8 August 2007

Headlines – Wednesday, 8 August 2007

[1] Delegation Prays for Iraqi Prime Minister
[2] PROK Appeals for Christian Unity in Face of Taliban
[3] Nichols Will Administer Tusculum
[4] Patriarch Teoctist Departs
[5] Omaha Enters REC
[6] EPC Dismissed From Lawsuit
[7] Escape from Muslim Kidnappers
[8] 1300 Years and Counting


[1] Delegation Prays for Iraqi Prime Minister


Dr. Gary Cass, former Executive Director of Reclaiming America for Christ, now Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, went as part of a six member prayer delegation to Baghdad and prayed for Prime Minister Maliki and the Iraqi people.

"Isn't it interesting that the very same weekend we pray for the Prime Minister and for peace and freedom for all Iraqis the mood concerning Iraq has significantly changed," said Cass. "The Iraqi soccer team unites the nation and the New York Times runs a positive op-ed that states the war might be winnable. Rush Limbaugh asked on his Monday program what happened over the weekend in Iraq. Some people believe in coincidences, we believe God is honored when we pray in Jesus' name."

According to reports of Christian leaders who met the delegation, over 50% of Iraqi Christians have left the country. Iraqi Christians constitute three per cent of the population or approximately one million people. The Christian leaders expressed fear of a US troop pullout. The government at this time cannot protect religious minorities, and if the US pulls out, the Christians fear they will be slaughtered.

Reformed Presbyterian minister Rev. Pat Mahoney and the Christian Defense Coalition organized the delegation.

+ Christian Defense Coalition, 4019 Duke of Glouchester, Fredericksburg, VA 22407


[2] PROK Appeals for Christian Unity in Face of Taliban

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) has issued an urgent prayer appeal to the global Christian community for the remaining 21 Korean hostages held by Taliban militants in Afghanistan after the deaths of two male hostages. “The threat of further executions of the hostages is driving not only the affected families but the whole Korean society into the most painful situation,” stated a letter by PROK general secretary Yoon Kil-soo.

+ Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, Academy House, San 76 Suyu 6-dong, Kangbuk-ku, Seoul, KOREA 142-070


[3] Nichols Will Administer Tusculum

Recently retired Hanover College president Russell L. Nichols has been named interim president of Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee. The hiring of Nichols, who was to start his new job August 1, was announced last month by Tusculum College Board of Trustees Chairman Kenneth Bowman. Nichols, who is a Presbyterian elder, just completed his 20th year as president of Hanover College in Hanover, IN, which like Tusculum is a Presbyterian-related institution. At the time of his retirement in June, Nichols was the 14th president in Hanover's 179-year history and only its fifth since 1879. Tusculum College had been led during the spring and summer on an alternating and cooperative basis by two board members with administrative experience in higher education. The duo temporarily replaced Dolphus E. Henry, III, who officially resigned as Tusculum's president last month after being placed on a paid leave of absence for undisclosed reasons by the college trustees in May. That came after the Tusculum faculty voted no confidence in Henry in February.

+ Tusculum College, 60 Shiloh Road, Greeneville, TN 37743


[4] Patriarch Teoctist Departs

More than 5000 people attended the funeral of the spiritual head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Teoctist, who died at the age of 92. He was laid to rest after a funeral on 3 August at which tribute was paid to the ecumenical leader, though with suspicions also lingering about his past contacts with Communist authorities. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos I of Constantinople, who is viewed by many as the spiritual leader of the world's 200 million Orthodox Christians, conducted the funeral of Teoctist. The Romanian Patriarch died on 30 July after a heart attack following prostate surgery.

Teoctist is the fifth patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which has been "autocephalous" (nationally independent) since 1885. The church does not recognize a head outside Romania. Its dogma includes automatic loyalty to the secular head of state, no matter of what political orientation.

+ Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100, CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

+ Romanian Archdiocese in the Americas, 5410 N. Newland Ave., Chicago, IL 60656-2026


[5] Omaha Enters REC

On 29 July Bishop Royal Grote received Holy Cross Anglican Church in Omaha, Nebraska, and its rector, Rev. Victor Ephraim Novak, into the Reformed Episcopal Church during an episcopal visit. Bishop Grote celebrated Holy Communion and preached. A luncheon and reception for the bishop was held after services. There were 34 in attendance.

+ Bishop Royal U. Grote Jr., Reformed Episcopal Church, 4142 Dayflower Dr., Katy, TX 77449


[6] EPC Dismissed From Lawsuit

The Evangelical Presbyterian Church has been dismissed from the lawsuit filed by the Presbytery of Ohio Valley (PCUSA) against Olivet Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Olivet was dismissed by the Ohio Valley Presbytery to the EPC Midwest Presbytery in late 2006.

As a denomination, the EPC does not have a constitutional or legal claim to local church property. The constitution declares that among “the rights and privileges that are irrevocably reserved” to a viable local church is “ownership of its own property” (Book of Government, chapter seven, sections 1 and 4).

+ Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152


[7] Escape from Muslim Kidnappers

A Christian boy kidnapped in November by Muslims who intended to convert him to Islam escaped last month and has returned to his family home. After four months in captivity, 13-year-old Victor Udo Usen fled from his Muslim captors on March 6 and ran to a shop run by his mother in the Mabera area of Sokoto, capital of the northern state of Sokoto. Esther Udo Usen, Victor’s mother, told Compass that she was in her shop when Victor came in. “He told me he escaped, and I had to contact his father immediately,” she said. “We arranged through a family friend to take him out of the city.”

+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana CA 92799-7250


[8] 1300 Years and Counting

St. Columba’s Church, opposite the famous Nardini café in Largs, Scotland, enters a new stage in its life this weekend this summer when the Columba Experience is launched.

For over 1300 years the Church of St. Columba has had a presence in Largs, though it has only borne his name for the last 700 or so. Tradition has it that St. Columba himself founded the church. As far back as 711 AD, only 114 years after St. Columba’s death in 597 AD, mention is made of a church here in Largs.

In partnership with the Largs Historical Society, visitors to the church will be able to follow and audio trail round the town of Largs, featuring the connections with Brisbane, Australia, the historic Skelmorlie Aisle, and the story of the part played by Largs during the 1939/45 war. There will also be an audio trail around the church itself.

+ St. Columba’s Church, Gallowgate Street/Nelson Street, Largs, Scotland

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