“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] New Pennsylvania Law for 2015 Requires Employers to Obtain Background Checks for All Employees and Volunteers Working in Direct Contact with Children and/or Youth
[2] Church Videographer at Greenville Presbyterian Church ((Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)) in Greenville, South Carolina, Arrested for Molesting in Church Audio-Video Room a Four-Year-Old Girl and a Six-Year-Old Girl
[3] Homosexual “Marriage” in Scotland Began 16 January 2015
[4] Letter to Editor of Belfast, Northern Ireland’s News Letter Calls Church of Scotland “Godless” and a “Synagogue of Satan”
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[1] New Pennsylvania Law for 2015 Requires Employers to Obtain Background Checks for All Employees and Volunteers Working in Direct Contact with Children and/or Youth
A report from Sovereign Insurance Group of Devon, Pennsylvania, announces Pennsylvania's Act 153 of 2014, a “new state law [that] may significantly impact the way your organization screens employees and volunteers working with youth.”
Act 153, which took effect on 31 December 2014, “states that all Pennsylvania employers are required to obtain, for all employees and volunteers working in direct contact with children and/or youth, extensive Criminal Background checks (1) before hire and (2) every 36 months after that.”
The background checks include a Criminal History Record, a Child Abuse Clearance, and a Federal Criminal History Record.
The new law additionally expands the definition of “mandatory reporter” to include clergy members, including ministers and other spiritual leaders, and adds additional requirements for training and hiring.
+ Sovereign Insurance Group, 400 West Lancaster Avenue, Devon, Pennsylvania 19333, 800-222-4478, Fax: 610-535-6810, info@sovinsurance.com
[2] Church Videographer at Greenville Presbyterian Church ((Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)) in Greenville, South Carolina, Arrested for Molesting in Church Audio-Video Room a Four-Year-Old Girl and a Six-Year-Old Girl
A 5 January 2015 The Greenville News article by Anna Lee titled “Church Videographer Accused of Molesting Girls” reports that Gilbert Evan Broyles, 23, of Anderson, South Carolina, has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor - third degree and criminal sexual conduct with a minor - first degree, related to his having allegedly molested multiple times over the course of several weeks a four-year-old girl and a six-year-old girl in the audio-visual room of Greenville Presbyterian Church (Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)), 711 Pendleton Street in Greenville, South Carolina. Broyles was the videographer for the church.
As of Monday 5 January 2015, Boyles was being held without bond at the Greenville County Detention Center.
+ The Greenville News, 305 South Main Street, Greenville, South Carolina 29602, 864-298-4184, dneill@gannett.com
+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev. John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org
[3] Homosexual “Marriage” in Scotland Began 16 January 2015
A 16 January 2015 The Herald article titled “Same-Sex Marriages Are Sealed for the First Time in Scotland” reports that the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 legalizing homosexual “marriage” took effect on 16 January 2015.
A Church of Scotland spokesman commented:
"We recognise that the legal landscape has changed. The Church of Scotland has not been supportive of this legislation. We have no plans to change this position on the Church providing same sex marriage ceremonies."
+ 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
[4] Letter to Editor of Belfast, Northern Ireland’s News Letter Calls Church of Scotland “Godless” and a “Synagogue of Satan”
A 22 January 2015 letter to the editor of the News Letter by Donald J. Morrison of Inverness, Scotland, commends the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for separating themselves from the Church of Scotland’s “folly of putting God’s law up for a vote” by inviting Kirk presbyteries to vote on whether to allow congregations to appoint homosexual ministers.
Morrison characterized the Kirk as “godless” and said of the Kirk:
“Not only is it an apostate church it is also a synagogue of Satan.”
The editor commends the entire letter to Presbyterians Week readers:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/church-of-scotland-is-godless-1-6527316
+ News Letter, Ground floor, Metro Building, 6-9 Donegall Square South, Belfast BT1 5JA, Northern Ireland, 028-9089-7700, newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
+ Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Church House, Belfast BT1 6DW, Northern Ireland, 028-9032-2284, Fax: 028-9041-7301, Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
