Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] PEF Family Conference Scheduled 12-17 July 2010 at Milligan College in Milligan College, Tennessee
[2] Death of Dr. Ui Hwan ("John E.") Kim on 10 May 2010 – Led Sessession of Forty Percent of CRC Korean Membership
[3] Church of Scotland to Mark 450th Anniversary of Scottish Reformation 23 May 2010
[4] Church of Scotland Proposes Closure of St. Andrew’s Press to Cut Costs
[5] Nassau, Bahamas, Church of Scotland Congregation Votes to Leave Kirk and Join Evangelical Presbyterian Church of America
[6] Aurora, Illinois First Presbyterian Church Leaves PCUSA after Payment Agreement of US$140,000
[7] Isle of Lewis, Scotland, Golf Club Refused Permission to Open Bar on the Sabbath after Protest by Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Churches
[8] Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly Begins Meeting on 17 May 2010 at Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland
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[1] PEF Family Conference Scheduled 12-17 July 2010 at Milligan College in Milligan College, Tennessee
The Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship is holding the 2010 Family Evangelism Conference with the conference theme “Finishing the Great Commission with Unfinished People” 12-17 July 2010 at Milligan College in Milligan College, Tennessee.
Speakers and panelists for the conference include the Rev. Al Baker, Dr. Phil Blevins, Dr. Don Clements, the Rev. Richard Fisher, Dr. George Joseph Gatis, Walter Howard, Dr. Bill Iverson, and Ambassador Alan Keyes.
Registration is available at www.pefministry.org, or by calling 800-225-5733.
+ Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship, 425 State Street, Suite 312, Bristol, Virginia 24201, 276-591-5335, Fax: 276-591-5349, admin@pefministry.org
+ Milligan College, Post Office Box 500, Milligan College, Tennessee37682, 423-461-8700, chshell@milligan.edu
[2] Death of Dr. Ui Hwan ("John E.") Kim on 10 May 2010 – Led Sessession of Forty Percent of CRC Korean Membership
"The history of the church has been observing a pendulum which moving between purity and unity of the church. Without conservative methods, unity would break the purity of truth; purity has been polluted by over-strong unity; unity has been broken when purity has been overemphasized." - Dr. Ui Hwan "John E." Kim
Dr. Ui Hwan ("John E.") Kim, a worker of God, passed away at 2:30 p.m. on 10 May 2010; he was seventy-seven years old. Dr. Kim was in the Sunchonhyang hospital in Seoul, South Korea, and underwent surgery because of a chronic disease. However, he did not recover following surgery. Visitation was in the Yonsei Severance Hospital in Seoul. The funeral lasted five days; the encoffining rite was at 8:00 p.m. on 13 May ; the bier left home at 9:00 p.m. on 14 May. The burial place is the Family Park in Cheonan, South Korea. Surviving Dr. Kim are his wife, Won Sun Gang, his three sons, and two daughters.
Dr. Kim was born in Daeduk-eup, Jangheung-Gun, Jeollanam-Do in Korea on 19 November 1933. The Korean War broke out while he was in junior high school. In the middle of the battlefield, he prayed, "God, if you rescue me in the war, I will believe in you." That was the first time Dr. Kim ever prayed in his life. Throughout the war, his values were changed and he started to knock upon the door of theology.
He graduated from Jinju High School in 1951 and Kosin University in 1957. He went to Covenant Graduate School in 1959 and transferred in 1960 to Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, graduating with a bachelor of divinity degree (B.D.). He obtained a master of theology (Th.M.) degree from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1963 and received his Ph.D. from Temple University. He was ordained as a pastor by the Philadelphia Presbytery in 1966.
After a year, he became an assistant professor in Chongshin University in 1967. He became an associate professor in 1969 and a full professor in1973; he resigned his professorship and returned to the United States again in 1976. He was president of International Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, California, from 1982 to 1995 and a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1985. He served as president of Chongshin University from 1995 to 1999 and then served as the third president of Calvin University in South Korea in 2002 to 2007.
Dr. Kim showed great talent not only as a scholar, but also as a pastor. He founded and served Saehan Church (1968 to 1972), Eden Church (1972 to 1975), and Los Angeles Korean Christian Reformed Church (1976 to 1995). He was later called by Sungbok Jung Ang Church where he served from 1999 to 2002.
Also, Dr. Kim attended the Reformed Ecumenical Synod's meeting in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1968 as a representative from the Hapdong Presbyterian Church. He was active as an establishing director of the Asia Union Theological Graduate School.
+ www.c-w-kr
+ Hyo-Eun Ahn – Translator (Thank you! - Ed.)
+ Darrell Todd Maurina – Research (Thank you! - Ed.)
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org
[3] Church of Scotland to Mark 450th Anniversary of Scottish Reformation 23 May 2010
A 13 May 2010 article in the Stornoway Gazette titled “Scottish Reformation to be marked at General Assembly” reports that the Church of Scotland 2010 General Assembly, at 4:00 p.m. on 23 May 2010 in a special session, will mark the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation, when Scotland, led by John Knox, formally broke with the Papacy and reestablished the church under Reformed principles.
+ Stornoway Gazette, 10 Francis Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis HS12XE, Scotland, 01851-702-687, newsdesk@stornowaygazette.co.uk
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page
[4] Church of Scotland Proposes Closure of St. Andrew’s Press to Cut Costs
An 11 May 2010 article by Ian Swanson in The Scotsman titled “Book Thrown at the Kirk over Plan to Shut Publishing House” reports on the backlash both inside and outside the Church of Scotland (COS) over plans to close down the Kirk’s publishing house, St. Andrew’s Press, a publisher of general and religious books.
The former Scottish Episcopal Church Bishop of Edinburgh, Richard Holloway, said that the COS looks like it is "pulling up the drawbridge."
John Macgill, convener of the COS publishing committee, said the proposal would end more than fifty years of book publishing by the COS, and: "What remains would then be a small print-management operation which would exist solely to produce internal resource material.” The committee plans to present a self-funding business plan to the 2010 COS General Assembly in hope of having the closure decision overturned.
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ Scottish Episcopal Church, 21 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EE, Scotland, 0131-225-6357, Fax: 0131-346-7247, Contact Page
[5] Nassau, Bahamas, Church of Scotland Congregation Votes to Leave Kirk and Join Evangelical Presbyterian Church of America
A 17 May 2010 article by Brian Donnelly in The Herald titled “Congregation Quits Kirk in Protest over Gay Ordination” reports that the Nassau, Bahamas, congregation of St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland (Church of Scotland in the Bahamas) (COSB)) has voted to disassociate with the COSB and associate with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of America (EPC) over the Church of Scotland’s appointment of a homosexual minister to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.
More than fifty COS churches have said that they will not accept homosexual ordination under any circumstances, which signals a possible schism in the COS in 2011 when the commission on the issue of homosexual ordination reports back to the COS 2011 General Assembly.
On another note, Brian Donnelly describes the Evangelical Presbyterian Church as a “fundamentalist” church because the EPC “takes the position homosexuality is against the Scriptures and is opposed to women being ordained.”
An 18 May 2010 article by Alison Lowe in The Tribune titled “Church Breakaway Linked to Gay Controversy” reports that the Rev. Scott Kirkland of the Lucaya Presbyterian Church in Freeport, Bahamas, and elder Captain Dugie McNab will represent the congregations of St. Andrews, Lucaya, and the Kirk of the Pines in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas (all COSB), at the 2010 COS General Assembly meeting where they will "bid the Church of Scotland farewell" after 200 years, as all three churches have voted to disassociate with the COS and associate with the EPC.
+ The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland G2 3QB, 0141- 302-7000, Fax: 0141-302-7117, On-lineEditor@theherald.co.uk
+ The Tribune, Shirley Street, Post Office Box N-3207, Nassau, Bahamas, 242-322-1986, 242-328-2398, ecarron@tribunemedia.net
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org
[6] Aurora, Illinois First Presbyterian Church Leaves PCUSA after Payment Agreement of US$140,000
The 152 year-old, 700 member First Presbyterian Church of Aurora, Illinois, was dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) on 11 May 2010 by a 58-48 vote of the Blackhawk Presbytery after the church agreed to pay the presbytery a US$140,000 dismissal fee and other long-term provisions. US$85,000 of the fee will be contributed to the Wayside Cross Ministries (Aurora, Illinois) Building Fund; US$55,000 of the settlement will be used by the presbytery for reimbursement of all expenses related to the dismissal process, with the remaining funds to be distributed to the presbytery’s Mission Strategies and Resources Board to support currently approved presbytery missions.
First Presbyterian Church is now affiliated with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
+ Daybreak Communications, Inc., Post Office Box 414, Batavia, Illinois 60510, 630-879-8828, info@religionwire.com
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Blackhawk Presbytery, Post Office Box 157, Oregon, Illinois 61061, 815-732-3258, Fax: 815-732-2569, office@blackhawkpresbytery.org
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org
[7] Isle of Lewis, Scotland, Golf Club Refused Permission to Open Bar on the Sabbath after Protest by Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)'s Presbytery of Lewis
A proposal by the Stornaway Golf Club on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, to open their bar on the Sabbath was rejected by the Western Isles Licensing Board in a four-to-three vote after protests by the Presbytery of Lewis of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).
Clerk to the Presbytery of Lewis, Callum MacLean, wrote: "We would remind the licensing court of their responsibilities before the higher court of Almighty God and of the reality of their being called to account for actions which will further permit the desecration of the Lord's Day."
+ The Daily Record, 67 Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland, 0141-309-3251, reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk
+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org
[8] Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly Begins Meeting on 17 May 2010 at Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland
The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)’s 2010 General Assembly began 17 May 2010 at the Liberton Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In his opening address on 18 May 2010, newly-inducted Moderator the Rev. David Fraser argued that the problems which individuals, the nation, and the Church face have a common source – an approach to life which is not is not based on the Bible.
In a keynote address on the subject of “Scotland’s Reformation – a Blueprint for the Progress Today,” marking the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation, the Rev. Tim McGlynn, who himself came from a Roman Catholic background, argued: “The nation was changed not simply by the preaching of Knox, but with the help and support of the Lords of the Congregation. His return to Scotland and the opportunities afforded him came from godly men in places of influence and importance. We need a generation of godly men and women who will bring the convictions of a Biblical and Reformed faith back into the councils, institutions and parliament of the nation once again.”
+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org
