16 June 2010
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[2] United Methodist Seminary to Train Muslim, Jewish, and Eventually Hindu and Buddhist Clergy
[3] Taliban in Afghanistan Hang Seven-Year-Old Boy as Spy
[7] Hungarian Reformed Church Youth Camp Scheduled for 18-24 July 2010 at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania
[9] 180th Cumberland Presbyterian General Assembly Opens 14 June 2010 in Dickson, Tennessee
[10] Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Condemns Visit to Scotland of Roman Pontiff
[11] Boys Brigade Now Welcomes All Faiths, and Atheists
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An indirect tip of the hat was given to Don Clements of The Aquila Report by Delores McDonald, Editor of The Associate Reformed Presbyterian magazine, in her 12 June 2010 emailed “ARP News Update – Synod Weekly News” message, the single news item of which directed readers to the several articles about the 2010 stated meeting of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) General Synod written by Don Clements of The Aquila Report; Don Clements being on the scene for the entire synod meeting. The Presbyterians Week editor additionally sends congratulations to Don Clements for his thorough reporting on the ARP General Synod meeting, which include the following articles:
— ARP Synod meets for 206th Annual Meeting; this time without Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
— Actions of the ARP Synod – Wednesday AM Session (June 9, 2010)
— (Revised) Part 1: ARP Synod – Wednesday PM Session (June 9, 2010)
— Executive Committee of Erskine Board votes to not support any change of governance or its charter
— Part 2: Actions of the ARP Synod – Wednesday PM Session (June 9, 2010)
— Remainder of Actions of the ARP Synod – Thursday (June 10, 2010)
— [ARP] Synod Seeks Clear Solution to Erskine Impasse – and Settles for the ‘Best Available’
In a related development, ARPTalk editor Chuck Wilson published a 12 June 2010 article titled “It’s Official – No Erskine Board Meeting,” which reports sources who have told Wilson that “a letter by Chairman Scott Mitchell of the Erskine [Board of Trustees [BoT]] has been sent to the members of the Erskine BoT canceling the called meeting of the BoT that had been called for [18 June 2010], where it was expected that the BoT was going to modify the Erskine Charter and Bylaws that would have “…severed the historic and organic ties between Erskine College and Seminary and the ARP Church.” Wilson reports that “…an informal count was done by phone and the proposals would have failed nineteen to fifteen.”
In another related development, the ARP General Synod approved US$531,000 for the 2010 budget request for Erskine College and Theological Seminary. The Erskine BoT had requested US$575,000.
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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
+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Erskine College and Theological Seminary, Post Office Box 668, Due West, South Carolina, 800-770-6936
+ 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] United Methodist Seminary to Train Muslim, Jewish, and Eventually Hindu and Buddhist Clergy
An 11 June 2010 news release by Mark Tooley of The Institute on Religion and Democracy titled “Controversy Brews Over UM Seminary Interfaith Move” reports than on 9 June 2010, the United Methodist Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, announced that the school will begin the training of Muslim and Jewish clergy, and hopes to eventually train Hindu and Buddhist clergy. The United Methodist Church has for now suspended funds of US$800,000 earmarked for Claremont, but the seminary has received a grant of US$10,000,000 from private donors with which to begin the interfaith programs.
A 19 February 2010 article by Chuck Wilson, editor of the ARPTalk Blog, titled “Erskine Seminary Now Matriculating Jewish, Mormon, And Islamic Clerics Into The DMin Program!” reported:
“Erskine Theological Seminary, the seminary of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, has and is matriculating Jewish, Mormon, and Islamic clerics into the DMin program. This means that Erskine Theological Seminary is now advancing the professional careers of non-Christian religious clerics.”
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+ Institute on Religion and Democracy, 1023 15th Street Northwest, Suite 601, Washington DC 20005-2601, 202-682-4131, Fax: 202-682-4136, info@theird.org
+ United Methodist Church General Conference, Post Office Box 188, Beaver Dam, Kentucky 42320
+ Claremont School of Theology, 1325 North College Avenue, Claremont, California 91711, 909-447-2500, webmaster@cst.edu
+ ARPTalk Blog, 864-882-6337, wilson6114@bellsouth.net
+ Erskine Theological Seminary, Post Office Box 668, Due West, South Carolina, 800-770-6936, gaston@erskine.edu
+ 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] Taliban in Afghanistan Hang Seven-Year-Old Boy as Spy
A 10 June 2010 article in the New York Daily News by Corky Siemaszko titled “Taliban Hang Seven-Year-Old Boy Accused of Being a Spy, Suicide Bomber Kills 40 at Afghanistan Wedding” reports that on 8 June 2010, Taliban militants hanged a seven-year-old boy the insurgents accused of spying.
A provincial government spokesman said that the boy may have told police or soldiers about planted explosives.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called the killing a “crime against humanity.”
The wedding bombing reported with the report of the hanging of the seven-year-old is presumed to be the work of a Taliban suicide bomber. Several children were among the forty dead wedding attendees.
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+ New York Daily News, 450 West 33rd Street, New York, New York10001, 212-210-2100, voicers@edit.nydailynews.com
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[4] Reformed Presbyterian Pastor and Pro-Life Activist Arrested for Praying on Public Sidewalk in Front of Washington DC Planned Parenthood Facility
Reformed Presbyterian Minister, pro-life activist, and director of the Christian Defense Coalition (CDC) the Rev. Pat Mahoney was arrested by Washington DC police on 8 June 2010 for unlawful entry, for praying on a public sidewalk that recently had been fenced in by Planned Parenthood and posted with “No Trespassing” signs.
The CDC says that it is now more important for government and law enforcement officials to protect abortion in our nation’s capital then it is for them to protect the First Amendment, free speech, and civil liberties, and asks rhetorically: “Is this the future of America?”
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+ Christian News Wire, 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20006, 202-546-0054, newsdesk@christiannewswire.com
+ Christian Defense Coalition, Post Office Box 77168, Washington DC 20013, 202-547-1735, ChristianDefense@gmail.com
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A 9 June 2010 article on the Hotnews.ro website titled “Laszlo Tokes – Proposed by EPP for European Parliament Vice-Presidency” reports that the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania on 8 June 2010 nominated Romanian Reformed Church Bishop László Tokés for the vice-presidency of the European Parliament.
Bishop Tokés, his congregation, and the townspeople of Timisoara, Romania, helped to spark the overthrow of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in December 1989 by defying government efforts to close the church and evict Bishop Tokés and family from their residence.
Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad 25 December 1989 after being tried and convicted for the murder of 60,000 Romanians.
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+ Hotnews.ro, Calea Victoriei 21-23, Bucuresti, 030023 Romania, 40-21- 314-88-12, Fax: 40-21-314-88-15, redactie@hotnews.ro
+ Romanian Reformed Church, 410210 Nagyvárad(Oradea), Kálvin János utca 1. Szám, Romania, 259-453-286, partium@rdsor.ro
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The 64th. Annual Conference of The American Hungarian Reformed Presbyter’s Association will be held at the Bethlen Communities Conference Room in Ligonier, Pennsylvania on Saturday and Sunday, 28-29 August 2010. The conference theme for 2010 is the Past, Present and Future of The American Hungarian Reformed Presbyters’ Association, and will include speakers that will review the early years of the association, and a discussion of the 1982 publication “On Being A Hungarian Reformed Christian.”
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+ Magyar Református Egyház, Contact Page
+ The American Hungarian Reformed Presbyter’s Association, c/o Wilburn A. Roby Jr., President, 264 Old Plank Road, Butler, Pennsylvania 16002, 724-285-8851, warajr@embarqmail.com
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[7] Hungarian Reformed Church Youth Camp Scheduled for 18-24 July 2010 at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania
The 2010 Hungarian Reformed Youth Camp is scheduled for 18-24 July 2010 at the Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania. This year’s camp theme is “The B.I.B.L.E. ~ That’s the Book for Me! From Genesis to Revelation, His Truth Revealed!”.
For more information please call Gabe Csapó at 609-758-5113 or Les Török at 614-497-1026.
+ Calvin Synod, C/O Rt. Rev. Koloman K. Ludwig, General Secretary, 7319 Tapper Avenue, Hammond, Indiana 46324, 219-931-4321, kkludwig@aol.com
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[8] Christian Reformed Church in North America Synod Considers Opening the Lord’s Supper to Youths Prior to Profession of Faith
At Synod 2010 of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, meeting 12-18 June 2010 at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois, the assembly agreed 15 June 2010 to a process that could lead to the adoption in 2011 of new, expanded guidelines on allowing children to take part in the Lord’s Supper, which includes proposals to allow youths that have not yet made a profession of faith to take part in the sacrament.
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+ 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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[9] 180th Cumberland Presbyterian General Assembly Opens 14 June 2010 in Dickson, Tennessee
The 180th Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CP) General Assembly opened 14 June 2010 as 400 commissioners gathered at the Dickson Middle School in Dickson, Tennessee.
The business portion of the meeting opened with the assembly electing the Rev. Boyce Wallace as its new Moderator, and the Rev. Harry Chapman of Westside CP Church of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was elected Vice-Moderator. Elected by acclamation to the office of Stated Clerk was the Rev. Michael Sharpe, who succeeds the Rev. Robert Rush who retires 30 September 2010.
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+ Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 8207 Traditional Place, Cordova, Tennessee 38016, 901-276-4572, Fax: 901-272-3913
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[10] Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Condemns Visit to Scotland of Roman Pontiff
A 10 June 2010 article by John Ross in The Scotsman titled “Pope’s Scots Visit Condemned as ‘Offensive‘” reports that the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (FPCS), in a statement arising out of the official protest lodged at the 2010 FPCS Synod meeting, has characterized the state visit status given to the upcoming tour of Great Britain by the Roman pontiff Pope Benedict XVI as “particularly offensive” because it gives “…that recognition and pretended legitimacy which [the Roman Pope] claims in opposition to the principles of the Reformation.”
The statement continues: “We deny that [the Pope] is the head of the Christian Church or that he has any civil power which should receive recognition by any State, particularly one which has renounced his pretended jurisdiction.”
The FPCS describes the Papacy as “deceitful and unrighteous,” in light of the recent global exposure of child abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, and suggests that the Pope has connived in a cover-up of the widespread sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic clergy.
The FPCS concludes: “We find it particularly offensive that this visit will commence in Edinburgh [Scotland] where, 450 years ago, under the brave and godly leadership of John Knox and our other Reformers, the jurisdiction of the pope was forever abolished.”
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+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, c/o Rev. Donald A. Ross, Free Presbyterian Manse, Laide, Ross-shire IV22 2NB, Scotland, daross@donaldalexander.freeserve.co.uk
+ 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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[11] Boys Brigade Now Welcomes All Faiths, and Atheists
A 14 June 2010 article by Kevin O’Sullivan in the Daily Express reports that due to declining membership, the Boys’ Brigade(BB) has opened its membership to all faiths, and to atheists.
BB was established in 1883 in Glasgow, Scotland, by the Church of Scotland to promote “reverence, discipline, obedience, and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.”
BB Scottish Organizer Bill Stevenson commented:
“There is a perception that the Boys’ Brigade is only a Church of Scotland thing but that is not the case. We have recently appointed a couple of development officers and part of their job will be to make contact with other denominations and faiths.
“We already have quite a few Catholic members as well as boys from non-Christian backgrounds. There has also been quite a few instances of parents from a range of ethnic backgrounds who are keen for their sons to be part of the organisation and to learn more about Scotland’s Christian heritage.”
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+ Daily Express, The Northern & Shell Building, Number 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN, England, 0871-434-1010, expressletters@express.co.uk
+ The Boys’ Brigade, Felden Lodge, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP3 0BL England, 01442-231-681, enquiries@boys-brigade.org.uk
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
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