28 March 2012
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Presbyterians Week Headlines
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[1] CRCNA and RCA Plan for Joint 2014 Synods
[4] Anniversary and Update – Cornerstone Ministries Investments, Inc., Ponzi Scheme Fraud
[5] Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand Minister Calls for Ordination of Homosexual Clergy
[6] Great Britain Moves toward Removing Gender Specific Terms from Official and Legal Documents
[7] Jesus Seminar Speakers Say Jesus Christ was Illiterate
[8] Faith Leaders Call for Resignation of President of Malawi
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[1] CRCNA and RCA Plan for Joint 2014 Synods
The Board of Trustees of the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) has recommended that Synod 2012 accept an invitation from the Reformed Church in America (RCA) to hold their synods at the same time and in the same place in 2014.
The proposal — pending a favorable site review — is that both synods would meet on the campus of Central College in Pella, Iowa, with some sessions held jointly.
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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
+ Reformed Church in America, 4500 60th Street Southeast, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49512, 800-968-6065, questions@rca.org
+ Central College, 812 University, Pella, Iowa 50219, 877-462-3687, admission@central.edu
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A 20 March 2012 Star Gazette by Jason Whong titled “Elmira Church Treasurer Indicted” reports that Donald Maus, former treasurer of North Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) was indicted in October 2011on a charge of second degree larceny for embezzling more than US$83,000 from the church between August 2009 and February 2011, and is scheduled to appear in court on 12 April 2012.
Maus’ ability to embezzle the church funds was attributed to lax accounting controls, and several changes have since been made to address the issue including two required signatories for checks and retention of an external auditing company.
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+ Star Gazette, 201 Baldwin Street, Elmira, New York 14901, 607-734-5151,
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
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The BBC reported 23 March 2012 that Dr. Steven Mallon, secretary of the mission and discipleship council of the Church of Scotland (COS), resigned his post after an internal audit discovered financial process irregularities.
The COS plans to take remediation measures including the clarification of rules, guidelines, processes, and the on-going training of staff.
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+ BBC, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, England, Fax: 020-8008-2398
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
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[4] Anniversary and Update – Cornerstone Ministries Investments, Inc., Ponzi Scheme Fraud
15 March 2012 marked the one-year anniversary of the publication of the first of five 2012 Christian Observer articles and one letter to the editor concerning the twenty-plus year history of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and its ongoing enablement of Cornerstone Ministries Investments (CMI) in carrying out what one bankruptcy court investigator called a “[US]$140 million Ponzi scheme.”
The five articles and letter are:
— Unfinished Business for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) – 15 March 2011 – by Christian Observer Managing Editor Bob Williams
— Letter to the Editor: Insights into Cornerstone Ministries – 30 April 2011 – by CMI creditor Ken Boodhoo, PhD
— Protecting What God Has Given You From Those Who Use His Name – 1 August 2011 – by Chapter 11 bankruptcy investigator Pat Huddleston
— Should Cornerstone Ministries Investments Have Existed? – Part One – 15 August 2011 – by CMI creditor Bob Wildrick
— Should Cornerstone Ministries Investments Have Existed? – Part Two – 4 October 2011 – by CMI creditor Bob Wildrick
— Should Cornerstone Ministries Investments Have Existed? – Part Three – 6 December 2011 – by CMI creditor Bob Wildrick
Other than a few blog articles referencing the Christian Observer articles, and the republication of several of these articles by The Aquila Report, there has otherwise been silence from the PCA and CMI’s former principal officers. Two of these officers are Teaching Elders in good standing with the PCA‘s Metro Atlanta Presbytery (MAP), one of whom was called in December 2010 as full time senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Sharpsburg, Georgia.
In related news, a 28 February 2012 article by Michelle A. Samaad in the Credit Union Times titled “IBM Southeast Employees FCU Investment Suit Settled” reports that a settlement has been reached in the three-year-old class action suit by members against the IBM Southeast Federal Credit Union for the sale of fraudulent investments consisting of CMI bonds sold through Wellstone Securities, LLP (WSLLP) , a broker-dealer corporation set up under the African-American Church Growth Foundation Inc., the brainchild of CMI exec John Underwood, to own and manage WSLLP – thus skirting securities laws preventing CMI from distributing their own securities through an affiliated broker dealer.
More than 100 defrauded credit union members have agreed to settle for US$8.8 million, which represents eighty-five percent of the total damages sustained by the members.
As for the 3500 defrauded investors and their $142 million investments in CMI bonds represented in the February 2008 CMI bankruptcy, bond holders received a settlement distribution in December 2011 of 6.38 percent for the estate and an additional 4.5 percent if the investor had elected the Private Actions Trust.
And still, after more than twenty years, there is unfinished business in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
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+ Credit Union Times, 33-41 Newark Street, 2nd Floor, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, 201-526-1230, Fax: 201-526-1260, scooke@cutimes.com
+ Christian Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 20110, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
+ Metro Atlanta Presbytery, Post Office Box 2648, Duluth, Georgia 30096, metroatlantapresbytery@gmail.com
+ The Aquila Report, c/o Metokos Press, 211 Main Street, Suite 108, Narrows, Virginia 24124, 540-726-8223, operations@theaquilareport.com
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[5] Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand Minister Calls for Ordination of Homosexual Clergy
A 21 March 2012 article in GayNZ titled “Minister Calls for Presbyterians to Include Gays” reports that Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ) minister the Rev. Dr. Allan Davidson, speaking at the funeral of homosexual minister the Rev. David Clark of Auckland, New Zealand, called for the PCANZ to allow the ordination of homosexual clergy.
The PCANZ General Assembly voted in 2004 and ratified in 2006 measures that do not allow the ordination of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons.
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+ GayNZ, Post Office Box 108-169, Symonds Street, Auckland 1150, New Zealand, 09-412-6067, Contact Page
+ Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand, Level 1, Terralink House, 275-283 Cuba Street, Post Office Box 9049, Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand, 04-801-6000 Fax: 04-801-6001, info@presbyterian.org.nz
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[6] Great Britain Moves toward Removing Gender Specific Terms from Official and Legal Documents
A 21 March 2012 Godfather Politics article by Giacomo titled “UK to Remove ‘Husband’ ‘Wife’ ‘Bride’ and ‘Bridegroom’ from Official Documents” reports that British Prime Minister David Cameron recently released a consultation paper with suggested reforms including the intent to open ‘civil marriage’ to homosexual couples. The term ‘religious marriage’ will only be used for traditional couples consisting of a man and a woman.
If the reforms are passed, official documents such as marriage licenses will be changed to remove the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ and replace them with ‘spouses’ and ‘partners’. Additionally, the use of the terms ‘bride’ and ‘bridegroom’ are discouraged so to not offend homosexual couples.
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+ Godfather Politics, 457 Nathan Dean Boulevard, Dallas, Georgia 30132
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[7] Jesus Seminar Speakers Say Jesus Christ was Illiterate
Jeff Walton of the Institute on Religion and Democracy reports that at a recent Jesus Seminar event in Washington DC, Bernard Brandon Scott of Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Joanna Dewey, a professor emerita of Biblical Studies at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, asserted that early Christianity was an oral culture launched by an illiterate Jesus Christ.
The two seminary professors argued that a later move into “inherently male” manuscripts minimalized the role of women in the early church, while the earlier oral storytelling kept them in.
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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
+ Westar Institute, Polebridge Press, Willamette University, 900 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97301, 503-375-5323, Fax: 503-375-5324, westar@westarinstitute.org
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[8] Faith Leaders Call for Resignation of President of Malawi
A 22 March 2012 Ecumenical News International article by Frank Jomo titled “Malawi President Rejects Calls from Faith Leaders to Resign” reports that at a national meeting of civil society organizations in Malawi sponsored by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC), the assembled delegates issued a statement demanding that Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika “resign honorably within ninety days or if he thinks he is still popular, he should call for a referendum within the ninety days.” The statement additionally said that a failure by the president to meet the demands would lead to mass action.
The PAC is an organization consisting of the Catholic Church, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, the Muslim Association of Malawi, the Quadria Association Malawi, and Pentecostal churches.
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+ Ecumenical News International, Post Office Box 2100, CH – 1211, Geneva 2, Switzerland, 41-22-791-6111, Fax: 41-22-788-7244, eni@eni.ch
+ Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, General Synod, Post Office Box 30398, Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi, 265-796064, ccapgeneral@africa-online.net
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At the spring 2012 meeting of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP)’s Mississippi Valley Presbytery (MVP) held on 5-6 March 2012 at the French Camp Presbyterian Church in French Camp, Mississippi, the Covenant Presbyterian Church of Heber Springs, Arkansas was released to the oversight of the Communion of Anglican Churches.
The MVP additionally approved a memorial to the ARP Synod on the Historical Adam which was originally adopted by the Session of Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Louisville, Kentucky, on 18 February 2012 and which is as follows:
WHEREAS, the theory of evolution is a source of much debate and confusion in society, educational institutions, and churches today,
WHEREAS, the historicity of Adam has come under attack not only from secular groups and liberal churches, but also from professed evangelical individuals and institutions,
WHEREAS, the Old Testament Scriptures plainly teach that Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, were the special creation of God, being made in His image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7,22),
WHEREAS, the New Testament Scriptures confirm that Adam and Eve were real, historical human beings (e.g., Matt. 19.4-5; Luke 3:38; Rom. 5.12-14; 1 Cor. 15:45; I Tim. 2:13-14),
WHEREAS, the confessional standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church also affirm these truths about Adam and Eve (e.g., WCF 4.2, 7.2; WLC Q. 17; WSC Q. 10),
THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Session of Midlane Park Presbyterian Church requests that Mississippi Valley Presbytery hereby memorialize the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church to adopt the following affirmations and denials:
1. We affirm that Adam and Eve were special, unique, direct creations of God, created in His image, with Adam being formed from the dust of the ground and Eve being made from his side; as such, they were real human beings and the first man and woman,
2. We affirm that the account of creation as found in Genesis 1 and 2 is history;
3. We deny any teaching that claims that the account of creation as found in Genesis 1 and 2 is mythology;
4. We deny any theory that teaches that Adam and Eve descended from other biological life forms and that such a theory can be reasonably reconciled with either the Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church or Holy Scripture.
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+ Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1 Cleveland Street Suite 110, Greenville, South Carolina, 29601, 864-232-8297, Fax: 864-271-3729
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