23 February 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Afghan Christian Convert from Islam Set to be Executed for Apostasy

[2] Christian Farm Worker in Pakistan Murdered by Muslim Employer for Taking a Day Off

[3] Female Fifteen-Year-Old Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church Member Still Missing Eight Months after Kidnapped by Muslim Extremists

[4] Car-Bombed Northern Ireland Presbyterian Church Reopens after One Year

[5] Presbyterian Church in Nigeria Reinstates Suspended Ministers, Elders, and Members from the Mid East Synod

[6] Church of Scotland Minister Joins Nationwide Protests of 400,000 Highway Potholes by Baptizing Baby in Pothole-Font

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[1] Afghan Christian Convert from Islam Set to be Executed for Apostasy

The American Family Association has announced that Said Musa, a former Afghan Muslim who became a Christian eight years ago, is soon to be executed for the Islamic crime of apostasy. A spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Justice was quoted as saying: “The sentence for a convert is death and there is no exception.”

As of 20 February 2011, 1461 U.S. military members have been killed in the Afghanistan war officially named “Operation Enduring Freedom”.


+ American Family Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803, 662-844-5036

+ The Washington Post, 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington DC 20071, 202-334-6000, Contact Form


[2] Christian Farm Worker in Pakistan Murdered by Muslim Employer for Taking a Day Off

A 17 February 2011 report from Compass Direct News Service titled “Pakistani Christian Killed by Muslim Employer, Relatives Say” reports that twenty-four year old Christian Imran Masih of the Punjab Province of Pakistan was killed by his Muslim farmer employer for taking a day off without previously notifying the employer.

The employer notified Masih’s family that he had hanged himself in a cattle stall on the farm, and the young Christian was found hanging six inches from the ground with no platform anywhere in the vicinity from which to jump. Police refused to file charges against those involved in Masih’s death, and Masih’s family was initially denied the autopsy report. After Christians staged a two hour blockage of a main road, charges were files against the farmer, the farmer’s brother, and two other men. The “skewed” autopsy report was eventually released, saying only that Masih had died from hanging.

Two men that washed Masih’s body reported genital swelling and a bruise on the back of Masih’s head. An investigator for Community Development Initiative, a legal aid group assisting Masih’s family, are considering exhumation of Masih’s body to further investigate the cause his of death.

Masih is survived by his wife of eight months and an unborn child.


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


[3] Female Fifteen-Year-Old Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church Member Still Missing Eight Months after Kidnapped by Muslim Extremists

Fifteen-year-old Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) member Hiba Abdelfadil Anglo disappeared eight months ago returning from a trip to Khartoum, Sudan, to obtain transcripts for admission to secondary school. Two days later, threatening phone calls and a ransom demand of SDP1,500 (equivalent to US$560) began, with one kidnapper asking Hiba’s widowed mother: “Don’t you want to have this slave back?”

It is believed that the kidnappers are Muslim extremists who targeted Hiba’s family because they are Christians, and that police are aiding the criminals. Hiba’s mother said that when she went to a police station to open a case, police bluntly told her she must first leave Christianity for Islam.

In October 2010, a Muslim businessman seized property belonging to the SPEC in Khartoum, Sudan, allegedly aided by the police.


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

+ Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Post Office Box 57, Khartoum, Sudan, 249-11-776 807



[4] Car-Bombed Northern Ireland Presbyterian Church Reopens after One Year

A 21 February 2011 Belfast Telegraph article titled “Newry Congregation ‘Overjoyed’ as Bombed Church Rises Again” reports that a 20 February 2011 service at Downshire Road Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in Ireland) in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, celebrated the reopening of the church 363 days after a car bomb set off in downtown Newry by Irish republican dissidents heavily damaged the church.

UK£350,000 worth of repairs and restoration work were required to fix the church damage, where the annex was destroyed by the bomb, and the main church building had historic stained glass windows destroyed and suffered severe structural damage.

The 22 February 2010 car bomb contained 115kg of explosives, making it the largest bomb detonated in Northern Ireland since before 2000.


+ Belfast Telegraph, 124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast BT1 1EB, Northern Ireland, 028-9026-4000, writeback@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

+ Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Church House, Belfast BT1 6DW, Northern Ireland, 028-9032-2284, Fax: 028-9041-7301, Info@PresbyterianIreland.org


[5] Presbyterian Church in Nigeria Reinstates Suspended Ministers, Elders, and Members from the Mid East Synod

A 19 February 2011 Vanguard article titled “Presbyterian Church Reintegrates Suspended Ebonyi Deputy, Others” reports that the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (PCN), after an emergency meeting of the PCN General Assembly Executive Committee, called in an effort to demonstrate Christian love and forgiveness, has lifted the suspensions of the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Prof. Chigozie Ogbu and eleven other ministers, elders, and members of the PCN who were ousted after misunderstandings arose between the PCN and its officers in the Mid East Synod.

For background information on this article, please read the 5 January 2011 Presbyterians Week article [3] Presbyterian Church of Nigeria Indefinitely Suspends Seven Clergy, Two Elders, and Three Others for Alleged Acts of Insubordination and Lawlessness Capable of Destabilizing the Church and Causing a Breach of Public Peace, and the 12 January 2011 Presbyterians Week article [5] Mid-East Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria Leaving to Establish Reformed Presbyterian Church of Nigeria.

+ Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria, 234- 7742861, community@vanguardngr.com

+ Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, 26 Ehere Road, Post Office Box 2635, Aba, Abia State, Nigeria, 082-234-780


[6] Church of Scotland Minister Joins Nationwide Protests of 400,000 Highway Potholes by Baptizing Baby in Pothole-Font

An 18 February 2011 article in The Scottish Sun titled “Hole-y War” reports on the creative Scotland-wide protests springing up because there are 400,000 unrepaired potholes on Scotland’s 40,000 miles of roadways.

Church of Scotland minister the Rev. Alan Sorensen of Wellpark Mid Kirk Church in Greenock, Scotland, recently performed Scotland's first pothole christening on eleven-month-old Olivia Logsdon, commenting: “There's no shortage of christening fonts opening up on our roads, although I think most motorists would prefer they remained in churches.”


+ The Sun, 3 Thomas More Square, London E98 1XY, England, 020-7782-4000, corporate.info@the-sun.co.uk

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

16 February 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] World Magazine Associate Publisher Warren Cole Smith to Present “Faith-Based Fraud” at the Aréopagus in Johns Creek, Georgia, on 17 February 2011

[2] PCA South Florida Presbytery Submits Overture for Term Limits on Stated Clerk and Program Committee Coordinators

[3] The Layman Editor Emeritus the Rev. Parker T. Williamson Comments on PCUSA General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission Ruling Overturning Synod Conviction of Minister that Conducted Lesbian Nuptials

[4] Christian Hoteliers in England Prosecuted for Not Renting Double Rooms to Homosexual Couples

[5] Joint Statement on Homosexual Marriage and Registration of Civil Partnerships in Churches Issued by Five Christian Organizations in Great Britain

[6] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Argues in Friend-of-the-Court Brief that U.S. Constitution Allows Christian Counseling Student to be Expelled from Public College Graduate Degree Program for Refusal to Counsel Homosexuals on Sexuality Issues

[7] February 2011 Reformation Voice Available for Download

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[1] World Magazine Associate Publisher Warren Cole Smith to Present “Faith-Based Fraud” at the Aréopagus in Johns Creek, Georgia, on 17 February 2011

World Magazine Associate Publisher Warren Cole Smith will be presenting “Faith-Based Fraud: Corruption, Hypocrisy and Heresy in the Church” at 7:30 p.m. on 17 February 2011 as a special Aréopagus Forum at the Perimeter Church (Presbyterian Church in America) in Johns Creek, Georgia, near Atlanta.

Mr. Smith will highlight some of the most significant faith-based frauds in American history, will look at the theological flaws that allow these scandals to recur, and will provide a prescription for what the Christian church can do to spot and prevent both theological and financial fraud.


+ Aréopagus Forum, Dr. Jefrey Breshears, 1220 William Robert Drive, Marietta, Georgia 30008, 770-427-7806, info@theareopagus.org

+ World Magazine, 85 Tunnel Road, Suite 12, Asheville, North Carolina 28805, 828-232-5415, Fax: 828-253-1556, mailbag@worldmag.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] PCA South Florida Presbytery Submits Overture for Term Limits on Stated Clerk and Program Committee Coordinators

A February 2011 article in byFaith Magazine Online titled “Overture Two Seeks Term Limits for Elected Leaders” reports that the Presbyterian Church in America’s South Florida Presbytery has submitted an overture for consideration at the upcoming 39th General Assembly that would impose term limits on the Stated Clerk and Program Committee coordinators, for a maximum of two five-year terms. The proposed term limits would not affect those currently in the positions, but would take effect upon the nomination and election of someone new for each position.


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

+ South Florida Presbytery, 950 University Drive, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, 305-323-7495, Contact Page


[3] The Layman Editor Emeritus the Rev. Parker T. Williamson Comments on PCUSA General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission Ruling Overturning Synod Conviction of Minister that Conducted Lesbian Nuptials

An 11 February 2011 article by Editor Emeritus the Rev. Parker T. Williamson in The Layman titled “Whatever!” commented upon the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)’s General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (GAPJC) 8 February 2011 ruling overturning the conviction by the Synod of the Northeast’s Permanent Judicial Commission of the Rev. Jane Southard for violating the PCUSA Constitution by performing a nuptial service in 2008 for two homosexual women.

Mr. Williamson wrote that the decision effectively says “that marriage is not necessarily what The Bible, The Book of Confessions, The Book of Order, and longstanding judicial precedent say that it is,” then quoted two GAPJC concurring opinions saying respectively that the PCUSA Constitution is “contradictory,” and that the PCUSA Constitution fails to provide “an effective and unambiguous definition of Christian marriage.”

Mr. Williamson continued:

“So much for:

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

“But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Mark 10:6-9

“Marriage is a union between one man and one woman, designed by God to last so long as they both shall live.” The Book of Confessions

Mr. Williamson described the 2006 PCUSA General Assembly “Peace, Unity and Purity” report as permitting “the [PCUSA] constitution to mean whatever each, all, or any combination of its 173 presbyteries says that it means,” and concludes that the fourteen members of the GAPJC have, by judicial fiat, defined marriage to be: “Whatever!”


+ 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

+ Synod of the Northeast, 5811 Heritage Landing Drive, East Syracuse, New York 13057, 315-446-5990, Fax: 315-446-3708, Contact Page


[4] Christian Hoteliers in England Prosecuted for Not Renting Double Rooms to Homosexual Couples

A 24 January 2011 article in The Christian Institute titled “Homosexuals Try to Crush Christian B&B” reports that Christian Bed & Breakfast owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull of Marazion, Cornwall, England, on 18 January 2011 were ordered by His Hon. Judge Andrew Rutherford to pay UK£3,600 in damages to a homosexual couple who were denied a double room due to the Bull’s Christian convictions.

The judge ruled that the Equality Act Regulations concerning sexual relations mandate that civil partnerships must be treated in the same way as marriage. The judge did though give the Bulls permission to appeal, saying that his ruling “does affect the human rights of the defendants to manifest their religion and forces them to act in a manner contrary to their deeply and genuinely held beliefs.”

Following the verdict, Mrs. Bull has continually received obscene, abusive, and menacing phone calls at her home that she must answer because Mr. Bull has been critically ill in a hospital, and Mrs. Bull is concerned about missing a legitimate phone call. The Bulls are in danger of losing their home where they operate the B&B due to severe financial difficulties.

The Bulls’ legal defense was funded by The Christian Institute, whose spokesman Mike Judge said: “This ruling is further evidence that equality laws are being used as a sword rather than a shield. Peter and Hazelmary were sued with the full backing of the Government-funded Equality Commission. Christians are being sidelined. The judge recognises that his decision has a profound impact on the religious liberty of Peter and Hazelmary.”

A 27 January 2011 BBC article titled “Gay Pair Refused a Room Take Legal Action” reports that a homosexual couple from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, England, are suing a B&B owner in Cookham, Berkshire, England, for refusing to rent the couple a room due to the B&B owner’s Christian convictions.


+ The Christian Institute, Wilberforce House, 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 8DG, England, 44-0-191-281-5664, Fax: 44-0-191-281-4272, info@christian.org.uk

+ BBC, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, England, Fax: 020-8008-2398


[5] Joint Statement on Homosexual Marriage and Registration of Civil Partnerships in Churches Issued by Five Christian Organizations in Great Britain

In response to proposals by legislators in Great Britain to lift the ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship and to allow such ceremonies to have a religious element, on 15 February 2011, the following Joint Statement titled “Homosexual Marriage and the Registration of Civil Partnerships in Churches” was issued on behalf of the Christian organizations Affinity, The Christian Institute, Christian Concern, Reform, and the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches:

“There has been speculation in the press about the Government's proposals for civil partnerships to be registered in places of worship. There has also been speculation, and indeed confusion, over the separate issue of scrapping the definition of marriage in order to allow two people of the same sex to hold a marriage certificate.

“Government proposals to allow civil partnerships in churches implement changes made in the 2010 Equality Act. However, there has been no announcement from the Government that it has any plans to introduce full same-sex marriage.

“The Definition of Marriage

“The thousands of churches that our organizations represent hold firmly to the clear teaching of the Bible that marriage is the lifelong, exclusive union of one man and one woman. This is the definition that has long been recognized in English law and, indeed, by almost all cultures for all of human history.

“Marriage was ordained by God for the good of all people and is a holy institution. It was also designed to represent something of the relationship between Christ and his church. There are two partners to a marriage because there are two sexes. Marriage is a complementary covenant involving the bringing together of the two sexes not only for the purposes of procreation but also to reflect more fully the image of God.

“We are also concerned about the effect of declaring that the institution in which children are raised does not require both a mother and a father.

“For all these reasons we, and many others, would firmly oppose any efforts to eradicate the definition of marriage and impose a new definition on everyone in order to satisfy the demands of gay rights groups.

“Civil Partnerships in Churches

“We reiterate our long-held opposition to allowing civil partnerships to be registered in churches. It is a breach of undertakings made by Government ministers during debates on the Civil Partnership Bill. Parliament was persuaded to pass that Bill, in part, because it was made clear that civil partnership was a civil rather than a religious institution and would not take place in religious premises.

“However, there are a small number of religious groups who are not content with being able to carry out civil partnership blessing ceremonies, as they currently do, but who want the legal registration itself to take place in their premises. In response to the demands of these groups, the Government is embarking on a course of action that is bringing it into conflict with thousands of evangelical churches and the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

“In any legislation, churches must be protected against the possibility, now and in the future, of any kind of legal action being brought against churches which conscientiously disagree with civil partnerships.

“When it comes to equality legislation, permission often turns rapidly into coercion. In a country where faith-based adoption agencies have been forced to close or cut their religious ties by equality law, where Christian marriage registrars can be dismissed for their religious views on marriage and where Christian B & B owners are forced to pay compensation to same-sex couples, Christians will need a great deal of reassurance that the Government is not about to do something that will make their situation even worse.”

Affinity’s membership includes the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the First International Presbyterian Church Presbytery of England, the Free Church of Scotland, and the
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).


+ Affinity, The Old Bank House, 17 Malpas Road, Newport, NP20 5PA England, 01633 855165, peter@affinity.org.uk

+ The Christian Institute, Wilberforce House, 4 Park Road, Gosforth Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 8DG, England, 44-0-191-281-5664, Fax: 44-0-191-281-4272, info@christian.org.uk

+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page

+ Reform, Post Office Box 1183, SheffieldS10 3YA, England, Contact Page

+ Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, Contact Page

+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales, epcew@epcew.org.uk

+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ireland , Clerk of Presbytery, Evangelical Bookshop, College Square East, Belfast BT1 6DD, Northern Ireland, 028-9032- 0529, ebsbelf@btconnect.com

+ First International Presbyterian Church Presbytery of England, 44-0-208- 9974706, info@ipc-presbytery.com

+ Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LS, 0131-226-5286, Fax: 0131-220-0597, catherine@freechurchofscotland.org.uk

+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, mailto:principalclerk@fccontinuing.org?subject=


[6] Americans United for Separation of Church and State Argues in Friend-of-the-Court Brief that U.S. Constitution Allows Christian Counseling Student to be Expelled from Public College Graduate Degree Program for Refusal to Counsel Homosexuals on Sexuality Issues

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS) on 11 February 2011 filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Eastern Michigan University, arguing that under the U.S. Constitution, the university can expel Christian student Julea Ward from the graduate counseling program because Ms. Ward was unwilling to “affirm any behavior that goes against what the Bible says” and would always refer to other counselors “all clients who seek counseling for sexual relationship issues she believes to be against the teachings of the Bible.”

AUSCS executive director and United Church of Christ minister the Rev. Barry Lynn commented: “Public universities are expected to serve the whole community. They have every right to set up non-discrimination policies that serve the public interest….Professional ethics standards forbid counselors to discriminate on the basis of their personal religious beliefs. The university has done the right thing by requiring its students to uphold those standards and treat all clients fairly and equally. We hope the appeals court agrees.”


+ 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

+ Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197, 734-487-1849

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


[7] February 2011 Reformation Voice Available for Download

The February 2011 Reformation Voice is available for download at the Heidelberg Reformation Association website.

+ Heidelberg Reformation Association, Rev. Howard Sloan, Secretary, 5543 Business 220, Bedford, Pennsylvania 15522

9 February 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Announces the Rev. Graeme Craig as Moderator-Designate for 23-26 May 2011 General Assembly

[2] Free Church of Scotland Minister Resigns Ministry over Introduction of Hymns and Instrumental Music into Worship Services

[3] UK Used UK£1.85 Million of World Poverty Funds to Pay for Roman Pontiff’s September 2010 Visit

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[1] Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Announces the Rev. Graeme Craig as Moderator-Designate for 23-26 May 2011 General Assembly

The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (FCSC) announced 3 February 2011 that the Rev. Graeme Craig has been named as moderator-designate for the 23-26 May 2011 General Assembly meeting.

Since 2009, Pastor Craig has served the FCSC of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Pastor Craig has first served as minister on the Ardnamurchan peninsula and later in Lochalsh & Glenshiel FCSC where he also took responsibility for Genelg and Arnisdale FCSC.

In the struggles which engulfed the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) in the years prior to 2000, due to the unwillingness of the Assembly majority to carry out church discipline responsibilities, Mr. Craig played a pivotal support role for those loyal to the constitutional position of the historic FCS, ensuring that those of them who were members of Assembly had ready access to accurate and relevant information. In recognition of the abilities shown during that critical period, when the FCS divided in January 2000 into the FCSC and the FCS, Mr. Craig was appointed Assistant Clerk of the General Assembly of the FCSC.

Pastor Craig has an honours degree in Geology and, contrary to some public perceptions of geologists, has a special interest in “young earth creationism” and the creation-evolution debate. Very much opposed to the secular, scientific materialism agenda being promoted through the education system and the media, he occasionally writes exposing the folly of such things. He sees many of society’s problems due to the rejection of biblical truth and the acceptance of pseudoscience,
pseudo-psychology and false relativistic morality. He believes that the Church needs to recover confidence and point this out in world.


+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org

+ Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LS, 0131-226-5286, Fax: 0131-220-0597, catherine@freechurchofscotland.org.uk



[2] Free Church of Scotland Minister Resigns Ministry over Introduction of Hymns and Instrumental Music into Worship Services

A 2 February 2011 article in the Hebrides News titled “Minister quits Free Church over Hymns Row” reports that the Rev. Kenneth Stewart of the Dowanvale Free Church of Scotland (FCS) in Glasgow, Scotland, has resigned his post as an FCS minister and is seeking to sever his links with the FCS over Pastor Stewart’s disagreement with the 2010 decision of the FCS to introduce hymns and instrumental music into worship services.

Pastor Stewart believes that last year’s decision to end exclusive a capella psalmody in FCS church worship services is unconstitutional, breaks his ordination vows, and that the FCS is abandoning its constitutional heritage. With there being little chance of the decision being reversed, Pastor Stewart believes that he has no option but to depart. Pastor Stewart additionally believes that the manner of the radical vote breaches church law and went against the advice of the FCS Assembly Clerks.

For further background information, please see the 24 November 2010 Presbyterians Week article [1] Backlash Begins over Free Church of Scotland Decision to Allow Hymns and Musical Instruments in Worship Services, and an Anglican Tradition Begins in Edinburgh, the 19 November 2010 - Special Edition Presbyterians Week article [1] Free Church of Scotland Overturns 105 Years of Exclusive Unaccompanied Psalmody; and the 17 November 2010 Presbyterians Week article [8] Free Church of Scotland Expected to Retain Exclusive Psalmody.


+ Hebrides News, Box 100, Stornoway, Scotland HS1 2YZ, info@hebrides.biz

+ Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2LS, 0131-226-5286, Fax: 0131-220-0597, catherine@freechurchofscotland.org.uk


[3] UK Used UK£1.85 Million of World Poverty Funds to Pay for Roman Pontiff’s September 2010 Visit

A 3 February 2011 STV article titled “Poverty Fund Helped Pay for Pope's Visit, Says Committee” reports that several members of the United Kingdom (UK) Parliament claim that the UK Government diverted UK£1.85 Million earmarked for world poverty relief to help pay for the September 2010 visit of the Roman Pontiff.

The Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council convener the Rev. Ian Galloway commented: “If we take money out of that fund for what is clearly not an international aid purpose, then it is the poorest who pay the price – and that is unacceptable.”


+ STV, Pacific Quay, Glasgow G51 1PQ, Scotland, 0141-300-3704, yourview@stv.tv

+ 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

2 February 2011

Death of The Rev. Charles Leonard Wilson on 29 January 2011

The Charlotte Observer reported 31 January 2011 that the Rev. Charles Leonard Wilson, 67, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died 29 January 2011 after a courageous battle with cancer.

The retired Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) pastor graduated from Belhaven University in 1967 and then entered Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, where he earned the M.Div. degree in 1971.

Pastor Wilson served churches in Linden and Aliceville, Alabama, and in 1973 became the first stated clerk of the Warrior Presbytery, which was the first presbytery in the PCA. In 1974, Pastor Wilson became founding pastor of the Alexander Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, which later became Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina. In 1979, Pastor Wilson suffered a heart attack and took a medical retirement. In 1982, Pastor Wilson was called to Trinity Presbyterian Church in Van Wyck, South Carolina, and served there until 1986 before again having to retire for medical reasons.

In the early 1990’s, concern that the PCA was turning away from its biblical and confessional foundations brought together a group of PCA Teaching and Ruling Elders into the group Concerned Presbyterians (CP) under the chairmanship of the Rev. Charles Wilson. As a member of the Committee of Commissioners (CC) at the 21^st PCA General Assembly in 1993, Mr. Wilson joined five other CC members in preparing a minority report after thirteen other CC members voted not to report on the PCA Legal Audit commissioned by the 20^th PCA General Assembly in 1992.

The minority report called on the CC “to review the [PCA] Legal Audit and report any recommendations that may need to be handled at [the 1993 21^st PCA] General Assembly.” The minority report went on to say: “PCA men who viewed portions of the Legal Audit with permission communicated to our Committee of Commissioners that they believe there are serious matters that may need to be dealt with by this General Assembly.”

The report additionally noted that there [were twenty-three] for-profit and not-for-profit corporations which list “1852 Century Place (The PCA Office Building) as the registered Office of these Corporations” and the search lists “PCA employees as some of the directors and officers of these corporations.” The most significant of the twenty-three corporations after the PCA, Inc., was the Investors Fund for the Building and Development of the PCA, Inc., whose CEO was the now-late PCA TE the Rev. Cecil A. Brooks and whose CFO and Secretary was PCA TE the Rev. John T. Ottinger, Jr.

The minority report was withdrawn after Cecil Brooks met with the minority report committee and broke down in tears during an emotional speech to the 1993 PCA 21^st General Assembly.

Concerned Presbyterians submitted two memorials to the 1994 22^nd PCA General Assembly, one concerned with the PCA’s drift away from biblical and confessional fidelity, and the other a call to present the PCA Legal Audit to the PCA 22^nd General Assembly.

The late Rev. Dr. Edwin Elliott, in the July 1, 1994 issue of the Christian Observer, in an article titled “Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly Meets in Atlanta,” described the proceedings:

“A memorial from a conservative PCA interest group, Concerned Presbyterians, was ruled out of order. The procedure which broke over 150 years of Presbyterian tradition, was viewed as a slap at the CP claim the denomination was turning from its roots. All the points in the memorial appeared for consideration under overtures from various presbyteries and eventually received the court’s full attention at other times. Generally, the Concerned Presbyterian measures called for reaffirmation of earlier PCA positions on doctrine and practice, but they failed to gain substantial support when they eventually surfaced.”

The PCA in 1996 officially divested itself of the Investors Fund for the Building and Development of the PCA, Inc., and the then nominally-independent corporation became Cornerstone Ministries Inc. (CMI). CMI declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2008 in what the law firm handling the claims of 3500 investors who lost all but a few cents on the dollar of US$142 million, called a “[US]$140 million Ponzi scheme.”

Charles Leonard Wilson is survived by his father Bingham Rose Wilson, three brothers, his wife of forty-three years Ruth Ann Jent Wilson, six children, and eighteen grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., 2 February 2011 at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina.

The Christian Observer staff expresses our sorrow and condolences to the family and friends of the Rev. Charles Leonard Wilson, and our rejoicing that a good and faithful servant is now in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


+ The Charlotte Observer, 600 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, North Carolina 28202, 704-358-5000, acaulkins@charlotteobserver.com

+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 20110, christianobserver@christianobserver.org

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