Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] GAFCON Calls Anglicans to Reformation
[2] Presbyterian Church Of Canada Reaffirms Sovereignty Of Jesus Christ
[3] Pro-Life Protesters’ Speech and Freedom Rights Upheld
[4] California Lawsuit Filed to Disenfranchise Voters
[5] Pakistani Christians Denied Asylum in Scotland Facing Deportation
[6] Assyrian Christians Targeted by Islamists
[7] Virginia Judge Rules ‘Division Statute’ Application Constitutional
[8] Highland Presbyterian Church Sued Over Air Conditioner Noise
On 22 June, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) opened in Jerusalem where more than 1000 conservative Anglican leaders held a week-long meeting to examine the future of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Nigerian Archbishop and conservative Anglican leader Peter Akinola expressed concern for the future unity of the Communion by saying, "Those who failed to admit that by the unilateral actions they took in defiance of the Communion have literally torn the very fabric of our common life at it deepest level since 2003, are grumbling that we are here to break the Communion.”
A statement issued at the conclusion of the GAFCON meeting included an announcement of plans for a group of 300 conservative Anglican leaders to oversee the continuing GAFCON movement, their efforts to defend the Gospel from liberal and revisionist theologies, and to continue to offer pastoral oversight to conservative parishes stranded within liberal member churches of the Anglican Communion.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams criticized the GAFCON meeting, describing their proposals as creating more problems than they solve and urging Anglicans to work for changes within existing Anglican organizational structures.
Canadian Archbishop Fred Hiltz repudiated the GAFCON statement that Anglican churches in the USA and Canada [by their recent actions] have been proclaiming a false gospel.
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[2] Presbyterian Church Of Canada Reaffirms Sovereignty Of Jesus Christ
At their recent general assembly, the Presbyterian Church in Canada reaffirmed the exclusiveness and uniqueness of the saving work of Jesus Christ. There had been a number of representatives to the assembly whose remarks indicated that they were moving toward a 'generic' faith that embraced all world religions as equally valid ways to God. This resolution made clear their reaffirmation of the Bible.
+ Association For Church Renewal, Post Office Box 102, 182 High Street, Candia, New Hampshire 03034, 603-867-7711, Renewall.acr@gmail.com
On 2 July, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the first and fourth amendment [US Constitution] rights of two pro-life activists were violated when they were ordered by police officers to remove a truck displaying pictures of aborted children from near a school and then were detained by the police for more than one hour.
The court opinion affirmed that free speech cannot be limited based on listeners' reactions to the content, and held that the activists were detained by police for an unreasonably long period of time.
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+ The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Post Office Box 219, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-206-0600, cbr@cbrinfo.org
[4] California Lawsuit Filed to Disenfranchise Voters
A lawsuit filed by homosexual activists in California seeks to remove a marriage protection amendment from the November 2008 California ballot. The amendment, if ratified by the voters, would undo the 15 May California Supreme Court decision legalizing homosexual marriage.
As explained by Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel, the lawsuit plaintiffs argue that California voters do not have the authority to change what they call a “constitutional revision” rather than a constitutional amendment, and they claim that the amendment “would so radically change the landscape of the society that it can’t be voted upon by the people.” Staver characterizes this legal theory as “laughable”.
Meanwhile in California, fire fighters continue to battle blazes that since 22 June have burned over 800 square miles including more than 69 homes. California state forestry officials on the morning of 6 July said that about 1400 of a maximum total of approximately 1700 active fires had been contained with more than 330 out-of-control fires still burning.
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[5] Pakistani Christians Denied Asylum in Scotland Facing Deportation
A family of Pakistani Christians who fled from Lahore due to persecution from Islamists has been denied asylum and has been taken from their Glasgow home to a detention center to await deportation back to Pakistan.
The family’s husband and father of three young children had been targeted in Pakistan for printing Christian materials and was charged with the capital crime of blasphemy.
Church of Scotland minister Ian Galloway is at the forefront of efforts to prevent the family’s deportation.
+ Deeside Piper & Herald, 56a High Street, Banchory, Scotland AB313SS, 01330-824955
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[6] Assyrian Christians Targeted by Islamists
Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq are being persecuted by Islamists who wage a campaign of violence including murder of clergy and laity, abduction and rape of young Assyrian women, theft and property confiscation, and bombings of churches and businesses. The Assyrian International News Agency characterizes the plight of Assyrian Christians as “a minority [caught] between genocide, fear and terrorism.”
A letter was recently sent to churches in Mosul from an Islamic group calling itself "The Battalion of Just Punishment, Jihad Base in Mesopotamia" calling Assyrian Christians “the dhimmi people” [derogatory Islamic term for Christians and Jews] and warning them to not establish a recently proposed police force to protect them from the violence being done to them by Islamists.
+ Assyrian International News Agency
