Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] National Council of Churches GA Scheduled 11-13 November
[2] Christian Woman In Eritrean Prison Dies Of Malaria
[3] Family Enrichment Conference at Bonclarken 12-14 February 2009
[4] Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Hate Crime Legislation Slipped Into Agricultural Bill
[5] Intown Presbyterian Church Pastoral Search
[6] Oak Hill Christian School Offers Online Biology and Free Market Economics Courses
[7] Liberal Theologian Compares Biblical Position on Homosexuality to Pro-slavery and Pro-apartheid Views
[8] Church of the Brethren Celebrates 300th Anniversary in Schwarzenau, Germany
[9] Montana Church Appeals Ruling Requiring Registration as a Political Committee
[10] Algerian Christians Sentenced For Spreading Faith
[1] National Council of Churches GA Scheduled 11-13 November
This year’s General Assembly of the National Council of Churches USA and Church World Service will be held in Denver 11-13 November.
The theme of the 2008 General Assembly is, "Jesus Said ... Whoever is Not Against You is For You," from Luke 9:50.
Topics planned for discussion at the General Assembly include immigration reform, the meaning of Christian unity in a pluralistic era and the "phobias" that stand in the way of ecumenical unity, racial justice, and interfaith dialogue.
+ National Council of Churches USA, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 880, New York, New York 10115, 212-870-2228, Fax: 212-870-2030, pjenks@ncccusa.org
+ Church World Service, 28606 Phillips Street, Elkhart, Indiana 46515, 800-297-1516, Fax: 574-262-0966, info@churchworldservice.org
[2] Christian Woman In Eritrean Prison Dies Of Malaria
Azib Simon, 37, imprisoned and tortured for her Christian faith since December, died of malaria the week of 14 July in Eritrea’s Wi’a Military Training Center.
Weakened by ongoing torture, Simon contracted malaria only a week before she died. Christians in the prison are rarely given medical attention, and authorities refused to provide treatment for Simon’s malaria.
Simon had attended the Kale-Hiwet Church in Assab, one of the independent evangelical churches that have been targeted by the country’s Marxist-leaning authoritarian regime.
Prisoners at the Wi’a military camp are under constant pressure to recant their faith.
Simon’s death makes a total of five Christians whom Compass Direct News Service has confirmed have died in Eritrean prisons after being tortured for refusing to recant their faith.
Since 2002 the oppressive regime has outlawed all independent Protestant churches, closing their buildings and banning gatherings in private homes. Worshippers caught disobeying the blanket restrictions are arrested and tortured for weeks, months or even years. They are never allowed legal counsel or brought to trial.
The government only recognizes Islam and Eritrean Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran Christian denominations as “historical” legal religions.
It is estimated that more than 1,000 Christians are imprisoned at any given time. Many of the arrests of Christians take place in groups when the government breaks up local house meetings.
+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org
[3] Family Enrichment Conference at Bonclarken 12-14 February 2009
The Sessions of Christ Reformed Church of the Carolinas and Christ Church of the Carolinas are presenting a Family Enrichment Conference at the Bonclarken Conference Center in Flat Rock, North Carolina from Thursday evening 12 February 2009 until noon on Saturday 14 February.
The featured speakers are Dr. and Mrs. Glen C. Knecht. Dr. Knecht is the former pastor of First Presbyterian Church (ARP), Colombia, South Carolina. He is currently pastoring Christ Reformed Evangelical Church in Annapolis, Maryland.
The target audience is adult singles, married, those divorced
and remaining unmarried, et cetera. Parents are asked to not bring their children to this gathering.
Registration will be handled through Christ Church of the Carolinas.
+ Christ Church of the Carolinas, 1824 Barnwell Street, Colombia, South Carolina 29201, 803-254-5055, info@christchurchofthecarolinas.org
[4] Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Hate Crime Legislation Slipped Into Agricultural Bill
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on 23 July struck down legislation that added “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Pennsylvania's “ethnic intimidation” law through an amendment slipped into an “agricultural crop destruction” bill. The justices ruled that the legislation violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s provisions prohibiting altering or amending a bill in order to change its original purpose.
The overturned provisions of the ethnic intimidation law were used to arrest and charge Christians for evangelizing at a 2004 homosexual parade in Philadelphia.
Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America and one of those arrested at the parade characterized the legislators that managed the tainted legislation as using methods that “…were extremely devious and yet another chilling example as to how far politicians are willing to go to silence Christian speech…”
+ Foundation for Moral Law, Post Office Box 4086, Montgomery, Alabama 36103, 334-262-1245, Fax: 334-262-1708, Info@morallaw.org
[5] Intown Presbyterian Church Pastoral Search
Intown Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Portland, Oregon has begun the search process for a Senior Pastor.
+ Intown Presbyterian Church, Post Office Box 6505, Portland, Oregon 97228, 503-227-8354, office@intownchurch.com
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
[6] Oak Hill Christian School Offers Online Biology and Free Market Economics Courses
Oak Hill Christian School of Reston, Virginia is offering online high school courses in biology and in free market economics using the Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro web conferencing and e-learning tool.
+ Oak Hill Christian School, 11480 Sunset Hills Road,
Reston, Virginia 20190, 703-796-6887, Fax: 703-796-0582, headmaster@oakhillcs.com
[7] Liberal Theologian Compares Biblical Position on Homosexuality to Pro-slavery and Pro-apartheid Views
At a Lambeth Conference event the week of 28 July, the Rev. Dr. Richard Burridge, Dean of Kings College London, likened advocates of biblical positions on homosexuality to those who are pro-chattel slavery and pro-apartheid.
Burridge said that Jesus supported inclusiveness in his earthly ministry, that apparent biblical condemnations of homosexuality must be read in the context of other condemnations that we no longer consider valid, and that Paul's treatment of homosexuality was characterized by “concern for an inclusive community."
Meanwhile, a leading Anglican bishop also raised the issue of slavery in the context of homosexuality. The Rt. Rev. Mouneer Anis, Bishop of Egypt, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa, denounced on Friday 1 August the "advocacy of unscriptural practices." He diagnosed sexual obsession, including homosexuality, as "a new form of slavery: a slavery to modern secular culture and to immoral desires and lusts."
+ VirtueOnline, 1236 Waterford Road, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380
+ The Archbishop of Canterbury, Lambeth Palace, London SE1 7JU, England, 020-7898-1200, Fax: 020-7261-9836
[8] Church of the Brethren Celebrates 300th Anniversary in Schwarzenau, Germany
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford reports that about 1000 people gathered 2-3 August in Schwarzenau, Germany to celebrate the 300th Anniversary of the Brethren movement on the banks of the Eder River, where the first group of eight Brethren, led by Alexander Mack Sr., were baptized in 1708.
Keynote speaker Marcus Meier, a research fellow at the Institute for European History in Mainz and a German academic authority on the early history of the Brethren, spoke about the influence of Pietism and Anabaptism on the early Brethren. Meier described the baptisms in Schwarzenau as being "the primal seal for [today’s] many-branched Brethren movement.... Here a group of eight people first counted the cost," he said, quoting a phrase from a hymn by Alexander Mack.
Preaching for worship were Fredric G. Miller Jr., pastor of Mount Olive Brethren Church in McGaheysville, Virginia, and James Beckwith, the 2008 moderator of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference and pastor of Annville, Pennsylvania Church of the Brethren.
Five of the six major Brethren bodies were represented at the celebration: the Church of the Brethren, the Brethren Church, the Old German Baptist Brethren Church, the Dunkard Brethren Church, and the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. The representative from the sixth major body, the Conservative Grace Brethren Churches International, was unable to be present.
+ Church of the Brethren, 1451 Dundee Avenue, Elgin, Illinois 60120, 800-323-8039, Fax: 847-742-6103, cobweb@brethren.org
[9] Montana Church Appeals Ruling Requiring Registration as a Political Committee
On 4 August, Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena, Montana is scheduled for a hearing before the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to contest a 2004 ruling by the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices that that the church violated a Montana political practices law by supporting a proposed state marriage amendment without registering as a political committee.
After a complaint filed by homosexual activist group Montanans for Families and Fairness that claimed that the church violated a Montana political practices law by supporting a proposed state marriage amendment without registering as a political committee, the commissioner held that the church should have organized, registered, and reported as an “incidental political committee.
Representing the church is Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt who stated that “Churches have the right to apply biblical truths to societal issues without fear of punishment. No one should be able to use the government to intimidate churches into giving up their constitutional rights. Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church was simply doing what churches do—addressing social issues from a biblical perspective. It should not be required to register with the government to do that. A church does not become a political committee simply because it speaks on an issue like marriage.”
+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025
[10] Algerian Christians Sentenced For Spreading Faith
On 2 July, a court in western Algeria convicted two Muslim converts to Christianity for illegally spreading their faith. The court in Tissemsilt, 110 miles southwest of Algiers, handed Rachid Muhammad Essaghir, 37, and Djallal Dhamani six-month suspended sentences and 100,000-dinar ($1,660) fines. The men were found guilty of “distributing documents to shake the faith of Muslims.”
Essaghir has now moved from Tiaret to the coastal city of Oran with his wife and 1-year-old daughter after police shut down his Internet café in April. Officials closed the business for failure to obtain necessary written permission from local police, but Essaghir said that this was an excuse to harass him for his work as an evangelist, as many Internet cafés in Algeria function without such permission.
A friend of Essaghir said that “despite his numerous convictions, he doesn’t care anymore; God is in control.”
+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org
