Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Archbishop of Canterbury Sends Greetings for Muslim Festival of Eid ul Fitr
[2] Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Leaves Episcopal Church and Joins Argentine-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone
[3] Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa Moderator Resigns All Church Offices After Synod Debate on Homosexuality
[4] Presbyterian Church of Australia Declares Camberwell Church Cult Teachings to be Heretical
[5] McAdoo Cumberland Presbyterian Church to Celebrate Bicentennial
[6] Old Paint Lick Presbyterian Church Celebrates 225th Anniversary
[7] The Rev. Douglas MacKeddie Named Free Church of Scotland Moderator Designate
[8] Magyar Presbyterian Church of Lackawanna, New York Closes After 101 Years
[9] First Hungarian Reformed Church of Homestead PA Turns 105
[10] Historic Week-Long Display of the Cross Continues at US Capital
[1] Archbishop of Canterbury Sends Greetings for Muslim Festival of Eid ul Fitr
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams recently sent congratulations to Muslim communities for the festival of Eid ul Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Dr. Williams wrote, “The celebration of Eid provides opportunities for putting the past behind and for opening doors into a renewed future which is a constant task for all people of faith.”
Dr. Williams noted that there are matters of religious freedom in Muslim countries “that need to be challenged,” and stated that, “Christianity and Islam can do much, together with other religions, to encourage an openness to a better future for all in these and many other respects.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury added that, “I look forward in the year ahead to pursuing together the many opportunities that are open to us to change for the better some of the perceptions that have clouded the understanding of religion in general and of Christianity and Islam in particular.”
+ Episcopal Church Center 815 Second Avenue New York, New York 10017, 800-334-7626, cdawkins@episcopalchurch.org
[2] Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Leaves Episcopal Church and Joins Argentine-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh on 4 October voted 240-102 to leave the Episcopal Church and then voted to join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.
The new diocese announced that it will convene a special convention 7 November to elect a new bishop -- presumably former Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan, who was deposed two weeks ago by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori the day after the Episcopal Church House of Bishops at their 18 September meeting recommended that Bishop Duncan be fired.
+ Episcopal Church Center 815 Second Avenue New York, New York 10017, 800-334-7626, cdawkins@episcopalchurch.org
[3] Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa Moderator Resigns All Church Offices After Synod Debate on Homosexuality
The Rev. Dr. Allan Boesak, Moderator of and a minister in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA), former president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and former Chairman of the African National Congress Western Cape Region, on 6 June 2008 announced his resignation from all church positions due to his conclusions that URCSA Synod delegates’ Bible reading is “deeply fundamentalist” and that “the Synod has a deep hatred and disgust for gay people.”
Rev. Dr. Boesak had expressed to the URCSA Synod that, based on the Belhar Confession, the church should fully accept homosexual members, should perform same-sex marriages, and should allow ministers in homosexual relationships to serve in the church.
Rev. Dr. Boesak’s resignations were precipitated when he was accused of abusing the Belhar Confession during a Synod debate on homosexuality.
+ News24, Post Office Box 2271, Cape Town 8000, South Africa, 27-21-468-8000, Fax: 27-1-468-8200
+ Uniting Reformed Churches , Private Bag X1, Belhar, Cape Town, Western Cape 7507, South Africa, 021-952-2151 Fax: 021-952-8638, pjadams@polka.co.za
[4] Presbyterian Church of Australia Declares Camberwell Church Cult Teachings to be Heretical
The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCoA) on 30 September 2008 declared six teachings of a cult calling themselves the Fellowship that dominates the Trinity Presbyterian Church, Camberwell near Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, to be heretical, calling the six teachings contrary to the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith, and the beliefs of the PCoA.
The six rejected teachings are the acceptance of "feelings" as revelation from God equal to the Bible, that contact with non-Fellowship members leads to defilement, that the cult Fellowship claims higher loyalty than cult members' families, that Christians can be controlled by "generational curses" or evil spirits, and that God's forgiveness depends on confessing to other people or on personal holiness.
The Victorian PCoA assembly in 2006 excommunicated all the Camberwell church elders, but last year a special commission of the PCoA’s national Australian Assembly Commission (AAC) reinstated them on appeal and set up its own investigation.
The AAC’s May 2008 report suggested that the Presbytery of Melbourne East was also guilty of shunning, said that the Fellowship should be moved to the jurisdiction of a different presbytery, and that a booklet critical of the Fellowship should be removed. The Victorian PCoA assembly rejected most of the report.
The subsequent AAC declaration instructs that the subject heretical beliefs must not be taught in any congregation or by any Presbyterian office bearer and that the declaration must be read in every PCoA congregation by 31 October 2008.
+ The Age, Post Office Box 257C, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia, 61-3-9600-4211, Fax: 61-3-9601-2332, feedback@theage.com.au
+ Presbyterian Church of Australia, Post Office Box 2196, Strawberry Hills, New South Wales 2012, Australia, 02-9690-9333, Fax: 02-9310-2148, general@pcnsw.org.au
[5] McAdoo Cumberland Presbyterian Church to Celebrate Bicentennial
On 19 October 2008, the McAdoo Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Clarksville, Tennessee will celebrate its bicentennial with a service at 11:00 AM followed by a pot luck lunch.
The church was founded by early settlers to the area including James and Sarah Hutchinson who immigrated from Virginia in 1797. Petitions were sent two times to the Transylvania Presbytery, and in 1808 a licentiate named Finis Ewing was sent to preach.
The present church was constructed in 1950 eight years after a grass fire destroyed the previous building, which had replaced the original log structure church that was destroyed by an earlier fire.
Many of the current church members are descendents of the church’s founders, and McAdoo remains the epitome of a friendly small country church.
+ The Leaf-Chronicle, Post Office Box 31029, Clarksville, Tennessee 37040, 931-552-1808
+ Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 8207 Traditional Place , Cordova, Tennessee 38016, 901-276-4572, Fax: 901-272-3913
[6] Old Paint Lick Presbyterian Church Celebrates 225th Anniversary
The Old Paint Lick Presbyterian Church in Garrard County, Kentucky celebrated its 225th anniversary the weekend of 2-3 August 2008.
The original church was a log structure on a four-acre tract built in 1782. The church was founded by the Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian minister from Virginia.
A new brick church was built in 1830 across the highway from the location of the first church.
The church divided over issues related to the War Between the States, and remained divided after the war, with each group meeting separately in the church on alternate Sundays with its own minister.
The church reunited and built the current church in 1874. Today, Old Paint Lick Presbyterian Church has about 30 members.
+ Lexington Herald-Leader, 100 Midland Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, 859-231-3221, laustin@herald-leader.com
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
[7] The Rev. Douglas MacKeddie Named Free Church of Scotland Moderator Designate
On 2 October 2008, the Rev. Douglas MacKeddie, minister of Maryburgh and Killearnan Free Church in Ross-shire, was named Moderator Designate and will become Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in 2009.
The Rev. MacKeddie prepared nine years for ministry at Inverness Technical College, Edinburgh University and the Free Church College.
The Rev. MacKeddie was ordained to ministry and inducted into the Maryburgh church in 1982. In 2002, the Maryburgh church linked with the Killearnan church, and MacKeddie has been minister to both ever since.
Additionally, the Rev. MacKeddie serves the community of Maryburgh as an elected councilor, has previously served on the community’s school board, and currently serves on the school board’s successor parent council.
+ Ross-shire Journal, Dochcarty Road, Dingwall, Ross-shire IV15 9UG, Scotland 01349-863436, Fax: 01349-866741, editor@rsjournal.co.uk
+ Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LS, 0131-226-5286, Fax: 0131-220-0597, catherine@freechurchofscotland.org.uk
[8] Magyar Presbyterian Church of Lackawanna, New York Closes After 101 Years
The Magyar Presbyterian Church in Lackawanna, New York held its final service 5 October 2008, 101 years after being founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1907.
With a remaining membership of four, the church had continued to be served since 1981 by lay minister Clayton L. Adams, but the five came to see that there was little chance for revival and that it was time to close the church.
The red brick church building was built in 1913 by church members who placed a five pointed star atop the spire to distinguish it from the nearby Catholic churches.
Membership in the church peaked in 1946 at about 146.
In the late 1950’s the church received more than a dozen refugee freedom fighters from the failed 1956 revolution against the Soviet occupation of Hungary.
The church’s last Hungarian-speaking minister, the Rev. Nicholas Wesley-Wesselenyi, came to the church in 1958 and died in 1992. Separate services in English and Hungarian were held each Sunday.
The church moderator, the Rev. William James Hardy, pastor of South Park United Presbyterian Church in South Buffalo, New York described the church members as “a very fiercely independent group of individuals,” and concluded, “Churches don’t close every day like this.”
+ The Buffalo News, Post Office Box 100, Buffalo, New York 14240, 716-849-4444, Fax: 716-856-5150
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
[9] First Hungarian Reformed Church of Homestead PA Turns 105
On 19 October 2008, the First Hungarian Reformed Church of Homestead (Munhall), Pennsylvania celebrates its 105th anniversary with a special 10:00 AM worship service.
The congregation extends an invitation to all to attend the celebration, and more information can be obtained by phone at 412-461-1184.
+ Magyar Református Egyház
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
[10] Historic Week-Long Display of the Cross Continues at US Capital
As the national Presidential elections approach, people of faith are reminding the United States of America through prayer and a week-long display of the Christian 
cross on the lawn of the US Capital that there are no political solutions for the problems facing the nation.
Reformed Presbyterian minister the Rev. Patrick. J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, states, "In times of great crisis and challenge Americans have always turned to God for guidance, comfort and mercy. Events over the past several weeks have reminded us all that we all stand just one day away from economic collapse and the nation's trust must not be in our economy, military or the political process. …our hope and strength must be centered in God.
We have come to the lawn of the Capitol not as democrats or republicans but as desperate people asking God to forgive our national sins and heal our land. As we gather in the shadow the cross, let us focus on the example of Christ which was one of sacrifice, love and humility."
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
8 October 2008
