31 August 2011
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] Christian Observer “Off the Air” Since 20 August 2011
[3] Church of Scotland Minister Admits Homosexual Relationship, Putting Congregation into Turmoil
[4] A New Presbyterian [PCUSA] Order?
[5] Military Chaplains Told Conform to DADT or Resign Commission
[6] Nigerian Army Said to Help in Slaughter of Christians
[7] Christian Convert Attacked with Boiling Water by Muslim Asylum Seekers in Norway
[9] New Report Maps the Roots of “Islamophobia”
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[1] Christian Observer “Off the Air” Since 20 August 2011
The Christian Observer has been “off the air” since 20 August 2011 due to a web server address change and the unannounced demise of the Internet service provider that managed the domain registration and domain name services of the christianobserver.org domain.
Deo volente (D.V.), the Christian Observer website, under new domain registration and domain name services management, will again become available sometime during the first few days of September 2011.
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+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 20110, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
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A 27 August 2011 BCNN1.com article titled “Presbyterians in Mexico Break with U.S. Presbyterian Church Over Homosexuality” reports that the National Conservative Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM) has voted to stop working with the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) because of the May 2011 decision of the PCUSA to relax fidelity and chastity requirements for ordaining homosexuals.
The INPM and the PCUSA had previously worked together since 1873.
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+ BCNN1.com, 8528 N. Davis Boulevard, Suite 134, Dallas, Texas 76180, Contact Form
+ National Conservative Presbyterian Church of Mexico, Calle del Parque no. 85, Del Parque, Mexico D.F., 52-5-523-6138
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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[3] Church of Scotland Minister Admits Homosexual Relationship, Putting Congregation into Turmoil
A 29 August 2011 article by Claire Gardner in The Scotsman titled “Female Minister Who Wants to Marry Her Girlfriend Goes AWOL” reports that the Rev. Lynn Brady, pastor of the Newburgh Parish Church (Church of Scotland (COS)), has told her congregation that she is in a homosexual relationship and that she wants to marry her girlfriend.
One Newburgh elder has resigned and the other elders are considering their church offices. An emergency session meeting has been called for the week of 4 September 2011.
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+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
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[4] A New Presbyterian [PCUSA] Order?
by Jerry L. Van Marter – Presbyterian News Service
Minneapolis, Minnesota – Presbyterians committed to theological orthodoxy should consider a special vow, akin to special vows taken by members of various Catholic orders, Fuller Theological Seminary President Richard Mouw told the Fellowship of Presbyterians at its Aug. 25-26 gathering here.
In a wide-ranging and free-wheeling address and question-and-answer session, Mouw said, “Historically, when Catholics felt the church had gone astray, they didn’t leave, they formed special orders who took special vows according to their commitments. The commitment to theological orthodoxy for many of us should take the form of a special vow, to witness to the essential tenets and the power of the Reformed faith.”
Mouw commended to the 2,000 Presbyterians gathered here the essential tenets and “Reformed distinctives” developed by San Diego Presbytery, but cautioned against “word-for-word subscriptionism.”
Some statements in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Confessions ? such as the declaration in the Westminster Confession that the pope is the anti-Christ ? “are historical statements we don’t want to subscribe to,” Mouw said, “but we don’t want holes big enough to drive a truck through. There are essentials.”
For instance, he continued, “We have to make a choice about the authority of Scripture, the inherent lostness of human beings and the need for the atoning salvation of Jesus Christ as our only savior.”
Also central, he said, “is our Reformed conviction that election [by God] is for both salvation and service ? to involvement in a covenant community that demonstrates the sovereign rule of God over all of human life … that covenant community is central ? gathering in (worship) and sending out (service).”
Essential tenets make us missional, Mouw said. “We’re elected to participate in the life of a community that seeks to perfect God’s plan here and now, bearing witness to God’s mission in the world.”
It’s not easy “to get a good grasp on what God is doing in the world and our place in it,” Mouw conceded. “We need a lot of dialogue, because it’s very hard to learn from each other when all of our speeches and conversations are geared to winning votes. It’s important for us to discern together what it means that we have received this Reformed tradition and what it means to apply it in our new context.”
Presbyterian officers, when they affirm that they will “be guided by the confessions,” often get caught up in a “Catch-22,” Mouw said. “We don’t want a line-by-line subscriptionism, but attention to whole body of confessions,” he said.
“We need guidelines on how to read the confessions ? we’ve slipped into a historical museum approach to the confessions,” Mouw said. “ What does it mean to be ‘guided by’ the confessions? Those who have developed essential tenets at presbytery levels are rightly concerned with putting flesh on the bones of [that question].”
Asked about seemingly intractable debates in the PC(USA) about what the authority of scripture means, Mouw responded: “If we can have honest conversations about the authority of Scripture rather than all the acrimony of debate and voting, our conversations would be much more productive.
“The Bible trumps everything else,” he said, “but we need solid agreed upon hermeneutical principles for interpreting Scripture.”
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+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ The Fellowship of Presbyterians, email@fellowship-pres.org
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[5] Military Chaplains Told Conform to DADT or Resign Commission
A 24 August 2011 article by Chad Groening of OneNewsNow.com titled “Report: Military to Chaplains — Resign or Conform” reports that Col. Ron Crews (U.S. Army – Retired), chaplain endorser for Grace Churches International, said that one of his chaplains reported that the he had attended a briefing by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, where the chaplain asked:
“Will those of us who hold biblical orthodox views concerning homosexuality be protected in this new environment to speak about those views?”
Mullen responded: “Chaplain, if you can’t get in line with this policy, resign your commission.”
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+ American Family Association, Post Office Drawer 2440, Tupelo, Mississippi 38803, 662-844-5036
+ Grace Churches International, 5117 Cliffdale Road, Fayetteville, North Carolina 28314, 910-867-6116, Contact Form
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[6] Nigerian Army Said to Help in Slaughter of Christians
A 28 August 2011 report from Compass Direct News Service reports that Nigerian army personnel are alleged to have joined Muslim extremists in attacks on Christians between 11- 23 August 2011 in Nigeria’s Plateau State that left twenty-four Christians dead including a family of nine in Heipang village.
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+ Compass Direct News Service, Post Office Box 27250, Santa Ana, California 92799, 949-862-0304, Fax: 949-752-6536, info@compassdirect.org
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[7] Christian Convert Attacked with Boiling Water by Muslim Asylum Seekers in Norway
A 29 August 2011 article by Michael Ireland of Assist News Service reports that a former Muslim who converted to Christianity has been attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an Asylum Reception Center in Jaeren, Norway, after the Christian declined to comply with Ramadan fasting rules.
The attackers told the Christian: “If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you.”
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+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, danjuma1@aol.com
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A 24 August 2011 Conservative Action Alerts article titled “Bloomberg’s 9/11 Exclusion Spurs Outrage” reports that New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has excluded clergy from the tenth anniversary commemoration of the 11 September 2001 Muslim Jihad attacks on the World Trade Center.
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+ Conservative Action Alerts, 17388 Nature Walk Trail #301, Parker, Colorado 80134, 866-903-1747, Contact Form
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[9] New Report Maps the Roots of “Islamophobia”
A 27 August 2011 Salon article by Justin Elliott reports that researchers at the Center for American Progress on 26 August 2011 released a 140-page report tracing the origins of what the report calls “rising Islamophobia in the United States.” The report describes those that originated the incitement of Islamophobia as a “small, tightly networked group of misinformation experts guiding an effort that reaches millions of Americans through effective advocates, media partners, and grassroots organizing,” specifically naming American Freedom Defense Initiative and Stop Islamization of America director Pamela Geller, and Center for Security Policy leader Frank Gaffney.
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+ Salon Media Group, Inc., 101 Spear Street, Suite 203, San Francisco, California 94105, 415-645-9200, Fax: 415-645-9204, pr@salon.com
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