Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Group of Muslims Cheer and Shout “Allahu Akbar” as Dearborn, Michigan, Police Arrest Four Christians for Evangelizing Muslims at Arab International Festival after Federal Appeals Court Ruling against Dearborn Censorship (Extended Article)
[2] Acting Mayor of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Touts Use of “Decoy Jews” to Trap Moroccan Youth Committing Anti-Semitic Acts
[3] U.S. Senate Bill Gives Federal Government Power to Shut Down the Internet in Response to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Directive
[4] Documentary about Bela Biszku, Hungarian Communist Interior Minister who Facilitated Retributions after Failed 1956 Revolution, Screened in Budapest
[5] 2010 Lorain (Ohio) International Festival Features Food from Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain
[6] CRCNA Minister Publishes Book about Father who Served Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Mission in Zimbabwe
[7] CRCNA Synod 2010 Wrap-Up
[8] Uniting General Council 2010 Meeting 18-28 June 2010 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Merge World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council
[9] Acton Institute Acquires Christian's Library Press, Publishes New Book: 'Ecumenical Babel'
[10] Lancaster Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, New York, to Pay US$550,000 to Retain Church Property after Leaving PCUSA for EPC
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[1] Group of Muslims Cheer and Shout “Allahu Akbar” as Dearborn, Michigan, Police Arrest Four Christians for Evangelizing Muslims at Arab International Festival after Federal Appeals Court Ruling against Dearborn Censorship (Extended Article)
An 18 June 2010 ASSIST News article by Mark Ellis titled “Three Christians Arrested in Outreach to Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan,” reports that after the city of Dearborn, Michigan, in 2010 banned the distribution of Christian literature in the vicinity of the city’s yearly Arab International Festival, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted an emergency motion on behalf of Pastor George Saieg, allowing him to distribute literature and talk about his faith to Muslims at the festival.
On 18 June 2010, while proclaiming their faith in Christ to some of the hundreds of thousands of festival attendees, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, co-director of Acts 17 Apologetics Ministries, along with David Woods and Paul Rezkalla, were arrested on breach of peace charges by Dearborn city police.
A Canadian attending the festival said that a crowd of fifteen to twenty Muslims watching the exchange between the evangelists and other Muslims cheered and shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “Allah is the greatest”) as the police arrested the three evangelists. The Canadian commented: “I never thought I would see this in America.”
A 22 June 2010 ASSIST News Service article by Dan Wooding titled “Thomas More Law Center Represents Four Christian Missionaries Arrested at Arab Festival in Dearborn” reports that the arrests at the festival are being dubbed “police enforcement of Sharia law,” and that a fourth person, Negeen Mayel, was arrested on the same charge and an additional charge of failure to obey a police officer’s orders while, from 100 feet away, filming the discussions and subsequent arrests.
The four arrested are being represented by the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), whose President and Chief Counsel Richard Thompson commented:
“These Christian missionaries were exercising their Constitutional rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion, but apparently the Constitution carries little weight in Dearborn, where the Muslim population seems to dominate the political apparatus.
“It’s apparent that these arrests were a retaliatory action over the embarrassing video of the strong arm tactics used last year by Festival Security Guards. This time, the first thing police officers did before making the arrests was to confiscate the video cameras in order to prevent a recording of what was actually happening.
“Contrary to the comments made by Police Chief Ron Haddad, our Constitution does not allow police to ban the right of free speech just because there are some hecklers. Not all police officers approve of the way their department treated these Christians.”
A TMLC lawyer on 21 June 2010 faxed a letter to Chief Haddad demanding that the three video cameras and tapes illegally seized from the missionaries be immediately returned.
+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com
+ Acts 17 Apologetics Ministry, nabeel@acts17.net
+ Thomas More Law Center, 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, 734-827-2001, Fax: 734-930-7160, info@thomasmore.org
[2] Acting Mayor of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Touts Use of “Decoy Jews” to Trap Moroccan Youth Committing Anti-Semitic Acts
A 22 June 2010 Religion News Blog article titled “Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Wants to Use ‘Decoy Jews’ to Combat Anti-Semitism” reports that the acting mayor of Amsterdam, Netherlands, is considering the use of “decoy Jews” in order to catch the mostly-Moroccan youths who commit such anti-Semitic acts as giving the Nazi salute to the Jews that they encounter. Additionally under consideration is the use of “decoy homosexuals” to catch the mostly-Moroccan youths who commit acts of “intolerance and violence” toward homosexuals and Jews.
+ Religion News Blog, Contact Page
[3] U.S. Senate Bill Gives Federal Government Power to Shut Down the Internet in Response to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Directive
A 17 June 2010 Vision to America article titled “New Bill Gives Obama ‘Kill Switch’ To Shut Down The Internet” reports that a bill being championed by U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut would give “absolute power” to the U.S. Government to shut down the Internet in response to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security directive, thus giving emergency powers to the U.S. Government which could be used to silence free speech under the pretext of a national emergency.
+ American Vision, P O Box 220, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 770-222-7266, Fax: 770-222-7269, Questions@AmericanVision.org
+ United States Senate, Washington DC 20510, 202-224-3121, ahazen@aoc.gov
+ U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington DC 20528, 202-282-8000, Contact Form
[4] Documentary about Bela Biszku, Hungarian Communist Interior Minister who Facilitated Retributions after Failed 1956 Revolution, Screened in Budapest
A 17 June 2010 article on the Politics.hu website titled “Documentary on '56 Retributions Minister Screened” reports that a documentary titled “Crime Without Punishment,” about Bela Biszku, the Hungarian Communist interior minister who facilitated retributions against revolutionaries after the failed October 1956 revolution, was screened in a Budapest, Hungary, restaurant 16 June 2010 after objections by Biszku’s daughters were withdrawn.
In the documentary, Bela Biszku characterizes the 1956 uprising as a “counter-revolution,” says he has no regret or remorse for the death penalties pronounced during the post-1956 retaliations, argued that it was the judges rather than him who had passed the sentences, denied that he had intervened in the criminal procedures as a minister, and stated that Imre Nagy, Hungary’s prime minister in 1956 who was sentenced to death two years later, "deserved his fate".
The only published comment on the Politics.hu article as of 22 June 2010 described Biskzu as “a filthy murderer” and said that Biszku’s daughters “enjoyed a life of luxury from the heinous crimes of their monster father.”
+ Politics.hu, 36-30-370-3561, editors@politics.hu
[5] 2010 Lorain (Ohio) International Festival Features Food from Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain
The Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain, Ohio, will be participating in the 2010 Lorain, Ohio International Festival & Bazaar 25-27 June 2010 by preparing and selling 1000 chicken paprikas dinners with stuffed cabbage, seventy-five roasters of dumplings with gravy, 5000 stuffed cabbages, twenty roasters of haluska, 600 palacsintas, and numerous Hungarian pastries.
Hungarian Cultural Night, 23 June 2010 at the Lorain Palace, will feature the Csardas Dance Company from Cleveland, Ohio, the Lorain Hungarian Folk Dancers, and the music ensemble Harmonia that specializes in Eastern European folk music.
+ 2010 Lorain International Festival & Bazaar, information@loraininternational.com
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, General Secretary, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
[6] CRCNA Minister Publishes Book about Father who Served Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Mission in Zimbabwe
James Fraser came to Zimbabwe in 1937 to serve in a Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland mission, and became known and loved by the people of Zimbabwe, who named him Thandabantu, meaning “the man who loves the people”.J. Cameron Fraser, James’ son and pastor of First Christian Reformed Church in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, has written Thandabantu: The Man Who Loved the People, a biography of the senior Fraser, which Sinclair B. Ferguson calls “…a book whose value is out of all proportion to its size. It will move your emotions, challenge your commitment, and refine you.”
Thandabantu is available in the U.S. from Reformation Heritage Books for US$7.00, in Canada from Essence Publishing for C$7.75, and in the United Kingdom from Peter Reynolds Books.
+ J. Cameron Fraser, 127 Beaverbrook Road North, Lethbridge, Alberta T1H 5Z5, Canada, 403-381-4017, sosbooks@ymail.com
+ Reformation Heritage Books, 2965 Leonard Street Northeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525, 616-977-0599, orders@heritagebooks.org
+ Essence Bookstore, 20 Hanna Court, Belleville, Ontario, Canada K8P 5J2, 800-238-6376, Contact Page
+ 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
+ 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] CRCNA Synod 2010 Wrap-Up
The Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA)’s Synod 2010 finished on 19 June 2010, after addressing several items of business including:
-- Synod 2010 elected the Rev. Aldon Kuiper, pastor of Trinity CRC in Rock Valley,
-- Synod 2010 agreed on a process that could lead to the adoption in 2011 of new, expanded guidelines on allowing children to take part in the Lord's Supper;
-- Synod 2010 unanimously ratified the appointment of Rev. Julius T. Medenblik as the new president of Calvin Theological Seminary;
-- Synod 2010 delegates asked God to forgive the failure of the CRCNA to respond justly and compassionately over the years to victims of sexual abuse, and joined in prayer to repent that perpetrators of abuse have not always been disciplined adequately;
-- Synod 2010 voted to instruct the Board of Trustees of the CRCNA to establish a task force to compile a biblically based, Reformed perspective on humanity’s role as a steward of God’s creation;
-- Synod 2010 adopted the Report on Migration, which will be used as a guide and as the foundation for wide-ranging educational and advocacy materials and efforts to address the challenges faced by undocumented persons in the United States and Canada; and,
-- Synod 2010 turned down the requests of two CRCNA congregations for permission to move their memberships from classes in Michigan to Classis Minnkota, because of differing views between the churches and their Michigan classes over the issue of women serving as ministers, elders or ministry associates.
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org
+ Calvin Theological Seminary, 3201 Burton Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, 800-388-6034, Fax: 616-957-6101
[8] Uniting General Council 2010 Meeting 18-28 June 2010 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Merge World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council
The Uniting General Council 2010 began its eleven day meeting on 18 June 2010 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to merge the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council into one body called the World Communion of Reformed Churches -- a worldwide affiliation of 80 million Christians from 108 countries coming together as one body in Christ.
Attending the council meeting is Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), who expressed the desire to see the same level of cooperation between the WCC and the merged group as has existed between the WCC and the two groups that are merging.
Tveit commented: “We now see a more visible unity of Christ in the spirit of fellowship,” and said that though the merger is bringing more people together around the table, “Unfortunately, we don’t all yet share the Eucharist, but we do live out of the same baptism.”
+ World Communion of Reformed Churches, info@reformedchurches.org
+ 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
+ Reformed Ecumenical Council, 2050 Breton Road Southeast, Suite 102, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, 616-949-2910, rvh@recweb.org
+ World Council of Churches, 150 route de Ferney, CH-1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-791-0361
+ Calvin College 3201 Burton Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, 616-526-6000
[9] Acton Institute Acquires Christian's Library Press, Publishes New Book: 'Ecumenical Babel'
The Acton Institute (AI) has acquired the imprint of the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based book publisher Christian's Library Press (CLP). Since 1979, CLP has published influential texts on Christian leadership, stewardship, and theology, and will continue to pursue an active publishing schedule under the administration of the AI.
The first CLP book published under AI's oversight is Ecumenical Babel: Confusing Economic Ideology and the Church's Social Witness, by Jordan J. Ballor, which is a critical engagement of the ecumenical movement’s approach to ethical and economic issues, Ecumenical Babel updates a line of criticism articulated by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Ramsey, and Ernest W. Lefever. Arguing for the continuing importance of Christian ecumenism, Jordan J. Ballor seeks to correct the errors created by the imposition of economic ideology onto the social witness of ecumenical Christianity as represented by the Lutheran World Federation, the newly formed World Communion of Reformed Churches, and the World Council of Churches. Ecumenical Babel is a voice for sustained ecumenical dialogue, vital ecclesiastical witness, and individual Christian conscience.
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ The Acton Institute, 161 Ottawa Avenue Northwest, Suite 301, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, 616-454-3080, Fax: 616-454-9454, info@acton.org
+ Christian's Library Press, 161 Ottawa Northwest Suite 301, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, 616-454-3080, Fax: 616-454.9454, Contact Page
+ World Communion of Reformed Churches, info@reformedchurches.org
+ World Council of Churches, 150 route de Ferney, CH-1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-791-0361
[10] Lancaster Presbyterian Church of Lancaster, New York, to Pay US$550,000 to Retain Church Property after Leaving PCUSA for EPC
A 20 June 2010 article by Jay Tokasz in The Buffalo News titled “Lancaster Congregation will Pay $550,000 after Break from Presbyterian Church” reports that the Lancaster Presbyterian Church (LPC) of Lancaster, New York, will pay US$550,000 to the Presbytery of Western New York (PWNY) of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in order to retain their church property after the congregation in 2008 voted unanimously to leave the PCUSA for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) after years of disagreement over social issues and biblical interpretation, then sued to maintain ownership of their church property.
LPC unsuccessfully argued that the church’s incorporation in 1828 nullified the 1981 PCUSA Book of Order change that says local congregations hold their property “in trust” for the benefit of the PCUSA and must turn the property over if leaving the PCUSA. The New York Court of Appeals declined to hear an appeal of the case.
The LPC must raise US$175,000 and take out a mortgage for the remaining US$375,000 by 18 August 2010 in order to pay off the PWNY. The PWNY determined the US$550,000 payoff amount by adding together their legal fees, LPC’s unpaid per capita dues for the past ten years or so, and ten percent of the church property value, which was recently appraised at US$875,000.
+ The Buffalo News, Post Office Box 100, Buffalo, New York 14240, 716-849-4444, Fax: 716-856-5150
+ Presbytery of Western New York, 2060 Union Road, West Seneca, New York 14224, 716-668-1995, Fax: 716-668-5336, BronwenB@pbywny.org
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org
