18 March 2009

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] North Carolina Judge Orders Homeschool Mother to Put Kids in Public School
[2] PCUSA Vote to Weaken Fidelity and Chastity Amendment Behind after Voting by Sixty-Four Percent of Presbyteries
[3] ARP First Presbytery Spring 2009 Meeting Approves Memorial to Synod to Sever All Fraternal Relations with the PCUSA
[4] Is Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Planning to Terminate Calvinist Professors?
[5] Time Magazine Ranks “The New Calvinism” as Third of Ten Ideas Currently Changing the World
[6] CRCNA Board of Trustees Agrees to Budget Cuts
[7] Atheist Magician Penn Fraser Jillette Encourages Christian Evangelism
[8] Tullian Tchividjian Becomes Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church
[9] WARC Delegation Urges South African Reformed Denominations to Keep Alive Merger Negotiations
[10] Dutch Reformed Church Donates Office Equipment to Organization Fighting the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
[11] Pro-Life Leaders Hold News Conference in Wichita, Kansas at Beginning Stages of George Tiller’s Trial for Performing Late-Term Abortions
[12] WRC/BPC Presbyterians and Education Conference Messages Available On-Line


[1] North Carolina Judge Orders Homeschool Mother to Put Kids in Public School

North Carolina Judge Ned W. Mangum on 6 March 2009 ordered Venessa Mills to cease homeschooling her three children and to enroll the children into public schools.

Venessa Mills was in court for divorce proceedings precipitated by her husband’s repeatedly committing adultery, of which Mr. Mills admitted to under oath.

Venessa Mills presented abundant evidence showing that the Mills children are well adjusted and well educated, with all three children academically ahead of their grade level, and with two of the three children academically ahead by two grade levels.

Judge Mangum ruled overwhelmingly against Mrs. Mills on every point. Despite the evidence presented about the Mills children’s academic achievement, the judge stated the children would do better in public school. When issuing his verdict, Judge Mangum stated that his decision was not ideologically or religiously motivated. He did however, tell Mrs. Mills that public school will "challenge the ideas you've taught them." Additionally, Magnum ruled that custody of the children will be split fifty-fifty between Venessa Mills and her ex-husband.

Homeschooling students and parents from across North Carolina will descend on the Capitol in Raleigh for a rally on 24 March 2009 to show their representatives that homeschooling families have a voice in North Carolina education-related legislation.

Further information about this legal case is available through the Homeschool Injustice blog.

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


[2] PCUSA Vote to Weaken Fidelity and Chastity Amendment Behind after Voting by Sixty-Four Percent of Presbyteries

As of 10 March 2009, in voting by sixty-four percent of Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) presbyteries on the amendment to weaken section G-6.0106b of the PCUSA Constitution that requires “…fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness” for ministers being ordained, forty-two presbyteries have voted in favor of weakening the amendment and sixty-nine have voted to oppose the weakening amendment.

In order to enact the weakening amendment, eighty-nine presbyteries would have to vote in favor. The remaining presbyteries have until 28 June 2009 to complete voting on the weakening amendment.

Nineteen presbyteries that voted not to weaken the Fidelity and Chastity Amendment the last time the issue was presented have voted in favor of the weakening amendment during the current voting.

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


[3] ARP First Presbytery Spring 2009 Meeting Approves Memorial to Synod to Sever All Fraternal Relations with the PCUSA

In the spring 2009 meeting of First Presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church, a memorial to the upcoming June 2009 Synod meeting was approved that calls for the ARP Church to sever all fraternal relations with the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).

In other business, First Presbytery voted down a proposal to request Synod to divide the Presbytery; went on record as supporting church planting in Scotland, requested the assistance of Outreach North America and World Witness, and gave permission for the treasurer of First Presbytery to receive funding for this project; and elected elder Bob Stone as moderator and the Rev. John Currid as vice moderator for the fall 2009 term, and elected the Rev. Vaughn Hathaway as moderator for the spring 2010 term.

+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Center, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729

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


[4] Is Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Planning to Terminate Calvinist Professors?

In a Christianity Today article dated 10 March 2009 titled, “Tiptoeing through TULIP - Layoff allegations reveal Calvinism tensions at Baptist seminary,” writer Jim Jones investigates allegations that, “[Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) president] Paige Patterson had met with professors and implied that the seminary, which is facing economic problems, might first target Calvinist professors if it had to resort to layoffs.”

In a February 2009 blog post, Pastor Wade Burleson of Enid, Oklahoma, raised the issue after receiving the information from SWBTS professors who attended the meetings with Patterson. Burleson surmises that his blog article resulted in the seminary temporarily retreating from its alleged plan to fire the Calvinists.

SWBTS characterizes the allegations as false information, with one SWBTS professor urging Burleson to "repent of your lies and slanders." In a subsequent blog article, Burleson declined to repent, and provided further details about recent goings-on at SWBTS.

+ Christianity Today International, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188, 630-260-6200, Fax: 630-260-0114, mwhite@christianitytoday.com


[5] Time Magazine Ranks “The New Calvinism” as Third of Ten Ideas Currently Changing the World

In an online article titled “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now,” Time Magazine ranks “The New Calvinism” as the third most influential idea currently changing the world. First place goes to “Jobs Are The New Assets,” which extols the value of “human capital” in a world where the value of other assets is markedly shrinking, and second place goes to “Recycling the Suburbs,” where vacant retail property is being converted to libraries, schools, and other municipal functions.

“10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now” author David van Biema says, “Calvinism is back...John Calvin's 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism's buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism's latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination's logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time's dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.”

Van Biema continues, “Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation's other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness…by a logic we may not understand but don't have to second-guess. Our…purpose…is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism…[H]ard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) [is currently limited] to a few crotchety Southern churches.”

John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Albert Mohler are cited by the author as the leading voices of “The New Calvinism.”

+ Time Magazine, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, New York 10020-1393, 800-843-8463


[6] CRCNA Board of Trustees Agrees to Budget Cuts

The Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) has approved a series of financial measures geared toward helping the church to weather the current financial crisis.

The cost-cutting measures include CRCNA employees in both the U.S. and Canada having to increase their contribution for employer-provided health insurance, a reduction in the amount the CRCNA pays toward employee pensions, and a four percent cut in pay in lieu of a pension reduction for ordained employees who are part of the ministers’ pension plan.

Additionally, US$2 million in budget cuts in other areas will be made.

+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org


[7] Atheist Magician Penn Fraser Jillette Encourages Christian Evangelism

Magician and outspoken atheist Penn Fraser Jillette of the magic act “Penn and Teller,” in a YouTube video posted at ThinkChristian.net, says he has no respect for Christians who do not share their faith.



Penn tells about a “polite and kind” businessman who handed him a Gideon Bible and shared the Gospel message. Touched by the man’s gesture, Penn said, “If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and you think it’s not worth telling someone about it, how much do you have to hate him to not proselytize? To believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell people? This man cared enough about me to proselytize.”

+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803, crcna@crcna.org

+ The Gideons International, Post Office Box 140800, Nashville, Tennessee 37214, 615-564-5000, tgi@gideons.org


[8] Tullian Tchividjian Becomes Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

Tullian Tchividjian, 36, grandson of Billy Graham, has accepted the call to serve as senior pastor at Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC), and the New City Presbyterian Church (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) of 650 people which Tchividjian founded has merged with the 2,200-member CRPC. The combined congregation will remain in the CRPC’s current denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. CRPC was pastored for forty-seven years by D. James Kennedy who died in September 2007 at the age of 76.

Tchividjian’s call was endorsed unanimously by the sessions of both churches and by a ninety-one percent favorable vote of the CRPC congregation.

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

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

+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org


[9] WARC Delegation Urges South African Reformed Denominations to Keep Alive Merger Negotiations

A World Alliance of Reformed Churches delegation that had been mediating now-stalled unification talks between the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) and the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC), expressed their desire for the talks to resume saying, “We lament the apparent breaking of once shining hopes. Nevertheless, we do not lose heart.”

The other two churches involved in the unification process are the Reformed Church in Africa (RCA) and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa (DRCA).

+ World Alliance of Reformed Churches, 150 route de Ferney, Post Office Box 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6240, Fax: 41-22-791-6505, warc@warc.ch

+ Dutch Reformed Church, Posbus 13528, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria, South Africa, 012-342-0092, Fax: 012-342-0380, algemenesinode@ngkerk.org.za

+ 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

+ Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, Posbus 2368, Pretoria
0001, South Africa, 012-322-8885, Fax: 012-322-7909, kobus@nhk.co.za

+ Dutch Reformed Church in Africa, Post Office Box 2103, Vryburg 8600, South Africa, 53-914706


[10] Dutch Reformed Church Donates Office Equipment to Organization Fighting the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

The Dutch Reformed Church has donated a computer and photocopying machine to the Kgomotso Counseling Centre (KCC) in Tsabong, Botswana to assist the center in providing timely service to the community as they continue to fight the HIV/AIDS scourge.

The KCC was founded by Christians with a view to helping people change their behavior towards HIV/AIDS, and provides psychosocial support for orphans and those living with HIV/AIDS.

+ Government of Botswana, P.O. Box 240, Gaborone, Botswana,
267-373-200, Fax: 267-353-101, parliament@gov.bw

+ Dutch Reformed Church, Posbus 13528, Hatfield 0028, Pretoria, South Africa, 012-342-0092, Fax: 012-342-0380, algemenesinode@ngkerk.org.za


[11] Pro-Life Leaders Hold News Conference in Wichita, Kansas at Beginning Stages of George Tiller’s Trial for Performing Late-Term Abortions

Jury selection for abortionist George Tiller’s trial on nineteen counts of performing illegal, late-term abortions began on 16 March 2009, with the trial expected to begin on 23 March 2009.

Tiller is known for performing late-term, partial-birth abortions, where the baby’s head-only is delivered face down, the abortionist plunges forceps into the back of the baby’s skull, and then suctions out the baby’s brains before crushing the baby’s skull and completing the delivery of the now-dead child.

A press conference by Reformed Presbyterian pastor the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition, Troy Newman of Operation Rescue, and other pro-life leaders was held 16 March 2009 in front of Wichita, Kansas’ Sedgwick County Courthouse where plans for Tiller's criminal trial were discussed.

Daily prayer vigils are planned at the courthouse and evening prayer vigils will be held at local churches for the entire time the jury selection and trial is taking place. A national call was made to the faith and pro-life community and to national leaders to come pray in Wichita once the trial begins.

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

+ Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741


[12] WRC/BPC Presbyterians and Education Conference Messages Available On-Line

As a part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of Western Reformed Seminary, the seminary held a joint conference with the Northwest Presbytery of the Bible Presbyterian Church on the subject "Presbyterians and Education." The five messages of the conference now are available online. The PowerPoint slides accompanying three of the messages additionally are available in PDF format.

The five messages are:

1. "The Presbyterian Tradition of an Educated Clergy," by John A. Battle;
2. "Presbyterians and the American University," by Christopher K. Lensch;
3. "The Unity of Truth," by Stephen Brinegar;
4. "J. Gresham Machen's Predictions Concerning Public Education," by James Huff;
5. and "The Covenantal Education of Children," by G. W. Fisher.

+ Western Reformed Seminary, 5 South G Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405, 253-272-0417, Fax: 253-627-4882, registrar@wrs.edu