A new book titled “Lords or Servants,” by oil and gas businessman and lay minister Jim Reeves has been published by NewBookPublishing.com, which argues that the corporate structure prevalent in the modern-day church is in fact killing the church.

Reeves argues that the “Jesus model” is leadership through service rather than authority, and that grasping this key concept will solve most of the problems facing the modern church. The author demonstrates that leadership, like respect, cannot be granted by appointment; it must be earned by a life of service to others.

Reeves examines the difference between what was required of leaders in the first-century church and those of today, and shows that the church is the body of Christ, a living body, and not a corporate entity or an organization.

“Lords or Servants” retails for US$10.95, and is available at: http://www.newbookpublishing.com/lords-or-servants.html.

+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com

+ NewBookPublishing.com, 2395 Apopka Boulevard #200, Apopka, Florida 32703, 877-311-5100, Fax: 407-884-0291, Contact Page

[3] Malawi Presbyterian Synod Dispute Postpones Church of Central Africa – Presbyterian General Assembly

The Malawi Synods of Nkhoma and Livingstonia of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), represent churches of different people groups and political leanings in Malawi, and for more than ten years the ongoing migration of these people groups within the others’ traditional territory has led to conflict between the two synods as the synods have investigated establishing churches in what was formerly the exclusive territory of the other synod.

After several years of meetings and committee work, the 2007 CCAP General Assembly (GA), which additionally includes the Harare Synod and Zambia Synods from Zimbabwe and Zambia respectively, and the Synod of Blantyre in southern Malawi, established borders between the synods.

Since the 2007 CCAP GA, the Livingstonia Synod has begun developing churches within what has traditionally been the borders of the Nkhoma Synod in central Malawi, so the Nkhoma Synod proposed that there should be no borders between any of the four CCAP synods, and the Nkhoma Synod additionally attached a number of proposed regulations about how ministers and elders were ordained and how ministers and elders could transfer from one synod to another. As a result, the Livingstonia Synod has requested a postponement of the General Assembly previously scheduled for December 2009 in light of what they called the “new option” from Nkhoma Synod.

The Nkhoma Synod has observed their own sense of shame that the dispute between the two Malawian synods has brought on the “prophetic voice of the Church Universal to the world in general and to the Malawi nation in particular.”

+ Reformed Ecumenical Council, 2050 Breton Road Southeast, Suite 102, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, 616-949-2910, rvh@recweb.org

+ Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, General Synod, Post Office Box 30398, Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi, 265-796064, ccapgeneral@africa-online.net

[4] Church of Scotland Minister and Council Convener Lauds Sabbath Business Closings

Church of Scotland (COS) minister and Convener of the COS Church and Society Council the Rev. Ian Galloway, in an 11 January 2009 blog article titled “The Sabbath,” lauds automobile dealer Peter Vardy for closing all of his six auto showrooms on Sundays so that employees can spend more time with their families.

Galloway defines one manifestation of poverty as being “the lack of time spent with friends, family, and others you could be with,” and concludes: “It’s time to be with those we care about and reclaim the Sabbath for what it is.”

In a reminder of Olympics runner Eric Liddell’s refusal to run in the 100 meter race scheduled on a Sunday in 1924, in December 2009, Scots rugby player Euan Murray announced that he would not play in the Sunday, 7 February 2010, Six Nations match against France nor in any subsequent rugby matches scheduled on Sundays because of Murray’s religious view of the Sabbath.

The answer to Question Sixty of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is: “The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days [Leviticus 23:3, Exodus 16:25-29, Jeremiah 17:21-22]; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship [Psalm 92:1-2, Luke 4:16, Isaiah 58:13, Acts 20:7], except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy [Matthew 12:11-12].”

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722

+ Press and Journal, Lang Stracht, Mastrick, Aberdeen AB15 6DF, Scotland, 01224-343311, pj.newsdesk@ajl.co.uk

+ Peter Vardy, The Wright Business Centre, 1 Lonmay Road, Queenslie, Glasgow G33 4EL, Scotland, 0141-773-6236, Fax: 0141-773-6238, Contact Page

[5] Dozens of Church of Scotland Ministers Contact Unite Labor Union Bullying Hotline to Report Abuse from Parishioners

A 10 January 2010 Scotsman article by Mark Smith titled: “Union Sets Up Hotline to Help Church Ministers who are Victims of Bullying,” reports that dozens of Church of Scotland (COS) ministers have contacted a hotline set up by the Unite labor union to report abuse received from parishioners.

Unite has additionally implemented anti-bullying classes for COS senior staff, where the staffers learn from union experts how to spot bullying.

+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620

+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722

+ Unite, 35 King Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8JG, England, 020- 7420-8900, Fax: 020- 7420-8998, Contact Form

[6] South African Christian Democratic Party Leader Expresses Disappointment at Wedding of Polygamist President Jacob Zuma to 5^th Wife

A 5 January 2010 statement by African Christian Democratic Party leader the Rev. Kenneth R.J. Meshoe titled: “The President has Set a Bad Example for Men,” was posted in reaction to polygamist South African President Jacob Zuma being married to his 5^th wife, and said:

“The ACDP is very disappointed by the President’s marriage to [a] 5th wife, particularly because this act is against Biblical teaching and also against [the] government’s AIDS Programme that encourages peoples to sleep with only one partner. We believe [the president] has set a bad example for men in the country who might want to emulate what the Head of State is doing.

While polygamy has been practiced widely in African culture for centuries, it is now [no] longer relevant in democratic societies…. Polygamy promotes manipulation, jealousy, strife, and unhealthy competition among wives to attract the attention of their husband. It causes unhappiness among some because of neglect and unmet needs….

….

We question why some who claim to believe in democratic rights to equality can at the same time talk about the right of a man to marry more than one wife, while they will not agree when a woman wants to marry more than one husband. This, we believe, is nothing but an attempt to legitimize the lust of men.

The ACDP calls on men throughout the country not to follow the President’s bad example and choose to remain faithful and committed to one wife.”

+ African Christian Democratic Party, First Floor, Stats Building, 2 Fore Street, Alberton 1450, South Africa, 011-869-3941, Fax: 011-869-3942, office@acdp.org.za

[7] Ian Paisley Furious over Alleged Financial Improprieties and Wife’s Adulteries of Democratic Unionist Party Leader

A 10 January 2010 article in The Sunday Tribune by Suzanne Breen titled “Paisley ‘Beyond Fury’ over Robinson Sleaze” describes how Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster minister and former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Dr. Ian Paisley has expressed disgust at the recent revelations about several adulteries of Iris Robinson, wife of DUP leader Peter Robinson, and related questionable financial dealings of the Robinsons with real estate developers. Paisley has called for Robinson’s resignation as soon as possible in advance of May 2010 elections.

Paisley additionally is disturbed that Mrs. Robinson lectured against homosexuality for religious reasons while simultaneously carrying on adulterous affairs including one with the nineteen year old son of a deceased man – with whom Mrs. Robinson had previously carried on an adulterous affair – and for whom Mrs. Robinson secured UK£50,000 from other businessmen. Mrs. Robinson additionally carried on an adulterous affair in the 1980’s with a fellow DUP member.

+ The Sunday Tribune, 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1, Irish Republic, 01-6314300, nhegarty@tribune.ie

+ Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, info@freepres.org

+ Democratic Unionist Party, 91 Dundela Avenue, Belfast BT4 3BU, Northern Ireland, 028-9047-1155, Fax: 028-9052-1289, info@dup.org.uk

[8] Struthers Presbyterian Church of Struthers, Ohio, on 10 January 2010, Votes Ninety-Seven Percent to Three Percent to Disaffiliate from PCUSA

An 11 January 2010 article in The Vindicator by Linda Linonis titled “Struthers Church Secedes from Presbytery,” describes the 10 January 2010 congregational meeting at Struthers Presbyterian Church (SPC) (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) where the congregation voted ninety-seven percent to three percent to disaffiliate with the PCUSA and the Eastminster Presbytery (EP) “for theological reasons of conscience.”

On 5 January 2010, SPC received a temporary restraining order against the EP, forbidding any efforts to take control of church funds, property, and related matters. SPC holds the church deed in the name of the church and in 1983 disavowed any trust interest in the church property.

+ The Vindicator, 107 Vindicator Square, Youngstown, Ohio 44503, 330-747-1471, Contact Page

+ Eastminster Presbytery, 3833 Main Street, Mineral Ridge, Ohio 44440, 330-505-2167, Fax: 330-505-1545, info@faithfulness.com

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005

[9] Visalia, California, PCUSA Pastor to Become Professor of Systematic Theology in Ethiopian Seminary

Pastor Rich Hanson of First Presbyterian Church (FPC) (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) in Visalia, California, has announced that he and his wife Marylyn Hanson are to become PCUSA missionaries in Ethiopia, Dr. Hanson is to become Professor of Systematic Theology at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Hanson’s will leave FPC at the end of May 2010 and begin preparations for the move to Ethiopia scheduled for August 2010.

+ First Presbyterian Church, 215 North Locust, Visalia, California 93291, 559-732-8627, Fax: 559-732-8339, julie@firstpresvisalia.org

+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005

+ Ethiopia Graduate School of Theology, Post Office Box 24934, Code 1000, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 251-11-371-5588, egst@ethionet.et

[10] Calvin Synod Lakeside Classis Spring 2010 Meeting Scheduled 6 February 2010 at the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain in Lorain, Ohio

The Lakeside Classis of the Calvin Synod has scheduled their Spring 2010 meeting for 6 February 2010 beginning with lunch at noon at the Hungarian Reformed Church of Lorain in Lorain, Ohio.

Information is available from the Rev. Péter Tóth by telephone at 440-277-8177.

+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com

[11] 1908 Geneva College History Book Available at Google Books

Google Books has made available “The Geneva Book” by William Melancthon Glasgow D.D., published in 1908 by Westbrook Publishing Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is a history of Geneva College and contains biographies of students and alumni.

+ Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, 650-253-0000, Fax: 650-253-0001, press@google.com

+ Geneva College, 3200 College Avenue, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania 15010, 724-846-5100, Fax: 724.847.6696, pr@geneva.edu

+ Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA), 7408 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208, 412-731-1177, Fax: 412-731-8861

[12] Slavic Reformation Society Intensive Classes for Elders and Ministers Scheduled in St. Petersburg, Russia, 1-14 March 2010

The Slavic Reformation Society (SRS), which exists to plant Reformed churches and to train pastors to serve Christ in the former Soviet Union, has scheduled two weeks of intensive classes for pastors to be held 1-14 March 2010 in the Biblical Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, Russia.

SRS needs to raise US$10,000 by 1 February 2010 in order to commit to holding the St. Petersburg classes. Donations can be made to the address listed below.

+ Slavic Reformation Society, Post Office Box 794, Louisville, Mississippi 39339, 662-779-0519, mforster@internetcapital.com

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13 January 2010

Christian Observer Publishing