12 August 2009

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Jack Williamson, 90, First PCA Moderator, Dies 8 August 2009
[2] U.S. Army National Guard Recruiting FEMA Camp “Internment/Resettlement Specialists” for American Gulag
[3] White House Blog Asks that Opponents of “Health Care Reform” be Reported to the White House via Email
[4] Star Chamber Court Revived for Florida Public School Administrators
[5] Canadian Marriage Commissioner’s Fine Upheld for Refusing to Marry Homosexual Couple
[6] Thirty-Five Church of Scotland Churches Sign Agreement to Not Cooperate with GA Gag Order and Postponement of Addressing Homosexual Ordination Issue
[7] Church of Scotland Calls for Release of Lockerbie, Scotland Pan Am Flight 103 Bomber
[8] Missionaries in India on Trial for Preaching the Gospel
[9] Nigeria Death Toll Climbs in Attack by Islamic Sect
[10] Muslim Leaders in Northern Nigeria Push Regulation of Religious Preaching
[11] Presbyterian Church in Taiwan to Issue Open Letter to U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama
[12] PCUSA Beaver-Butler Presbytery Approves “An Open Declaration to the PCUSA”
[13] 2009 Marks 400^th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Exploration of the Hudson River
[14] Hungarian Reformed Church Designed by Karoly Kos in Obuda, Budapest, Hungary, Featured on Szecesszió Website
[15] New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, Celebrates 175^th Anniversary
[16] Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church of New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Celebrate 175^th Anniversary 19-20 September 2009
[17] Imperial Orange Council Calls for No Change to the Act of Settlement in the United Kingdom
[18] Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Dissenters Banned from Church and Threatened Indirectly with Criminal Trespassing Charges
[19] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Warn Membership of Upcoming 27 September 2009 Pulpit Freedom Sunday


[1] Jack Williamson, 90, First PCA Moderator, Dies 8 August 2009

Jack Williamson, 90, long-time member and ruling elder of First Presbyterian Church in Greenville, Alabama (FPCGA), a founder of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and moderator of the first PCA General Assembly, died 8 August 2009 of complications from a stroke.

Williamson was a B-24 Liberator pilot in World War II and a prisoner of war in Russia. After the war, he studied law and became an attorney in Alabama. Williamson argued cases in local, state, and federal courts—including five church property cases before the United States Supreme Court. He won all five in favor of the churches.

Williamson served Mission to the World (MTW) on the committee for Christ’s College in Taiwan, and on the Committee on MTW. Williamson was on the board of World Magazine, taught at Reformed Theological Seminary, and taught Sunday school for sixty years.

Williamson’s pastor, the Rev. Jeffrey Hamm of FPCGA, began Williamson’s graveside service Monday with the words from the lament of David in 2 Samuel 1:19. For Hamm, the words David cried out upon hearing of the death of King Saul and Jonathan, represented the magnitude of loss felt from Williamson’s passing. “Jack was an exceptional man. God hasn’t made another like him.” Williamson still came regularly to hour-long Sunday morning prayer meetings with the pastor and elders, including the Sunday prior to his death.

“Mr. Jack” Williamson is survived by his wife, Tere, two sons, a daughter, and several grandchildren.

+ byFaith Magazine, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1005, info@byfaithonline.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] U.S. Army National Guard Recruiting FEMA Camp “Internment/Resettlement Specialists” for American Gulag

Article number two in the 11 February 2009 Presbyterians Week,
reported on pending U.S. Congress bill HR 645, the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act, that among other purposes authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Authority to build six or more National Emergency Centers (NECs) throughout the United States on closed or open military facilities.

In a 5 August 2009 blog article, RogueGovernment.com writer Lee Rogers described the recently begun campaign by the U.S. Army National Guard to recruit Internment/Resettlement Specialists to staff the NECs, and summarized the job descriptions “as being to man facilities that could be used to house political dissidents, so-called terrorists, and other individuals that the government doesn’t like.”

Two documents released in April and May of 2009 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), one describing conservatives as “domestic rightwing terrorists,” and the other a “Domestic Extremism Lexicon” that described Internet news purveyors, Christians, constitutionalists, and abortion opponents as being in the same domestic extremist category as neo-Nazis and terrorist bombers. These documents were examined respectively in article number one in the 15 April 2009 Presbyterians Week and article number two in the 5 May 2009 Presbyterians Week.

Lee Rodgers’ blog article references these two DHS documents, and expresses concern that the purpose of the NECs is for the U.S. government to house large numbers of political dissidents.

+ RogueGovernment.com

+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org


[3] White House Blog Asks that Opponents of “Health Care Reform” be Reported to the White House via Email

A 5 August 2009 entry on U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama’s White House blog directs readers to report anything "on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy" to email address flag@whitehouse.gov.

Texas Senator John Cornyn accuses the White House of compiling an "enemies list," and has asked U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama to end the White House effort to collect "fishy" information about health care overhaul that American citizens publish on the Internet.

At a 6 August 2009 political rally in McLean, Virginia for gubernatorial candidate Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds, U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama said of opponents to the proposed health care overhaul, "But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."

+ Dallas Morning News, 508 Young Street, Dallas, Texas 75202, 214-977-8222

+ Fox News, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036, 888-369 4762, Fax: 212 462 6127, yourquestions@foxnews.com


[4] Star Chamber Court Revived for Florida Public School Administrators

Pace High School of Santa Rosa County, Florida, principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman have been charged by federal prosecuting attorneys Randy Hensel and Dixie Morrow with unspecified charges that have been sealed by federal district judge Casey Rodgers, who initially instigated the charges against Lay and Freeman.

The unspecified “crimes” committed by Lay and Freeman have to do with Lay asking Freeman to offer a blessing before a 28 January 2009 luncheon at Pace High School for people who helped with the school's new field house, and now Lay and Freeman are facing possible prison sentences for charges related to the “crimes” they are alleged to have committed by offering the luncheon prayer, charges which remain sealed for unspecified reasons.

The charges may be related to a consent order entered into by the Santa Rosa County, Florida, School District in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in late 2008 that sought to have prayer banned at Pace High School events. The consent decree essentially banned all Santa Rosa County School District employees from engaging in prayer or religious activities. As reported in article thirteen of the 10 June 2009 Presbyterians Week, during the 30 May 2009 Pace High School graduation ceremony, the nearly 400 graduating seniors stood up in protest against the ACLU and recited in unison the Lord’s Prayer.

+ Chuck Baldwin Live, Post Office Box 37070, Pensacola, Florida 32526,
850-944-5709, Fax: 850-944-0577, chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com

+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org


[5] Canadian Marriage Commissioner’s Fine Upheld for Refusing to Marry Homosexual Couple

Voice of the Martyrs Canada spokesman Adele Konyndyk reported that in a ruling dated 19 July 2009, the Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan upheld a lower-court ruling that marriage commissioner Orville Nichols cannot refuse to marry homosexual couples on the basis of his Christian beliefs, and that Nichols must pay the homosexual couple CAN$2500 in compensation.

Citing his Christian beliefs, Nichols refused to marry the homosexual couple in April 2004. Nichols argues that his religious beliefs should be protected under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Nichols has thirty days to appeal the court decision.

+ Mission Network News, 1159 East Beltline Avenue Northeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, 616-942-1500, Fax: 616-942-7328

+ Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Post Office Box 117, Port Credit, Mississauga L5G 4L5, Ontario, Canada, 905-670-9721, Fax: 905-670-7642


[6] Thirty-Five Church of Scotland Churches Sign Agreement to Not Cooperate with GA Gag Order and Postponement of Addressing Homosexual Ordination Issue

The Fellowship of Confessing Churches (FCC) has organized a covenant between thirty-five Church of Scotland (COS) churches to not cooperate with the COS General Assembly’s (GA) postponement for two years of addressing the ordination of homosexual ministers, and to not cooperate with the GA’s gag order against discussion of the issue in the mean time.

The covenant states: "We recognise God's creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family." The covenant additionally states that the signatories, "reject the authority of those who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed."

An unidentified COS member said that the FCC is using the appointment of a homosexual minister at Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, Scotland, as a ruse to set themselves up as a church within the COS so that the FCC churches can retain possession of their church property when they break away from the COS.

+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 8AS, 0131-620-8620

+ Fellowship of Confessing Churches

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722


[7] Church of Scotland Calls for Release of Lockerbie, Scotland Pan Am Flight 103 Bomber

The Church of Scotland is calling upon the government of the United Kingdom to release Libyan terrorist Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people. The convicted mass-murderer has terminal prostate cancer.

+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 8AS, 0131-620-8620

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722


[8] Missionaries in India on Trial for Preaching the Gospel

Gospel for Asia-affiliated missionaries Yash Menon and Rajiv Trivedi had a complaint filed against them with authorities in Jharkhand, India, after being accused of forcefully converting people to Christianity. The complaint was filed by two relatives of a Christian that attended regular prayer meetings in a nearby village conducted by the missionaries. The attendee’s relatives broke into and disrupted a 3 August 2009 meeting where they beat upon the two missionaries.

Village leaders had a 6 August 2009 meeting scheduled to determine whether or not the charges against the missionaries should be sustained. If the charges are sustained, the missionaries may be asked to sign an agreement stating that they will not preach the Gospel or conduct worship services in the village.

+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com

+ Gospel for Asia, 1800 Golden Trail Court, Carrollton, Texas 75010, 972-300-7777, info@gfa.org


[9] Nigeria Death Toll Climbs in Attack by Islamic Sect

Twelve Christians, including three pastors in northern Nigeria’s Borno state are known to have been killed in riots, and twenty Christian churches have been burned by members of an Islamic sect opposed to Western education. The riots were incited by an Islamic extremist sect known as Boko Haram, which initially attacked police and government bases and left in their wake hundreds of people dead along with large property losses. The many Christians abducted by the sect during the rioting are yet to be found.

The Daily Sun in Lagos, Nigeria, reports that the three Christian pastors were given an ultimatum to change their faith to Islam as had been done for the other people taken as hostages. After they refused to convert, the three pastors were beheaded on the instruction of the sect leader, Mohammed Yusuf, shortly after bringing them out of his inner chamber into a courtyard. An eyewitness to the murders of the pastors said that armed sect members cut of the pastors’ heads one after the other, and afterwards shouted “Allah Aakbar,” meaning “Allah is the Greatest,” in wild celebration accompanied by gunfire.

Yusuf was later captured and killed by Nigerian Police, and the Nigerian government is investigating whether or not Yusuf was murdered by police after his capture.

+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org

+ The Sun Publishing Limited, 2 Coscharis Street, Kirikiri Industrial Layout,
Apapa, PMB 21776 Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, 01-5875560, Fax: 01-5875561,
editor@sunnewsonline.com


[10] Muslim Leaders in Northern Nigeria Push Regulation of Religious Preaching

Muslim leaders in Northern Nigeria are pushing for laws to regulate religious preaching. The Christian Association of Nigeria is opposing the proposed laws.

+ Ecumenical News International, Post Office Box 2100, CH–1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-788-7244, eni@eni.ch

+ Christian Association of Nigeria, National Christian Centre, Central Area, Private Mail Box 260 Garki – Abuja, Nigeria, 08035860733, info@canonline.org.ng


[11] Presbyterian Church in Taiwan to Issue Open Letter to U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) is posed to release an open letter to U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama, expressing concern about Obama’s silence in regard to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou’s pro-China leanings, and upcoming meetings between U.S. and Chinese top officials.

The letter will emphasize that human rights are God-given, and that Taiwan’s future must be decided by the Taiwanese people as a nation.

The letter additionally calls the Obama administration to acknowledge the reality that Taiwan and China are distinct and separate entities and more than eighty percent of Taiwanese people nowadays oppose unification with China. The PCT hopes that U.S. leaders will re-examine U.S. policies on China and Taiwan and join other countries in opposing Chinese invasion of Taiwan by military force or other means.

+ Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, 334 Youth Road, Tainan City, 70144 Taiwan, 886-6-235-6277, Fax: 886-6-237-8882, enews@pctpress.org


[12] PCUSA Beaver-Butler Presbytery Approves “An Open Declaration to the PCUSA”

Paula R. Kincaid of the Layman Online reports in a 6 August 2009 article that the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)’s Beaver-Butler Presbytery on 28 July 2009 gave final approval to “An Open Declaration to the PCUSA,” which among other matters, expresses BBP’s adherence to Biblical standards above the machinations of the PCUSA General Assembly.

BBP pastor the Rev. Toby Brown stated: “…the PCUSA is now on notice: There are entire presbyteries who will not allow our General Assemblies to dismantle our faith and our polity by fiat.”

+ Presbyterian Lay Committee, Post Office Box 2210, Lenoir, North Carolina 28645, 828-758-8716, Fax: 828-758-0920, laymanletters@layman.org

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


[13] 2009 Marks 400^th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s Exploration of the Hudson River

English explorer Henry Hudson first sailed up what is now the Hudson River 400 years ago in 1609 on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Dutch settlement of what is now New York began soon after. The Albany, New York, Times Union recognized the descendents of these first Dutch settlers in a 9 August 2009 article by Kenneth C. Crowe II titled “Dutch Ties Connect Region.”

Crowe notes that many descendents of the first Dutch settlers still make their homes in the area around Albany, New York. Crowe too notes that the Dutch Reformed Church, which later became the Reformed Church in America (RCA), was the established church in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and that many RCA congregations remain in the Albany area.
Crowe says that when the English took New Netherland and its capitol New Amsterdam in 1664, that a significant number of Presbyterians found refuge in and joined with the Dutch Reformed Church.

Crowe concludes by noting that there are two to four times as many people in the Albany, New York, region who claim Dutch ancestry than in the rest of New York State and in the rest of the United States.

+ Times Union, Box 15000, News Plaza, Albany, New York 12212, 518-454-5694, ttyler@timesunion.com

+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org


[14] Hungarian Reformed Church Designed by Karoly Kos in Obuda, Budapest, Hungary, Featured on Szecesszió Website

The Transylvania style Szecesszió (Hungarian Secession) design Hungarian Reformed Church in Obuda, Budapest, Hungary, designed by architect Karoly Kos (b. 16 December 1883, d. 25 August 1977), is featured in a 9 August 2009 article on the Szecesszió website.

Writer and photographer Mattia Moretti says: “The reformed church in Obuda (IIIth District) is probably the most famous masterpiece of Karoly Kos in Budapest as well as an outstanding example of the Transilvanya styled Szecesszio design. The National Romantic elements characterize every single detail in this church, combining rural lines, geometrical shaped doors and windows, extensive use of wood element and relief stones on the façade.”

+ Szecesszió Website

+ Reformed Church in Hungary


[15] New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, Celebrates 175^th Anniversary

New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, is celebrating its 175^th anniversary in 2009 with a year-long calendar of events. A 7 August 2009 article in the Blairsville Dispatch by reporter Jeff Himler reviews the history of this small town in Westmorland County, Pennsylvania.

Himler described the history of Church Street in New Alexandria, which at one time had four separate Presbyterian churches. Only two of the church buildings remain, the Reformed Presbyterian Church built in 1870, which is now home to United in Christ Ministries; and the former United Presbyterian Church, which is home to Tall Cedars of Lebanon of North America.

The location of the two churches no longer standing are to the west of the remaining two, including the original log Union Meeting House, constructed in 1810, and shared by three Presbyterian congregations until 1835, when the Reformed Presbyterians, or Covenanters, left to build their own church; and a large brick Presbyterian Church that stood just west of the Reformed Church from 1858 to 1981. In 1976, the Presbyterian and United Presbyterian congregations merged to form the Community United Presbyterian Church located on the outskirts of New Alexandria.

+ Blairsville Dispatch, 116 East Market Street, Blairsville, Pennsylvania 15717, 724-459-6100, Fax: 724-459-7366, jhimler@tribweb.com

+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), 7408 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208, 412-731-1177, Fax: 412-731-8861

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


[16] Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church of New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Celebrate 175^th Anniversary 19-20 September 2009

Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPRPC) of New Castle, Pennsylvania, will celebrate its 175^th anniversary 19-20 September 2009. A dinner will held at the church beginning at noon on 19 September, followed at 1:30 p.m. by a service of celebration with former pastor Bob McFarland delivering the message. Pastor McFarland will deliver an additional message on 20 September at the 11:00 a.m. service. Additionally, Sabbath School will be conducted beginning at 10:00 a.m., and a Sabbath evening service starting at 7:00 p.m. will feature a message by current RPRPC Pastor Charles Brown.

All former members and friends of the congregation are invited to join RPRPC in this weekend of celebration. A special invitation is extended to the people of the Rose Point community and to the sons and daughters of the congregation who have moved away.

+ Rose Point Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1166 Church Alley, New Castle, Pennsylvania 16101, 724-924-9519, modernreformation@yahoo.com

+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), 7408 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208, 412-731-1177, Fax: 412-731-8861


[17] Imperial Orange Council Calls for No Change to the Act of Settlement in the United Kingdom

A recent press release from The Imperial Orange Council (IOC) of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, “Worldwide Orange Warning of Constitutional Crisis” was issued recently in response to proposals by the United Kingdom to amend the 1701 Act of Settlement. Article thirteen in the 28 January 2009 Presbyterians Week cited the 1701 Act of Settlement as saying “…that no Catholic can inherit the crown and any member of the royal family who marries a Catholic is barred from succession to the crown unless his or her spouse agrees to renounce the Catholic faith.”

The IOC press release says: “We believe that if the Act of Settlement was changed to allow a monarch who was from the Roman Catholic tradition, it could provoke a constitutional crisis. They would be effectively serving two masters, as the head of the Roman Catholic Church is also a head of another state and the relationship between Church and State is not clearly defined.”

“In 1990 the Belgian monarch asked to be excused from reigning temporarily because the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church would not allow him to agree with new abortion laws. Temporary abdication is not an option under the British Constitution and a constitutional crisis would have occurred if this had been taken place in the United Kingdom….In Spain in 2001 a precondition of marriage into the Royal Family was that the person had to change their religion to be Roman Catholic before she was allowed to do so….We believe that the reason we have the Act of Settlement was, and is, in order to further good and stable government.”

The Imperial Orange Council represents Orangemen in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, Scotland, England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Ghana and Togo.

+ Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Schomberg House, 368 Cregagh Road, Belfast BT6 9EY, Northern Ireland, 44-0-28-9070-1122, 44-0-28-9040-3700, info@grandorangelodge.co.uk

+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org


[18] Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Dissenters Banned from Church and Threatened Indirectly with Criminal Trespassing Charges

The session of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on 4 August 2009, sent a letter to six dissenting members of the church, ordering the six to stay off the CRPC premises, and indirectly threatening criminal trespassing charges against any of the six who defies the ban. One of the six is Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, the daughter of CRPC founder, the late Dr. D. James Kennedy.

The dissenting six, in a mailing to church members, accused CRPC’s new senior pastor, the Rev. W. Tullian Tchividjian, of deserting the heritage of Dr. Kennedy, of downplaying the church's traditional service in favor of contemporary worship methodology, of replacing some of the CRPC staff with his own people, and for planning to sell land at the church's west campus "to make up for budget shortfalls." The six additionally, on 24 July 2009, mailed out 1600 petitions calling for Tchividjian’s ouster as CRPC senior pastor.

Choir members were addressed at their 5 August 2009 evening rehearsal by church officials, and told to consider resigning if they sign the petition calling for Tchividjian’s ouster. The CRPC session met 10 August 2009 to consider forming a judicial commission to deal with the six main dissidents.

+ The State, 1401 Shop Road, Columbia, South Carolina 29201-4843, 800-888-5353

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


[19] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Warn Membership of Upcoming 27 September 2009 Pulpit Freedom Sunday

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUCS) warned their membership in an 11 August 2009 announcement that the Alliance Defense Fund has announced the second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday for 27 September 2009 where constitutionally-minded pastors are encouraged to exercise their First Amendment rights to speak about political issues and candidates in defiance of the unconstitutional 1954 Johnson Amendment, which limited the free speech rights of ministers to preach in some areas of what the government considered to be “political” matters, lest the church’s tax exemption be yanked by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

AUCS is warning their members to be especially vigilant of churches in Virginia and New Jersey where there are gubernatorial elections scheduled in November. For example, AUCS would consider a violation of the Johnson Amendment had occurred if a Virginia pastor were to mention during his sermon that gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds is a strong and consistent supporter of abortion, and that Deeds in committee voted against a bill to restore to Virginia State Police chaplains the right to pray in Jesus name, said right taken away from them by an earlier executive order of Virginia Governor and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Tim Kaine.

AUCS warns that they “will be watching,” and that AUCS “will report to the IRS any misguided houses of worship that flagrantly violate the law.”

Article number twelve in the 5 August 2009 Presbyterians Week reported that the IRS had dropped an eleven-month investigation into two pre-election 2008 sermons of a Minnesota pastor.

+ Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 518 C Street Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-466-3234, Fax: 202-466-2587, americansunited@au.org

+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025

+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org