5 March 2008

Presbyterians-Week Headlines

[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report
[2] David Wright
[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't
[4] Mary Kerr Grier
[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director
[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee
[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status
[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored



[1] Jordan Deports More Christians, Deplores Compass Report

Jordan has continued deporting foreign evangelical pastors, as the government last week admitted to expelling foreigners for "illegal" missionary activities. Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told the Jordanian parliament on 20 February that authorities had expelled missionaries operating "under the cover of doing charitable work," suggesting that evangelistic activity is illegal in Jordan.

If such evangelistic work were illegal - with a missionary permit or not - Jordan could be opening itself to accusations of violating Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country published in its official Gazette in July 2006, giving it the force
of law.

Article 18 of the covenant states that everyone has the inherent right publicly or privately to "manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching." It also states, however, that such freedom may be subject to limitations prescribed by law to protect public
"order."

On 29 January Compass Direct reported that Jordan had deported and denied residence permits to at least 27 foreign Christian individuals and families in 2007. On 20 February the acting foreign minister, Judeh, read a statement by the Council of the Church Leaders of Jordan condemning the Compass report.

Following Judeh's statements about foreign groups that "broke the law and did missionary activities," the Jordanian parliament on 21 February passed a resolution condemning the Compass article. "We categorically condemn and reject the false report which is aimed at damaging Muslim-Christian relations in Jordan," the lower house of parliament said, according to Agence France-Presse.

+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799-7250

[2] David Wright

Scottish church historian David Wright has died at age 70. Noted for studies of the early Church Fathers and Reformation authors, Wright's most highly regarded work was the Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology.

Wright also generated his own distinctive entry in Scottish ecclesiastical history. In 2003, Wright became the first ruling elder to be installed as moderator of the Church of Scotland's Edinburgh Presbytery in its 400 year history. Within a year Wright gained further notoriety by losing a bid for Moderator of the General Assembly to Dr. Alison Elliot, the first woman to hold the office.

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George St., Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland

[3] Global Warming May Be in Doubt But UCC Meltdown Isn't

Defections from the United Church of Christ are being numbered in the hundreds of congregations. Friedens Reformed Church in Tripp is one of four South Dakota congregations to leave recently. Denominational funding for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender seminarians plays poorly in farming communities.

Friedens Reformed Church called on the South Dakota Conference to support state laws excluding homosexual marriage. The conference did not appreciate the move and countered with a call to remove the national flag from UCC churches.

Soon after the deadlock, the Tripp congregation affiliated with the Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches. In central Pennsylvania the same pattern is emerging among former Reformed Church in the United States congregations. The Heidelberg movement church centered around York now appear in the steadily expanding EARCC roster.

Though the organization is gathering from all wings of the UCC, its leadership strongly represents congregations originating in the former Evangelical Church of North America tradition.

+ Evangelical Association of Reformed and Congregational Christian Churches,
PO Box 157, York New Salem, PA 17371-0157

[4] Mary Kerr Grier

Mrs. Mary Kerr Grier, widow of Rev. W. P. Grier, Jr., died on 19 February. Dr. Grier had served pastorates at the Troy, Cedar Springs, and Bradley, South Carolina, Churches; the Doraville, Georgia, Church; the Rock Hill First Church; and the Mooresville Church.

Mrs. Grier had lived at the Due West Retirement Center in recent years. The Grier's spent most of their retirement years at Bonclarken. Mrs. Grier retired from teaching in the public schools. Her father, the Rev. G. L. Kerr, was an ARP minister.

+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, One Cleveland Street, Greenville,
SC 29601

[5] EPC Selects ARP as Development Director

The Mid-Atlantic Presbytery of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church turned to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church to find a new Church Development Director. Dr. Ken Priddy of United Front Ministries in Richmond, Virginia, began filling the position part-time on 1 February.

+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Suite 567,
Livonia, MI 48152-7912

[6] World Reformed Fellowship Adds Norris to Executive Committee

Dr. Rob Norris, senior pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church (EPC) in Bethesda, Maryland, was recently named to the Executive Committee of the World Reformed Fellowship (WRF). The WRF, of which the Evangelical Presbyterian Church is a constituent, is a global fellowship of Presbyterian and Reformed denominations and related groups working together on the Great
Commission.

+ Dr. Samuel Logan, Jr., Executive Secretary, World Reformed Fellowship,
430 Montier Road, Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038 (267) 243-2574

[7] Obama's Synod Speech Prompts IRS Investigation of UCC Tax Status

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the United Church of Christ's national offices in Cleveland, Ohio, that the IRS has opened an investigation into US Sen. Barack Obama's address at the UCC's 2007 General Synod as the church engaging in "political activities."

In the IRS letter dated 20 February, the IRS said it was initiating a church tax inquiry "because reasonable belief exists that the United Church of Christ has engaged in political activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status."

The Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, called the investigation "disturbing" but said the investigation would reveal that the church did nothing improper or illegal.

Obama, an active member of the United Church of Christ for more than 20 years, addressed the UCC's 50th anniversary General Synod in Hartford, Conn., on June 23, 2007, as one of 60 diverse speakers representing the arts, media, academia, science, technology, business and government. Each was asked to reflect on the intersection of their faith and their respective vocations or fields of expertise.

The invitation to Obama was extended a year before he became a Democratic presidential candidate.

+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Ave., Cleveland, OH 44115 (866)
822-8224

[8] Thursdays@First To Present Christianity Explored

First Presbyerian Church (ARP) in Columbia, SC, will present a 10-week series on Christianity Explored starting this week in Jackson Hall, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia. The weekly lunch and program is held from noon to 1 p.m. Cost for lunch is US$4.00.

+ First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion Street, Columbia, South Carolina
29201

20 February 2008

Presbyterians-Week Headlines

[1] Freed Christian Describes Kidnapping Ordeal in Pakistan
[2] Second Wind
[3] RTS in Sight of Goal
[4] Oliver Moves from Trinity to Charlotte
[5] Orthodox Prelate Says 'Liberal Christianity' Threatens Church Unity
[6] David Jussley to Jackson
[7] Fourth Pittsburgh Proposes Departure

[1] Freed Christian Describes Kidnapping Ordeal in Pakistan

A Christian doctor described receiving various death threats while kidnapped recently by Islamic extremists in an area of Pakistan reeling from extremist violence. Militants in parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan have forced Christians and moderate Muslims to don Islamist garb, have bombed CD shops for perceived decadence and, in the case of Dr. Reginald Zahiruddin, have attempted forced conversion to Islam.

The extremists released Dr. Zahiruddin on 2 January, after kidnapping the Christian 25 days prior and demanding he renounce his faith at gunpoint. Five armed men cut off Dr. Zahiruddin and his driver as they were traveling south from the city of Bannu on 8 December, the doctor said in a written account of his kidnapping.

The medical superintendent of Pennell Memorial Christian Hospital in Bannu was on a weekly visit to the city of Dera Ismail Khan, 100 kilometers south (62 miles), to treat 50 poor patients.

The kidnappers told Dr. Zahiruddin that the main reason for his abduction was to force him to convert to Islam. "I was bold enough to refuse, and I even told them that God has the authority of taking my life as he has given it to me," the doctor said.

+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799-7250

[2] Second Wind

Virginia Associate Reformed Presbytery is sponsoring a program called "2nd Wind" to strengthen and revitalize its congregations. This 16-month program is designed to help churches evaluate their present health and to develop a plan for a healthy future. The program is led by Dr. Ken Priddy of United Front Ministries. Churches participating are Old Providence, Edgemont, Fairlea, Lauderdale and Wildhurst.

+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, One Cleveland Street, Greenville, South Carolina 29601

[3] RTS in Sight of Goal

Reformed Theological Seminary is publicly announcing its 2005-10 financial campaign, standing only US$15 million away from their US$75 million dollar goal. Funds are being raised for: expansion and support of the RTS/Atlanta and RTS/ Washington, District of Columbia. campuses and hiring additional full time faculty and staff to offer the M.Div. program in those regions; 50 percent merit based scholarships for 300 students who meet criteria for exceptional ministry leadership potential; an endowment-type fund for new ministry opportunities and emergency needs; a technology support fund for the RTS/Virtual campus to expand and improve available courses; and a current operating fund to allow the seminary to support core training programs over the five years of the campaign. RTS is asking consideration by its friends and partners for three-year commitments to reach this final 15 million dollars.

+ Lyn Perez, Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando), 1231 Reformation Drive, Oviedo, FL 32765 (407) 366-9493 rts.orlando@rts.edu

[4] Oliver Moves from Trinity to Charlotte

Dr. John Oliver has been appointed Professor of Homiletics and Practical Theology at RTS (Charlotte). He is currently the Senior Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and for many years was the Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia.

+ Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte), 2101 Carmel Road, Charlotte, NC 28226-6399 (704) 366-5066 rts.charlotte@rts.edu

[5] Orthodox Prelate Says 'Liberal Christianity' Threatens Church Unity

A senior Russian Orthodox Church bishop has criticized suggestions by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams that some aspects of Islamic law should be recognized in the British legal system, as representing a "politically correct" Christianity. "It is not our task to defend Sharia law, or to commend alternative lifestyles or to promote secular values. Our holy mission is to preach what Christ preached," said Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church to the European institutions.

+ Ecumenical News International, PO Box 2100, CH - 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland

[6] David Jussley to Jackson

Dr. David Jussely (RTS '74) will become Dean of Students and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at RTS (Jackson). Jussley has pastored several Mississippi churches and has recently completed his Ph.D. in speech communications.

+ Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson), 5422 Clinton Blvd., Jackson, MS 39209-3099 (601) 923-1600 rts.jackson@rts.edu

[7] Fourth Pittsburgh Proposes Departure

Pittsburgh's Fourth Presbyterian Church wants to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The 40-member congregation voted 27 to 2 to seek a more traditional approach to Presbyterianism. In the notice to presbytery, the congregation did not request its title to its property. According to reports published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, pastor David Schrader, has said he intends to stay with the Presbyterian Church (USA) rather than leave with his congregation.

According to published reports Rev. Doug Portz, acting general presbyter for Pittsburgh Presbytery, indicated that leaders of Fourth had been talking with a presbytery task group for about six months. A proposal for departure will be worked out and voted on at a future presbytery meeting.

+ Fourth Presbyterian Church, 5450 Friendship Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 (412) 661-7414


.

13 February 2008

Headlines:

[1] Parrott Chosen To Head NAICU
[2] Two Presbyterian Colleges Rate Well for Safety
[3] Troubled Janitor Killed on Ash Wednesday
[4] Obama's Spiritual Guide Retires
[5] The ARDA Introduces New Look and New Features
[6] Erskine Expands Kenya Connection



[1] Parrott Chosen To Head NAICU

Belhaven College President Roger Parrott has been elected to the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). Parrott was installed at the board’s annual meeting on 6 February in Washington, DC. The NAICU is a national association representing private higher education, serving as the unified voice of nearly 1,000 independent college and university presidents and specialized state and regional associate executives. NAICU member institutions enroll nine of every 10 students attending a private college or university in the United States.

+ 1025 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 785-8866

[2] Two Presbyterian Colleges Rate Well for Safety

Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, have both earned an “A+” rating for the safety and security of their campuses, according to 2008 College Prowler rankings. Only 12 schools across the nation received the highest rating. “A high grade in safety and security means that students generally feel safe, campus police are visible, blue-light phones and escort services are readily available and safety precautions are not overly necessary,” according to the College Prowler guide. The rating is a result of the recommendation of the guide’s student author, direct student feedback and other factors such as the presence and size of a police force and security staff, services provided, the area and campus crime reports, security of dormitories, and the prevalence of campus theft.

College Prowler is the largest publisher of college content in the United States with 250 single-school guidebooks written by students. Each year the organization awards colleges with letter-graded rankings in 20 campus life topics. Davidson College also earned an “A” rating for academics, which generally indicates that professors are knowledgeable, accessible and genuinely interested in their students’ welfare, the College Prowler Web site said. Other determining factors include class size, how well professors communicate and whether or not classes are engaging.

+ Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202

[3] Troubled Janitor Killed on Ash Wednesday

According to reports published in the Orlando Sentinel, Goeffrey Schaub was a janitor at Oviedo Presbyterian Church and a student enrolled at Reformed Seminary when police shot him to death on 6 February. Deputies conducting an investigation into the molestation of a 7-year-old boy allegedly were defending themselves against a brandished single-shot flare gun wrapped in cloth when the incident occurred.

Local authorities stated that Schaub, 62, had an extensive arrest and conviction record for such offences in both New York and Florida.

+ Oviedo Presbyterian Church, 2405 Lockwood Blvd., Oviedo, FL 32765 (407) 366-2544

[4] Obama's Spiritual Guide Retires

Controversial Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright, Jr., has announced his retirement at age 66 from Trinity United Church of Christ. The dynamic Afro-centric figure often left denominational officials scrambling to explain his support for non-Christian public figures. Barack Obama joined Trinity in the late 1980s and says he based his historic keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention on one of Wright's sermons.

+ Trinity United Church of Christ, 400 West 95th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60628
(773) 962-5650

[5] The ARDA Introduces New Look and New Features

The Association of Religion Data Archives has a new look and new features. Two of the most significant new features are GIS US Maps and the Learning Center.

Partnering with Social Explorer (www.socialexplorer.com), the ARDA now provides a U.S. Maps tool that allows for interactive mapping of demographic data by census tracts and religious adherence data by counties. All of the GIS maps allow for zooming, moving, and searching across locations and let you create customized demographic and religious reports.

The Learning Center contains many new Learning Modules for classroom use and now includes a Dictionary of Religious and Statistical Terms. The new Center also offers multiple interactive tools, including the Compare Yourself Survey that allows students and others to compare themselves to the US population on a variety of religious indicators.

+Association of Religion Data Archives, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, llinois 16802

[6] Erskine Expands Kenya Connection

David Githii, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, has been visiting the Erskine Seminary of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The 4.3 million member African denomination recently took an interest in the small American denomination when it discovered the ministerial development program maintained by the traditionalist Presbyterians.

The Due West, South Carolina, seminary has five students enrolled from Kenya. Moderator Githii has been negotiating a program under which East Africans could begin their studies in South Carolina and finish them back in Africa. Once a quiet refuge for psalm-singing traditional Presbyterians on the edge of what Carolinians called the Old English section, the school now has major programs in Columbia, Augusta, Charleston, and Greenville as well.

Githii’s denomination is one of the fastest growing denominations in the world. A second body, The Reformed Church of East Africa, has also shown massive growth in the face of Islamic assaults in the same region.

+ Erskine Theological Seminary PO Box 668 Due West, South Carolina 29639

+ Presbyterian Church of East Africa, PO Box 27573-00506 Myayo Stadium, Nairobi GPO, Kenya

+ Reformed Church of East Africa, Kisumu Road, PO Box 99, Eldoret, Kenya

.

6 February 2008

Headlines:

[1] Fort Myers Church Requests Affiliation Switch
[2] Death of Archbishop Christodoulos
[3] Elderly Convert From Islam Dies From Burns
[4] Borgdorff Appointed President of Reformed Ecumenical Council
[5] World Outreach Director Search
[6] AMIA Conference Hears Call to Grow Church

[1] Fort Myers Church Requests Affiliation Switch

By a 76 percent majority, members of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Myers, Florida, have agreed to ask for dismissal from the Presbyterian Church (USA) in order that they may petition to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).

The Covenant Presbyterian Church on McGregor Boulevard has 1,300 members and church officials held the vote on Super Bowl Sunday because it's the "highest attended single Sunday other than the traditional Christmas or Easter," said church clerk Jake Faasse.

Faasse expects the decision on dismissal from presbytery to be made sometime in May.

+ The News-Press, 2442 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33901, (239) 335-0200

[2] Death of Archbishop Christodoulos

Archbishop Christodoulos, who during his almost 10 years as head of the (Orthodox) Church of Greece received Pope John Paul II for an historic visit and sparked controversy with several of his remarks, died 28 January at the age of 69.

In 2001, Christodoulos met Pope John Paul II when the pontiff became the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Greece in 1300 years. The archbishop later paid a reciprocal visit to Rome, meeting John Paul’s successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

The archbishop was involved in a number of controversies. In 2000, he opposed Greek government compliance with a European Commission directive to remove the stating of religion on official identity documents. In 2001, he said of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that the attackers had acted “out of despair caused by the injustices of the Great Powers,” sparking ire among those who saw the remarks as offering a justification for the terrorists. Christodoulos was reported to have retracted the remarks five years later. In 2003, he said that Turkey should not be admitted to the European Union because Turks were “barbarians.”

+ Jerry Van Marter, Presbyterian News Service, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202, (888) 728-7228 x5493

[3] Elderly Convert From Islam Dies From Burns

A 70-year-old woman convert from Islam died on 1 February from burns she suffered when unknown assailants in a Muslim-majority area of Bangladesh about 150 miles northwest of the capital set her home on fire last month.

Rahima Beoa of Cinatuly village suffered burns over 70 to 80 percent of her body after the bamboo and wood home she shared with her daughter and son-in-law, also converts, was set ablaze on 7 January, said Khaled Mintu, Rangpur regional supervisor of the Isha-e-Jamat (Jesus’ Church) Bangladesh denomination.

Family members did not file charges with police over Beoa’s death because they could not trace anyone to the arson, Mintu said, addig that filing charges would also hamper evangelistic efforts.

Area Isha-e-Jamat pastor Abdul Mabud Chowdhury said villagers were not only upset over Beoa’s planned 13 February baptism but angry with her daughter and son-in-law, 40-year-old Ashraful Islam, for converting to Christianity and for his evangelistic efforts.

Beoa received burns on her hands, legs, waist, and other areas, Mintu told Compass Direct. Mintu added that she was given a Christian burial attended by about 100 people, including some Muslims.

In 2006, Mintu said, more than 7,000 Muslims vandalized houses of area Christians. There are 50 Christian families of mostly Muslim upbringing within two miles, he said, including 18 families in the immediate area of Beoa’s home.

+ Compass Direct News, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799, (949) 862-0304, info@compassdirect.org

[4] Borgdorff Appointed President of Reformed Ecumenical Council

Rev. Peter Borgdorff, former executive director of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, has been named president of the Reformed Ecumenical Council, a group that represents some 39 denominations and about 12 million Christians worldwide.

Borgdorff takes over from Rev. Douwe Visser, who resigned the presidency of REC to take a position with the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), based in Geneva, Switzerland. Both Borgdorff and Visser were in Grand Rapids for a special chapel service at which the transition was announced.

The new ecumenical body, to be called the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), will formally come into existence at an assembly set for June 2010 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. It will represent more than 80 million Christians worldwide.

Borgdorff has agreed to serve as president of REC during the next two years as the work is done to formalize the merger and he has also agreed to help write a constitution for the new organization.

The decision to merge REC, which is based in Grand Rapids, and WARC came after several years of discussions. At a meeting last year in Trinidad, WARC agreed to recommend to REC that the new global entity be called the World Communion of Reformed Churches. REC had already agreed to the merger at a meeting in South Africa. The new organization will represent nearly 230 Calvinist denominations in more than 100 countries.

Besides the traditional Reformed churches, the WCRC will be open to Presbyterian, Congregational, and other denominations with a Reformed heritage, Borgdorff added. "I have found over the years that the commonalities among us to be much greater than those things that we think divide us," said Borgdorff.

+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Ave., SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49560 (616) 241-1691

[5] World Outreach Director Search

The World Outreach Director Search and Selection Team of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) has begun its work in seeking the individual God has called to succeed Rev. Jeff Chadwick. The team includes a current member of the World Outreach Committee (Bruce Anderson), a current member of the World Outreach mission’s family (Tim Mitchell), an individual heavily engaged in mission (Ron Sadlow), a member of the Committee on Administration (Art Hunt), and Executive Pastor/Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah.

+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Office of the General Assembly, 17197 N. Laurel Park Drive, Suite 567, Livonia, MI 48152-7912, (734) 742-2020

[6] AMIA Conference Hears Call to Grow Church

Announcing that this was the largest turnout ever in the history of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA), a jubilant Bishop Chuck Murphy stood before nearly 1,700 evangelical Anglicans at their winter conference, to announce a broad plan to reach 130 million unchurched Americans.

The AMiA leader said the conference has drawn three Anglican archbishops, three retired archbishops, 19 Anglican bishops from Canada, the US, England, Africa, and the entire House of Bishops of the Province of Rwanda. A representative from the Province of Uganda was also present, with 80 international guests and 16 representatives from major Anglican missions and seminaries and Common Cause bishops from nine jurisdictions that included bishops from the Reformed Episcopal Church.

Also present was the leader of orthodoxy in the Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh. Representative from orthodox seminaries TESM, Nashotah House, and St. Augustine seminary in Peru were also on hand. A number of retired Episcopal bishops were present including the Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison and Bishop Alex Dickson.

Three new bishops will be consecrated for service in the AMiA as part of the conference agenda. They include the Rev. Terrell Glenn, rector of All Saints Church, Pawleys Island, South Carolina; the Rev. Philip Jones, rector of St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Little Rock, Arkansas; and the Rev. John Miller, rector of Prince of Peace Anglican Church, Melbourne, Florida.

"I believe they will bring additional strength to the Anglican Mission's Council of Bishops as we seek to break into new territory and reach out to the 130 million unchurched in North America," said Murphy. The AMIA will now have seven missionary bishops serving more than 133 parishes with 62 in the pipeline.

Among the featured conference speakers are theologian Dr. J.I. Packer, newly consecrated London Bishop Sandy Millar, Reformed theologian Rev. Dr. John H. Armstrong, and Mrs. Judith MacNutt. Murphy said AMIA has produced the 1662 Book of Common Prayer in contemporary English with a first printing in the works. This was the work of two theologians the Rev. Dr. John H. Rodgers Interim Dean at TESM in Ambridge and US Prayer Book Society President the Rev. Dr. Peter Toon.

According to Anglican journalist David Virtue, Murphy continued "We are not creating a new wineskin; we are not creating a new church or new province. Our call is specific. We are called by God to move out and bring those who don't know Jesus Christ and to bring them into a relationship with him."

+ AMiA National Mission, Resource Center, PO Box 3427, Pawleys Island, SC 29585 (843) 237-0318

.

30 January 2008

Headlines:

[1] Auburn Avenue Departs
[2] Secret Police Pressure Kazakhstan Presbyterians
[3] Presbyterian Foundation Obtains US$1 Million for Staff
[4] Capetz Returns to the PC(USA) Ministry
[5] Bucky Brown Joins Staff at Clover

[1] Auburn Avenue Departs

On 27 January 2008 the Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church voted without dissent to withdraw from the Presbyterian Church in America in order to become a mission church of the Confederation of Reformed Evangelical Churches under the oversight of the Grace Covenant Church of Nacogdoches, Texas. Pastor Steve Wilkins has been a key figure in the dispute over what Presbyterians term the Federal Vision. Commonly churches in the CREC practice Paedocommunion.

+ Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church, 224 Auburn Avenue, Monroe, Louisiana 71201 (318) 323-3061

[2] Secret Police Pressure Kazakhstan Presbyterians

The government says, “People are not persecuted on religious grounds in Kazakhstan.” After a 17-hour raid on Grace Presbyterian Church in Almaty ranging over the night of 25 and 26 January, local Presbyterians are not convinced.

The denomination of more than 300 congregations began to experience serious problems when the Financial Police raided the denominational headquarters in Karaganda for 15-hous August 2007.

The Almaty congregation occupies a building on one of the city’s main streets and numbers about 5,000 members.

According to published reports, Kazahk authorities suspect the denomination’s founder Yoseph Yu is a spy. An American citizen of South Korean origin, Yu now lives in Seoul and oversees the international Grace Presbyterian movement which he initiated in 1991. Yu was deported from Russia in August 2002 and banned from entering Kazakhstan in May 2005.

Other key figures in the spread of Korean Presbyterianism across formerly closed regions of Asia have also experienced interference from state authorities.

+ Forum18, Postboks 6603, Rodeløkka, N-0502 Oslo, Norway

[3] Presbyterian Foundation Obtains US$1 Million for Staff

The Presbyterian Foundation, an instrument of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has received a US$1 Million donation from the Mark D. Hostettler and Alexander N. Habib Foundation in Boston to support a staff position for work with the Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association. The structure works with some 140 affiliated camps and conference centers servicing an average of 1.5 million participants each year.

+ The Presbyterian Foundation, 200 E. Twelfth Street, Jeffersonville, IN 47130 (800) 858-6127

[4] Capetz Returns to the PC(USA) Ministry

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area voted Jan. 26 to restore the ordination of Paul Capetz, an openly gay man, as minister of word and sacrament. Capetz had laid aside his ordination in 2000 in response to the 1997 addition of G-6.0106b to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Book of Order. The section requires ordained church officers to practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness.”

In asking the presbytery to restore his ordination, Capetz declared a principled objection or “scruple,” noting that he could not affirm G-6.0106b, and cited the 2006 General Assembly’s authoritative interpretation of The Book of Order section G-6.0108 that allows candidates to raise principled objections and reaffirms the presbytery’s responsibility to determine fitness of candidates.

Capetz claimed the fidelity and chastity amendment makes it necessary for homosexuals to take a “vow of celibacy” if they seek or hold ordained office. Capetz said such a vow is inappropriate because one’s sexuality is “inescapable” and that the vow creates a “false kind of works righteousness.”

In two separate votes, the presbytery determined that Capetz’s declared departure from ordination standards regarding sexual practice did not constitute a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity, and then restored Capetz to office.

+ Presbyterian Church (USA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202

[5] Bucky Brown Joins Staff at Clover

Dr. Chuck Baynard of the Christian Observer has announced that Rev. Mr. James (Bucky) Brown will join him on the staff of the Clover Evangelical Presbyterian Church as Minster for Small Groups. Brown has an extensive background both in the pastorate and in expanded diaconal services.

+ Clover Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 101 Marion Street, Clover, South Carolina 29710 (803) 222-4876

16 January 2008

Headlines:

[1] New Presentations for Old Ideas
[2] TEC Continues to Unravel
[3] Coordinated Blasts Rock Churches in Iraq


[1] New Presentations for Old Ideas

Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed of Dallas has reorganized its highly popular web presence. The new systems make hundreds of books and articles easy to find and introduces an outstanding collection of audio presentations.

Located in Mesquite, Texas, Faith is the anchor congregation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Hanover) in the South West. Dr. Richard Bacon, pastor, is the author of the standard reference on historical Presbyterian polity. Copies of significant texts on the topic can be downloaded easily from this new site.

+ Faith Presbyterian Church Reformed, 6702 Dalrock Rd., Suite 126, PMB #214, Rowlett, TX 75089-2662 http://www.fpcr.org/FPCR.htm


[2] TEC Continues to Unravel

The Diocese of Pittsburgh has broken with Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding officer of the House of Bishops for The Episcopal Church (formerly the Protestant Episcopal Church). The Episcopal Church's Title IV Review Committee has certified that Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Robert Duncan has abandoned the communion of the church.

Katharine Jefferts Schori informed Duncan on 15 January of the certification and sent him a copy. The letter told Duncan that Schori sought the canonically required permission from the House's three senior bishops with jurisdiction to inhibit him, based on the certification, from the performance of any episcopal, ministerial or canonical acts. "On 11 January 2008 they informed me that such consents would not be given at this time by all three bishops," Jefferts Schori wrote.

"Pursuant to the time limits stated in Canon IV.9, the matter will not come before the House of Bishops at its next scheduled meeting in March 2008, but will come before the House at the next meeting thereafter," the Presiding Bishop wrote in her letter.

Pittsburgh's diocesan convention 2 November gave the first of two approvals needed to enact a constitutional change to remove language in the diocesan constitution stating that the diocese accedes to the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons as the denomination’s constitution requires.

Bishop Duncan offered a brief response to the news, saying, “Few bishops have been more loyal to the doctrine, discipline and worship of The Episcopal Church. I have not abandoned the Communion of this Church. I will continue to serve and minister as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh."

In contrast, San Joaquin Bishop John-David Schofield was certified by the review panel as having abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church, and the three senior bishops, Peter Lee of Virginia, Don Wimberly of Texas and Leo Frade of Southeast Florida agreed to inhibit him--prohibiting him from exercising his ministry as bishop--pending a trial at the March meeting. The failure to inhibit Bishop Duncan leaves him in office for the 16 July—3 Aug Lambeth Conference and will likely serve as a rallying point for conservatives against the heterodox American body at Lambeth.

+ Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, 900 Oliver Building, 535 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15222-2467


[3] Coordinated Blasts Rock Churches in Iraq

Four Iraqi churches and three convents were damaged in coordinated bomb blasts the day many Iraqi Christians celebrate either Epiphany or Christmas Eve according to some Eastern liturgical calendars.

Three churches in Baghdad and three in Mosul were hit without fatalities, Chaldean Baghdad Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Abouna told Compass Direct from Baghdad. Abouna said the blasts occurred within five minutes of each other at approximately 11 a.m. Father Bashar Warda of St. Peter’s Seminary said that the coordinated bombings sent a clear warning to Christians on the Feast of the Epiphany, also Christmas Eve day for several of Iraq’s indigenous churches. “There has been much violence against the Sunni and Shiites, while the Christians have been left alone, at least for [the past few months],” Warda told Compass.

Warda then said that the blasts let Christians know that, “whatever [violence] is happening around the country, you [Christians] will be part of it also.”

+ Compass News Direct, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana, CA 92799-7250

2 January 2008

Headlines:

[1] Pennsylvania Presbytery Will Litigate
[2] Ten Killed, Three Churches Set Ablaze in Nigeria


[1] Pennsylvania Presbytery Will Litigate

According to published reports, Washington Presbytery officials are expected to contest a claim to church property by a western Pennsylvania congregation that voted to leave the Presbyterian Church USA). Peters Creek Presbyterian Church voted in November to transfer to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Early reports had suggested a private settlement would keep western Pennsylvania congregational property ownership out of the civil courts.

+ Washington Presbytery, PO Box 146 - 89 Lively Road, Eighty-Four, PA 15330-0146 (724) 222-1500


[2] Ten Killed, Three Churches Set Ablaze in Nigeria

Ten persons have been killed and three churches set on fire after Muslim students in the city of Bauchi began a rampage on 11 December because unidentified people pulled out two foundation blocks of a high school mosque under construction. Area Muslims joined the attacking students, resulting in the deaths and damages in the city, including dozens of homes belonging to Christians.

The identity of nine of the 10 people killed has been kept secret as the Bauchi state government has ordered security agents to bury the bodies in a common grave, eyewitnesses to the burial reported. The body of the 10th person has been identified by eyewitnesses only by his surname, Bogoro, a Christian security agent.

A teacher at the Government Day Secondary School-Yelwa (also known as Baba Tanko Secondary School), who pleaded that his identity remain undisclosed out of fear of Muslim attack and government penalty, said he witnessed the sparking of the rampage when Muslim students claimed that the foundation of the school mosque had been pulled down. Muslim students began attacking Christians in their classes, he said. “They broke chairs and desks,” he said. “They also attacked their Christian colleagues with knives and daggers. I had to run for my dear life because the situation became uncontrollable.”

+ Compass Direct News Service, PO Box 27250, Santa Ana CA 92799