27 May 2009
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Church of Scotland General Assembly Votes to Uphold Appointment of Openly Homosexual Minister to Pulpit of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen
[2] Church of Scotland Sets Up Commission on Ordination of Homosexuals
[3] Church of Scotland Traditionalists Plan Campaign of Non-Cooperation with Kirk Establishment
[4] Church of Scotland Considering Video-Linked Ministers to Compensate for the Shortage of Ministers
[5] Free Church of Scotland 2009 Assembly Held 18-22 May 2009
[6] Amway Co-Founder Rich DeVos Aims to Reunite Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church
[7] Daughter of RCA Minister is Presidential Scholar
[8] Southeast Conference of the UCC Sues to Oust Thirty-Six Member Center Congregational Church in Atlanta, Georgia from Church Property
[9] News From the Constituting Synod in Debrecen, Hungary
[10] Hungarian Reformed Pastor Helps Get Purple Heart Medal Back to Family of Soldier Killed in World War II
[11] Death of the Rev. Ralph E. Winter
[12] PCUSA General Assembly Council Offices Take Unpaid Furlough 18-22 May 2009
[13] U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama’s Nominee for SCOTUS is Advocate of Judicial Fiat and Espouses Racist and Sexist Views of Caucasian Male Judges
[14] Christian Activists Gather at SCOTUS for Prayer Service for Associate Justice Nominee
[15] Operation Rescue Deems Judge Sonia Sotomayor “Unfit” for U.S. Supreme Court
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The Church of Scotland (COS) General Assembly (GA), on Sunday 24 May 2009 by a vote of 326 to 267, upheld the Presbytery of Aberdeen’s appointment of openly homosexual minister the Rev. Scott Rennie to the pulpit of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Forward Together (FT), which describes itself as “a group for evangelical members of the COS who share a desire to serve our Lord Jesus Christ within the Church of Scotland,” said that the General Assembly’s decision to uphold Mr. Rennie’s appointment had brought “great shame” upon on the Church.
FT’s acting convener the Rev. Steven Reid said, “I think there will be those members who leave on the grounds of the result alone. I think there might be some churches and ministers who will be trying to find a way of distancing themselves from that decision. What form that will take it’s difficult to say….For those of us who hold the [S]criptures to be the supreme rule of faith, the decision seems to fly in the face of that belief.”
An online statement calling the COS GA to uphold scriptural principles in this matter was endorsed by a total of 12,555 signatories including 421 COS Ministers and 33 COS Kirk Sessions included in a total of 5318 from the COS. Additional signatures were received from 2777 representing other Scottish churches, 2464 from other churches in the United Kingdom, and 1996 from other churches worldwide.
+ 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
+ Forward Together, 2 Lanark Road, Kirkmuirhill, Scotland ML11 9RB, 01555-892409, office@forwardtogether.org.uk
+ Fellowship of Confessing Churches
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[2] Church of Scotland Sets Up Commission on Ordination of Homosexuals
Deflecting a motion by the Presbytery of Lochcarron and Skye for an overture that would prohibit anybody whose relationships were not faithful and heterosexual from becoming a minister, the Church of Scotland (COS) General Assembly (GA) set up a commission to study the issue of homosexuals becoming COS ministers that will report back to the COS 2011 General Assembly.
A two-year moratorium on appointing homosexual ministers was made a condition of the two-year study, though the appointment of openly homosexual minister the Rev. Scott Rennie to the pulpit of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, Scotland by the Presbytery of Aberdeen will be allowed to stand during the two-year period. Additionally, COS members were called upon not to discuss the issue with the media during the two-year period.
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722
+ BBC, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, England, Fax: 020-8008-2398
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[3] Church of Scotland Traditionalists Plan Campaign of Non-Cooperation with Kirk Establishment
In a 26 May 2009 article titled, “Evangelicals vow to hold back cash after Scott Rennie defeat,” the Clerical Whispers blog, an Irish-oriented blog about church issues, contends that: “Traditionalists opposed to the appointment of gay ministers are planning a campaign of non-co-operation with the Kirk establishment, to deny the Church of Scotland (COS) hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue.”
The campaign is in retaliation for the COS General Assembly (GA), by a vote of 326 to 267 with over 250 abstentions, upholding the decision of the Presbytery of Aberdeen to appoint openly homosexual minister the Rev. Scott Rennie to the pulpit of Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Traditional, evangelical COS ministers the Rev. David Court, of New Restalrig Church, Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Rev. William Philip, of St. George’s-Tron, Glasgow, Scotland, in a joint statement said: “The [COS][GA] has shown itself to be seriously out of touch with its grassroots in the churches. But it should be remembered that these are the people who have — hitherto, at least — kept a creaking denomination afloat financially. There will be a great deal less willingness to do that from now on.”
+ Clerical Whispers Blog
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722
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[4] Church of Scotland Considering Video-Linked Ministers to Compensate for the Shortage of Ministers
Due to the Scotland-wide shortage of full-time ministers, the Church of Scotland is considering audio and video links to congregations where preaching would be delivered over a live audio-video link to congregations that do not have a permanent minister.
+ Ecumenical News International, Post Office Box 2100, CH – 1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-788-7244, eni@eni.ch
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722
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[5] Free Church of Scotland 2009 Assembly Held 18-22 May 2009
The Free Church of Scotland (FCOS) held its 2009 Assembly 18-22 May 2009.
Retiring moderator the Rev. Kenneth M. Ferguson opened the 2009 Assembly and delivered an address on Psalm 85:5.
During discussion of the 2009 Report of the Board of Trustees, worship changes allowing hymns or instrumental accompaniment were discussed. The Board recommended careful, further study, and stated that the “…outcome would be reaffirming the status quo [exclusive, unaccompanied psalmody], or supplement of the status quo with theologically sound materials but no instruments, or supplement of the status quo with musical instruments but only psalms, or supplement of the status quo whereby instruments and theologically sound songs are allowed.”
Proponent of the changes the Rev. Ian Beaton stated: “[RE:] The source of worship in the church. Jesus followed the temple and synagogue worship. Why do we not have instruments? Because the synagogue didn’t have musical instruments. Why? Because it was in a time of mourning in the temple. We are carrying on this mourning today in the [FCOS]. We have Joy. We have a saviour and a redeemer.”
Opponent the Rev. Kenny D. Macleod stated: “We can’t reach Scotland because we are not a praying church, not because of our worship. Why do we have to do different things in this current age to tell people the gospel? Why not what worked before? There is no substitute for the Holy Spirit.”
The 2009 FCOS moderator designate is the Rev. Douglas Mackeddie, minister of Maryburgh and Killearnan Free Church.
+ 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] Amway Co-Founder Rich DeVos Aims to Reunite Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church
Amway co-founder Rich DeVos has set the goal of reuniting the Christian Reformed Church (CRCNA) with the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The RCA website says that the denominations split in 1857 over issues of freemasonry, Christian education, and exclusive psalmody.
Grand Rapids Press religious editor Charles Honey writes that, “…the issues that caused the CRC[NA] to break away are irrelevant now…. Virtually no theological or worship differences remain. Now that the CRC[NA] ordains women, that’s no issue either. The only significant difference is the CRC[NA]’s greater emphasis on Christian schools.”
+ The Grand Rapids Press, 155 Michigan Street Northwest, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, 616-222-5818, dgaydou@grpress.com
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org
+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
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[7] Daughter of RCA Minister is Presidential Scholar
Grace Chao, daughter of Reformed Church in America pastor the Rev. Peter Chao of Reformed Church Winfield in Woodside, New York, is one of 141 high school students nationwide, and one of two from Long Island, New York, to be named a Presidential Scholar, an award given to high school seniors who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship and community service.
Miss Chao lives with her father Peter, her mother Soon-Eng, and her brother Peterson in the back section of Reformed Church Winfield, in an area that serves as their apartment, the church office, and as a place of worship. Miss Chao’s father and mother are immigrants from Taiwan and Singapore, respectively.
Miss Chao has been accepted into Washington University‘s pre-med program, and will be working this summer with WU’s top researchers.
Reformed Church Winfield is the oldest established Taiwanese church in North America.
+ Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Road, Melville, New York 11747, 631-843-3783, publisher@newsday.com
+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
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The Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) is suing thirty-six member Center Congregational Church (CCC) in Atlanta, Georgia to oust them from their church property because the CCC membership in 2006 voted to leave the UCC and join the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches after the UCC General Synod meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in 2005 endorsed homosexual marriage.
Approximately 200 UCC churches have left the UCC since the 2005 General Synod endorsement.
+ Wall Street Journal, 200 Liberty Street, New York, New York 10281, 212-416-2000, wsjcontact@dowjones.com
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org
+ National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, Post Office Box 288, Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154, 800-262-1620, Fax: 414-764-0319
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[9] News From the Constituting Synod in Debrecen, Hungary
The following press release was received after the 22 May 2009 Uniting Synod in Debrecen, Hungary:
Mr. Lehel Deak, Synod Presbyter of the Calvin Synod summarized the highlights of the press release for English readers in this way:
With the motto: “Christ is the future, we follow Him together” a historic moment has taken place in Debrecen this past Friday [22 May 2009], when representative leaders of Hungarian Reformed Churches of the traditionally Hungarian territories of the Carpathian Basin have signed onto the Constitution of the Unified Hungarian Reformed Church. The only exemption is the Church from the Slovak Republic. The tenth signatory of the document was the Hungarian Reformed Church in America.
The Calvin Synod’s Auxiliary Bishop, Rt. Rev. Joseph Vasarhely attended as an observer.
The entire press release in Hungarian is available on the Magyar Református Egyház website.
+ Hungarian Reformed Church in America, 3921 West Christy Drive, Phoenix, Arizona 85029, 602-843-3598, bishop@hrca.us
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
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With the assistance of the Rev. Louis Medgyesi of the Hungarian Reformed Church of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, the Purple Heart medal of Daniel J. Reboczi was returned to a niece, Carla Reboczi, living in Nevada. Reboczi’s medals were lost or stolen about forty years ago.
Reboczi died in World War II on 14 September 1944 at the age of twenty-one. Reboczi was the youngest of thirteen children born to Hungarian immigrants. Carla Reboczi said that her uncle’s death devastated her grandmother, four of whose sons served in the military during World War II.
Carla Reboczi added: “For us to have such a piece of family history back in our possession is priceless.”
The return of the medal was additionally facilitated by the Ashtabula, Ohio American Legion to which the medal was turned in when found by an unnamed person, by the Ashtabula, Ohio County Veterans Service Commission, and by a Reboczi family friend.
+ Star Beacon, Post Office Box 2100, Ashtabula, Ohio 44005, 440- 998-2323, Fax: 440-998-7938, nfeditor@suite224.net
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, Bishop, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
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[11] Death of the Rev. Ralph E. Winter
Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) minister, missionary, evangelist, and seminary professor the Rev. Ralph E. Winter, 84, died 20 May 2009 at his home in Pasadena, California, after battling several types of cancer.
Winter served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Winter attended Cornell University, Columbia University, and Princeton Theological Seminary before being ordained to the ministry in 1956. Winter served as a missionary in Guatemala for ten years before becoming a professor of missions at Fuller Theological Seminary. Winter founded the U.S. Center for World Mission in 1976 and the William Carey International University in 1977.
At the International Congress on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974, Winter issued a call for Protestant missionaries to evangelize the world’s “unreached people” — those who had not been exposed to Christianity, in isolated areas where language, ethnicity, culture, and social status as well as religion had hindered the spread of the gospel.
Winter is survived by his second wife, Barbara , daughters Elizabeth Gill, Rebecca Lewis, Linda Dorr and Patricia Johnson; fourteen grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and two brothers, Paul and David. Winter’s first wife of fifty years and fellow missionary, Roberta, died in 2001.
A memorial service for is scheduled for 28 June 2009 at Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California.
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[12] PCUSA General Assembly Council Offices Take Unpaid Furlough 18-22 May 2009
All offices of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) General Assembly Council took an unpaid furlough 18-22 May 2009,which was authorized by the General Assembly Council at its March 2009 meeting. The furlough is designed to provide substantial relief to the 2009 General Assembly Mission Budget, which was trimmed to meet a US$10 million shortfall.
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor on 26 May 2009 was nominated by U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama to be the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS), to replace SCOTUS Associate Justice David Souter who is retiring at the end of the current SCOTUS session.
The New York Times in 2001 reported Sotomayor as saying, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life….Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.”
A 2005 video of Sotomayor speaking with potential law clerks records Sotomayor saying that a “court of appeals is where policy is made….And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don’t make law. I know. O.K. I know. I’m not promoting it. I’m not advocating it …”
+ Newsmax, Post Office Box 20989, West Palm Beach, Florida 33416, 561-686-1165, Fax: 561-686-3350
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[14] Christian Activists Gather at SCOTUS for Prayer Service for Associate Justice Nominee
Christian activists including the Rev. Rob Schenck, Evangelical minister and head of Faith and Action, the National Clergy Council, and chairman of the Committee on Church and Society for the Evangelical Church Alliance; and the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Reformed Presbyterian minister and head of the Christian Defense Coalition; on 26 May 2009 gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) in Washington DC to pray for U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama’s nominee for Associate Justice of SCOTUS, Judge Sonia Sotomayor.
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital, 109 Second Avenue Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-546-8329, Fax: 202-546-6864, Info@FaithAndAction.org
+ Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741
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[15] Operation Rescue Deems Judge Sonia Sotomayor “Unfit” for U.S. Supreme Court
Responding to the nomination on 26 May 2009 by U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama of U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Operation Rescue President Troy Newman stated:
“Just as Obama has attempted to abuse the process of law in reshaping America to the far left, so too Sonia Sotomayor believes in the abuse of judicial authority having stated that courts can create social policy….This philosophy dangerously overreaches the duties of the judicial branch and flies in the face of the separation of powers doctrine….Sonia Sotomayor is a far left ideologue that blurs the lines between the legislature and judiciary and will surely be a rubber stamp for Obama‘s radical abortion agenda, which is opposed by the majority of Americans.”
+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Operation Rescue, Post Office Box 782888, Wichita, Kansas 67278-2888, 800-705-1175, Fax: 916-244-2636, info@operationrescue.org
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