, the church can go to them,” said St. John. “It's a good thing to do. It's not much more complicated than that.”

Massel takes the wafer and then smiles and says, “Thanks be to God!”

The two hug goodbye and St. John steps out into the spill of soft afternoon light.

Story and photos by Ross Taylor

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