Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] PCA-Affiliated Cornerstone Ministries Investments (CMI) Files for Bankruptcy
[2] Oregon Health Insurer Denies Chemotherapy and Suggests Physician Assisted Suicide
[3] New Books for 2008 from Inheritance Publications
[4] Focus on the Family Elected to National Radio Hall of Fame
[5] Washington Bishop at Lambeth Conference Calls African Leaders Demonic
[6] Oreland Presbyterian Church Leaves PCUSA Amicably and with Church Property
[7] San Jose State Professor Fired for Answering Student’s Question about Genetics and Homosexuality
[8] Uzbekistani Christian Faces 15-Year Sentence
[9] Christian Counselor Fired for Referring Homosexual to Another Counselor
[10] Pakistan Court Grants Custody of Christian Girls to Kidnappers
[1] PCA-Affiliated Cornerstone Ministries Investments (CMI) Files for Bankruptcy
3,500+ investors with almost $142,000,000 in unsecured debt securities in Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)-affiliated Cornerstone Ministries Investments (CMI) are at risk of losing some or all of their investments after CMI’s 2 February Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
CMI’s financial difficulties are the result of the majority of their loans being made in the risky second mortgage market. Though CMI cultivated a reputation of being a source of loans to churches and ministries, their recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings indicate that significant investments had been made in secular, for-profit middle and low-income housing markets.
+ Christianity Today, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, 630-260-6200, Fax: 630-260-0114, mwhite@christianitytoday.com
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[2] Oregon Health Insurer Denies Chemotherapy and Suggests Physician Assisted Suicide
In his 16 July Daily Dose email newsletter William Campbell Douglass II, M.D. describes how insurer Oregon Health Plan (OHP) denied to a lung cancer patient two years in remission doctor-recommended chemotherapy treatment designed to slow cancer growth, but did tell the patient that OHP covers the expense of physician assisted suicide, legalized in Oregon in 1997.
The patient did receive the recommended treatment when Genentech, manufacturer of the chemotherapy drug Tarciva, agreed to provide the medicine free-of-charge for one year.
+ The Douglas Report, 702 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, 888-213-0685
[3] New Books for 2008 from Inheritance Publications
Inheritance Publications has several new books available including And They Sing A New Song by C. Van der Waal – a biblical study of the place of psalms and hymns in worship services, and The Dort Study Bible - an English translation of the Annotations to the Dutch Staten Bijbel of 1637, now available in Volume 1 - Genesis and Exodus, Volume 2 - Leviticus though Deuteronomy, Volume 3 - Joshua through 2 Samuel, and Volume 4 – Kings through 1 Chronicles.
+ Inheritance Publications, Box 154, Neerlandia, Alberta T0G 1R0, Canada, 780-674-3949, Fax: 775-890-9118
[4] Focus on the Family Elected to National Radio Hall of Fame
The Focus on the Family radio program has been elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame, joining such historic programs as Your Hit Parade, The Shadow, Little Orphan Annie and Orson Welles' famous Mercury Theater.
Dr. James Dobson's broadcast was nominated in the “national active” category, alongside Bob Costas, Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Howard Stern. To qualify, a broadcaster must have contributed to the radio industry on a national level for at least 10 years.
For the first time, voting was open to the public. The formal induction ceremony takes place in Chicago in November.
+ Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80995, 800-232-6459
[5] Washington Bishop at Lambeth Conference Calls African Leaders Demonic
At the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, Anglican leaders in Africa who criticize liberal Episcopal leaders in the USA for ordaining homosexual priests and blessing same sex unions were characterized as “demonic” by The Right Rev John Chane, the Bishop of Washington (DC).
+ VirtueOnline, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
[6] Oreland Presbyterian Church Leaves PCUSA Amicably and with Church Property
On 20 May, the Presbytery of Philadelphia (PCUSA) honored the request of 97 percent of the voting members of the Oreland Presbyterian Church of Oreland, Pennsylvania to be dismissed with their property. Oreland is seeking to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).
Oreland’s pastor of 14 years Rev. Jim Farrell expressed his gratitude to the Presbytery of Philadelphia and said, "There ought to be some way to get this out there so that the larger body of Christ, particularly Christians who are Presbyterian and in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., could see that there is a way to do this without beating each other up and without shaming either the church of Jesus Christ or our God."
+ The Bulletin Newspaper, 1500 Walnut Street Suite 300, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, 215-735-9150, Fax: 215-735-3019, publisher@thebulletin.us
+ Oreland Presbyterian Church , 1119 Church Road, Oreland, Pennsylvania 19075, 215-887-7002, Fax: 215-887-0621, mailto:info@orelandpres.org
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org
[7] San Jose State Professor Fired for Answering Student’s Question about Genetics and Homosexuality
On 21 June 2007 in a human heredity course as San Jose City College, Adjunct Professor June Sheldon answered a student’s question about how heredity affects homosexual behavior by citing the class textbook and a well-known German scientist who had found a relationship between maternal stress and homosexual behavior. Additionally, she mentioned that in a later chapter of the text the students would learn that homosexual behavior may be influenced by both genes and the environment.
Following a student complaint, Sheldon was investigated, then recommended for removal from the adjunct seniority rehire preference list and terminated by the board of trustees on 13 February 2008.
Represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, Sheldon has filed a lawsuit against the school for violating her 1st and 14th Amendment rights under the US Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1871, and are seeking that the defendants be held accountable for their actions, that Sheldon be restored to her position, and that she be compensated for violations of her constitutional rights.
The San Jose City College attorney characterizes the charges as “…factually and legally incorrect in every respect.”
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, Post Office Box 25382, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, 866-787-9947, lsn@lifesitenews.com
+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025
[8] Uzbekistani Christian Faces 15-Year Sentence
Uzbekistani Protestant Christian Aimurat Khayburahmanov is facing a 15 year prison term after being arrested for teaching religion without official approval and for establishing or participating in a “religious extremist” organization. The extremism charge was based on Khayburahmanov gathering people in his home and reading Christian literature prohibited by the local Religious Affairs Committee.
Khayburahmanov has repeatedly been beaten by his captors in an attempt to force him to implicate other Christians, and is kept in an isolation cell.
Authorities in the Karakalpakstan Region of Uzbekistan consider as criminal behavior all non state-controlled Muslim and non-Russian Orthodox religious activity.
+ Crosswalk.com, Salem Communications, 4880 Santa Rosa Road, Camerillo, California, 805-987-0400
+ Russian Orthodox Church, 75 East 93rd Street, New York, New York 10128, 212-534-1601, englishinfo@russianorthodoxchurch.ws
[9] Christian Counselor Fired for Referring Homosexual to Another Counselor
Marcia Walden, a licensed associate professional counselor employed by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in Atlanta, Georgia as an Employee Assistance Program counselor for federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) employees referred a counselee seeking help with a same-sex relationship to another counselor because of her sincerely-held Christian religious beliefs about homosexuality. The counselee was immediately given an appointment with another counselor, and the counselee later described the counseling session as “exemplary.”
Later the same day, the counselee complained to Walden’s supervisor about the referral decision, accused Walden of “homophobia” for making the referral, and expressed the desire to file a “formal complaint” against Walden.
Walden was several times questioned by supervisors about her religious beliefs, and urged to put aside her religious beliefs in her counseling work. She was later suspended without pay while being investigated for “sexual orientation” discrimination, then fired at the request of the CDC end of the two week suspension period.
Walden, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, has filed a lawsuit against CSC, CDC, and the CDC employee who demanded that she be fired, alleging violations of her constitutional and civil rights.
+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025
[10] Pakistan Court Grants Custody of Girls to Kidnappers
The Muslim captors of two Christian Pakistani girls ages 10 and 13 kidnapped from their parents in June were awarded their custody during a court decision 12 July in a Muzaffargarh District and Sessions court hearing.
The girls, accompanied by 16 Muslim men, were given five minutes to testify where they claimed to have converted to Islam. The older girl claimed that she was 17 and that she had married a Muslim man.
The parents, who have appealed the court decision, were not allowed to speak with their daughters nor allowed to present birth certificates and school records proving the girls’ true ages.
The father expressed fear that the kidnappers run a prostitution ring and have been sexually abusing the girls. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reports that kidnapping and sexual abuse of children is a serious problem, and a spokesman said that religious minorities are an easy target because of their poverty and the religious bias against them.
Christians comprise only 2 percent of Pakistan’s 168 million citizens.
+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org
