22 September 2010

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Erskine Board and Alumni Drop Lawsuit against ARP General Synod, ARP General Synod Drops Appeal of Preliminary Injunction Arising from Lawsuit

[2] PCA Stated Clerk Responds to Funding Plan Critics

[3] Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Lexington, Virginia, Breaks Ground on New Church Building

[4] Bishop of Calvin Synod, the Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan, Ordained 18 September 2010 in Fairfield, Connecticut

[5] Proposal Made to Teach Environmental Studies and Climate Change in Presbyterian Church in Cameroon Primary Schools

[6] Evangelical & Reformed Historical Society to Celebrate 300 Years of Reformed Church Presence in the U.S. on 23 October 2010 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

[7] Wellesley, Massachusetts, Sixth-Graders Taken on Field Trip to Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center Mosque Where They Joined Muslims in Prostrated Prayer

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[1] Erskine Board and Alumni Drop Lawsuit against ARP General Synod, ARP General Synod Drops Appeal of Preliminary Injunction Arising from Lawsuit

A 17 September 2010 article in the Anderson Independent Mail titled “Erskine Lawsuit Ends” reports that the Erskine College and Theological Seminary Board of Trustees and the Erskine Alumni Association have dropped their lawsuit against the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) General Synod (GS) resulting from the ARP GS’s March 2010 vote to replace the Erskine board. The ARP GS dropped its appeal of the temporary injunction against the ARP GS, which forbade the replacement of Erskine board members.

In a curious turn of events, the official ARP GS publication “The ARP News Update” announced the Erskine developments with a press release from lawsuit plaintiff the Erskine Alumni Association’s president and president-elect.


+ Anderson Independent Mail, 1000 Williamston Road, Anderson, South Carolina 29621, 864-260-1244, williamsde@independentmail.com

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

+ Erskine College and Theological Seminary, 2 Washington Street, Due West, South Carolina 29639, 864-379-2131, 864-379-2167, norman@erskine.edu


[2] PCA Stated Clerk Responds to Funding Plan Critics

In a 17 September byFaith Magazine article titled “Stated Clerk Responds To Funding Plan Critics,” Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) Stated Clerk L. Roy Taylor responded in general to critics of the Funding Plan for the Administrative Committee (FPAC) approved by the PCA 38th General Assembly currently being considered and voted upon by the PCA presbyteries. PCA Stated Clerk Roy Taylor further took Dr. Dominic Aquila to task by refuting many of Dr. Aquila’s arguments against presbyterial adoption of the FPAC, and criticized Dr. Aquila for not bringing up Aquila’s FPAC objections earlier in the deliberative process.

Dr. Aquila on behalf of those against adoption of the FPAC, and the Rev. Dr. David Silvernail on behalf of those for the FPAC, spoke at an 18 September 2010 unofficial meeting of the Elders of the PCA Blue Ridge Presbytery (BRP) in Roanoke, Virginia, in order to assist the BRP in making its voting decisions at the upcoming 8 October 2010 stated meeting in Winchester, Virginia. DVDs and CDs of the 18 September meeting are available through Barker Media at:

http://www.barkerproductions.net/shop.asp?action=cat&catID=21494.

A detailed article by Don Clements about the BRP informational meeting was published 18 September 2010 in The Aquila Report:

http://theaquilareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2970:blue-ridge-presbytery-hosts-qaa-forum-on-proposed-changes-to-pca-book-of-church-order-chapter-14&catid=50:churches&Itemid=133

As of 20 September 2010, four PCA presbyteries have voted against the FPAC and one presbytery has voted in favor. A total of twenty-seven presbyteries voting against the FPAC are required to defeat the proposal.


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

+ The Aquila Report, c/o Metokos Press, 211 Main Street, Suite 108, Narrows, Virginia 24124, 540-726-8223, operations@theaquilareport.com


[3] Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Lexington, Virginia, Breaks Ground on New Church Building

Pastor Paul Carter of Grace Presbyterian Church (GPC) (Presbyterian Church in America) in Lexington, Virginia, led a service of dedication the afternoon of 19 September 2010 for the congregation’s new church facilities to be built three miles north of the current church facilities located in downtown Lexington.


Photograph by Janis Wilbur


Planning for the new GPC structure began in earnest ten years ago as the congregation and its ministries began to outgrow the capacity of the current church structure and limited downtown parking.

GPC actively ministers to the students of Washington & Lee University (W&L) and Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.), and currently conducts two Sunday morning services during the school year.

GPC supports a Reformed University Fellowship ministry at W&L led by the Rev. Jon Talley, a Navigators small group Bible study led by V.M.I. chemistry professor LTC Daren Timmons, and a church family “adopt-a-cadet” program for V.M.I. students.


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

+ Reformed University Fellowship, 1700 North Brown Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, 678-825-1070, Contact Page

+ Navigators, Post Office Box 6000, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80934, 719-598-1212, Fax: 719-260-0479, questions@navigators.org


[4] Bishop of Calvin Synod, the Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan, Ordained 18 September 2010 in Fairfield, Connecticut

The Rev. Albert W. Kovacs reported 20 September 2010 that the Rt. Rev. Bela Poznan was ordained Bishop of the Calvin Synod - a United Church of Christ (UCC) Conference - on 18 September 2010, in Fairfield, Connecticut. The sermon, in English, was offered by the Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President of the UCC. The Rev. Dr. John Deckanback, Central Atlantic Conference Minister, presided over the service and presented the Conference Ministers' Medallion of office to Bishop Poznan.

The Rt. Rev. Louis Medgyesi officiated in the administration of the rite of ordination, assisted by the Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, both bishops emeriti of the Calvin Synod. The Reformed Church of Hungary was represented by the Rev. Dr. Zsolt Kadar, Superintendent and General Secretary of the Collegium Doktorom, Reformed Church in Hungary, in Debrecen, Hungary.

Many pastors from Hungarian Reformed churches participated in the ordination service. The UCC Connecticut Conference was represented by several officers and local pastors, as the ordination service emphasized the Church's connections and unity, a principle of authentic Calvinism.

Several hundred people attended the traditional Hungarian church dinner after the ordination service.


+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, General Secretary, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com

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

+ Connecticut Conference, 125 Sherman Street, Hartford, Connecticut 06105, 860-233-5564, Fax: 860-231-8111, info@ctucc.org

+ Central Atlantic Conference, 916 South Rolling Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21228, 410-788-4190, Fax: 410-788-9485, ajones@cacucc.org

+ Reformed Church in Hungary, MRE Zsinata1146 Budapest, Abonyi u. 21., Hungary, 30-3361-666, info@reformatus.hu

+ Magyar Református Egyház, Contact Page


[5] Proposal Made to Teach Environmental Studies and Climate Change in Presbyterian Church in Cameroon Primary Schools

A 17 September 2010 article by Regina Liengu Etaka in the Cameroon Tribune titled “Bamenda: Climate Change to be Included in Presbyterian Schools Curricular” reports that officials of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) are proposing that environmental studies and climate change be taught as a separate subject in the church’s more than 130 primary schools. The PCC officials hope that the Cameroon government will begin including questions regarding climate change in major examinations so that the same type of studies will be adopted by other schools throughout Cameroon.


+ Cameroon Tribune, Sopecam Marketing and Communication, 1218 Yaoundé– Cameroun, Cameroun, 237-22-30-32-26, smc@cameroon-tribune.cm

+ Presbyterian Church in Cameroon


[6] Evangelical & Reformed Historical Society to Celebrate 300 Years of Reformed Church Presence in the U.S. on 23 October 2010 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

The Evangelical & Reformed Historical Society will celebrate 300 years of Reformed Church presence in the U.S. on 23 October 2010 at the Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Following a morning board meeting and a 1:00 p.m. worship service, lectures on “300 Years of Reformed Church Presence in the U.S.” and “The Future of the Historical Society: Center for the Study of E&R Heritage” will be presented.

Registration is US$10.00 via telephone at 717-290-8734 or at the door. Further information is available at:

http://www.erhs.info/News_files/ERHS_Fall_2010_poster.pdf


+ Evangelical & Reformed Historical Society, 555 West James Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603, 717-290-8734, Fax: 717-394-4254, erhs@lancasterseminary.edu

+ Lancaster Theological Seminary, 555 West James Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603, 717-393-0654, Fax: 717-393-4254, seminary@lancasterseminary.edu



[7] Wellesley, Massachusetts, Sixth-Graders Taken on Field Trip to Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center Mosque Where They Joined Muslims in Prostrated Prayer

Sixth-grade social studies students from Wellesley Middle School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on 25 May 2010, were taken on a field trip to the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center’s mosque, where they were told by mosque officials that in Mohammed’s seventh-century Arabia women were allowed to vote, while in America women only gained that right a hundred years ago, that the only meaning of Jihad in Islam is a personal spiritual struggle, and that Jihad has historically had no relationship with holy war. Additionally, the students prostrated themselves alongside Muslim men in a prayer to Allah. Teachers did not intervene, neither were parents told about the details of the field trip.

Americans for Peace and Tolerance on 15 September 2010 reported that:

“The Islamic Society of Boston was founded by Abdulrahman Alamoudi, who is currently serving twenty-three years in jail on terror charges. For years, its board of trustees included Yusuf al Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who was banned by Bill Clinton from the United States in 1999. Qaradawi now chairs the Muslim American Society’s university, which offers classes inside the mosque. Over half the mosque’s [US]$15.5 million price tag was funded by wealthy Saudis and since it opened, several of its leaders, donors and members have been implicated in Islamic extremism.

“Oussama Ziade, a big donor to the mosque, is now a fugitive in Lebanon after being indicted in 2009 for dealing in the assets of an Al Qaeda financier. Ahmad Abousamra, the son of the Boston Muslim American Society’s former vice-president Abdulbadi Abousamra, is now a fugitive in Syria, fleeing the country before being indicted in 2009 on charges of aiding Al Qaeda. One of the mosque’s imams, Abdullah Faaruuq, was captured on tape in 2010 telling followers to “pick up the gun and the sword” and to defend another local terrorist Aafia Siddiqui from the U.S. government. Siddiqui, who was one of the imam’s congregants, is an MIT graduate and Al Qaeda member awaiting sentencing for attempting to murder FBI agents in Afghanistan while shouting “death to America.””


+ Americans for Peace and Tolerance, 15 Main Street, Suite 118, Watertown, Massachusetts 02472, Contact Page

+ Wellesley Public Schools, 40 Kingsbury Street, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481, 781-446-6200, web_master@wellesley.k12.ma.us

+ Islamic Society of Boston, 204 Prospect Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, 617-876-3546, Contact Page