21 January 2009

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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Christian Observer Republishes WARC Reformed Journal Article by U.S. President Obama’s Pastor 1998 – 2008
[2] Ian Paisley Tells of Rebuke by His Own Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for Wearing a Shamrock
[3] Grace Bible Presbyterian Church 25^th Anniversary Celebration
[4] Christian Defense Coalition Calls US$150 Million U.S. Presidential Inauguration Extravagant and Obscene
[5] Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church of Western Louisville, Kentucky, Destroyed by Fire
[6] National Korean Presbyterian Council Urges PCUSA Churches to Uphold Fidelity and Chastity Amendment
[7] Phoenix, Arizona Hungarian Reformed Church and the Hungarian-American Social Club Host Evening of Dinner and Music
[8] Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) Search Committee Announces Choice for Senior Pastor
[9] Universal Society of Hinduism President Praises Church of Scotland for Climate Change Initiatives
[10] March for Life Marking the 36th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade to Occur Thursday, 22 January 2009 – Two Days after U.S. Presidential Inaugural
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[1] Christian Observer Republishes WARC Reformed Journal Article by U.S. President Obama’s Pastor 1998 – 2008

On U.S. Inauguration Day, 20 January 2009, the Christian Observer republished with permission the article “What Makes You So Strong?” by the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., from the March 2008 edition (Volume 58(1)) of Reformed World, the theological journal of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the theme of which was “Do Not Submit Again to the Yoke of Slavery: The Contemporary Significance of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.”

Dr. Wright retired in 2008 after thirty-six years as Senior Pastor of Chicago, Illinois’ Trinity United Church of Christ, where the new U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama was an active member from 1998 – 2008.

“What Makes You So Strong?” is based on a sermon Dr. Wright preached at the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church of Houston, Texas in 1990.
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+ Christian Observer, 9400 Fairview Avenue, Manassas, Virginia 20110, 703-335-2844, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
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+ United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115, 216-736-2100, ogm@ucc.org
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[2] Ian Paisley Tells of Rebuke by His Own Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) for Wearing a Shamrock

In a 16 January 2009 interview on Belfast’s Irish language radio station Raidió Fáilte 107.1-FM, former First Minister of Northern Ireland the Rev. Ian Paisley spoke about how he was rebuked for wearing a St. Patrick’s shamrock by members of his own party, the DUP, and about how the DUP objects to Paisley’s call for St. Patrick’s Day to be made a public holiday in Northern Ireland.

Paisley also quipped that if the Ulster Scots language becomes more widely used, people would “need a dictionary”.

Paisley is a founding member and past Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster.
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+ Belfast Telegraph, 124-144 Royal Avenue, Belfast, BT1 1EB, Northern Ireland, 028-9026-4000, writeback@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
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+ Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
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[3] Grace Bible Presbyterian Church 25^th Anniversary Celebration

Grace Bible Presbyterian Church of Cape Canaveral, Florida, is holding a 25th Anniversary Banquet celebrating the founding of the church on Thursday, 12 February 2009 at 6:00 pm at the Radisson Canaveral Hotel.

For information, please call the church by 1 February 2009.
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+ Grace Bible Presbyterian Church, #1 Church Lane, Cape Canaveral, Florida 32920, 321-784-5740, smblizz@aol.com
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+ Bible Presbyterian Church
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Address:[4] Christian Defense Coalition Calls US$150 Million U.S. Presidential Inauguration Extravagant and Obscene

Reacting to the US$150 million cost of the 20 January 2009 inauguration of U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama, Reformed Presbyterian minister and Christian Defense Coalition President Pat Mahoney stated on 18 January 2009:

“It is a slap in the face to America’s struggling and poor for President-elect Obama to stage a $150 million celebration during the worst economic crisis in a generation…The obscene price tag for this Inauguration shatters the myth that this President is deeply concerned about the poor and broken…Sadly, this extravagant Inauguration reflects a life long lack of personal commitment by President-elect Obama to the poor and needy.”

Mahoney cited several examples of U.S. President Obama’s lack of personal commitment to the poor and needy including; that the Obama campaign raised nearly US$1 billion while millions of Americans were struggling through the current economic crisis; that Obama never personally visited Hurricanes Ike and Gustav victims while criticizing former U.S. President Bush for not being compassionate enough with Hurricane Katrina victims; that Obama‘s tax returns show that before becoming a millionaire Obama gave less than one percent of his income to charity, and afterwards less than five percent; and that Obama has not even helped family members with serious financial problems including an aunt that lives in a run-down housing project in Boston, Massachusetts and a Kenyan step-brother in deep poverty.

Mahoney concluded, “We pray that [professing Christian] Obama…will…follow the [teaching] of Jesus [that]…’when you have done it unto the least of these you did it unto me.'”
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+ Christian Defense Coalition, 540-538-4741
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[5] Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church of Western Louisville, Kentucky, Destroyed by Fire

A fire that burned between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on 16 January 2009 destroyed the more than 100 year-old Portland Avenue Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in western Louisville, Kentucky.

Firefighters were hampered in extinguishing the blaze due to the extremely cold temperatures, which also hampered arson investigators who examined the scene after the fire was extinguished attempting to determine what may have started the fire.
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+ MSNBC.com, NBC News, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10112
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+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[6] National Korean Presbyterian Council Urges PCUSA Churches to Uphold Fidelity and Chastity Amendment

A Presbyterian Coalition news release dated 13 January 2009 announced that the National Korean Presbyterian Council (NKPC) is sending a letter to every Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) encouraging a “no” vote on Amendment B, a proposed amendment that if passed would weaken section G-6.0106b of the PCUSA Constitution that requires “…fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness.” for ministers being ordained.

The NKPC represents 400 congregations, 800 ministers, and 50,000 PCUSA church members.
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+ The Presbyterian Coalition, 4604 Grove Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23226, 804-615-3243, office@presbycoalition.org
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+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[7] Phoenix, Arizona Hungarian Reformed Church and the Hungarian-American Social Club Host Evening of Dinner and Music

The Phoenix Hungarian Reformed Church (PHRC), The Hungarian American Social Club, and Pongrátz Entertainment are hosting an evening of dining and music on 31 January 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hall of the PHRC.

Entertainment will be provided by Piroska Pándy – a Wonderful Singing Diva and a member of the Madách Theater in Budapest, Hungary, and Ferenc Sánta Jr. – Lead Violinist and the proud owner of Hungary‘s prestigious Kossuth Prize, and his Gypsy Band.

Reservations can be made with Szerénke Kaprinyák at 602-264-1420 or Gizella Mózer at 480-585-4160.
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+ Hungarian American Social Club, 6445 Cavedale Drive, Phoenix, Arizona 85085
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+ Hungarian Reformed Church in America, 3921 West Christy Drive, Phoenix, Arizona 85029, 602-843-3598, bishop@hrca.us
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[8] Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (PCA) Search Committee Announces Choice for Senior Pastor

The search committee at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) (Presbyterian Church in America) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, announced Sunday 11 January 2009 that they have asked the Rev. Tullian Tchividjian to succeed the late Dr. D. James Kennedy as the CRPC senior pastor. Dr. Kennedy died in September, 2007.

Tchividjian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham, and is currently senior pastor of the New City Church (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) in Margate, Florida. One of Tchividjian’s conditions for becoming the CRPC senior pastor is that New City Church and CRPC merge into a single congregation. Both congregations must vote on the merger, and both churches stress that the merger and Tchividjian becoming the CRPC senior pastor are not yet definite.
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+ Sun-Sentinel, 200 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301, 954-356-4000, gbulfin@sun-sentinel.com
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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
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+ Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 17197 North Laurel Park Drive Suite 567, Livonia, Michigan 48152, 734-742-2020, Fax: 734-742-2033, webmaster@epc.org

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[9] Universal Society of Hinduism President Praises Church of Scotland for Climate Change Initiatives

Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, on 18 January 2009, praised the Church of Scotland (CoS) for its encouraging “urgent action to respond to climate change” and for defending “a more equitable and sustainable use of energy”.

Additionally, Zed lauded the CoS for starting the “Responding to Climate Change” and “Eco-Congregation” projects, for publishing “The Ten CO2mandments”, and for accepting “the need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change”.
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+ OfficialWire.com
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+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland EH2 4YN, 0131-225-5722
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[10] March for Life Marking the 36th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade to Occur Thursday, 22 January 2009 – Two Days after U.S. Presidential Inaugural

Up to 200 thousand pro-life advocates will converge on Washington DC Thursday, 22 January 2009 for the March for Life marking the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States and has led to the killing by surgical abortion of almost 50 million unborn children.

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America said that new U.S. President Barrack Hussein Obama has promised to sign the “Freedom of Choice” act that would “nullify every pro-life law from parental notification laws to bans on federal funding of abortion.”
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+ The Christian Post, National Press Building, 529 14th Street Northwest, Suite 420, Washington DC 20045, 202-347-7734, info@christianpost.com
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