13 May 2009
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Two More New England States Endorse Homosexual Marriage
[2] More Light Presbyterians Come to Washington DC to Lobby for Hate Crimes and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
[3] Church of Scotland Accuses Wee Frees of Meddling in Church of Scotland Business
[4] Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland Consider Closer Cooperation
[5] Letter Writer Reminds The Scotsman of Scots Church History
[6] Taliban Extorts Protection ‘Tax’ From Christians in Swat Valley
[7] Pentagon Advisor Condemns U.S. Military’s Destruction of Bibles Sent to Troops in Afghanistan
[8] Louisiana Police Detain Man for “Don’t Tread on Me” Bumper Sticker on Car
[9] Two Calvin College Professors and One Student Win 2009-1010 Fulbright Scholarships
[10] Sweden Rules Gender-Based Abortion Legal
[11] Canadian Doctors Perform Unique In-Utero Repair of Unborn Baby Girl’s Heart
[12] Memorial Services Audio for the Rev. Dr. Timothy Tow Available
[13] New England Reformed Fellowship Meeting 12 May 2009
[14] News of the Presbytery of the United States in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
[15] Erskine Seminary to Award D.Min. to Erskine Seminary Professor, Associate Dean, and U.S. Army Chaplain R.J. Gore, Jr.
[16] Hungarian Reformed Church Plans Constituting Synod
[17] Has the Church of Scotland Discovered a New Evangelism Methodology?
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[1] Two More New England States Endorse Homosexual Marriage
The legislatures of New Hampshire and Maine passed homosexual marriage bills on 6 May 2009, and the governor of Maine signed his state’s bill one hour after legislative passage.
+ CNN, One CNN Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, 404-878-2276, Fax: 404-827-1995
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[2] More Light Presbyterians Come to Washington DC to Lobby for Hate Crimes and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act
As an outreach of their Presbyterian Equality Project (PEP), representatives of More Light Presbyterians (MLP), who describe their group as “a network of people seeking the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people [LGBT] of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church ([PC]USA)”, came to Washington DC the week of 4 May 2009 to lobby for enactment of the Hate Crimes Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
MLP describes the PEP as an initiative to “…end discrimination in civil society against LGBT people and their families and to secure equal rights and fairness for all.”
+ More Light Presbyterians, 4737 County Road 101, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55345, 505-820-7082, Fax: 505-820-2540, Michaeladee@aol.com
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[3] Church of Scotland Accuses Wee Frees of Meddling in Church of Scotland Business
Craig Brown reports that the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) (Wee Frees) has placed a link on the FCS website to a statement on the Fellowship of Confessing Churches (FCC) website responding negatively to the Church of Scotland (COS) Presbytery of Aberdeen’s decision “…to induct into a charge a minister who has openly declared himself to be living in a homosexual relationship.” The appointment will be debated and voted upon at the upcoming May 2009 COS General Assembly.
Some within the COS have characterized the FCS placing the link on their website as “…interfering in [COS] private business.” Iver Martin, a spokesman for the FCS, responded that “…the issue had become a wider question of morality,” due to the views of the clergyman in question making his views “…widely known and [thus making] it a matter of principle.”
The FCC is a fellowship within the COS that has invited like-minded Christians and churches from around the world to add their names to the statement. As of 11 May 2009, 700 members of the FCS have signed the online statement, as have over 9800 others, more than 4000 of whom are from the COS.
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 8AS, 0131-620-8620
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 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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[4] Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland Consider Closer Cooperation
David Ross reports that one hundred and sixty-six years after the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) split from the Church of Scotland (COS), the two denominations at their respective general assemblies later this month will present a report by the two denominations’ ecumenical relations committees that includes several examples of close cooperation between COS and FCS congregations in the north of Scotland.
The report expresses doubt concerning the possibility of the reunification of the two denominations because “…divergence in relation to the identity of scripture and the Word of God remain a serious stumbling block to co-operation….”
+ 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, Scotland EH2 4YN, 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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[5] Letter Writer Reminds The Scotsman of Scots Church History
In response to a 7 May 2009 article in The Scotsman concerning possible reunification of the Free Church of Scotland (FCS) and the Church of Scotland (COS), David Stevenson of Edinburgh, Scotland explains that the denominational split in 1843 was over the issue of “lay patronage,” or “the right of wealthy local patrons or landowners to appoint Church of Scotland ministers…in contravention of the terms of…The Treaty of Union of 1706…[containing] guarantees to the Church of Scotland and to Scottish Law.”
Stevenson additionally questions whether or not “…the impending creation of a United Kingdom supreme court breaches the guarantees to the Scottish legal system [in The Treaty of Union of 1706].”
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 8AS, 0131-620-8620
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 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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[6] Taliban Extorts Protection ‘Tax’ From Christians in Swat Valley
Hundreds of Pakistani Christians and other religious minorities including many Sikhs have fled the Swat Valley of Pakistan because of the Taliban imposition of the “jizya tax,” a tax on those who refuse to convert to Islam that has been used throughout Muslim history to humiliate and impoverish non-Muslims in hope that they will convert to Islam.
Christian and Sikh families living in the Orakzai Agency of Pakistan fled their homes after the Taliban demanded the equivalent of US$622,200.
+ Assyrian International News Agency
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[7] Pentagon Advisor Condemns U.S. Military’s Destruction of Bibles Sent to Troops in Afghanistan
Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis is a retired U.S. military officer, Pentagon adviser, and military and national security analyst, who is condemning the decision by the U.S. military to have their chaplains confiscate and then destroy Bibles in indigenous Afghan Pashto and Dari languages that had been sent to a soldier serving in Afghanistan, in order to make sure that troops did not violate rules against sharing their faith.
The Saudi Arabian-sponsored Al Jazeera television network was allowed onto the military base where they taped an American Bible study group and a stack of indigenous-language Bibles in the classroom. The U.S. military ordered the confiscation and destruction of the Bibles after the taped Bible study was shown on Al Jazeera television.
Maginnis characterized the official actions as “egregious” and “politically correct,” and characterized as “a bit disingenuous…that you would have a Saudi Arabian-sponsored Al Jazeera television network making tapes on an American facility of a Bible group so that they could target and discriminate against our soldiers.”
Maginnis continued, “By and large, soldiers should have the right to share their faith wherever they are…and for the political correctness crew to come aboard and declare that we’re going to destroy Bibles because of the sensitivity of the local command, I find egregious.”
+ American Family Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803, 662-844-5036
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[8] Louisiana Police Detain Man for “Don’t Tread on Me” Bumper Sticker on Car
A Louisiana man was recently stopped by a Louisiana town policeman and detained for thirty minutes while a background check of the man was conducted to determine whether he was a member of an “extremist” group. The reason for police stopping the man was because his car displayed a “Don’t Tread on Me” bumper sticker – based on the American Revolutionary flag designed by general and statesman Christopher Gadsden.
It is suspected that the policeman must have read and taken seriously the recent Department of Homeland Security publications that characterize “defenders of traditional American limited, constitutional government, free enterprise, and individual liberty” as “extremists.”
+ The American Vision, Post Office Box 220, Powder Springs, Georgia 30127, 770-222-7266, Fax: 770-222-7269, Mail@AmericanVision.org
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[9] Two Calvin College Professors and One Student Win 2009-1010 Fulbright Scholarships
Calvin College (CC) geography professor Janel Curry, philosophy professor David Hoekema, and CC senior Eric Bratt, have been awarded Fulbright Scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year.
The Fulbright Scholars Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946 with the aim “to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills.”
+ 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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[10] Sweden Rules Gender-Based Abortion Legal
After a woman from Eskilstuna, Sweden had previously aborted two unborn girls in separate pregnancies, and in a third pregnancy requested amniocentesis to check for both chromosome abnormalities and to determine the unborn child’s gender, doctors at Mälaren Hospital expressed concern and asked Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) to draw up guidelines for parental requests to determine the sex of an unborn child when there is no medical reason to do so.
The Socialstyrelsen ruled that such requests must be granted, and that doctors must perform any abortion requested where the unborn child is less than nineteen weeks old – even for gender-based abortions.
+ The Local Europe AB, Gjörwellsgatan 28, 112 60 Stockholm, Sweden, 46-0-8-656-6518, news@thelocal.se
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[11] Canadian Doctors Perform Unique In-Utero Repair of Unborn Baby Girl’s Heart
Doctors at Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s Mount Sinai Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children performed heart repair surgery in-utero on thirty-one week-old unborn Océane McKenzie in order to fix her narrowed left ventricle, which if left alone would have prevented the left side of her heart from functioning.
Surgeons expanded Océane’s aortic valve using a balloon catheter inserted through her mother’s abdomen, thus helping to reverse the baby’s heart failure before birth. Without the in utero surgery, Océane would have needed three surgeries after birth, and would have faced a shortened lifespan and long-term complications.
Océane McKenzie was born at full term on 15 April 2009, and had several procedures performed on her heart that resulted in her having normal heart function three weeks after her birth. Océane may need to have heart-valve surgery as an adult if her left heart valve stiffens as she grows to adulthood.
+ Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 250 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6, Canada, 1-866-306-4636, liaison@radio-canada.ca
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[12] Memorial Services Audio for the Rev. Dr. Timothy Tow Available
Audio recordings of the memorial services for the late Rev. Dr. Timothy Tow are available at the Bible Witness Media Ministry website.
Dr. Tow was the founder of the Bible-Presbyterian Movement and the Far Eastern Bible College of Singapore.
+ Malaysia Bible-Presbyterian Church
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[13] New England Reformed Fellowship Meeting 12 May 2009
The New England Reformed Fellowship met 12 May 2009 at the Immanuel Chapel in Upton, Massachusetts. Missionary to Central America, Gerry Wheaton, spoke about extraordinary changes in the shape, outlook, and center of gravity of the global church in recent decades.
+ New England Reformed Fellowship, c/o David Green, Pastor, Cornerstone Church, 14 McKinley Avenue, Beverly, Massachusetts, 01915, 978-927-8134, david.dovedge@gmail.com
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[14] News of the Presbytery of the United States in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)
The Presbytery of the United States in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) has a new website called The Westminster Presbyterian at www.westminsterconfession.org. designed by Reformed blogger Tim Challies.
The Westminster Presbyterian features articles on the practice and theological identity of the Presbytery. The site also houses full information about the Presbytery‘s week-long family conference each August in the Shenandoah Valley, and about the Presbytery‘s Spanish-language missions. Issues of the Presbytery‘s periodical, known as The Master’s Trumpet, are available, and an extensive treasury of classical Reformed articles and sermons provides further reading. There is information about our congregations, and links to audio and video of sermons.
+ Presbytery of the United States, c/o Sherman Isbell, Clerk of Presbytery, Post Office Box 2331, Fairfax, Virginia 22031-2331, 703-359-0192, rsisbell@gmail.com
+ Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Rev John MacLeod, Free Church Manse, Portmahomack, Ross-shire, Scotland, principalclerk@fccontinuing.org
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[15] Erskine Seminary to Award D.Min. to Erskine Seminary Professor, Associate Dean, and U.S. Army Chaplain R.J. Gore, Jr.
Erskine Theological Seminary (ETS) Professor, Associate Dean, Director of the Master of Divinity Program, U.S. Army Reserve Chaplain, and ETS doctoral student R.J. Gore, Jr., Ph.D., will be awarded the D.Min. degree at ETS graduation ceremonies on 16 May 2009.
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Center, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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[16] Hungarian Reformed Church Plans Constituting Synod
A meeting is scheduled for 22 May 2009 in Debrecen, Hungary of a “Constituting Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church,” for the purpose of unifying the Hungarian Reformed Churches world wide under a common confession, constitution, and standards.
A website promoting the event is http://majus22.org/index_en.html.
+ Reformed Church in Hungary, info@zsinatiiroda.hu
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[17] Has the Church of Scotland Discovered a New Evangelism Methodology?
An 5 May 2009 article in The News of the World reports that long-time football (soccer to us Yanks) player Michael Owen has been offered by a Scots soccer team a pay-as-you-play deal worth UK£50,000 a week, plus huge bonuses for goals and success.
A 10 May 2009 response to the article by “Rob” expresses great skepticism about the deal, and writes that “If this story comes to fruition then I’ll attend a Church of Scotland every Sunday for the next year.”
+ The News of the World, 1 Virginia Street, London E98 1XY, England, 0207-782-1001, newsdesk@notw.co.uk
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722
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