10 December 2014
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“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]
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Erskine College and Theological Seminary President Paul D. Kooistra Announces Restructuring Plans
[3] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
[5] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
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[1] Erskine College and Theological Seminary President Paul D. Kooistra Announces Restructuring Plans
December 2, 2014
Dear Erskine Students, Faculty, and Staff:
As you know, we have been working for several months on the details of a financial plan that will ensure the long-term quality and value of an Erskine education by addressing several immediate concerns related to accreditation and finances.
In August I announced the first of several measures, which included a reduction in salaries and benefits for faculty and staff, as well as a mid-year tuition increase. Our Aramark partners were also able to make reductions and adjustments resulting in a savings of approximately $300,000. Combined, these actions will enable us to achieve our budgetary goals for 2014-15.
I also announced in August that we would review programs in both the college and seminary, including structure and personnel. The various faculty and administrative committees have completed their reviews and provided their input and recommendations to me.
Yesterday, I began implementing a series of actions that will address the needs for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Altogether, the reductions and adjustments across the various categories total approximately $875,000 ($400,000 in the seminary, and $475,000 in the college). Unless otherwise noted, these changes will take effect in the 2015-16 fiscal year, which starts July 2015.
First, salaries for the president and vice president members of the senior leadership team will be reduced by an additional three percent.
In the Seminary:
- We will be eliminating three full-time faculty positions.
- The remaining seminary faculty members will voluntarily take a 25 percent salary reduction.
- We also anticipate an increase in seminary tuition revenue next year through expanded and new programs.
In the College:
- Three professors have announced voluntary departures or retirements at the end of 2014-15 (June 2015).
- Three professors will be on sabbatical for 2015-16 at reduced salaries for the year.
- Two professors have voluntarily requested significant load reductions with commensurate salary reductions.
- The department of Modern Languages will be discontinued, resulting in the elimination of all faculty positions in that department.
- In addition to measures already taken internally, the athletic department budget will be further reduced by $75,000.
These changes will require adjustments to curricular and graduation requirements and scheduling. Students with majors, minors, or specific courses directly affected by these changes will be contacted directly.
I encourage us all to exercise patience and extend grace to one another as we deal with the details of these changes. Disruptive changes such as these are especially difficult because they affect Erskine family members whom we love. So I would also ask you as an Erskine family to pray with and for those who are affected.
These actions, together with those we have already taken, will position us to achieve our financial and accreditation objectives. As we do that, I am confident that Erskine will be able to maintain compliance with accreditation standards, continue to operate from a solid financial base, and establish a pattern of long-term financial stability within our targeted two-year horizon.
Sincerely in Christ,
Paul D. Kooistra
President, Erskine College & Theological Seminary
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+ Erskine College and Theological Seminary, 2 Washington Street, Due West, South Carolina 29639, 864-379-2131, Fax: 864-379-2167, jguyette@erskine.edu
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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A 7 December 2014 Press and Journal article by Cameron Brooks titled “Doubts over Whether New Stance on Gay Clergy Could Revive Kirk Membership” reports that Church of Scotland Moderator the Rt. Rev. John Chalmers’ goal of attracting 100,000 new members by 2025 has been met with skepticism by both Humanist Society Scotland (SHS) chief executive Douglas Mclellan, and by Free Church of Scotland (FCS) Moderator Designate the Rev. David Robertson . Kirk Moderator Chalmers wants to embrace “radical change” and use the Internet to attract people who rarely attend services, and said that more conservative interpretations of the Bible are “being left behind” as more people have recognized that homosexuality is not a sin. Chalmers elaborated:
“Whilst religion is trying to put homosexuality and same-sex marriage at the centre of a lot of what it is trying to say, it does not necessarily make religion more attractive.
“If you look at belief, it is fragmenting.
“People are entitled to their own beliefs and no one belief system should have a privilege over any other.”
SHS chief Douglas Mclellan said letting Kirk congregations appoint a minister in a same-sex relationship would not necessarily make the organization more “attractive”.
FCS moderator designate Robertson urged Kirk moderator Chalmers to stop playing “fantasy church” and said that many official Kirk members were non-believers and “need to be converted, not replicated”.
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+ Press and Journal, Lang Stracht, Mastrick, Aberdeen AB15 6DF, Scotland, 01224-343311, pj.newsdesk@ajl.co.uk
+ Humanist Society Scotland, 272 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4JR, Scotland, 0870-874-9002, Contact Page
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ 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
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[3] News from the Deepest Recesses of Hell
— Canadian Ethicist Advocates ‘Post-Birth Abortion’ for Newborns
— U.K. Mother Legally Ends Her Twelve-Year-Old Daughter’s Life
— Google: Online Searches for Ouija Boards Up 300 Percent
— Minnesota Schools Allow Male Athletes Who Say They Are Female to Shower with Girls
— Man Strangles Woman and Forces Her to Swallow Abortion Pill to Kill Her Baby
— Missing 911 Call: Ambulance Rushes Sobbing Abortion Patient from Shoddy Jacksonville, Florida Clinic
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+ LifeSiteNews.com, Incorporated, 4 Family Life Lane, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, 888-678-6008, Contact Page
+ Answers in Genesis, 2800 Bullittsburg Church Road, Petersburg, Kentucky 41080, 859-727-2222
+ Christian News Network, Post Office Box 30000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, Contact Page
+ LifeNews.com, Post Office Box 270841, Fort Collins, Colorado 80527, news@lifenews.com
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
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— Police Stupidity Leads to Handcuffed Man’s Drowning Death
— NYPD Cop Shoots Unarmed Man, Texts Union Rep Instead of Calling for Help
— Beloit, Wisconsin Police department Asks Volunteers to Have Homes Searched for Guns
— Arizona Cop Caught on Cam Brutally Attacking Teen Girl While Mother Begs Them to Stop
— Denver, Colorado Police Beat Unarmed Man, Topple His Pregnant Girlfriend and Delete the Evidence
— ‘If You Know Gun Enthusiasts, Turn Them In’: Austin Police Chief Says Cops Need to ‘Vet’ Gun Owners
— Houston Man Arrested for Video Recording Cop on Private Property
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+ The D.C. Clothesline, dean.garrison.99@gmail.com
+ Reason.com, 1747 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20009, 202-986-0916, chris.mitchell@reason.com
+ The Free Thought Project, contact@thefreethoughtproject.com
+ Truthdig, 1158 26th Street, Number 443, Santa Monica, California 90403, info@truthdig.com
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[5] Raging Heathen and Vain Imagining
Articles from the past week regarding kings and rulers setting themselves against the LORD and against his anointed:
— U.S. Army Chaplain Punished for Sharing His Faith in Suicide Prevention Class
— Thirty-Three U.S. States Allow Transgender Athletes on High School Teams
— Obama’s Push For that National Police Force
— Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren Says Pope Francis Is the Pope of All Christians Worldwide
— King Obama Defies Congress and Rewrites Obamacare Law Yet Again
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+ Collective Evolution, Contact Page
+ Fox News, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036, 888-369-4762, Fax: 212-462-6127, yourquestions@foxnews.com
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
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Articles from the past week about the religion of peace:
— ISIS Cites Quran to Justify Child Rape
— ISIS Behead Four Children in Iraq after They Refuse to Convert to Islam
— Taliban Indoctrinates Kids with Jihadist Textbooks Paid For By the U.S.
— Iraq: UK Jihadi Murders Dozens in Jihad Suicide Bombing at Police Meeting
— Palestinian ‘Martyrs’ Who Butchered Five in Synagogue to Be Honored
— New Jersey Town Forced to Pay Muslims US$7.75 Million to Stop Mega-Mosque
— World’s Biggest Children’s Book Publisher Scholastic Erases Israel from Map
— Denmark: Muslim Gangs Enforcing Sharia in Residential Areas
— Nigeria: Islamic Jihadists Abduct over Twenty Girls, Kill Elderly Men and Women
— Muslim U.S. Naval Engineer Allegedly Gave Agent Info on How to Sink Aircraft Carrier
— India Court: Sharia Trumps Ban on Child Marriage
— Al-Qaeda Kills U.S. And South African Hostages during Failed Rescue Attempt by U.S., Yemeni Forces
— ISIS Fighters, Supporters Continue to Use Ferguson Affair to Make Threats, Incite against U.S.
— Muslims in Syria (Likely) Conduct Mass Beheading Session, and Create a Huge Puddle of Blood
— European Court of Human Rights Orders France to Pay Damages to Somali Pirates
— Sudanese Authorities Demolish Church and Arrest Thirty-Seven Christians
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+ WND, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, #351, Washington DC 20006, Contact Page
+ The Mirror, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP, England, 020-7293-3000, mirrornews@mirror.co.uk
+ Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch
+ The Christian Post, National Press Building, 529 14th Street Northwest, Suite 420, Washington DC 20045, 202-347-7734, info@christianpost.com
+ Now the End Begins, Contact Page
+ Atlas Shrugs, writeatlas@aol.com
+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com
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