6 April 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] U.S. Increasing Support to Muslim Revolutionaries

[2] PCUSA Church in Vienna, Virginia, Apologizes for 2001-2005 Sexual Abuse of Teenage Girls by Youth Director

[3] PCUSA Synod of the Pacific Upholds Conviction of the Rev. Janie Spahr for Performing Sixteen Same-Sex Marriages in California

[4] Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland Receiving Attention from Disaffected Believers in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland

[5] April 2011 Reformation Voice Available for Download

[6] Magyar Reformed Church of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Seeks New Minister

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[1] U.S. Increasing Support to Muslim Revolutionaries

A 1 April 2011 article by Omar Karmi in The National titled “West 'Supporting Libyan Rebels on Ground'” reports that in addition to the “No Fly Zone” imposed by NATO upon Libya, western forces are more directly bolstering al Qaeda-supported Libyan revolutionary ground forces by supplying arms and training to the rebels. Karmi says that U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama several weeks ago signed a secret presidential order to “supply the Libyan opposition with arms and training”, and has deployed U.S. Central Intelligence Agency operatives in Libya that are “supplying intelligence to NATO air forces and getting a sense of the opposition forces.”

A 3 April 2011 New York Times article by Laura Kasinof and David E. Sanger titled “U.S. Shifts to Seek Removal of Yemen’s Leader, an Ally” reports that the U.S. has dropped long-time support for Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, concluding “that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office.” Saleh until recently “was considered a critical ally in fighting the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda.”

In related news, and in response to the murder by radical Muslims of twelve United Nations workers in Afghanistan including two beheadings, blamed by the Muslims on Florida pastor Terry Jones’ recent burning of several copies of the Quran, Christian Defense Coalition director and Reformed Presbyterian pastor the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney and other Christians on 1 April 2011 held a “Prayer Vigil for Peace and Protection” in front of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington DC.

Mahoney commented:

“As Christians, we are called to share the gospel of Christ and build bridges to our Muslim neighbors, not burn them. Tonight we will be gathering as a peaceful and prayerful witness to that truth and send a powerful message that God has called us to love and not hate.

“We warned Pastor Jones in September that lives, especially Christians, would be put at risk if he went through with burning the Qur'ans. Sadly, this has now proven to be the case. Our prayer is that there will be no more violence and no more innocent lives lost.”


+ The National, Post Office Box 111434, Abu Dhabi, 971-2-4145328, newsdesk@thenational.ae

+ New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10018, 212- 556-1234, executive-editor@nytimes.com

+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com


[2] PCUSA Church in Vienna, Virginia, Apologizes for 2001-2005 Sexual Abuse of Teenage Girls by Youth Director

A 2 April 2011 article by Josh White in The Washington Post titled “Vienna Presbyterian Church Seeks Forgiveness, Redemption in Wake of Abuse Scandal” reports that the Rev. Peter James, pastor of the Vienna Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) in Vienna, Virginia, on 27 March 2011 delivered an apology to the church’s 2500 members and to as many as twelve at-the-time teenage girls who “…may have suffered sexual, emotional and spiritual abuse at the hands of a youth director who worked there from 2001 to 2005.”

White reports that the former youth director, Eric DeVries, “…infiltrated their lives and manipulated the girls into what they thought were mutual romantic relationships….drew them in as a trusted mentor, friend and Christian role model before professing his love, saying that he wanted to marry them, imploring them to keep the relationship secret and then progressively increasing sexual contact as they approached adulthood.”

The then in his early 30’s youth director “…maintained simultaneous relationships with several girls, some of them sets of sisters and best friends….took them to concerts, community service events, mission trips and camps out of state and out of the country, stealing private moments after chaperons had gone to sleep or when he thought no one was looking. Instances of abuse took place in a girl’s home, in the church’s minivan and in DeVries’s church office.”

In 2005, the abuse of one of the girls was discovered, and DeVries was forced to resign from the church, pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and moved away from the Washington DC suburb of Vienna, Virginia.

The article continues with an account of the wholly inadequate response of the church when the abuse first came to light, and how that neglect of the abuse victims began to be rectified with the 2008 arrival of associate pastor the Rev. David Jordan-Haas, who recognized the damage caused by the neglect of the victims and then began work to correct the problems.


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

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005


[3] PCUSA Synod of the Pacific Upholds Conviction of the Rev. Janie Spahr for Performing Sixteen Same-Sex Marriages in California

The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)’s Synod of the Pacific’s Permanent Judicial Commission on 25 March 2011 upheld the Redwoods Presbytery’s Permanent Judicial Commission’s decision to rebuke the Rev. Janie Spahr for performing sixteen same-sex marriages in California.

The synod court also noted the need for clear guidelines for clergy who wish to officiate at a civil same-sex wedding.


+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005

+ Synod of the Pacific, 200 Kentucky Street, Suite B, Petaluma, California 94952, 800-754-0669, Fax: 707-765-4467, rob@synodpacific.org

+ Redwoods Presbytery, 1226A Salvador Avenue, Napa, California 94558, 707-224-5407, Fax: 707-224-4309, pbyrw@pacbell.net


[4] Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland Receiving Attention from Disaffected Believers in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland

A 31 March 2011 article in the Hebrides News titled “Western Isles Links to Church Shake Up” reports that the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland (RPCS), which currently consists of two congregations in Airdrie and Stranraer, Scotland, and a southside Glasgow, Scotland fellowship of believers working to establish a church, is garnering serious attention from disaffected believers in the Church of Scotland (CoS) and the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) because of the CoS’s ordination of a homosexual minister, and the FCS decision to add musical instruments and hymns to what previously was exclusive a capella psalmody in worship services.

The Gardner Street CoS in Glasgow, Scotland, one of only two CoS congregations in the city with Gaelic services, is reported to be in talks with the RPCS about joining the small denomination, and may make claim to its church building.

The church has been without a minister since the fall of 2010, and is concerned about the possibility of being merged with a neighboring CoS congregation. The church’s members include Glasgow residents, residents of Glasgow’s settled Gaelic community, and young students from Scotland’s Isle of Skye and the Western Isles who attend services while studying in the city.

Former FCS minister the Rev. Kenny Stewart, who resigned from the FCS following the 2010 decision to add instruments and hymns to worship services, has applied to the RPCS to be received as a minister. If Stewart joins the RPCS and potentially becomes the minister of a newly RPCS-affiliated Gardner Street Church, some members of Stewart’s former FCS church, which is located a few blocks from the Gardner Street Church, may be attracted to the newly RPCS-affiliated church.

A Presbyterians Week correspondent pointed out a potential problem with FCS ministers moving to the RPCS, in that many of the FCS ministers disaffected with the FCS dropping exclusive psalmody hold to the 1650 psalter, to which the RPCS is not committed.


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

+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, c/o the Rev. Andrew Quigley, RPCS Clerk, Linden House, Westermavisbank Avenue, Airdrie, ML6 0HD Scotland, 01236-753971, SAndrewQ@aol.com

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

+ 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


[5] April 2011 Reformation Voice Available for Download

The April 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


[6] Magyar Reformed Church of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Seeks New Minister

The pulpit of the Magyar Reformed Church of Perth Amboy, New Jersey is open. The church is seeking an energetic, bi-lingual in Hungarian and English, ordained Pastor to lead the church into the future. Interested parties are asked to submit their letter of interest and resume to the Pulpit Committee, Magyar Reformed Church, 331 Kirkland Place, Perth Amboy, NJ 08861 by 1 June 2011.

The mission of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Perth Amboy, New Jersey is:

-- To fulfill the spiritual needs of its members.

-- To teach and preach the Word of God as it is revealed in the Holy Bible.

-- To Minister to the needs of others in the Name of Jesus.

-- To celebrate God’s presence in fellowship and worship.

-- To bring all children of God into the church through baptism.
-- And, as commanded by the Great Commission of Jesus, to live in the assurance of Eternal Life by His resurrection.


+ Magyar Reformed Church, 331 Kirkland Place, Perth Amboy, New Jersey 08861, 732-442-7799, Fax: 732-442-7799

+ Magyar Református Egyház, Contact Page

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