17 September 2008

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Hurricane Gustav Forces New Wineskins Convocation Change of Venue
[2] Tulsa, Oklahoma Kirk of the Hills Ruled to be PCUSA Property
[3] Jeremiah A. Wright Speaking Engagement at Elmwood United Presbyterian Church Cancelled After Tryst Allegation
[4] Welsh Presbyterian Church (WPC) Moderator Says WPC Must Change Or Die
[5] First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, New Jersey Offers Yoga Classes
[6] Former Jurist and Missionary Richard Braithwaite Dies
[7] New Biography of Olympic Champion Eric Liddell Published in English and Chinese
[8] Cahaba Park Church Commissioned 7 September by PCA
[9] Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, South Africa Sends Formal Apology to Terminated Homosexual Teacher
[10] $US1.2 Million Given for Homosexual Advocacy in the Mainline Denominations


[1] Hurricane Gustav Forces New Wineskins Convocation Change of Venue

Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, the New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation scheduled for 9 November through 11 November 2008 has been moved from its originally scheduled location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Bay Presbyterian Church in Bay Village, Ohio located near Cleveland, Ohio.

+ New Wineskins Association of Churches, 8800 Peebles Road, Allison Park, Pennsylvania 15101, 888-754-9693, info@newwineskinsassociation.org

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[2] Tulsa, Oklahoma Kirk of the Hills Ruled to be PCUSA Property

On 26 August, Tulsa, Oklahoma District Judge Jefferson Sellers ruled that the Kirk of the Hills church property belongs to the PCUSA and its Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery, not to the local congregation.

Kirk of the Hills voted two years ago by an overwhelming margin to leave the PCUSA because of the denomination having drifted from its biblical foundations.

The church is now considering their future, including the possibility of appealing the 26 August decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

+ Tulsa World, 315 South Boulder Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103, 918-582-0921, news@tulsaworld.com

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[3] Jeremiah A. Wright Speaking Engagement at Elmwood United Presbyterian Church Cancelled After Tryst Allegation

Jeremiah A. Wright’s 9 September speaking engagement at “Fall Revival 2008" at the Elmwood United Presbyterian Church, East Orange, New Jersey was cancelled after Elizabeth Payne told the New York Post that she had committed adultery with Wright when they were at the Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.

Wright is the former pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama.

+ New Jersey Online

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[4] Welsh Presbyterian Church (WPC) Moderator Says WPC Must Change Or Die

In remarks made in preparation for the WPC General Assembly in Lampeter, Wales held the week of 8 September, Moderator Rev. Haydn Thomas said that the WPC must change to survive, but that he does not mean the church should compete with present-day materialism.

Thomas added, “My aim is to see the Church develop its work in the community, working alongside the Government and offering both spiritual and practical guidance on serious social problems such as poverty and alcohol abuse.”

Thomas encouraged the assembly to put Jesus Christ back into WPC and to take responsibility for the ministry to which it is called.

+ Daily Post, Vale Road, Llandudno Junction, Conwy, LL31 9ZD, Wales, 01492 574455, robirvine@dailpost.co.uk

+ Presbyterian Church of Wales, Tabernacle Chapel, 81 Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 1DD, Wales, +44-0-29-20627465, swyddfa.office@ebcpcw.org.uk


[5] First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, New Jersey Offers Yoga Classes

First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, New Jersey is offering two Yoga classes beginning 25 September.

Yoga is a Hindu spiritual discipline that includes relaxation, exercise, breathing, diet, and meditation.

+ New Jersey Online

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[6] Former Jurist and Missionary Richard Braithwaite Dies

Former Sioux Falls, South Dakota Second Circuit judge, retired lawyer, and former missionary Richard Braithwaite died 8 September 2008 at age 81.

In 1990, Braithwaite went to Taipei, Taiwan and used the Bible to teach English as a second language at the Ta-an Presbyterian Church.

Braithwaite responded to a need in Malawi after its independence to transfer Presbyterian churches from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland to the individual churches, and spent six months there in 1991 performing legal work and ministering to church members.

Braithwaite’s funeral was held 12 September at First Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls.

+ Argus Leader, 200 South Minnesota Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57104, 605- 331-2200

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[7] New Biography of Olympic Champion Eric Liddell Published in English and Chinese

Rev. John Keddie, minister in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) and Moderator of its 2008 General Assembly has published a new biography of Olympic champion and missionary Eric Liddell titled Running the Race, published by Evangelical Press, Darlington, England.

+ John W. Keddie, Struan, Isle of Skye, Scotland

+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org


[8] Cahaba Park Church Commissioned 7 September by PCA

Cahaba Park Church of Mountain Brook, Alabama was commissioned a new congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America at a 7 September service at Mountain Brook High School where the 100 member congregation has met for the past year.

The new church was planted by the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Homewood, Alabama.

The pastor is the Rev. Murray Lee who graduated from Stamford University, Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, and from Mountain Brook High School.

+ Advance Internet, 2901 2nd Avenue South, Suite 260, Birmingham, Alabama 35233, 205-380-2430, Fax: 205-380-2431

+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org


[9] Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, South Africa Sends Formal Apology to Terminated Homosexual Teacher

The Dutch Reformed Church in Moreleta Park, Pretoria, South Africa has sent a court-ordered unconditional letter of apology to a music teacher dismissed in July 2005 for being a practicing homosexual. The dismissed teacher subsequently sued the church and was awarded R87,000 in damages.

The church attempted to counsel the teacher when his homosexuality came to light, but the teacher refused, telling the church that his sexual orientation was a matter between him and God.

The church contended that practicing homosexuality was a sin, and that the teacher as a spiritual leader should lead by example.

+ Independent On Line, 118 St. Georges Street, Post Office Box 4116, Cape Town 8001, South Africa, +27-21-481-6200, Fax: +27-21-481-6294


[10] $US1.2 Million Given for Homosexual Advocacy in the Mainline Denominations

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Foundation is giving homosexual advocacy groups within mainline church denominations $US1.2 million over the next two years for what the More Light Presbyterians characterize as "support[ing] a strategic, collaborative effort to expand pro-L[esbian]G[ay]B[isexual]T[ransgender] faith-based organizing efforts.”

Christian News Wire says that the advocacy groups will now be better funded for efforts to pressure the “churches to alter their belief and morality to accommodate homosexual practice.”

+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005