9 September 2009

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] U.S. President’s Campaign Organization Launching Patriot Day Campaign to Telephone U.S. Senators in Support of Obama Health Care Legislation to Oppose “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists”
[2] U.S. President Advertising for Cyber-Spy to Collect Information Posted on the Internet by American Citizens
[3] U.S. President, in Live Speech 8 September 2009, Addresses Public School Students in Classrooms in Effort to Implement Obama Political Agenda
[4] Utah Elementary School Principle Apologizes after Showing Students Video where Celebrities Pledge Support to Obama Agenda
[5] Pro-Life Groups Urge Students to Take a Stand against Abortion in Obama Health Care Plan Concurrent with Presidential Address 8 September 2009
[6] Black Pro-Life Leader Says U.S. President Obama Perpetuates Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger’s “Negro Project” for the Extermination of Black Americans
[7] UCC Launches Petition Drive in Support of Health Care Legislation
[8] U.S. President Obama Nominee to Regulatory Affairs Office is Advocate for Hospitals to Remove Organs from Dead without Permission
[9] 13-14 September 2009 Prayer Vigil at U.S. Capitol to Address Taxpayer Funded Abortions
[10] U.S. President Hosts Muslims at White House to Celebrate Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan
[11] November 2009 Virginia Gubernatorial Election Focuses on Moral Issues
[12] Convicted Sex Offenders Must Sign Contract Before Worshipping in the Church of Scotland
[13] Despite Two-Year Moratorium, Church of Scotland’s Third Largest Presbytery Nominates Practicing Homosexual for Ministerial Training
[14] Church of Scotland Supporting Climate Change Day of Prayer on 4 October 2009 in Preparation for United Nations Climate Change Summit
[15] Outer Isles Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Makes Formal Protest Against Sabbath Ferry Operations
[16] Reconvened 2009 PRCA Synod Requires Ministers and Other Consistory Members to Send Children to PRCA-Approved Christian Day Schools
[17] Government Minister in Ghana Praises Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its Role in the Socio-Economic Development of Ghana
[18] Covenant College Gets High Marks in National Survey
[19] Carrollton Presbyterian Church to Prevail in Property Suit with Presbytery of South Louisiana
[20] Meet the Puritans Blog Announced
[21] Naphtali Press Blow Out Sale Offers Four James Durham Plus One Robert L. Dabney Books for US$50 that Retail for US$137
[22] Westminster Larger Catechism Manuscript Transcriptions Available from Westminster Letter Press
[23] Trinity Foundation Publishes Clark and His Critics Volume 7


[1] U.S. President’s Campaign Organization Launching Patriot Day Campaign to Telephone U.S. Senators in Support of Obama Health Care Legislation to Oppose “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists”

U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama’s campaign organization Organizing for America, on 1 September 2009, sent an email message to supporters urging them on Patriot Day, 11 September 2009, to contact members of the U.S. Senate in support of health care legislation proposed by the president in order to, “fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists [RWDT’s] who are subverting the American Democratic Process…,” referring to RWDT’s as those protesting the complete government takeover of the U.S. health care system being proposed by the U.S. president.

U.S. Patriot Day is the annual 11 September observance of the almost 3000 deaths and many injuries sustained by the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks by Islamic terrorists on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.

+ RedState, 1 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Suite 600, Washington DC 20001, contact@redstate.com

+ Organizing for America, c/o BarackObama.com, c/o Democratic National Committee, 430 South Capitol Street Southeast, Washington DC 20003, Contact Form


[2] U.S. President Advertising for Cyber-Spy to Collect Information Posted on the Internet by American Citizens

The White House New Media Office, on 21 August 2009, posted a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for a technology vendor to secretly collect personal information on American citizens from social networking websites such as Facebook.com and Twitter.com.

San Francisco Examiner columnist David Freddoso asks: “[W]ill critical comments on [The Executive Office of the President’s] wall secretly land Facebook users on a blacklist? Will other users begin receiving unsolicited messages, or even requests to sign up for Facebook applications?”

+ National Legal and Policy Center, 107 Park Washington Court, Falls Church, Virginia 22046, 703-237-1970, Fax: 703-237-2090, Email Contact

+ The San Francisco Examiner, 71 Stevenson, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, 415-359-2770, jpimentel@sfexaminer.com

+ White House New Media Office, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20500, 202-456-1414, Fax: 202-456-2461, Contact Page


[3] U.S. President, in Live Speech 8 September 2009, Addresses Public School Students in Classrooms in Effort to Implement Obama Political Agenda

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently sent a letter to U.S. public school principles, urging them to broadcast live to students at noon Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on 8 September 2009, a speech by U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama, designed to bypass parents and directly indoctrinate and influence public school students to support the Obama political agenda.

Liberty Council warns: “Federal law expressly forbids the Secretary of Education or any officer from exercising "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system." 20 U.S.C. § 3403.”

+ Liberty Counsel, Post Office Box 540774, Orlando, Florida 32854, 800-671-1776, Liberty@LC.org

+ U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest, Washington DC 20202, 202-401-2000

+ The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20500, 202-456-1414, Fax: 202-456-2461, Contact Page


[4] Utah Elementary School Principle Apologizes after Showing Students Video where Celebrities Pledge Support to Obama Agenda

Principle Ofelia Wade of Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington, Utah, apologized for the 28 August 2009 presentation of the short film “I Pledge” at a school assembly. “I Pledge” begins with U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama urging a new kind of patriotism based upon “responsibility” where everyone is “to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.”

The film begins with pledges to support local food banks, to smile more, to take care of the elderly, and other innocuous activities, but then adds pledges such as not making obscene gestures while driving, "to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid," to advance stem cell research, to be of service to U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama, to not use plastic grocery bags, to end slavery, and to not flush the toilet after urinating.

Gayle Ruzicka of the Utah Eagle Forum commented: “It's very inappropriate to show a radical, leftist propaganda piece that political to children. If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it's not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it….They shouldn't be troubling our youth with the woes of the world and making them feel like we're in slavery or they have to worry about how many times they flush the toilet or if they have a plastic water bottle.”

+ Salt Lake City Tribune, 90 South 400 West, Suite 700, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101, 801-257-8742, Fax: 801-257-8525, reader.advocate@sltrib.com

+ Utah Eagle Forum, 2486 West Winding Way, South Jordan, Utah 84095, info@utaheagleforum.org


[5] Pro-Life Groups Urge Students to Take a Stand against Abortion in Obama Health Care Plan Concurrent with Presidential Address 8 September 2009

Pro-life groups Stand True Ministries, Students for Life of America, and Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, urged public school students on 8 September 2009, the day of U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama’s address to public school students, to wear plain t-shirts saying only “Abortion is not Health Care” in large letters on the front of the shirt in order to protest the President's current support for nationalized health care that will include government funded abortions.

Stand True Ministries President Bryan Kemper commented: "By [the] very virtue of Obama addressing our students in the classroom at such a critical time when he is dropping in the polls for his radical healthcare reform policies, it is important that students understand that this will be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. Students need to wear their homemade shirts and show school administration, staff, and faculty that indoctrination stops with them."

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

+ Stand True Ministries, Post Office Box 890, Troy, Ohio 45373,
937-339-5648, info@standtrue.com

+ Students for Life of America, 4141 N. Henderson Road, Suite 7, Arlington, Virginia 22203, 703-351-6280, Fax: 866-582-6420, info@studentsforlife.org

+ Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Post Office Box 52708, Riverside, California 92517, 951-750-1114, info@survivors.la


[6] Black Pro-Life Leader Says U.S. President Obama Perpetuates Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger’s “Negro Project” for the Extermination of Black Americans

Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger spearheaded the “Negro Project,” which was designed to eventually eliminate black Americans through birth control. Sanger’s director of the South for what was then called the Birth Control Federation of America (BCFA), Dr. Clarence J. Gamble of Proctor and Gamble, in 1939 wrote a memorandum suggesting that “black leaders might regard birth control as an extermination plot,” so Dr. Gamble suggested Sanger put black leaders into positions where they would appear to be in charge, so to better mislead black Americans to BCFA’s true intentions. Sanger subsequently appointed the BCFA National Advisory Council, which consisted of top echelon black Americans including ministers, physicians, academics, and leaders of industry.

Day Gardner, President of the National Black Pro-Life Union, states that U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama is perpetuating Sanger’s “Negro Project” to exterminate black Americans by pushing to kill as many children as possible through abortion, citing that 17 million of the 50 million unborn American children killed through abortion since the 1971 Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision were black, and that currently there is one black American child killed through abortion for every black American child born in the U.S. Gardner says that Obama has been bought off through significant campaign contributions from abortion providers and that Obama “climbed onto his White House throne by stepping on the backs of aborted babies.”

Gardner concludes: “Abortion is wrong, Mr. Obama and it’s wrong to expect taxpayers to fund the blatant killing of children….[A]bortion is not healthcare. There is nothing healthy about a procedure that mentally, emotionally, and physically scars women—and there is nothing healthy about a dead baby.

+ National Black Pro-Life Union, Post Office Box 76452, Washington DC 20013, 202-834-0844, contact@NBPLU.com

+ Concerned Women for America, 1015 Fifteenth Street Northwest, Suite 1100, Washington DC 20005, 202-488-7000, Fax: 202-488-0806


[7] UCC Launches Petition Drive in Support of Health Care Legislation

The United Church of Christ (UCC) on 8 September 2009 launched a petition drive to the U.S. Congress to obtain before 18 September 2009, 100 thousand signatures of UCC members and supporters in support of health care legislation, in order that government make available universal health care “…as the mark of a just, compassionate and faithful society.”

+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org


[8] U.S. President Obama Nominee to Regulatory Affairs Office is Advocate for Hospitals to Remove Organs from Dead without Permission

U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Cass Sunstein, advocates a government policy of presumptive permission, which would allow hospitals to remove the organs of the dead without the explicit permission of the deceased or the deceased’s family to do so.

Sunstein’s and co-author Richard H. Thaler’s 2008 book “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness,” argues that the main reason that more people do not donate their organs is because they are required to choose donation, pointing out that doctors often must ask the deceased’s family members whether or not their dead relative would have wanted to donate his organs. These family members usually err on the side of caution and refuse to donate their loved one’s organs.

Bill Turner of the Patriotic Resistance comments: “In Sunstein’s America, my organs belong to the state, unless I lay claim to them before hand, presumably by having “Do Not Open” tattooed on my chest in big red letters.”

+ Cybercast News Service, 325 South Patrick, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, 703-683-9733

+ Canada Free Press, 49 Elm Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1H1, 416-977-0183, letters@canadafreepress.com

+ Grassfire.org, Post Office Box 206, Maxwell, Iowa 50161


[9] 13-14 September 2009 Prayer Vigil at U.S. Capitol to Address Taxpayer Funded Abortions

A twenty-seven hour prayer vigil will begin on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol building on 13 September 2009 to address taxpayer funded abortions as part of a national campaign of pro-life and faith leaders called "Abortion is Not Health Care."

Rev. Rob Schenck, President of Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, states: "Our nation is in more than an economic crisis or a crisis over health care. We are in a spiritual crisis and the best way to address it, in fact the only way to address it is through prayer. Every American, no matter how young or old, can and must pray."

Reformed Presbyterian minister the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, comments: "In times of great challenge and crisis, Americans have always turned to God in prayer. We have set these 27 hours apart to seek God for his wisdom, direction and counsel for our nation. This is especially true concerning the national debate on health care.”

"We will be gathering on the historic West Lawn of the United States Capitol to humble ourselves and cry out to God for social justice and human rights. We will be specifically praying that no public monies are used in any way to pay for abortions as part of health care reform.”

"We will be a bold public and prophetic witness that abortion is not health care and that health care reform should bring healing and compassion not violence and brokenness. As people of faith, we do not have to sit on the sidelines and watch as events unfold on the world state. Rather, through prayer, fasting and repentance we can help shape history."

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

+ Christian Defense Coalition, 202-547-1735, 540-538-4741

+ Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, 109 Second Avenue Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-546-8329, Fax: 202-546-6864, Info@FaithAndAction.org


[10] U.S. President Hosts Muslims at White House to Celebrate Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan

U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama hosted a White House dinner 1 September 2009 to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, where Obama praised American Muslims.

Reformed Presbyterian minister and director of the Christian Defense Coalition director the Rev. Pat Mahoney commented that with respect to Christianity, President Obama has:

-- Covered a cross and a sacred symbol for the name of Jesus at a Georgetown University Speech.

-- Chosen not to celebrate the National Day of Prayer at the White House. Even though the National Day of Prayer is an official event declared by Congress.

-- For the first time in 42 years, the Pentagon denied a military flyover at a patriotic rally in Nampa, Idaho because the event was "too Christian."

Mahoney continued: "I applaud the President for reaching out and building a bridge to the Muslim world….However when it comes to the Christian faith tradition, President Obama has shown a profound lack of respect and openness. …[A]t a Georgetown University speech several months ago the President covered up a cross and a sacred symbol for the name of Jesus….[W]ould President Obama ever cover up the Koran during one of his speeches?”

"During the National Day of Prayer, the President had no public events at the White House. Even though that day is an official event declared by Congress. The Christian faith community has to ask, why would the White House hold an event to celebrate Ramadan and not one to celebrate the National Day of Prayer?”

+ Christian Defense Coalition, 202-547-1735, 540-538-4741


[11] November 2009 Virginia Gubernatorial Election Focuses on Moral Issues

The November 2009 gubernatorial election in Virginia has become focused on moral issues after a graduate school thesis written by Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell while a student at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was publicized by the media. McDonnell’s thesis stated that homosexuality, working women, and abortion were detrimental to traditional American families; then calls for passing strong pro-life laws, the creation of a covenant marriage classification, welfare reform, fighting the redefinition of families to include gays and single unwed mothers, and preventing federal funding of state sex education programs, family planning, or contraception.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is using the McDonnell thesis to portray candidate McDonnell as being too conservative for Virginia. As reported in the 12 August 2009 issue of Presbyterians Week, “Virginia State Senator and former Virginia Delegate Deeds is a strong and consistent supporter of abortion, and…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.”

McDonnell held a telephone conference call news conference with reporters on 31 August 2009 to address how his views had changed in the twenty years since he had written the thesis. McDonnell said that his personal religious views are shaped by his Roman Catholic faith. McDonnell expressed opposition to capital punishment except in limited circumstances, and said that vengeance is not the responsibility of the government [Romans 13:4? Ed.]. McDonnell repudiated several of his thesis views, saying now that he supports women in the workplace, supports equal pay for men and women, and said that he would do nothing to change Virginia’s laws on contraception. McDonnell additionally denied that he opposed abortion in cases of rape or incest.

+ The Washington Times, 3600 New York Avenue Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-636-3205

+ VirginiaVirtuecon Blog

+ NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10112, mediainquiries@msnbc.com

+ The Vatican


[12] Convicted Sex Offenders Must Sign Contract Before Worshipping in the Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland will now require convicted sex offenders to sign a formal contract before the offender is allowed to worship in a Church of Scotland church.

+ John Groat Journal, 39 Olrig Street, Thurso, Scotland KW14 7HF, 01847- 892015, Fax: 01847-895740, editor@nosn.co.uk

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


[13] Despite Two-Year Moratorium, Church of Scotland’s Third Largest Presbytery Nominates Practicing Homosexual for Ministerial Training

The Church of Scotland (COS)’s third largest presbytery, the Presbytery of Hamilton (POH), has voted to nominate a practicing homosexual for ministerial training, in spite of the COS General Assembly vote in May 2009 to put a two-year moratorium on any ordinations and inductions of openly homosexual ministers.

The POH consulted with the COS Ministries Council before making the nomination, and were told by the COS Ministries Council that COS ministry assessments "have not been affected by the assembly's decisions, and no-one should suffer any prejudice in any direction as a result."

+ 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


[14] Church of Scotland Supporting Climate Change Day of Prayer on 4 October 2009 in Preparation for United Nations Climate Change Summit

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, The Rt. Rev. William Hewitt, has joined the leaders of other British churches in endorsing a Climate Change Day of Prayer on 4 October 2009 in advance of the United Nations Climate Change Summit being held in late 2009.

Hewitt commented: "Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face in the 21st century. The Church of Scotland is responding to climate change by asking all presbyteries to monitor and reduce their carbon footprint, and I am delighted to join churches elsewhere in Britain and Ireland to call upon all congregations to join in prayer on 4 October. In particular, we would pray that world leaders and governments everywhere are alive to God's will, and that we understand our duty of care for creation and put aside our selfish interests."

+ Action of Churches Together in Scotland, Inglewood House, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland FK10 2HU, 01259-216980, Fax: 01259-215964, Contact Page

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


[15] Outer Isles Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Makes Formal Protest Against Sabbath Ferry Operations

In the 1 September 2009 meeting of the Outer Isles Presbytery of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland made its “most vehement” protest against Caledonian MacBrayne for initiating Sabbath day ferry service between Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, and the Scottish mainland, writing:

“The Presbytery wishes to record that CalMac Ferries Ltd. have broken a written assurance, in 2000, to Comhairle nan Eilean Siar that Sabbath sailings would not be introduced against the Council's wishes; that these sailings were only inaugurated after the solitary Western Isles representative on the Company's Board retired in March this year; that they ignore the weight of petition evidence (3,760 island residents against Sabbath sailings, as opposed to barely 1,200 for); that the Company has refused to make public the legal advice on which it claims it is obliged to provide a 7-day service; and that the service was finally initiated after only five day's notice in July.”

“It further considers the alleged reasons for the commencement of this service to be utterly spurious and an incorrect interpretation of the law cited. It considers reprehensible the fact that commercial, social and entertainment interests appear to be shielded behind this supposed legal necessity and demand that Caledonian MacBrayne make public its legal opinion which precipitated this action.”

"The Presbytery notes too, with regret, that letters of concern from the Sabbath Observance Committee of our Church in 2007 to Western Isles parliamentary representatives, Alasdair Allan MSP and Angus MacNeil MP, were not even granted the courtesy of acknowledgement."

+ Stornoway Gazette, 10 Francis Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis HS12XE, Scotland, 01851-702-687, newsdesk@stornowaygazette.co.uk

+ Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, c/o Rev. Donald A. Ross, Free Presbyterian Manse, Laide, Ross-shire IV22 2NB, Scotland, daross@donaldalexander.freeserve.co.uk


[16] Reconvened 2009 PRCA Synod Requires Ministers and Other Consistory Members to Send Children to PRCA-Approved Christian Day Schools

The reconvened meeting of the 2009 Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA) held on 25-26 August 2009 ruled that PRCA ministers and other consistory members must send their children to PRCA-approved Christian day schools. Home schooling is only considered appropriate in the absence of a PRCA-approved Christian day school.

The PRCA decisions comes as the result of a Grand Rapids, Michigan, PRCA pastor being fired after the congregation became divided over the homeschooling of the pastor’s children, and the PRCA’s desire to clarify the interpretation and application of the related article of the PRCA church order.

+ Michigan Live LLC, 339 East Liberty Street, Suite 210, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104, feedback@mlive.com

+ Protestant Reformed Churches in America, c/o Doug Kuiper, First Clerk, 225 Pierce Street, Randolph, Wisconsin 53956, 920-326-5642, doug@kuiperprca.org


[17] Government Minister in Ghana Praises Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its Role in the Socio-Economic Development of Ghana

Ghana’s Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr. Babal Jamal, spoke 3 September 2009 at the opening of the 47th Annual National Delegates’ Conference of the Women’s Fellowship of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) in Aburi, Ghana, commending the PCG for its contributions to education, health, and agriculture throughout Ghana since the country was established in 1828.

+ Peace FM, Post Office Box 17470, Mile 7 Junction, Achimota – Accra, Ghana, 00233-21-406677, Contact Page

+ Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Post Office Box GP 1800, Accra, Ghana, 233-021-662511, Fax: 233-21-665594, pcghg@yahoo.com


[18] Covenant College Gets High Marks in National Survey

U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 edition of America's Best Colleges ranks Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, fourth among baccalaureate colleges in the South for the second year in a row, eighth in the "Best Values" category in its field, and sixth in the "Economic Diversity Among Top-Ranked Schools" category.

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

+ U.S. News & World Report, 1050 Thomas Jefferson Street Northwest,
Washington DC 20007, 202-955-2000, Contact Page

+ Covenant College, 14049 Scenic Highway, Lookout Mountain, Georgia 30750, 706-820-1560, info@covenant.edu


[19] Carrollton Presbyterian Church to Prevail in Property Suit with Presbytery of South Louisiana

Judge Kay Bates of Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court on 18 August 2009 issued “written reasons” for the court’s judgment that Carrolton Presbyterian Church (CPC) of New Orleans, Louisiana, will prevail in its property-related lawsuit against the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)’s Presbytery of South Louisiana (PSL). Judge Bates issued a temporary restraining order against the presbytery and its collaborative administrative commission from the Synod of the Sun (SOS), prohibiting the taking of any hostile action against CPC pending the filing of Judge Bates’ preliminary injunction.

PSL contended that a trust clause in the PCUSA Book of Order encumbered the local church property even though the CPC congregation is the legal property owner, CPC had never placed its property into any trust, and CPC had actually claimed an exemption from the PCUSA Book of Order trust clause during the eight-year grace period after the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) and the United Presbyterian Church (UPC) that became the PCUSA.

Applying neutral principles of law to the dispute, Judge Bates ruled that “the unfettered right to dispose of all of one’s property is mutually exclusive of any right by a third party to dictate the disposition of that same property.… This is a classic example of a civil court exercising its jurisdiction to resolve a property dispute by applying neutral principles of law – without appealing to church doctrine.”

+ 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


[20] Meet the Puritans Blog Announced

A new collaborative blog called Meet the Puritans has debuted.
The blog authors are Marty Foord, Danny Hyde, Mark Jones, and Rowland Ward.
The purpose of Meet the Puritans is to promote the seventeenth century English Puritans by means of original research, theological and devotional commentary upon the writings of the Puritans, reviews of books about the Puritans, recommendations of books about the Puritans, and by providing Recommended Reading of helpful materials in the study of the Puritans.

+ Meet the Puritans Blog, pastor@oceansideurc.org


[21] Naphtali Press Blow Out Sale Offers Four James Durham Plus One Robert L. Dabney Books for US$50 that Retail for US$137

Naphtali Press is having a big sale to make room for other inventory. Buy three books by James Durham (Lectures on Job, Ten Commandments and Sermons on Isaiah 53) and Robert L. Dabney’s Sensualistic Philosophy for US$50 plus postage. Durham’s 700 pages on Isaiah 53 retails for US$45; act now and pick up the other three books for only US$5 more! Offer good while supplies of all the titles last through the end of September 2009.

+ Naphtali Press, Post Office Box 141084, Dallas, Texas 75214, naphtali@naphtali.com


[22] Westminster Larger Catechism Manuscript Transcriptions Available from Westminster Letter Press

Several editions of The Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly: A Transcription of the Surviving Manuscripts with Notes, transcribed and edited by Chris Coldwell, with forewords by J. Ligon Duncan, Ph.D. and Chad B. Van Dixhoorn, Ph.D., are available from Westminster Letter Press starting at US$50 plus postage.

+ Naphtali Press, Post Office Box 141084, Dallas, Texas 75214, naphtali@naphtali.com


[23] Trinity Foundation Publishes Clark and His Critics Volume 7

The Trinity Foundation has published Clark and His Critics Volume 7. Clark and His Critics combines The Philosophy of Gordon H. Clark (aka the Festschrift) edited by Ronald Nash and Clark Speaks from the Grave. The hardback edition is US$29.95, and the paperback edition is US$21.95.

+ The Trinity Foundation, Post Office Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692, 423-743-0199, Fax: 423-743-2005, tjtrinityfound@aol.com