18 June 2014
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] ARP Synod Elects the Rev. Jamie Hunt Moderator-Elect
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[1] ARP Synod Elects the Rev. Jamie Hunt Moderator-Elect
The 2014 Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), meeting at the Bonclarken assembly grounds in Flat Rock, North Carolina, on 11 June 2014 elected the Rev. Jamie Hunt Moderator-elect.
Jamie Hunt has been the pastor of Coddle Creek ARP Church in Mooresville, North Carolina for thirty-three years, and is scheduled to retire in early July 2014. He said of his election:
“I will give it all I have got. I believe the future of the church is as bright as the promise of God.”
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+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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[2] ARP Synod Votes for the Ecclesiastical Bureaucrat’s “Chameleon of Unctuous Etiquette” in Lieu of Matthew 18, the ARP Book of Discipline, and Parliamentary Procedure
The ARPTalk Blog has reached the milestone of 100 published articles with the 16 June 2014 “ARPTalk 100 – Analysis of the 2014 General Synod: We Do Not Know What We Are Doing, and We Are Doing It Well!” by editor the Rev. Dr. Charles (Chuck) W. Wilson. Dr. Wilson and his ARPTalk Blog for the past several years have often been a lone voice “crying out in the wilderness” against unbiblical practices within the ARP Synod, Erskine College and Theological Seminary, and several ARP presbyteries.
Sadly, Dr. Wilson’s 100th ARPTalk Blog article summarizing the recent meeting of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church General Synod includes a dispassionate account of the attempt to silence Dr. Wilson through the church courts without the benefit of biblical precepts, the ARP Book of Discipline, nor parliamentary procedure. The following is the section of the subject article describing the nefarious scheme:
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Complaint from Catawba Presbytery
Unidentified members (ministers? and/or elders?) have complained to Catawba’s Minister and His Work Commission about “the derogatory manner in which” they were “and continue to be, referred to in ARPTalk.” However, ignoring Matthew 18.15-17, in over a year, these individuals have NOT approached the Editor of ARPTalk to address their grievances with him. In over a year, no one in Catawba Presbytery has communicated or attempted to communicate with the Editor of ARPTalk by mouth face-to-face, by mouth via telephone, by letter, by e-mail, by Facebook, by telegraph, or by smoke signals. The only attempts at communications were made by the Editor of ARPTalk. Folks would not answer the phone or return phone calls. When reached, the response of the chairman of the Minister and His Work was he could not inform the Editor what the derogatory remarks were, where they could be found, or who complained, and he also firmly stated he could not talk about the matter.
Catawba’s Minister and Work Commission was commissioned by Catawba Presbytery in March to, “in the spirit of Matthew 18.15-17,” have a conversation with Second Presbytery’s Minister and His Work Committee about their concerns. When the matter was brought before Second Presbytery’s Executive Committee, the committee advised Second Presbytery’s Minister and His Work Committee not to meet with Catawba’s Minister and His Work Commission, lest Second Presbytery’s Minister and His Work Committee become embroiled in an abortive process that runs afoul of the required procedures. In a nutshell, the response of Second Presbytery’s Executive Committee was that it seemed Catawba’s Minister and His Work Commission was beginning the process of bringing formal charges against the Editor of ARPTalk, and, in their reply, they outlined the process in the Book of Discipline for the members of Catawba’s Minister and His Work Commission and informed them that there is no “spirit of Matthew 18.15-17,” only the letter of Matthew 18.15-17 – and the letter had not been followed.
The response of the members of Catawba’s Minister and His Work Commission was to file a “complaint” against Second Presbytery, asking General Synod to assume “original jurisdiction” over the matter. BUT OF WHAT IS GENERAL SYNOD TO ASSUME JURISDICTION? No one has spoken to the Editor of ARPTalk. No charge has been filed. No trial has been adjudicated, and there is no decision to be appealed. No one has been willing to openly and publicly file a complaint. As one member of Second Presbytery’s Executive Committee said: “What’s wrong with these people? Someone’s feelings have been hurt. They don’t know how to man-up! Someone wants someone else to do his dirty work for him! If they have a problem with Chuck, let them say so in the open. Chuck has no problem speaking in the open. What happened to freedom of speech?”
Astoundingly, the matter was not ruled out of order by the Moderator of General Synod when the Parliamentarian stated it was out of order. Astoundingly, even with the reading of the protocols of the Book of Discipline, and even with the chairman of the committee to revise the Book of Discipline, who probably has more knowledge of the current Book of Discipline than anyone alive, asking members of the General Synod to vote NO on the complaint, General Synod voted to sustain the complaint and sent the matter to the Ecclesiastical Commission on Judiciary Affairs. At this point, with all due respect, it is my humble opinion that General Synod has become the ecclesiastical equivalent of the Obama Administration. Have we descended to a level of tyranny where we ignore the Standards by which we are governed, due process is abrogated, and the chameleon of unctuous etiquette is embraced as a driving principle?
Hopefully, the members of the Ecclesiastical Commission on Judiciary Affairs can read. Hopefully, someone remembers the importance of the critic – no matter how obnoxious one may think he is. The protection of the most despised critic is our guarantee against the tyranny of whim and protects us from repeating the misery of the last 40 years when no one was willing to speak out against the darkness of unfaithfulness and heresy at Erskine. Even the infidel Voltaire understood this when he wrote, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
For your reading, a copy of the response of Second Presbytery to Catawba Presbytery is attached below.
April 16, 2014
Guy H. Smith
Stated Clerk/Administrator
Catawba Presbytery
3055 Baird Road
Clover, SC 29610
Dear Mr. Smith:
We have received your letter of March 28, 2014, with its report on allegations presented by the Rev. John Rogers regarding “the derogatory manner in which some members of our Presbytery have been and are being referred to in ARP Talk.” In addition, we note that the Minister and His Work Commission of Catawba Presbytery was “granted Commission status to act in behalf of Presbytery until the matter referred to by Mr. Rogers is completed.”
On the basis of this communication from the Clerk of Catawba Presbytery, the Executive Committee of Second Presbytery has determined that this matter must now be deemed a discipline case and that allegations of personal offense by a member of Second Presbytery were publicly aired in Catawba Presbytery at its Spring meeting. The Executive Committee of Second Presbytery also recognizes that representatives of Second Presbytery must carefully follow the requirements of the Book of Discipline in order that that the interests of all parties are protected and the work of the church is done decently and in order.
Relevant portions of the Book of Discipline (hereafter BoD) include:
Offenses are either personal or general, private or public but all offenses, being sins against God, are grounds for discipline. A personal offense is a violation of the law of God in the way of wrong done to some particular person or persons, including one’s own self. A general offense is a violation of the law of God not directed against any particular person. Private offenses are those known only to an individual or, at most, to a few persons. Public offenses are those which are generally known. (BoD, II.A.2)
When a personal offense has been committed, whether the offense is public or private in nature, the injured party shall use the means prescribed by our Lord for bringing the offender to a recognition of his wrong and shall exhaust every effort to effect a reconciliation. (BoD, IV.1)
Whenever any charge of offense is referred to a church court for decision, the court shall, before even hearing the charge, determine whether every reasonable and appropriate effort has been made to settle the matter in a more private way. (BoD, IV.A.2)
Prosecution for the alleged offense should begin as soon as possible, but it must begin within one year from the time of the alleged commission of the offense or from the date it is reported to the court of jurisdiction. (BoD, V.A.13)
Preliminary investigation of this matter by the Executive Committee of Second Presbytery suggests that:
1. The steps “prescribed by our Lord” have apparently not been followed by members of Catawba Presbytery, and,
2. The hearing of this matter by Catawba Presbytery has likely involved members of that Presbytery in significant and even actionable irregularity, and finally,
3. Were representatives of Second Presbytery to meet with the Minister and His Work Commission of Catawba Presbytery such action would involve and entangle members of Second Presbytery in Catawba Presbytery’s irregularity, and make them potentially liable to discipline as well.
For these reasons, the Executive Committee of Second Presbytery has advised the Minister and His Work Committee of Second Presbytery that a meeting with the Minister and His Work Commission of Catawba Presbytery is not appropriate at this time. Moreover, such a meeting should not take place unless and until the Catawba Commission provides appropriate evidence that its Presbytery has followed the provisions of the Book of Discipline, and that the matter would be properly before Second Presbytery.
Yours in Christ,
Calvin Draffin,
Stated Clerk
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The editor’s level of contempt for the actions of those in the ARP who hatched this scheme and went along with it is best left undescribed at this time.
To those teaching elders and ruling elders cooperating in this endeavor, I remind you that you will sooner than you think answer to God for your actions and motivations, and you will be held to a higher standard due to the godly responsibilities entrusted to you. I additionally commend to you the words of Joseph Welch in 1954:
“Have you no sense of decency?”
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+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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[3] Syrian Christian Convert from Islam Suing First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa, Oklahoma for Breaking Secrecy Promise Leading to Arrest and Torture in Syria
“John Doe”, pseudonym for a Syrian, former-Muslim immigrant who has lived most of his adult life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is suing in the District Court of Tulsa County the First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa and co-pastor the Rev. James D. Miller, Ph.D. for breaching the promise that was made to Mr. Doe to keep secret Mr. Doe’s conversion to Christianity and subsequent baptism.
Mr. Doe alleges that soon after his conversion and baptism, on 2 January 2013 he flew to Damascus, Syria. On 6 January 2013, the church published on its website an announcement of Mr. Doe’s baptism along with his name, then refused Mr. Doe’s request that the church remove the announcement until April 2014. In mid-January in Syria, Mr. Doe was kidnapped, bound, blindfolded, and told he would be executed, by radical Muslims who did not believe his claim to them not to have converted to Christianity.
For several days, Mr. Doe was bound, beaten, and tortured by being kept in an electrified metal drum. The captors several times would take Doe out to be tortured and tell him that he was to be beheaded. On one of these outings, Doe noticed several cameras set up to record his beheading, and he was able to escape the ropes that tied his hands, grab one of the captors’ guns, shoot the captors, and escape.
One of the captors was Doe’s paternal uncle who Doe killed with his gunfire. Doe is now wanted for murder by the Syrian authorities. Mr. Doe managed to escape from Syria and return to the United States, where he has received repeated death threats and faces being killed by radical Muslims in the United States. Mr. Doe suffered numerous injuries during his capture and torture, and suffered property losses in Syria where he is now unable to return.
Mr. Doe claims relief for negligence, breach of contract, and outrage against the defendants, and asks damages of at least US$75,000, additional punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs.
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+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[4] Presbyterian and Reformed Churches: A Global History by James E. McGoldrick Available in Kindle Format and Hardback from Amazon
Presbyterian and Reformed Churches: A Global History by James E. McGoldrick is available from Amazon.com in Kindle format for US$9.99 and in hardbound for US$29.17:
In 1905, Westminster Press published History of the Presbyterian Churches of the World by church historian Richard Clark Reed (1851–1925). Reed’s book, intended as a textbook for college and seminary students, covered the history of churches that subscribed to Presbyterian polity from the New Testament era to the beginning of the twentieth century. Based on Reed’s original work as well as an unpublished manuscript by Presbyterian historian Thomas Hugh Spence Jr. (1899–1986), Presbyterian and Reformed Churches: A Global History picks up the story of Presbyterian and Reformed churches where the earlier works left off.
In this volume, James McGoldrick revises and updates Reed’s and Spence’s original, historically relevant works, continuing the survey to the 21st century.
Each chapter traces the history of Presbyterian and Reformed churches in individual nations and regions around the globe. The author covers the major events, leaders, and institutions influencing Presbyterian and Reformed church history in a readable style that is ideally suited for classroom study as well as for independent reading. A list of suggested additional readings concludes each chapter.
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+ Amazon.com, Inc., Post Office Box 81226, Seattle, Washington 98108
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[5] A Christian View of Men and Things by Gordon Clark Available in eBook Format from The Trinity Foundation
A Christian View of Men and Things by Gordon Clark is now available for download in eBook format for US$5.00 from The Trinity Foundation at:
http://www.trinitylectures.org/christian-view-of-men-and-things-the-works-of-gordon-haddon-clark-volume-book-p-211.html
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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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