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

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