3 November 2010
Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Christian Observer Highlights for November 2010
[4] “Mohammed” and It’s Variations Most Popular Name Given to Newborn Boys in England in 2009
[6] Church of Scotland Selects Moderator-Designate
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[1] Christian Observer Highlights for November 2010
New articles in the Christian Observer for November 2010 include:
— The Dangers of a Godless Nation – by John Lofton – a link to and the transcript of a brief address given by John Lofton concerning the warnings to other nations in the final statement of the repentant Nazi war criminal Hans Frank – Hitler’s personal attorney – shortly before his execution by hanging on a military gallows on 1 October 1946;
— Radical Hospitality: Inviting the Stranger into Your Home – by Gaye Clark – an account of how God led one of the “least of these” into the lives and home of the Clark family, and the realities of “radical hospitality” in Matthew 25:31ff;
— Equality is the Product of Freedom to Learn – by Christian Observer Contributing Editor Dr. Joe Renfro – God’s concept of equality contrasted with the secular state’s concept of equality in the educational sphere;
Plus, regular features including weekly Sabbath School Lessons and Westminster Shorter Catechism lessons by Assistant Christian Observer Editor Dr. Robert LaMay, and Daily Devotionals by T.M. Moore, dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe.
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+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 20110, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
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A 27 October 2010 article by Don K. Clements in The Aquila Report titled “Complaint Filed against ARP’s First Presbytery Actions in the Parker Young Case” reports that twelve elders in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP)’s First Presbytery have filed a complaint with the ARP General Synod over the ARP First Presbytery’s October 2010 action remanding the matter of Dr. Parker Young’s March 2010 civil court action against the ARP General Synod back to the session of Pinecrest ARP Church where Dr. Young is a ruling elder.
In June 2010, the ARP First Presbytery by a majority vote assumed original jurisdiction in the matter concerning the alleged sinful actions of Dr. Parker Young, and directed the moderator of First Presbytery to appoint a Special Committee to investigate the alleged sinful actions of Dr. Parker Young with instructions to report to the Presbytery no later than the Fall 2010 Stated Meeting of First Presbytery.
At the Fall Stated Meeting of the ARP First Presbytery in October 2010, the Special Committee to Investigate the alleged sinful actions of Dr. Parker Young reported to the Presbytery and recommended that an ecclesiastical commission with judicial authority be appointed to enter into judicial process of Dr. Parker Young. The Special Committee informed the Presbytery of the documentary records obtained from the Court of Common Pleas in Abbeville, South Carolina, indicating that Dr. Parker Young had been a party to the filing of a civil suit against the ARP General Synod in March 2010, and that later that month Dr. Young had voluntarily appeared in the hearing of the same Court of Common Pleas as a witness in support of the suit. The Special Committee then informed the Presbytery of its several unsuccessful attempts to meet with and/or to interview Dr. Parker Young, and informed the Presbytery that Dr. Parker Young had remained adamant in his refusal to meet with and/or to be interviewed by the Special Committee.
A motion was then offered and seconded to remand the whole matter concerning the alleged sinful actions of Dr. Parker Young to the session of the Pinecrest ARP Church. The moderator ruled that the motion was a motion to rescind a previously adopted action [June 2010 assumption of original jurisdiction] thereby requiring a two-thirds majority to pass. The decision of the chair was appealed, and the Presbytery did not sustain the decision of the chair. The Presbytery then voted by simple majority to remand the matter back to the Pinecrest ARP Church.
The complaint alleges that not sustaining the chair’s ruling was an error of the Presbytery and constituted an “irregular” action by the Presbytery.
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+ The Aquila Report, c/o Metokos Press, 211 Main Street, Suite 108, Narrows, Virginia 24124, 540-726-8223, operations@theaquilareport.com
+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
+ ARP First Presbytery, c/o Rev. Robert C. Wilson, D.Min., 4784 Styers Ferry Road, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27104, 336-624-9529
+ Erskine College, 2 Washington Street, Due West, South Carolina 29639, 864-379-2131, 864-379-2167, norman@erskine.edu
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The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)’s Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) has recently released two decisions regarding respectively the Siouxlands Presbytery and the Nashville Presbytery.
A final decision was issued in SJC Case 2010-04 – [Teaching Elder] Art Sartorious, et al vs. Presbytery Of The Siouxlands regarding an October 2009 overture from the Foothills Community Church (FCC) asking the Siouxlands Presbytery to investigate Teaching Elder (TE) Dr. Joshua Moon based on statements in a paper TE Moon wrote in defense of TE Gregory Lawrence, who was being investigated for TE Lawrence’s views on baptism considered by the majority of the investigating committee to lead to a “…strong presumption of guilt that TE Lawrence is teaching contrary to the Standards in a way that strikes at the fundamentals of the system and/or the vitals of religion in its doctrine of baptism,” i.e. doctrine congruent with doctrines of the New Perspective(s) on Paul, the theology of Norman Shepherd, and the Federal Vision, which in January of 2007 the Siouxlands Presbytery found to be unfavorable in comparison to the teaching of the Westminster Standards. The Siouxlands Presbytery voted to find no strong presumption of guilt in TE Joshua Moon.
In November 2009, TE Brian Carpenter of the FCC complained against the Siouxlands Presbytery’s response to the FCC overture. The Presbytery denied the complaint. In January 2010, TEs Art Sartorius, Brian Carpenter, and Wes White forwarded the Carpenter complaint to the PCA General Assembly.
The issues considered by the SJC were “1) With respect to certain reports concerning TE Joshua Moon, was Siouxlands Presbytery sufficiently diligent and careful in compliance with its responsibilities under BCO 31-2 [Procedure for deciding whether or not to initiate church discipline]?”; and “2) With respect to certain reports concerning TE Joshua Moon, did Siouxlands Presbytery err in finding TE Moon’s testimony a satisfactory explanation concerning the reports and finding no strong presumption of guilt in TE Moon related to the reports?” The SJC’s final rulings were respectively Yes and No.
A final decision was issued in SJC Case No. 2009-28 – Matt Ruff vs. Nashville Presbytery regarding accusations filed with the Nashville Presbytery of “deceit, manipulation, and schism” made by Matt Ruff against TE Dr. George Grant, pastor of Parish Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and Mr. Ruff’s subsequent charges of a lack of appropriate action by the Nashville Presbytery in response to the findings about TE Grant.
The issues considered by the SJC were 1) “Did Nashville Presbytery err by failing to conduct an adequate investigation pursuant to BCO 31-2 after receiving an adverse report concerning the character of one of its members?”; and 2) “Did Nashville Presbytery err when, on the basis of the evidence before it, it failed to find a strong presumption of guilt as to offenses allegedly committed by one of its members?” The SJC’s final rulings were respectively Yes and Yes, Mr. Ruff’s complaint was sustained, and the matter was remanded to the Nashville Presbytery for further proceedings consistent with the SJC opinion.
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+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
+ Siouxlands Presbytery, Pjmorgan001@gmail.com
+ Nashville Presbytery, 132 Riverwood Drive, Franklin, Tennessee 37069, 615-533-5957, Fax: 615-468-0324, Contact Page
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[4] “Mohammed” and It’s Variations Most Popular Name Given to Newborn Boys in England in 2009
An article in the 29 October 2010 Daily Israel Report by Hillel Fendel titled “Most Popular British Name: Mohammed, Muhammed, Etc.” reports that “Mohammed” and eleven variations of the name was the most popular name given to a total of 7,549 newborn boys in England in 2009.
The second-most popular name for newborn boys in 2009 was Oliver – given to 7,364 newborns, followed by Jack, Harry, Alfie, Joshua, Thomas, Charlie, William, James, and Daniel.
Muslims make up about three percent of Britain’s population of 58 million, but the birth rate among Muslims is higher than the overall birth rate for the country.
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+ Israel National News, Post Office Box 388 , Bet El, D. N. Mizrach Binyamin, 90628, Israel, 972-2-997-4857, Contact Page
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The 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation is being marked 3 November 2010 by a day-long conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, titled “Scottish Reformation – Marking the Legacy, Imagining the Future,” jointly organized by the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church of Scotland. An evening service at St. Giles Cathedral follows the conference.
The conference will be opened by Roman Catholic Archbishop Mario Conti, followed by an address from First Minister Alex Salmond. Additional speakers include former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Very Rev. Dr. Sheilagh Kesting, the Rev. Dr. Alan Falconer, Joint Convener of the Commission, the Rev. Dr. Alison Peden, from the Scottish Episcopal Church, historian Professor Tom Devine, and Professor Paul Murray, an expert in the field of ecumenism.
The Church of Scotland comments:
“Such an ecumenical event would have been difficult to conceive even some thirty years ago. Mutual distrust and suspicion, caricatures and stereotypes of each other inhibited positive relationships. Through patient dialogue on major theological issues, mutual respect and understanding has grown and developed.
“But this year alone we have seen vast strides taken in ecumenical relationships. Pope Benedict XVI came to Scotland and met the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt. Rev. John Christie. The visit was a sign of the continuing work of Christ’s Church in the 21st century and helped strengthen interfaith and interdenominational relations. The conference and service is another example of the continuing work of the church in what has been an exciting year for the Christian Community in Scotland.
“We have learned to accept that the theological issues we disagree on are less important than those we agree on. Today there is agreement on the central affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed.”
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+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ Scottish Episcopal Church, 21 Grosvenor Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 5EE, Scotland, 0131-225-6357, Fax: 0131-346-7247, Contact Page
+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page
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[6] Church of Scotland Selects Moderator-Designate
The Church of Scotland (COS) has announced that the Rev. David Arnott has been nominated to become the next Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Mr. Arnott will preside over the 2011 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland which will meet in Edinburgh, Scotland, and will serve as COS Moderator for the following year.
Mr. Arnott has served as chaplain at Her Majesty’s Prison Barlinnie in Glasgow, Scotland, has been a regular presenter on BBC Radio Scotland‘s Thought for the Day for more than thirty-five years, and has served several parish churches in Glasgow, Gorebridge, and Greencock, Scotland.
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+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
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A 29 October 2010 article on CatholicCulture.org titled “US Bishops, Reformed Communities Move towards Mutual Recognition of Baptism” reports that the seventh round of the official Catholic-Reformed dialogue in the United States concluded 8 October 2010 with the release of two documents, 1) “These Living Waters: Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism” – documents the movement towards an official recognition of one another’s baptisms. and 2) “This Bread of Life” – which explores the convergences and divergences of Catholic and Reformed teaching on the Lord’s Supper.
Members of the dialogue process include the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Christian Reformed Church in North America, the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Church of Christ.
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+ CatholicCulture.org, c/o Trinity Communications, Post Office Box 582, Manassas, Virginia 20108, 703-636-7640, Contact Page
+ The Vatican, Città del Vaticano, Rome, Italy, 39-6-69-88-35-11, Fax: 39-6-69-88-54-47, Contact Page
+ Christian Reformed Church in North America, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560, 616-241-1691, Fax: 616-224-0803 crcna@crcna.org
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org
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A 1 November 2010 article by Megan Williams in The News Leader titled “BBC Films Documentary at Fort Defiance Church, Cemetery” reports that a BBC film crew arrived at the Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) in Fort Defiance, Virginia, on 31 October 2010, to film the church and cemetery for a documentary about the migration of the Ulster Scots from Scotland to Ulster to Pennsylvania and then to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, completed in 1749, is the oldest Presbyterian Church in continuous use in Virginia.
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+ The News Leader, 11 North Central Avenue, Staunton, Virginia 24402, 54-885-7281, Contact Page
+ BBC, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, England, Fax: 020-8008-2398
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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