1 September 2010

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Presbyterians Week Headlines

[1] PCUSA Presbytery of Redwoods Finds Minister Guilty on Three of Four Counts for Performing Homosexual Marriages, then Rebukes PCUSA for Barring Ministers from Performing Homosexual Marriages

[1] PCUSA Presbytery of Redwoods Finds Minister Guilty on Three of Four Counts for Performing Homosexual Marriages, then Rebukes PCUSA for Barring Ministers from Performing Homosexual Marriages
The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)’s Presbytery of Redwoods’ Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC), in a 24 August 2010 trial of the Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr, convicted Spahr on three of four counts related to Spahr’s presiding over a minimum of fifteen same-sex marriages in California between June and November 2008 when same sex marriages were legal in California. Spahr was cited for representing a same-sex ceremony as a marriage and signing the marriage certificate of the two women for whom Spahr had performed the ceremony, contrary to the PCUSA Book of Order; for persisting in a practice of disobedience for performing at least fifteen of these ceremonies; and, for failure to be governed by PCUSA polity in violation of Spahr’s ordination vows. Spahr was acquitted of a charge of failing to further the peace, unity and purity of the church through intentionally and repeatedly acting in violation of the PCUSA Book of Order.

The Redwoods PJC decision went on to commend Spahr for “acting with faithful compassion” in performing the same-sex marriages; to thank Spahr “for her prophetic ministry that for thirty-five years has extended support to “people who seek the dignity, freedom and respect that they have been denied,” and for seeking to right “wrongs against individuals, groups, and peoples in the church, in this nation, and in the world;” and called upon the PCUSA “to reexamine our own fear and ignorance that continues to reject the inclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ….We say this believing that we have in our own Book of Order conflicting and even contradictory rules and regulations that are against the Gospel.”

The Redwoods PJC issued Spahr a rebuke and an injunction enjoining Spahr to avoid the same offenses in the future, which are not to be imposed immediately if the case is appealed.
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+ Presbytery of Redwoods, 1226A Salvador Avenue, Napa, California 94558, 707-224-5407, Fax: 707-224-4309, pbyrw@pacbell.net

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[2] Biblical Presbyterian Network Asks Biblical Christians in the PCUSA: Is God Calling You to Exile or Exodus?

In the wake of 2010’s Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) 219^th General Assembly, Tony Brown of the Biblical Presbyterian Network has written an essay titled “My Reflections,” which questions the value of current efforts within PCUSA renewal organizations to raise funds and to equip people to fight again the same battles in the presbyteries verses leaving the PCUSA for another denomination already upholding biblical standards.

Brown poses the question “Exile or Exodus?,” and calls upon every individual to set aside the fights over temporal matters and to seek whether God is calling an individual to exile or exodus.
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+ Biblical Presbyterian Network, admin@biblicalpresbyterians.net

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[3] New Wineskins 2010 Convocation in Houston, Texas, 26-28 September 2010 – “Equipping Saints for Missional Ministry”

The New Wineskins Association of Churches is hosting the organization’s 2010 Convocation 26-28 September 2010 at the Windwood Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas, with the theme of “Equipping Saints for Missional Ministry.”

The featured speaker will be Reggie McNeal, a Missional Leadership Specialist for the Leadership Network, who serves as a speaker, teacher, and consultant to local church, denomination, and para-church leadership groups throughout North America.

Additionally, Lloyd Lunceford will speak on Property Law and Brad Long will speak on Spiritual Warfare.

Registration information is available at:

http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=877573
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+ New Wineskins Association of Churches, 8800 Peebles Road, Allison Park, Pennsylvania 15101, 888-754-9693, info@newwineskinsassociation.org

+ Leadership Network, 2626 Cole Avenue, Suite 900, Dallas, Texas 75204, 214-969-5950, Fax: 214-969-9392, client.care@leadnet.org
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[4] Waldensian Synod Votes to Recognize Homosexual Marriage and to Urge Living Will Legislation

A 27 August 2010 article in La Stampa by A. Giaimo and A. Rossi titled “Testamento Biologico e Coppie Omosessuali. Lo Strappo dei Valdesi” reports that the Synod of the Union of the Methodist and Waldensian Churches, meeting in late August 2010 in Turin, Italy, voted to recognize homosexual marriages in their churches and to urge that living will legislation be enacted in Italy.

Additionally, the synod’s Bioethics Commission has recently approved a document in favor of embryonic stem cell research.

The Waldensians began in the late twelfth century as a small group of men who translated Scripture into the vernacular languages and began preaching God’s Word, which they saw scripturally as essential to salvation. Their translation and preaching activities brought the Bible into France, Italy, Switzerland, and parts of Eastern Europe. As the Waldensians continued to study and preach Scripture, they began to reject man-made Roman Catholic doctrines such as the oath, purgatory, prayers for the dead, the mass, and transubstantiation. Rome’s answer was to bring about the Inquisition, in which Waldensian men, women, and children were tortured, burned at the stake, or hunted down and murdered. Many of the Waldensians found protection in the alpine valleys and high plateaus of Switzerland, where their biblical worship of God was able to continue.
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+ La Stampa, Via Marenco, 32 – 10126 Torino, Italy, mario.calabresi@lastampa.it

+ Union of the Methodist and Waldensian Churches, Via Firenze 38 – 00184 Roma, Italia, 06-4741709, Fax: 06-47885308, info@chiesavaldese.org

+ Protestant Reformed Churches in America, webmaster@prca.org
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[5] Hindu Congregation Moves into Historical Third Reformed Church (RCA) of Raritan Borough, New Jersey

A 24 August 2010 article by Kara L. Richardson on MyCentralNewJersey.com titled “Hindu Congregation Moves into Historic Raritan Borough Church” reports that the congregation of Third Reformed Church (c. 1851) (Reformed Church in America) in Raritan Borough, New Jersey, held its last church service 30 May 2010, after dwindling to about twenty members, merging with another church, and selling the church building to a lifelong resident and civic activist so that a community center could be built. The new owner sold the church to a Hindu congregation in August 2010 after plans for the community center fizzled.

The new occupants have decorated the church walls with posters of Hindu gods and temple leaders, have hung garlands around the building’s posts and railing, and have moved the chairs to the walls – creating an open space for worship.
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+ MyCentralNewJersey.com, 35 Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816, 732-246-5500, shidlay@mycentraljersey.com

+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
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[6] RCA Minister Attends “Taste of Ramadan” Celebration as Member of Franklin Township (New Jersey) Interfaith Council

A 24 August 2010 article by Mary Ann Bourbeau on MyCentralNewJersey.com titled “Franklin Islam Center Opens Doors to Public for Tradition Ramadan Dinner” reports that Reformed Church in America pastor the Rev. George Montanari of the Middlebush Reformed Church in Somerset, New Jersey, on 26 August 2010, attended a “Taste of Ramadan” dinner at the Why Islam Center in Somerset along with other members of the Franklin Township Interfaith Council.

Montanari said of the dinner: “It will give us an opportunity to build bridges between different religions in Franklin. When you sit down and break bread with someone, it invites a certain level of friendship and familiarity. You start to understand what ties you together as well as what makes you distinctive people.”
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+ MyCentralNewJersey.com, 35 Kennedy Boulevard, East Brunswick, New Jersey 08816, 732-246-5500, shidlay@mycentraljersey.com

+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
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[7] Calvin College and Young Life Partner for Christian Leadership Development and to Provide Facilities and Selected Program/Event Participation for Youth Ministry Activities

Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has entered into a new partnership with Young Life, a multi-faceted Colorado Springs, Colorado-based ministry for high school students and other young people.

Young Life will offer the services of area director Eric Kuiper to support Christian leadership development, to assist in exposing high school students to the opportunities for and the benefits of Christian higher education, and to participate in research on the relationship of church and parachurch organizations.

In return, Calvin College will provide Young Life with access to facilities and services on the Knollcrest campus and opportunities for involvement in selected campus programs and events.

Calvin College additionally announced establishment of the Young Life Leadership Scholarship program, which will offer US$1,000 scholarships to high school students who have participated in a Young Life summer camp “work crew” and/or the Young Life Student Leadership Project.
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+ Calvin College 3201 Burton Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, 616-526-6000

+ Young Life, Post Office Box 520, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80901, 877-438-9572, Fax: 719-381-1750, Contact Page

+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org
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[8] RPCNA Pacific Coast Presbytery Winter Youth Conference Scheduled 30 December 2010 – 3 January 2011 in Los Angeles, California

The Pacific Coast Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) has scheduled a Winter Youth Conference for 30 December 2010 – 3 January 2010 at the Los Angeles Reformed Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, California, with the theme “Back to the Basics.”

Four messages will be presented by David Whitla, who serves as Director of the Theological Foundations for Youth Program at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and is Chairman of the Youth Ministries Committee of the RPCNA Synod.
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+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), 7408 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208, 412-731-1177, Fax: 412-731-8861

+ Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 7418 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208, 412-731-8690, Fax: 412-731-4834, info@rpts.edu
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[9] Ligonier Ministries 2010 Pastors Conference Scheduled 12-14 October 2010 in Sanford, Florida – “Peace, Purity, and Unity in the Church”

Ligonier Ministries is conducting the 2010 Pastors Conference 12-14 October 2010 at St. Andrews Chapel in Sanford, Florida, with the theme “Peace, Purity, and Unity in the Church.”

Conference speakers include Mark Dever, Steven Lawson, Iain Murray, and R.C. Sproul.

Conference information is available at:

http://www.ligonier.org/events/2010-pastors-conference
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+ Ligonier Ministries, 400 Technology Park, Lake Mary, Florida 32746, 407-333-4244, Fax: 407-333-4233
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[10] Trinity Foundation Publishes First E-Book – The Trinity by Gordon H. Clark

The Trinity Foundation has published their first E-book, The Trinity by Gordon H. Clark.

The Trinity is a new edition of Clark’s 1985 book, and is available as a trade paperback for US$12.95, or for download in MOBI (Kindle compatible) and ePub (most other electronic readers) electronic formats for US$10.
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+ The Trinity Foundation, Post Office Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692, 423-743-0199, Fax: 423-743-2005, tjtrinityfound@aol.com
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[11] United Church of Christ Theologian Donald Bloesch – A Father of Mainline Renewal – Passes to Glory

Upon the 24 August 2010 death in Dubuque, Iowa, of Dr. Donald Bloesch, teacher and professor emeritus at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, the Biblical Witness Fellowship (BWF) made the following statement:

“Dr. Bloesch inspired and informed the passion of an entire generation of renewal leaders, not only in his own denomination, the United Church of Christ [UCC], but throughout the Mainline Church. His earlier work such as “The Reform of the Church,” “Evangelical Renaissance,” “Wellsprings of Renewal,” and “The Invaded Church,” were the battle cry and blueprint for those calling their drifting churches back to authentic ecumenical orthodoxy. His later “Christian Foundations Series” will remain a part of classical theological education for years to come. Dr. Bloesch largely authored the founding document of the Biblical Witness Fellowship, the confessing movement in the UCC, known as the Dubuque Declaration.”

BWF Executive Director, David Runnion-Bareford said, “Donald Bloesch was the major theological force in shaping our radical vision for church renewal in the 1970’s and 1980’s. He gave us not only an understanding of the deep perversity in the mainline church, but theological skills to be effective witnesses in a difficult time. He was my inspiration in the early years, and when I found myself in leadership, Dr. Bloesch became an invaluable mentor and friend. It is ironic that this evangelical was the most widely read and respected UCC theologian of his generation. He will be received into glory with great joy! Thank you Dr. Bloesch.”
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+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com

+ Biblical Witness Fellowship, c/o Clifford & Associates, 4150 Belden Village Street Northwest, Suite 601, Canton, Ohio 44718, areformer@aol.com

+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org

+ University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, 2000 University Avenue, Dubuque, Iowa 52001, 563-589-3112, Fax: 563-589-3110, udtsadms@dbq.edu

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