Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] Hanover Presbytery Meets 17 May 2012 at Reformed Presbyterian Church in Manassas, Virginia
[2] 2012 Hanover Presbytery Meeting Opening Sermon by the Rev. David Mosier
[3] Reformed Church of France (ERF) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (EELF) merge to form the United Protestant Church of France
[4] Free Church of Scotland Calls Homosexual Marriage an ‘Experiment’
[5] News of the 2012 Church of Scotland General Assembly
[6] Presumptive Republican U.S. Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Holds Fundraiser with Manufacturer of the Morning After Pill
[7] Six Roasted and Gilded Abortion Victims Found on Black Market
[8] African American Pastor's Response to President Obama on Same Sex Marriage
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[1] Hanover Presbytery Meets 17 May 2012 at Reformed Presbyterian Church in Manassas, Virginia
The Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hanover Presbytery, held its annual meeting on 17 May 2012 at the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Manassas, Virginia.
Hanover Presbytery’s senior minister the Rev. Dr. Robert LaMay opened the meeting with prayer and then presented a review of the history, usages, principles, and customs of the presbytery, which include the limitation of property ownership to the congregational level only, adherence to the unmodified Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) as published by the Free Church of Scotland, and the prohibition of committees, commissions, and position papers due to the presbytery’s contention that these matters do not have a biblical basis.
Elected Hanover Presbytery Moderator was the Rev. David Mosier and Stated Clerk the Rev. Allen Church. The Hanover Presbytery elects only these two offices, the moderator holding office only during the presbytery meeting, and the stated clerk until the next meeting in order to perform necessary administrative functions. A superintendent is appointed for any other non-administrative project needing attention beyond the annual meeting, and the appointment ends once the subject project is completed.
The moderator delivered a sermon on II Chronicles 7, the text of which is contained in the article following this one.
A collegial but thorough examination emphasizing Chapter I of the WCF was made of two ministerial candidates, and the Rev. Richard Lee Hicks of the Dillingham Presbyterian Church in Barnardsville, North Carolina, and the Rev. Gary Wagner of the Reformed Heritage Church in Los Gatos, California. The examinations were sustained and the two ministers were welcomed into the Hanover Presbytery. In addition to Mr. Hicks’ and Mr. Wagner’s churches, the Big Ridge Presbyterian Church in Haysi, Virginia, represented by ruling elder and clerk Walter Belcher, was welcomed into the Hanover Presbytery.
Reports of Hanover Presbytery ministers and congregations were presented. Christian Defense Coalition director and Hanover Presbytery minister the Rev. Pat Mahoney gave a brief review of his ministry activities that normally involve storming the gates of hell. Mr. Mahoney reported that he has been arrested sixty times during his ministerial career, all of the arrests occurring because of doing right in the sight of God instead of obeying the contrary directives of man.
One of these arrests occurred on 8 June 2010 when Mahoney was arrested for trespassing for kneeling in prayer on the public sidewalk in front of a Washington DC Planned Parenthood abortuary. Mahoney’s trespassing charges were dismissed at the 30 June 2010 arraignment when the U.S. Attorney failed to appear.
The 2012 Hanover Presbytery meeting adjourned with prayer and with the singing of Psalm 133.
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 20110, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ Reformed Presbyterian Church-Hanover Presbytery , hanoverpresbyter@yahoo.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
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
[2] 2012 Hanover Presbytery Meeting Opening Sermon by the Rev. David Mosier
As we gather here this morning our hearts and minds carry the knowledge that our nation and our world are in a state of crisis which verges upon collapse of the civilization. You may consider this statement to be radical or defeatist. It is. How can you otherwise reconcile situations and events which occur all around us at an ever more alarming rate?
The leader of the free world declares that the union of two persons of the same sex in “marriage” should be an accepted norm of a modern society. People live out their lives as an abomination to the Creator and claim it is their right.
We have become a material driven society. Commercial interests bombard us with images and compel us to buy products and services that we do not need but are told we must have if we expect to be on a level field with and accepted by our peers. This in turn has spawned an explosion of debt. Sign here, swipe there, and you can have it today. For many the time to truly count the cost comes too late – our bankruptcy courts are jammed.
The most simple of human qualities – common sense and civility to name two – are evaporating in the passion of the day expressed as “I’ve got mine” and “Me first!”
Government has expanded to supplant families and institutions. It, too, has found the ways and means of doing this on a grand scale – long ago abandoning any concept of spending within its means as it ignores the limited purposes for which it was created and inserts its authority in arenas where it was never expected nor is it wanted. The changes in how nations relate to one another, growing more interdependent, suggest an economic time bomb waiting to explode with catastrophic results. Like many individuals, governments have waited too long to count the cost, are desperately trying to avert certain disaster, and failing in their efforts.
Where are many of God’s people in all of this? Based upon reports of their most recent assemblies or plans for upcoming gatherings, they are hard at work sustaining all or part of the madness, solemnly advancing new doctrines to justify their positions while unapologetically corrupting the very holy writ which they passionately claim to uphold.
Still others busy themselves finding a prophetic timeline knowing full well that it cannot be discerned. In the end they have done nothing but convey a sense of ambivalence toward what is going on around them.
Then there are those who propose that if we change our forms of worship and proclamation we will reach the people. So we lower the bar to engage the people on their level when we should be raising people to meet the bar at its most divine level.
It’s a disaster. It’s a catastrophe in the making. It’s hopeless.
It is a challenge.
“If my people, among whom my Name is called upon, do humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear in heaven and be merciful to their sin, and will heal their land.” [II Chronicles 7:14, Geneva Bible]
It is a challenge; Destruction or restoration?
As we gather here this morning our hearts and minds carry the knowledge that our nation and our world are in a state of crisis which verges upon collapse of the civilization. You may consider this statement to be radical or defeatist. It is. Do I believe that? No.
To be sure, our society’s circumstances place us at a decision point. Do we allow ourselves to become physically, emotionally, and spiritually overwhelmed by events? Do we presume that this is the end of the age?
Or do we look at the Word. Do we remind ourselves of the actions of a faithful God to those who desire to obey Him? Do we immerse ourselves in the teachings of the living Christ and renew the sense of call that led us into a path of service for Him? Do we study the Apostles and purpose to minister as they did and disciple those under our charge to do the same? Do we stand and reassert the role of the Church in our society even taking back those functions which we ceded to government authority?
Do we have confidence in our God to enable us to get the job done?
“And fashion not yourselves like unto this world, but be ye changed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God is.” (Romans 12:2, Geneva Bible)
There is a quote which finds some difficulty in attribution. It probably came from Hillel, but I like the fact that it was also used by Ronald Reagan. Whatever the case, I share this word with you this morning and leave you with this challenge:
“If not us, who? If not now, when?”
+ Reformed Presbyterian Church-Hanover Presbytery , hanoverpresbyter@yahoo.com
[3] Reformed Church of France (ERF) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (EELF) merge to form the United Protestant Church of France
A 16 May 2012 article by A. D. McKenzie of Ecumenical News International titled “France Will Have New Denomination with Protestant Merger” reports that during a joint church synod meeting 17- 20 May 2012, the Reformed Church of France (ERF) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France (EELF) merged to form the United Protestant Church of France.
The new denomination unites some 250,000 ERF members and 22,000 EELF members, 456 pastors, and 960 active churches, and unites the Calvinist and confessional ERF with the EELF, which is based on the theology of Martin Luther.
+ Ecumenical News International, Post Office Box 2100, CH – 1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-788-7244, eni@eni.ch
+ Reformed Church of France, 47 rue de Clichy - 75311 Paris Cedex 09, France, 01-48-74-90-92, Fax: 01-42-81-52-40, Contact Page
+ Evangelical Lutheran Church of France, 16, rue Chauchat 75009 Paris, France, 03-81-95-28-67
[4] Free Church of Scotland Calls Homosexual Marriage an ‘Experiment’
A 21 May 2012 article from the United Kingdom Press Association titled “Same-Sex Marriage 'An Experiment'” reports that a Free Church of Scotland (FCS) report in response to the Scottish Government’s consideration of legalizing homosexual marriage concludes that homosexual marriage would “legitimise and encourage” the existence of fatherless or motherless children, stating:
“This is a huge social experiment in which the guinea pigs are children. That is not fair or just to children and does not safeguard their rights. It is really being pushed in a doctrinaire way by the gay lobby without any consideration of the harm that it will do.”
With the goal of protecting FCS ministers from the possible legalization of homosexual marriages, the upcoming FCS General Synod is expected to approve a recommendation that FCS ministers only conduct marriages between a man and a woman.
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+ 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] News of the 2012 Church of Scotland General Assembly
Several articles of interest regarding the Church of Scotland’s 2012 General Assembly have recently been published including:
-- General Assembly: Pay Day Loan Firms ‘Doing Great Damage to Society’
-- Church of Scotland Assembly Calls Hindu Deities 'False Idols`, Hindus Object
-- Kirk Unable To Pay All of Its Employees the Living Wage
-- Church of Scotland 2012 General Assembly: Gay Marriage to Expose Kirk Divisions
-- Ministers Attending General Assembly Told To ‘Clock In’ or Lose Expenses
-- Church of Scotland Hit By Staff Bullying Claims
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ Student Operated Press (SOP), 651 Royal Palm Boulevard, Vero Beach, Florida 32960, 904-584-2871, judy@thesop.org
+ The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland G2 3QB, 0141- 302-7000, Fax: 0141-302-7117, On-lineEditor@theherald.co.uk
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
[6] Presumptive Republican U.S. Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Holds Fundraiser with Manufacturer of the Morning After Pill
An 18 May 2012 LifeSiteNews.com article by Ben Johnson titled “Mitt Romney Holds Fundraiser with Manufacturer of the Morning After Pill” reports that presumptive U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on 16 May 2012 attended a US$50,000 per plate fundraising dinner for the Romney campaign in Miami, Florida, at the home of Phil Frost, a Teva Pharmaceuticals executive. The Morning After Pill, Plan B One-Step, is manufactured by Frost’s company.
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, Post Office Box 25382, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, 866-787-9947, lsn@lifesitenews.com
+ Romney for President, Post Office Box 149756, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, 857-288-3500, Contact Page
+ Teva Pharmaceuticals, 4400 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33137,
(305) 575-6000, denise.bradley@tevausa.com
[7] Six Roasted and Gilded Abortion Victims Found on Black Market
A 21 May 2012 LifeSiteNews.com article by Kathleen Gilbert titled “The Culture of Death’s ‘Golden Idols’: Six Roasted Abortion Victims Found on Black Market” reports that on 17 May 2012, Chow Hok Kuen, a British citizen native to Taiwan, was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, when police found in Kuen’s belongings the bodies of six prenatal children between two and seven months gestation that were roasted and covered in gold leaf.
Bangkok policeman Colonel Wiwat Kamchamnan said of Kuen: “He said he planned to sell the fetuses to clients who believe they will make them lucky and rich.”
+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, Post Office Box 25382, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220, 866-787-9947, lsn@lifesitenews.com
[8] African American Pastor's Response to President Obama on Same Sex Marriage
By Bishop Darryl F. Husband, Sr.
[Editor’s Note: Bishop Darryl F. Husband, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Mount Olivet Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is the founder of Life More Abundant Ministries. Pastor Husband published the following press release on 19 May 2012 as representing his personal opinion.]
I must admit that I was reluctant to publicly share my perspective on President Obama's recent statement regarding same sex marriage because too often his presidency has caused separation within the ranks of African American leadership. And yet, what does an African American pastor do when his Africa American president makes a decision that eventually will destroy the foundation of not only the African American community, but the nation as a whole? Does that pastor take a risk that he will be misunderstood and labeled as an "Uncle Tom," a Republican Party pawn, or someone "the white man has bought out?" If I do not take the risk, knowing that mentality in itself is as discriminatory as it gets, I become a co-conspirator in keeping us in bondage to our culture; suggesting that none of us is free to think or speak outside of what we are told.
I am neither a Republican, an "Uncle Tom" or bought out by anyone. I am simply accepting my responsibility as a citizen and a prophetic voice crying out in the wilderness of this generation. I decided that the risk is worth it. It is my responsibility as a pastor to speak to issues both popular and unpopular which affect the moral fiber of our society. I cannot be silent whether it comes from a Bush led, or an Obama led White House. My response must be the same. Tis true, the moral fiber of every generation is always challenged. However, challenges to our moral core must not be ignored. They must be met with bold correction or their seeds will suffocate us into chaos and extinction. If we begin to grow up a society that condones sexual behavior that cannot reproduce life, what other result can we expect? Our President is proof that politicians cannot set our moral agenda. Too often they are co-opted by the polls of an ever changing culture or influenced by the latest voting bloc that could get them over the edge in an election.
Decisions that affect our moral fiber should not ever be made based upon voting blocs. While we are indeed a democracy, we are like a family that's supposed to have trained, skilled leadership, which makes decisions based upon what the outcomes of those decisions will be in our future. Ideally, families have parents that are given to lead them to a morally, ethically, fiscally healthy or responsible end. Every choice and intention should be based upon some foundational principles or truths for those expected results to come to manifestation. An attempt to satisfy "one" child at the expense of the rest, for the purpose of popularity, is parental immaturity and has destructive implications attached. It speaks strongly to that parent's capability or incapability to lead.
While many of us have persons in our families whom we love dearly, that practice homosexuality, it is irresponsible for us to sanction it as a "norm" for family life. To make it a norm will eventually change the thinking of every new generation to fight the principles of the bible, the core beliefs that keep us from being totally unrestrained as a people. Standards of living are important. They give us balance. President Obama set a dangerous precedent from the highest office in the land with no spiritual counsel or future insight to the full ramification of his statement. Or did he? If he did, then we must deduce several things: 1) He has little to no regard for the church and many of its leaders; 2) He denies the foundational truth or at best misinterprets scriptures on what the Word of God says how a family is structured; 3) He seeks to weaken the voice of the once only, free voice in our society (The African American pastor). Down the road, not to marry same sex couples will eventual spell the end of funding that so many depend upon to do ministry and eventually may end in jail time for violation of rights or discrimination accusations. At the very least we will be spending unnecessary and needed monies in court to fight for principles we preach.
I am saddened as I write this, knowing many of our African American leaders will not take a bold stance, because we are still clouded in political and cultural power struggles, unable to see the future of our communities losing its one SURE foundation. The one place that has always been free to fight for everything the African American people have had was the church. If the church does not speak now, that voice will lose what is left of its waning authority.
No, I will not be silent and I challenge other leaders as well to let their voices be raised without thinking this attack is a personal, political party, homophobic or color issue. By NO means is it. This is a moral issue, period. We must sound the alarm, "Mr. President, rescind your remarks, revisit your views and hear the voice of the Lord. We need you to stand for what is right, not what appears to be popular."
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