7 October 2015

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“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12] 

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Presbyterians Week Headlines

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[1] 24 September 2015 Meeting of the Hanover Presbytery Accepts Four Ministers into Full Membership

[2] Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat Aims for Several Kingdom Purposes

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[1] 24 September 2015 Meeting of the Hanover Presbytery Accepts Four Ministers into Full Membership

The Reformed Presbyterian Church-Hanover Presbytery met 24 September 2015 at the Dillingham Presbyterian Church in Barnardsville, North Carolina.

Four ministers were collegially examined by the court and accepted into full presbytery membership, including the Rev. Paddy Cook, an evangelist with the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship, the Rev. Dr. Joe Morecraft, pastor of Heritage Mission – RPC Hanover of Cumming, Georgia, The Rev. Dr. Sacha Walicord Pastor, Evangelist of Covenant Heritage Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, and the Rev. Dr. Don Crowe, regular pulpit supply at Grace Church in Canton, Georgia.

Elected to another term as Stated Clerk was the Rev. Dr. Allen Church (hanoverpresbyter@yahoo.com). The meeting was moderated by the Rev. Dr. Roger Schultz, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and

Professor of History at Liberty University. Each of the Hanover ministers present gave a short review of their ministries and prayer concerns that were each followed by the corporate prayer of the church court. As is customary for Hanover meetings, several unaccompanied psalms were sung by the assembly.

The Dillingham Presbyterian Church congregation provided a bountiful and delicious breakfast and lunch for those assembled, and the lunch guests were treated to a buffet that included black bear pot roast, which the editor tried for the first time and found quite delicious, and as good as any beef pot roast he had ever eaten. Strangely, following the meeting, on his way back to his Asheville, North Carolina hotel, for the first time in his forty-plus years driving experience, a black bear ran across the road in front of the editor’s car. As Ephesians 1:11 defines everything as providential, the editor is still puzzling over whether or not the meal and the subsequent sighting hold any particular significance.

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+ Reformed Presbyterian Church-Hanover Presbytery, hanoverpresbyter@yahoo.com

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[2] Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat Aims for Several Kingdom Purposes

Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat is a new ministry founded by Doug Douma, currently a M.Div. student at Sangre de Cristo Seminary in Westcliffe, Colorado.

Doug is currently seeking God’s will for purchasing land in western North Carolina near the Appalachian Trail with which he hopes to accomplish the following goals:

1) Establish a hiker hostel for the primary purpose of evangelizing non-believers hiking the Appalachian Trail, and additionally to encourage the Christians hikers and provide a place of refuge and growth along their path.

2) Establish a retreat center for missionaries and pastors to effectively utilize the capacity of the facility during the non-hiking season. The ministry aims to provide short to medium-term stays for missionaries who are in the states doing fundraising, and a place of respite for pastors who need a break from their busy lives.

3) Build a library and invite Christians to spend time at the facility as a Christian Study Center similar to L’Abri Fellowship, the mission of Francis Schaeffer in Switzerland who invited Christians and non-Christians alike to come to the retreat to study and to ask difficult questions.

Appalachian Christian Fellowship and Doug Douma are affiliated with the Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship (PEF) which is providing evangelism training and maintains tax-free status for donations as a 501(c)(3) entity. Donations to Appalachian Christian Retreat can be made through the following PEF web page:

http://www.pefministry.org/Site/Douma.html

Of further interest to the Presbyterian and Reformed world, Doug is a Gordon Clark scholar, and is currently finishing a biography of the great theologian. He is also working to make accessible online Gordon Clark’s unpublished works. For more information, please access this URL:

http://thegordonhclarkfoundation.com/

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+ Sola Appalachian Christian Retreat, 512-422-4626, Contact Page

+ Presbyterian Evangelistic Fellowship, 425 State Street, Suite 312, Bristol, Virginia 24201, 276-591-5335, Fax: 276-591-5349, admin@pefministry.org

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