26 October 2011

Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] Bibles for Russia Founder Alfred McCroskey, 76, Dies 18 October 2011

[2] ARP Second Presbytery Fall 2011 Meeting Characterized as “a Garish Hudibrastic Burlesque of Presbyterianism”

[3] Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary 2012 Conference ‘Rejoicing in Growth: Church Planting & Evangelism’ Scheduled 13-14 January 2012

[4] Former Hindu and Physician Writes Book about Dying PCA Pastor’s Wife whose Witness God Used to Lead Him to Salvation in Jesus Christ

[5] Vatican Calls for World Economic Governance to Overcome “Idolatry of the Market”

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[1] Bibles for Russia Founder Alfred McCroskey, 76, Dies 18 October 2011

Alfred McCroskey, who founded Bibles for Russia, Inc. (BFRI) in 1988, died 18 October 2011 at age 76.

BFRI is a Christian foreign missions board, specializing in taking short-term mission teams to "plant and grow churches" across the former Soviet Union. In January 2010, the goal set in 1988 by BFRI of planting 1000 new churches was reached. Along the way, and in cooperation with local churches, BFRI additionally ministers to orphans, street children, prisoners, school children and their teachers, hospital and mental institution patients, “unreached people groups,” unsaved young people, and students preparing for Christian ministry.

Mr. McCroskey’s funeral was held 22 October 2011 in Florence, Alabama. He is survived by his wife Jean, and sons Mark and David McCroskey.


+ Bibles for Russia, Inc., Post Office Box 69, Florence, Alabama 35631, 256-718-3660, Fax: 256-718-3662, info@biblesforrussia.org


[2] ARP Second Presbytery Fall 2011 Meeting Characterized as “a Garish Hudibrastic Burlesque of Presbyterianism”

ARPTalk(51.1), titled “An Open Letter to the “Star Wars’ Cantina Presbytery” (Second Presbytery),” was published by the Rev. Dr. Chuck Wilson on 20 October 2011as a review of the 11 October 2011 Fall 2011 Stated Meeting of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP)’s Second Presbytery. After attending this meeting, Dr. Wilson concluded that an earlier characterization of Second Presbytery he had felt was “cutting sarcasm,” that being “The Star Wars’ Cantina Presbytery,” was in fact an accurate description of Second Presbytery because the 11 October meeting demonstrated that the presbytery is “a gallimaufry of various blends and shades of strangeness that makes Second Presbytery a caricature of a presbytery that is then a caricature of itself – a garish Hudibrastic burlesque of Presbyterianism!”

Dr. Wilson’s descriptive came about as a result of presbytery deliberations upon a memorial presented by three Second Presbytery churches asking for an investigation of four Second Presbytery Elders that are directors of the Erskine College Foundation (ECF), an organization formed after the March 2010 “Snow Synod” to support efforts by Erskine College partisans against the ARP General Synod, and whether or not the elders’ involvement in the ECF is in violation of their ordination vows as Elders in the ARP Church.

Dr. Wilson describes the emotions against the memorial as verging on “hysteria,” and the “performance by Mr. Neely Gaston, former Executive Vice President of ETS, [being] the most bizarre show of the day….[as with] a red face, neck veins bulging, and voice warbling, [Gaston] once again declared the actions of the “Snow Synod” illegal as he attempted to read page-after-page from South Carolina law.”

Dr. Wilson describes several other occurrences including an ARP pastor who read an e-mail from President David Norman and Erskine Board of Trustees Chairman Joe Patrick to the presbytery stating that the matter of the ECF was an Erskine matter and informing the presbytery that those at Erskine were dealing with it. No one seemed to notice that what the pastor did was a violation of presbytery’s protocol and “out of order.” Dr. Wilson writes “the audacity of the action was such that everyone was caught by surprise. Likewise, at the time, no one seemed to notice that Erskine matters took precedence over and trumped Second Presbytery in the oversight of its own house. In fact, Erskine (the tail of the dog) wagged the dog (the church).”

Dr. Wilson described three “extraordinarily distressing issues that arose from this debate that have been publicly demonstrated on the floor of Second Presbytery for all to see,” which included what he called “Erskinolatry,” summarized in Erskine partisans’scriptural addenda to the Ten Commandments: “(11) Thou shalt be nice”; and “(12) Thou shalt say no critical thing about Erskine no manner the depth of the evil, for in so doing our god is pushed over on his face.”” The second and third distressing issues were the presbytery’s obsession with “peacekeeping” to the exclusion of confessional integrity, and the level of ignorance of Presbyterian polity demonstrated by Elders from the two churches attended by the subject ECF directors.

Dr. Wilson concluded ARPTalk(51.1) with an illustrative story:

“When Raphael was painting his famous Vatican frescoes, a couple of cardinals stopped by to watch the master and criticize his work. “The face of the Apostle Paul is too red,” said one of the churchmen. Raphael retorted, “Paul blushes to see into whose hands the church has fallen.””


+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337,wilson6114@bellsouth.net

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

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


[3] Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary 2012 Conference ‘Rejoicing in Growth: Church Planting & Evangelism’ Scheduled 13-14 January 2012

The Second Annual Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary Lecture Series, ‘Rejoicing in Growth: Church Planting & Evangelism’ is scheduled for 13-14 January 2012 at the seminary in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The program includes:

SPEECHES - Friday, 13 January 2012 (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

-- Rev. Henk Drost – “Spreading the seed of the Word: Reformed Foundations for Evangelism”

-- Rev. Ross W. Graham – “Reformed Church Planting in the 21st Century”

-- Rev. Henk Drost – “Developing Missionary-Minded Congregations”

-- Rev. Ted Van Raalte – “Motivating Reformed Churches to Multiply: The 2011 Metro Vancouver Church Planting Initiative”

SEMINAR SESSIONS - Saturday, 14 January 2012 (8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)

-- Rev. Ross W. Graham – “Six Things to Remember about Planting a Reformed Church”

-- Rev. Ted Van Raalte – “Practical Steps for Church Planting in Urban Centers: Lessons from the Reformation”

-- Rev. Jim Witteveen – “The Prince George Canadian Reformed Mission Project”

-- Rev. John van Popta - Reaching your Neighbours: Evangelism and Video Programs

Further information and registration for the conference is available at:

http://www.canadianreformedseminary.ca/general/2012_conference.html


+ Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary, 110 West 27th Street, Hamilton, Ontario L9C 5A1, Canada, 905-575-3688, Fax: 905-575-0799

+ Canadian Reformed Churches, comments@canrc.org


[4] Former Hindu and Physician Writes Book about Dying PCA Pastor’s Wife whose Witness God Used to Lead Him to Salvation in Jesus Christ

Nationally renowned oncologist Dr. Kashyap Patel, MD, has treated thousands of patients over the years, but none quite like Anne Sanford. Despite having had a number of patients who fought cancer with grace and bravery, in Anne he found such a remarkable spirit that it affected his own outlook on medicine and his religious views.

Once a Hindu, a near death experience prompted Dr. Patel to investigate what gave some patients genuine acceptance of suffering. After delving into his meticulous patient journals, he found his answer in Anne, the wife of a church pastor in Rock Hill, South Carolina, whose astonishing faith during virulent leukemia awakened his own faith. “I found her story so touching that with the blessing of Anne’s family, I decided to share it with the entire world so that all could feel the wonder Anne inspired in those around her,” explains Dr. Patel.

Anne’s husband is the Rev. Dr. Shelton Sanford, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)) in Rock Hill, South Carolina, a position he’s held for twenty-five years. “In the providence of God, she was called to suffer with an aggressive form of leukemia,” says Dr. Sandford. “Upon Anne’s diagnosis, her greatest desire was to be a faithful witness to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Anne’s witness has continued long after her death as is evident by the content of this book.”

According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, more than 43,000 people developed leukemia in 2010 and, like Anne, it’s a battle many do not win.

Raindrops to an Ocean: The Amazing Last Days of Anne Sanford (Ambassador International; October 2011; US$12.99/softcover) explains the profound, eternal impact a pastor’s wife had on her doctor.


+ Ambassador International, 427 Wade Hampton Boulevard, Greenville, South Carolina 29609, 864-235-2434, Fax: 864-235-2491, info@emeraldhouse.com

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


[5] Vatican Calls for World Economic Governance to Overcome “Idolatry of the Market”

A 24 October 2011 update of a Reuters article by Philip Pullella titled “Vatican Calls for Global Authority on Economy, Raps “Idolatry of the Market”” reports that on 23 October 2011, the Vatican's Justice and Peace department issued an eighteen-page document titled “Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority,” which calls for global governance of the world’s economy and a “central world bank” to rule over the world’s financial institutions.

The document condemned what it calls “the idolatry of the market” and “neo-liberal thinking” which considers only technical solutions to economic problems, when “behaviours like selfishness, collective greed, and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” are the actual problem. The document additionally stated that global economics need an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.


+ Reuters, 3 Times Square, New York, New York 10036, 646-223-4000, general.info@thomsonreuters.com

+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page