Presbyterians-Week Headlines
[1] Seeking Papists and Pagans in the Emerald Isle
[2] Florida Is Drifting Away from the PC(USA)
[3] Conversion Goes To Court in Egypt
[4] Canadians Heading South
[5] New Dutch American Hymnal
[6] Good News for Arizona
[1] Seeking Papists and Pagans in the Emerald Isle
Ulster’s theological giant and cultural peacemaker is going on the road with the gospel. After more than 50 years at the head of Northern Ireland’s traditional Protestant movement, Dr. Ian Paisley is going into what for anyone else would be a major career expansion. Having stepped down as Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church and soon to leave the corresponding civil post, in Northern Ireland has begun to reach the island’s large Roman and irreligious populations with the Biblical gospel.
This time instead of traditional tents, the evangelists will work from a fully converted and equipped camper van which will drive evangelists the length and breadth of Ireland and Britain. The gift of is valued at £50,000.
According to published reports, for over three decades Paisley has built up Free Presbyterian congregations in Monaghan and Donegal and has recently opened new churches in Cork and in Donegal.
+ Dr. Ian Paisley, Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church, 356 Ravenhill RoadBT 5 Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland
[2] Florida Is Drifting Away from the PC(USA)
Peace River Presbytery has agreed to dismiss to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church on Good Friday the majority of the leadership, staff, and congregation of a large southwest Florida church. Church property is a different matter.
More than 1,100 of the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s 1,340 members are making the move to New Hope Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The congregation had voted roughly thee to one for departure. The disruption followed refusal by Peace River to transfer the congregation to the New Wine Skins Presbytery.
The emerging congregation will be given an opportunity to purchase from the residual congregation items that the remnant does not choose to keep.
+ Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2439 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, Florida 33901
[3] Conversion Goes To Court in Egypt
Christian-born converts to Islam in Egypt wishing to return to their former faith have found their way blocked by an appeal before the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court. Judge Muhammad Husseini asked Egypt’s top judicial body on 4 March to review the constitutionality of a law granting citizens the right to change religions.
Egypt’s top administrative court used Article 47 of Egypt’s civil law to justify allowing 12 converts to Islam to return to Christianity last month. Husseini has demanded that the constitutional court rule on whether Article 47 conflicts with the Egyptian constitution’s second article, which designates Islam as the main source of legislation.
Mainstream interpretations of Islamic law forbid apostasy, leaving Islam. “This is a new legal fight that the Supreme Constitutional Court has never dealt with in the past,” said human rights activist Hossam Bahgat. “We see it as the single most important court case since the [1980] amendment that made Islamic sharia the main source of legislation.”
+ Compass Direct News Service, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana CA 92799
[4] Canadians Heading South
Despite threats of lawsuits and the firing of their clergy, by Bishop Ingraham, whose same sex blessings have divided the global church, the largest church in the diocese, St. John's Shaugnessey in Vancouver voted recently to leave the Canadian Anglican Church to join the Southern Cone. Some six additional parishes have reportedly taken the same action. According to published reports an additional 15 congregations are in one stage or another of abandoning the Canadian denomination.
Defections have taken place primarily in conservative western Canada.
+ The Anglican Church of Canada, 80 Hayden Street, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 3G2
[5] New Dutch American Hymnal
Plans are under way for a new hymnal for use in the Christian Reformed Church and the Reformed Church in America. The hymnal's editorial team met for the first time in February. Applications are being taken from all sectors of both denominations to participate in the development process.
+ Reformed Church in America, 475 Riverside Drive, 18th Florida. New York, NY 10115
[6] Good News for Arizona
Good News Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gilbert, Arizona, moved into Perry High School's building on 2 March. The brand new school on a main road--Queen Creek—provides extensive exposure.
Perry High School opened in July 2007 with 800 freshman and sophomores. The facility will eventually house approximately 3,000 students who will have access to a 600-seat auditorium, 1,265-seat gym, and a 4,355 seat football stadium.
+ Good News Church (ARP), 1919 E Queen Creek Road, Gilbert, Arizona 85297
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
19 March 2008
Presbyterians-Week Headlines
[1] Presbyterian Legacy in Lebanon
[2] Stony Point Gets New Opportunity
[3] The Unraveling Merger in South Africa
[4] Cumberland Head for New Quarters
[5] Easter Trees Selling Well in Scotland
[6] Justice Delayed
[1] Presbyterian Legacy in Lebanon
New York City’s Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church will host the head of Lebanese American University (LAU) in April during an event that will highlight the Presbyterian presence in Lebanon and the Middle East.
Joseph Jabbra, president of the LAU, which has campuses in Beirut and Byblos; will speak April 6 at 1 p.m. on the topic “The Presbyterian Legacy in a Troubled Land: Lebanese American University, Lebanon & the Middle East.”
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is located at 5th Avenue at 55th Street. For more information, contact (212) 870-2592.
+ Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202
[2] Stony Point Gets New Opportunity
Former General Assembly moderator Rick Ufford Chase and his wife, Kitty, have been named transitional co-directors of financially-troubled Stony Point Center, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-owned conference center in New York.
They will share the full-time director’s position beginning 1 August succeeding the Rev. William Pindar, who recently resigned.
Rick Ufford Chase founded BorderLinks in the 1980s to engage US Christians with US--Mexico border issues and served as its director until 2006, when he became executive director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
+ Stony Point Center, 17 Crickettown Road, Stony Point, NY 10980-3299 (845) 786-5674 or (800) 253-4285
[3] The Unraveling Merger in South Africa
A pastor evicted from his manse by the Presbyterian Church has defied a court order and moved back. Rev. Mr. Fezekile Tyani was kicked out of his living quarters at Ross Mission near Mthatha. It was the third attempt by Mthatha Sheriff of the Court Evans Scheepers to evict him, and follows a territorial dispute between Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa
(UPCSA) and members of the former Reformed Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (RPCSA), which merged with the former Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa to form the UPCSA.
According to reports in Dispatch on Line, Tyani stated, “I had handed the keys to the sheriff, but the congregants brought me back here saying this was their property and I am their minister.” said Tyani.
The leadership of the merged group rejects local claims of the continuing Reformed Presbyterians.
+ Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, PO Box 96188, Brixton 2019
[4] Cumberland Head for New Quarters
The Cumberland Presbyterian Church has obtained a new 8,500-square-foot facility for its headquarters and archives on Varnavas Drive in Memphis. The US$1.3 million dollar facility will replace the current headquarters at 1978 Union Avenue. Chick-fil-A is expected to convert the old property into a restaurant.
The new property is near Germantown Parkway and Interstate 40.
+ Cumberland Presbyterian Denominational Center, 1978 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 276-4572
[5] Easter Trees Selling Well in Scotland
Scotland is enjoying a surge of Easter trees. Much like Christmas Trees, but smaller, Easter trees display bunnies, eggs, and chocolate ornaments. Stores such as John Lewis and The Pier offer table-top trees and appropriate ornaments.
The Free Church of Scotland is unpleased. According to Scotland on Sunday, Rev David Robertson responded, "This has got nothing to do with Easter. It has nothing to do with the resurrection of Christ. It's just a way to make money. It's ridiculous and laughable. It brings to mind the image of Christ in the temple throwing out the money-changers and saying 'get out you
thieves.'"
+ The Scotsman Publications Ltd., Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS Scotland
[6] Justice Delayed
The fourth trial hearing yesterday against the murderers of three Christians in southeast Turkey was postponed for another month after court clerks mysteriously failed to file a request to replace judges accused of bias.
Plaintiff lawyers’ official demand to replace the presiding judges was filed on March 1, but when the Malatya Third Criminal Court convened yesterday it was confirmed that the request still had not been forwarded to the higher court in Diyarbakir designated to rule on it. Plaintiff lawyers had listed repeated instances of the judges’ bias and partiality that they declared were “obstructing justice.” The failure of the Izmir court to forward the complaint to the higher court in Diyarbakir forced the Malatya court to postpone the hearing until April 14. In doing so, the presiding judges in Malatya issued an accusation of “criminal offense” against court clerks of
the state prosecutor’s office in Izmir, declaring that their ineptitude in processing the legal complaint “within a reasonable time” had brought a “negative effect” on the case.
+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799-7250
.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
12 March 2008
Presbyterians-Week Headlines
[1] Union-PSCE at Charlotte
[2] Pittsburgh Goes Back to Court
[3] Laos Arrests 58 Christians, Sentences Church Leaders
[4] The Heidelberg Catechism Was Wrong - CRC News: CRC Clarifies Position on Catholic Eucharist
[5] Ian Paisley Takes Second Step
[1] Union-PSCE at Charlotte
Friends of William A. White Jr., a “Life Trustee” of Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, have pledged more than US$528,750 to establish a fund for teaching excellence at the seminary in his honor. The fund, which was initially established with a lead gift from the Trexler Foundation of Charlotte, establishes an endowment to support faculty at Union-PSCE at Charlotte. It is hoped th at the fund might grow into a full professorship in Charlotte for the teaching of New Testament. Endowed professorships at the Charlotte campus already support full-time faculty in Bible, preaching and practical theology, Christian education and theology.
+ Union-PSCE 1900 Selwyn Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina 28274 (704) 337-2450
[2] Pittsburgh Goes Back to Court
The Rev. Janet Edwards, a Presbyterian minister in Pittsburgh, says she will again be brought up on charges for officiating at a same-sex union ceremony even though a complaint against her for performing the nuptials was thrown out by a church court in 2006.
Edwards, a parish associate at the multi-denominational Community of Reconciliation, said in a statement that a Pittsburgh Presbytery investigating committee informed her on 25 February that it will pursue new charges against her for the June 2005 marriage ceremony of Nancy McConn and Brenda Cole.
+ Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202
[3] Laos Arrests 58 Christians, Sentences Church Leaders
Laotian officials arrested 15 Hmong Christian families in Bokeo district on 22 February, a day before a court sentenced nine area Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown beyond acceptable levels for Communist officials. The day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived in Ban Sai Jarern village in Bokeo district with six trucks in which they hauled away eight Christian families. Authorities also arrested at least seven families from Fai village three miles away. “It seems they are rounding up all Hmong Christians from Vietnam to send them back to Vietnam,” said one Christian source. “What will happen to them is greatly feared and unknown.”
The nine church leaders sentenced for conducting prominent Christian ministry and meetings had been rounded up during a police and military sweep of suspected rebels last July that left at least 13 innocent Christians dead.
+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799-7250
[4] The Heidelberg Catechism Was Wrong - CRC News: CRC Clarifies Position on Catholic Eucharist
After 10 years of study, dialogue, and debate, the Christian Reformed Church in North America has released its final report that clarifies the CRC's stance on the Lord's Supper as it relates to the Roman Catholic Church. Recently posted and made available on the CRCNA website, "The Lord's Supper and the Catholic Mass" is the result of extensive evaluation and discussion between CRC and Catholic educators and theologians.
At issue had been the Question and Answer 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism. In the answer portion, the catechism says the Catholic Mass "is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry."
What the final report says is that there remain important differences between how the two denominations view the Lord's Supper. But the report also finds Question and Answer 80 in the catechism did not accurately represent the Catholic Church's beliefs on the topic.
The final three paragraphs in the catechism containing "condemnable idolatry" have not been deleted from Q and A 80, but the section has been put in brackets. In a footnote, the Synod has added the brackets "to indicate that they do not accurately reflect the official teaching and practice of today's Roman Catholic Church and are no longer confessionally binding on members of the CRC."
The report makes it clear that there are extensive differences on how the two denominations view the sacrament. However, it does show as well that there are some important commonalities. ."In summary," says the report, "in Reformed teaching the message (of God) is the privileged medium of grace, while in Roman Catholic teaching the Eucharist (as Catholics refer to communion) is the privileged medium of grace."
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave., SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560
[5] Ian Paisley Takes Second Step
The ultimate Ulsterman, Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley has announced his attention to step down as First Minister and head of the Democratic Unionist Party. The move follows his decision to leave the moderatorship of the Free Presbyterian Church.
According to published reports, many in the FPC and the DUP simply could not understand – or forgive – Paisley’s warm relationship with Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in Armagh 6 April 6, 1926, and brought up in Ballymena, Co Antrim, by his father, the Rev. J Kyle Paisley, a dissident Baptist minister, and his Scottish mother, Isabella Paisley. After school in Ballymena, Paisley set out to follow his father's career path and went to South Wales Bible College and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological College in Belfast.
Paisley was ordained in 1946 and served from the time of its formation in 1951 until this year as moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster .
+ Dr. Ian Paisley, Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church, 356 Ravenhill Road, BT 5 Belfast, Ulster Northern Ireland
[1] Union-PSCE at Charlotte
[2] Pittsburgh Goes Back to Court
[3] Laos Arrests 58 Christians, Sentences Church Leaders
[4] The Heidelberg Catechism Was Wrong - CRC News: CRC Clarifies Position on Catholic Eucharist
[5] Ian Paisley Takes Second Step
[1] Union-PSCE at Charlotte
Friends of William A. White Jr., a “Life Trustee” of Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, have pledged more than US$528,750 to establish a fund for teaching excellence at the seminary in his honor. The fund, which was initially established with a lead gift from the Trexler Foundation of Charlotte, establishes an endowment to support faculty at Union-PSCE at Charlotte. It is hoped th at the fund might grow into a full professorship in Charlotte for the teaching of New Testament. Endowed professorships at the Charlotte campus already support full-time faculty in Bible, preaching and practical theology, Christian education and theology.
+ Union-PSCE 1900 Selwyn Avenue, Charlotte, North Carolina 28274 (704) 337-2450
[2] Pittsburgh Goes Back to Court
The Rev. Janet Edwards, a Presbyterian minister in Pittsburgh, says she will again be brought up on charges for officiating at a same-sex union ceremony even though a complaint against her for performing the nuptials was thrown out by a church court in 2006.
Edwards, a parish associate at the multi-denominational Community of Reconciliation, said in a statement that a Pittsburgh Presbytery investigating committee informed her on 25 February that it will pursue new charges against her for the June 2005 marriage ceremony of Nancy McConn and Brenda Cole.
+ Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202
[3] Laos Arrests 58 Christians, Sentences Church Leaders
Laotian officials arrested 15 Hmong Christian families in Bokeo district on 22 February, a day before a court sentenced nine area Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown beyond acceptable levels for Communist officials. The day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived in Ban Sai Jarern village in Bokeo district with six trucks in which they hauled away eight Christian families. Authorities also arrested at least seven families from Fai village three miles away. “It seems they are rounding up all Hmong Christians from Vietnam to send them back to Vietnam,” said one Christian source. “What will happen to them is greatly feared and unknown.”
The nine church leaders sentenced for conducting prominent Christian ministry and meetings had been rounded up during a police and military sweep of suspected rebels last July that left at least 13 innocent Christians dead.
+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799-7250
[4] The Heidelberg Catechism Was Wrong - CRC News: CRC Clarifies Position on Catholic Eucharist
After 10 years of study, dialogue, and debate, the Christian Reformed Church in North America has released its final report that clarifies the CRC's stance on the Lord's Supper as it relates to the Roman Catholic Church. Recently posted and made available on the CRCNA website, "The Lord's Supper and the Catholic Mass" is the result of extensive evaluation and discussion between CRC and Catholic educators and theologians.
At issue had been the Question and Answer 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism. In the answer portion, the catechism says the Catholic Mass "is basically nothing but a denial of the one sacrifice and suffering of Jesus Christ and a condemnable idolatry."
What the final report says is that there remain important differences between how the two denominations view the Lord's Supper. But the report also finds Question and Answer 80 in the catechism did not accurately represent the Catholic Church's beliefs on the topic.
The final three paragraphs in the catechism containing "condemnable idolatry" have not been deleted from Q and A 80, but the section has been put in brackets. In a footnote, the Synod has added the brackets "to indicate that they do not accurately reflect the official teaching and practice of today's Roman Catholic Church and are no longer confessionally binding on members of the CRC."
The report makes it clear that there are extensive differences on how the two denominations view the sacrament. However, it does show as well that there are some important commonalities. ."In summary," says the report, "in Reformed teaching the message (of God) is the privileged medium of grace, while in Roman Catholic teaching the Eucharist (as Catholics refer to communion) is the privileged medium of grace."
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave., SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560
[5] Ian Paisley Takes Second Step
The ultimate Ulsterman, Rev. Dr. Ian Paisley has announced his attention to step down as First Minister and head of the Democratic Unionist Party. The move follows his decision to leave the moderatorship of the Free Presbyterian Church.
According to published reports, many in the FPC and the DUP simply could not understand – or forgive – Paisley’s warm relationship with Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley was born in Armagh 6 April 6, 1926, and brought up in Ballymena, Co Antrim, by his father, the Rev. J Kyle Paisley, a dissident Baptist minister, and his Scottish mother, Isabella Paisley. After school in Ballymena, Paisley set out to follow his father's career path and went to South Wales Bible College and the Reformed Presbyterian Theological College in Belfast.
Paisley was ordained in 1946 and served from the time of its formation in 1951 until this year as moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster .
+ Dr. Ian Paisley, Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church, 356 Ravenhill Road, BT 5 Belfast, Ulster Northern Ireland
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
5 March 2008
Presbyterians-Week Headlines
[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report
[2] David Wright
[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't
[4] Mary Kerr Grier
[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director
[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee
[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status
[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored
[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report
Jordan has continued deporting foreign evangelical pastors, as the government last week admitted to expelling foreigners for "illegal" missionary activities. Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told the Jordanian parliament on 20 February that authorities had expelled missionaries operating "under the cover of doing charitable work," suggesting that evangelistic activity is illegal in Jordan.
If such evangelistic work were illegal - with a missionary permit or not - Jordan could be opening itself to accusations of violating Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country published in its official Gazette in July 2006, giving it the force
of law.
Article 18 of the covenant states that everyone has the inherent right publicly or privately to "manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching." It also states, however, that such freedom may be subject to limitations prescribed by law to protect public
"order."
On 29 January Compass Direct reported that Jordan had deported and denied residence permits to at least 27 foreign Christian individuals and families in 2007. On 20 February the acting foreign minister, Judeh, read a statement by the Council of the Church Leaders of Jordan condemning the Compass report.
Following Judeh's statements about foreign groups that "broke the law and did missionary activities," the Jordanian parliament on 21 February passed a resolution condemning the Compass article. "We categorically condemn and reject the false report which is aimed at damaging Muslim-Christian relations in Jordan," the lower house of parliament said, according to Agence France-Presse.
+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799-7250
[2] David Wright
Scottish church historian David Wright has died at age 70. Noted for studies of the early Church Fathers and Reformation authors, Wright's most highly regarded work was the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology.
Wright also generated his own distinctive entry in Scottish ecclesiastical history. In 2003, Wright became the first ruling elder to be installed as moderator of the Church of Scotland's Edinburgh Presbytery in its 400 year history. Within a year Wright gained further notoriety by losing a bid for Moderator of the General Assembly to Dr. Alison Elliot, the first woman to hold the office.
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George St., Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland
[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't
Defections from the United Church of Christ are being numbered in the hundreds of congregations. Friedens Reformed Church in Tripp is one of four South Dakota congregations to leave recently. Denominational funding for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender seminarians plays poorly in farming communities.
Friedens Reformed Church called on the South Dakota Conference to support state laws excluding homosexual marriage. The conference did not appreciate the move and countered with a call to remove the national flag from UCC churches.
Soon after the deadlock, the Tripp congregation affiliated with the Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches. In central Pennsylvania the same pattern is emerging among former Reformed Church in the United States congregations. The Heidelberg movement church centered around York now appear in the steadily expanding EARCC roster.
Though the organization is gathering from all wings of the UCC, its leadership strongly represents congregations originating in the former Evangelical Church of North America tradition.
+ Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches,
PO Box 157, York New Salem, PA 17371-0157
[4] Mary Kerr Grier
Mrs. Mary Kerr Grier, widow of Rev. W. P. Grier, Jr., died on 19 February. Dr. Grier had served pastorates at the Troy, Cedar Springs, and Bradley, South Carolina, Churches; the Doraville, Georgia, Church; the Rock Hill First Church; and the Mooresville Church.
Mrs. Grier had lived at the Due West Retirement Center in recent years. The Grier's spent most of their retirement years at Bonclarken. Mrs. Grier retired from teaching in the public schools. Her father, the Rev. G. L. Kerr, was an ARP minister.
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, One Cleveland Street, Greenville,
SC 29601
[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director
The Mid-Atlantic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church turned to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church to find a new Church Development Director. Dr. Ken Priddy of United Front Ministries in Richmond, Virginia, began filling the position part-time on 1 February.
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Suite 567,
Livonia, MI 48152-7912
[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee
Dr. Rob Norris, senior pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Bethesda, Maryland, was recently named to the Executive Committee of the World Reformed Fellowship (WRF). The WRF, of which the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is a constituent, is a global fellowship of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and related groups working together on the Great
Commission.
+ Dr. Samuel Logan, Jr., Executive Secretary, World Reformed Fellowship,
430 Montier Road, Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038 (267) 243-2574
[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status
The Internal Revenue Service has notified the United Church of Christ's national offices in Cleveland, Ohio, that the IRS has opened an investigation into US Sen. Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in "political activities."
In the IRS letter dated 20 February, the IRS said it was initiating a church tax inquiry "because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."
The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, called the investigation "disturbing" but said the investigation would reveal that the church did nothing improper or illegal.
Obama, an active member of the United Church of Christ for more than 20 years, addressed the UCC's 50th anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., on June 23, 2007, as one of 60 diverse speakers representing the arts, media, academia, science, technology, business and government. Each was asked to reflect on the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise.
The invitation to Obama was extended a year before he became a Democratic presidential candidate.
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115 (866)
822-8224
[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored
First Presbyerian Church (ARP) in Columbia, SC, will present a 10-week series on Christianity Explored starting this week in Jackson Hall, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia. The weekly lunch and program is held from noon to 1 p.m. Cost for lunch is US$4.00.
+ First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, South Carolina
29201
[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report
[2] David Wright
[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't
[4] Mary Kerr Grier
[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director
[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee
[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status
[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored
[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report
Jordan has continued deporting foreign evangelical pastors, as the government last week admitted to expelling foreigners for "illegal" missionary activities. Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told the Jordanian parliament on 20 February that authorities had expelled missionaries operating "under the cover of doing charitable work," suggesting that evangelistic activity is illegal in Jordan.
If such evangelistic work were illegal - with a missionary permit or not - Jordan could be opening itself to accusations of violating Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country published in its official Gazette in July 2006, giving it the force
of law.
Article 18 of the covenant states that everyone has the inherent right publicly or privately to "manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching." It also states, however, that such freedom may be subject to limitations prescribed by law to protect public
"order."
On 29 January Compass Direct reported that Jordan had deported and denied residence permits to at least 27 foreign Christian individuals and families in 2007. On 20 February the acting foreign minister, Judeh, read a statement by the Council of the Church Leaders of Jordan condemning the Compass report.
Following Judeh's statements about foreign groups that "broke the law and did missionary activities," the Jordanian parliament on 21 February passed a resolution condemning the Compass article. "We categorically condemn and reject the false report which is aimed at damaging Muslim-Christian relations in Jordan," the lower house of parliament said, according to Agence France-Presse.
+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799-7250
[2] David Wright
Scottish church historian David Wright has died at age 70. Noted for studies of the early Church Fathers and Reformation authors, Wright's most highly regarded work was the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology.
Wright also generated his own distinctive entry in Scottish ecclesiastical history. In 2003, Wright became the first ruling elder to be installed as moderator of the Church of Scotland's Edinburgh Presbytery in its 400 year history. Within a year Wright gained further notoriety by losing a bid for Moderator of the General Assembly to Dr. Alison Elliot, the first woman to hold the office.
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George St., Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland
[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't
Defections from the United Church of Christ are being numbered in the hundreds of congregations. Friedens Reformed Church in Tripp is one of four South Dakota congregations to leave recently. Denominational funding for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender seminarians plays poorly in farming communities.
Friedens Reformed Church called on the South Dakota Conference to support state laws excluding homosexual marriage. The conference did not appreciate the move and countered with a call to remove the national flag from UCC churches.
Soon after the deadlock, the Tripp congregation affiliated with the Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches. In central Pennsylvania the same pattern is emerging among former Reformed Church in the United States congregations. The Heidelberg movement church centered around York now appear in the steadily expanding EARCC roster.
Though the organization is gathering from all wings of the UCC, its leadership strongly represents congregations originating in the former Evangelical Church of North America tradition.
+ Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches,
PO Box 157, York New Salem, PA 17371-0157
[4] Mary Kerr Grier
Mrs. Mary Kerr Grier, widow of Rev. W. P. Grier, Jr., died on 19 February. Dr. Grier had served pastorates at the Troy, Cedar Springs, and Bradley, South Carolina, Churches; the Doraville, Georgia, Church; the Rock Hill First Church; and the Mooresville Church.
Mrs. Grier had lived at the Due West Retirement Center in recent years. The Grier's spent most of their retirement years at Bonclarken. Mrs. Grier retired from teaching in the public schools. Her father, the Rev. G. L. Kerr, was an ARP minister.
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, One Cleveland Street, Greenville,
SC 29601
[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director
The Mid-Atlantic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church turned to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church to find a new Church Development Director. Dr. Ken Priddy of United Front Ministries in Richmond, Virginia, began filling the position part-time on 1 February.
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Suite 567,
Livonia, MI 48152-7912
[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee
Dr. Rob Norris, senior pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Bethesda, Maryland, was recently named to the Executive Committee of the World Reformed Fellowship (WRF). The WRF, of which the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is a constituent, is a global fellowship of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and related groups working together on the Great
Commission.
+ Dr. Samuel Logan, Jr., Executive Secretary, World Reformed Fellowship,
430 Montier Road, Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038 (267) 243-2574
[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status
The Internal Revenue Service has notified the United Church of Christ's national offices in Cleveland, Ohio, that the IRS has opened an investigation into US Sen. Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in "political activities."
In the IRS letter dated 20 February, the IRS said it was initiating a church tax inquiry "because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."
The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, called the investigation "disturbing" but said the investigation would reveal that the church did nothing improper or illegal.
Obama, an active member of the United Church of Christ for more than 20 years, addressed the UCC's 50th anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., on June 23, 2007, as one of 60 diverse speakers representing the arts, media, academia, science, technology, business and government. Each was asked to reflect on the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise.
The invitation to Obama was extended a year before he became a Democratic presidential candidate.
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115 (866)
822-8224
[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored
First Presbyerian Church (ARP) in Columbia, SC, will present a 10-week series on Christianity Explored starting this week in Jackson Hall, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia. The weekly lunch and program is held from noon to 1 p.m. Cost for lunch is US$4.00.
+ First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, South Carolina
29201
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