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Due
to a medical condition called transient
global amnesia,
your editor ended up in a university hospital
for tests. He is back to normal.
We apologize for not posting an issue for July
15.
|
Thursday,
July 16, 2009
Come
to this page first...
it is
the quick and easy way to miss nothing
of
All the National PC(USA) news
Something we may have overlooked? Please, tell
us |
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| Latest:
GAPJC will hear appeal in Naegeli v
San Francisco |
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This
is about the candidacy of Lisa Larges for Minister
of the Word and Sacrament. When The case will
be heard is not sure, maybe in late August or
by December.
Related: Press
release from the complainants announcing the
notice of appeal filing. |
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Love/hate
– by Bethany Furkin
Calvin had pluses and minuses, Stacy Johnson tells
Calvin Jubilee |
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MONTREAT,
NC – W. Stacy Johnson, associate professor
of systematic theology at Princeton Theological
Seminary, admires the John Calvin who was a church
leader, wrote the Institutes of the Christian
Religion and once refused to be paid his stipend.
But he is bothered
by the Calvin who taught the doctrine of double
predestination and was intolerant, superstitious
and self-righteous. |
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World
on fire – 1,300
teenagers pack Montreat Youth Conference
By Jerry L. Van Marter / PNS |
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MONTREAT,
NC — With clapping hands and stomping feet,
whoops and hollers and swaying arms, a packed
house of 1,300 Presbyterian teenagers kicked off
week three of the annual Montreat Youth Conference
here July 12.
The theme of the
week is “World on Fire” – alluding
to both the scourges of war, degradation and violence
that plague the planet, but also the power of
God working through countless people to restore
God’s vision for creation. |
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Recharging
‘Presby’ batteries – Presbyterian
Council for Chaplains and
Military Personnel holds annual retreat July 7-10
By Emily Enders Odom / PNS |
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FLAT
ROCK, NC — Rocking gently on a quiet porch
surrounded by the serene beauty of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, the Rev. Victoria Kelly couldn’t
have been farther from the daily rigors of chaplaincy
with a carrier air wing group in the U.S. Navy.
“Coming here
has been really helpful,” Kelly said. “It’s
nice not being in uniform for a few days.”
Kelly was one of
some 60 active duty and retired Presbyterian military
chaplains who gathered for several days of rest
and renewal at the annual Chaplains’ and
Families’ Conference and Retreat, sponsored
by the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and
Military Personnel (PCCMP). |
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Sibling
rivalry – by
Bethany Furkin / PNS
Calvin was multi-faceted, Serene Jones tells Calvin
Jubilee |
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MONTREAT,
NC — In her first year as president of Union
Theological Seminary, Serene Jones called on John
Calvin as one of her most valuable mentors.
Calvin not only
understood theology, he also understood the way
institutions are run and managed, she said, drawing
several similarities between Calvin’s setting
and her own in New York City.
Her July 9 speech,
“Calvin, Creation, and the Holy Spirit,”
was part of the July 8-11 Calvin Jubilee conference
here, celebrating Calvin’s 500th birthday. |
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40
years of fighting hunger – Presbyterian
Hunger Program celebrates anniversary by looking
back, looking forward
By Bethany Furkin / PNS |
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What
began with a General Assembly action four decades
ago has become a program that has raised more
than $125 million for hunger relief.
The Presbyterian
Hunger Program celebrated its 40th anniversary
with speakers, music and a raffle at the Churchwide
Gathering of Presbyterian Women July 14. |
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Presbyterian
Women: Going home “filled to overflowing”
By Leslie Scanlon / The Presbyterian Outlook |
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Emily Martin, a recent graduate of Columbia Theological
Seminary preached the sermon for the closing worship
service... She preached from the 21st chapter
of Joshua, in which Joshua gives to the victorious
Israelites the spoils of war against the Canaanites.
Martin said the
theme of this worship service was “Celebration
of Wonders.” On the one hand, the text does
show that “God has kept all of God’s
promises” to a faithful people, and that’s
to be celebrated, she pointed out...
But she is troubled
by some of the other “wonders” in Joshua’s
story, how, for example, when the walls come crashing
down in Jericho, the Israelites rush in and kill
every living thing, including women, children,
the elderly, and all the animals. They slaughter
everything, “supposedly at the Lord’s
command. They burn down the city and everything
in it.”
They do that not
only in Jericho, but in city after city, Martin
said. “I don’t know about you, but that
takes the celebration right out of me..." |
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| The
reason I left Dr. Mikhael's workshop on Joshua...
it's because of the Jewish people – blog
by Viola Larson |
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How
many times have the Jewish people had to deal
with libel? From The Protocols of the Elders
of Zion to stories of Jewish ritual murder
of Christian children to false charges against
Alfred Dreyfus, the French army officer falsely
accused of treason in 1894, the Jewish people
have had to live with the withering stories spread
by both the malicious and the uninformed.
That was the first
thing that came to my mind, the libel of Jewish
ritual murder, as I, hardly without thinking about
what my body was doing, gathered my purse and
bag and left the workshop, Horizon’s
Bible study “Joshua: A Journey of Faith.”
Oh, the workshop
leader, the author of the new Bible Study, did
not mean to be malicious and she thought she was
informed when she told the story, but Dr. Mary
Mikhael isn’t quite ready to admit she told
a false story about Jewish people, soldiers in
this case, when she responded to my comment. |
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| Scripture
lessons for today
– from
the Lectionary |
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The
LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands
be glad!
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and
justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him,
and consumes his
adversaries on every side.
"...Then Saul's anger was kindled against
Jonathan. He said to him, "You son of a perverse,
rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have
chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and
to the shame of your mother's nakedness? For as
long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth,
neither you nor your kingdom shall be established.
Now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely
die."..."
"Now in the church at Antioch there were
prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was
called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member
of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. While
they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the
Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas
and Saul for the work to which I have called them."
Then after fasting and praying they laid their
hands on them and sent them off..."
"One sabbath he was going through the cornfields;
and as they made their way his disciples began
to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to
him, "Look, why are they doing what is not
lawful on the sabbath?"..." |
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Today
in the Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study
The
Presbytery of the Peaks – Virginia |
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"On
April 16, 2007, congregations throughout south-central
Virginia gathered in sanctuaries to remember the
thirty-two students and faculty who were killed
on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg.
“People were
reeling from the horror and wondering what to
do and say,” said the Rev. Dr. Linda Dickerson,
pastor at Northside Presbyterian. “We knew
we needed to pray together. So we gathered with
others to find peace and hope in the midst of
our grief. Children drew pictures to express themselves.
One of those pictures – full of question
marks – represented all our feelings.”..." |
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News of all other churches.
in the USA and worldwide.
and their interaction with
the world around them.
Included: opinions, resources
|
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Voices
from the entire spectrum
Therefore:
Always something to like,
always something to dislike,
always something to ponder...
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Laos:
Officials
announce ban on Christian faith in village
Chief warns Christians to worship
only local spirits or lose homes. |
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(Compass
Direct News) – Following the confiscation
of livestock from Christian families earlier this
month, officials in a village in Laos on Saturday
(July 11) called a special meeting for all residents
and announced that they had “banned the Christian
faith in our village.”
The chief of Katin
village, along with village security, social and
religious affairs officials, warned all 53 Christian
residents that they should revert to worshiping
local spirits in accordance with Lao tradition
or risk losing all village rights and privileges
– including their livestock and homes, according
to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious
Freedom (HRWLRF).
The Katin village
leader also declared that spirit worship was the
only acceptable form of worship in the community,
HRWLRF reported. Katin village is in Ta Oih district,
Saravan Province. |
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| Malaysia
arrests 9 Christians on conversion claim
/ AP |
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Proselytizing
of Muslims by members of other religions is a
serious crime punishable by prison in this Muslim-majority
country, though the reverse is allowed. Muslims
are not legally able to change religion. |
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Israel:
Messianic
Jew wins Supreme Court battle / Compass
Bakery owner had lost her Jewish dietary law certificate
because of her faith. |
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For
three long years a Jewish believer in Jesus Christ
struggled to keep her bakery business alive after
the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the country’s
highest religious governing body, annulled her
kashrut (Jewish dietary law) certificate
because of her faith.
Pnina Conforti,
51, finally gave a sigh of relief when the Israeli
Supreme Court on June 29 ruled that her belief
in Jesus Christ was unrelated to her eligibility
for a kashrut certificate. While bakeries
and restaurants in Israel are not required to
obtain such a permit, the loss of one often slows
the flow of customers who observe Jewish dietary
laws and eventually can destroy a business.
Conforti said that
the last three years were very difficult for her
and her family, as she lost nearly 70 percent
of her customers.
“We barely
survived, but now it’s all behind us,”
she said. “Apparently, many people supported
us, and were happy with the verdict. Enough is
enough.” |
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Greek
clergy circulate document on 'heresy of ecumenism'
By Jonathan Luxmoore / ENI |
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A
group of Orthodox clergy in Greece, led by three
senior archbishops, have published a manifesto
pledging to resist all ecumenical ties with Roman
Catholics and Protestants.
"The only
way our communion with heretics can be restored
is if they renounce their fallacy and repent,"
the group said in a "Confession of Faith
against Ecumenism" that they circulated recently.
"The Orthodox
church is not merely the true church; she is the
only church. She alone has remained faithful to
the Gospel, the synods and the fathers, and consequently
she alone represents the true catholic church
of Christ," says the document.
The list of clerics
backing the manifesto is said to include six metropolitans...
as well as 49 archimandrites, 22 hieromonks, and
30 nuns and abbesses, as well as many other priests
and church elders..." |
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| Sudan:
Women
flogged
for wearing trousers / MSN News
|
| |
Police
in Sudan have arrested 13 women in a raid on a
cafe and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing
trousers in violation of the country's strict
Islamic law, one of those arrested has said.
The 13 women were
at a cafe in the capital, Khartoum, when they
were detained on Friday by officers from the public
order police, which enforces the implementation
of Sharia law in public places.
One of those arrested
on Friday, journalist Lubna Hussein, said she
is challenging the charges, which can be punishable
by up to 40 lashes.
"I didn't
do anything wrong," said Ms Hussein.
Ms Hussein said
she decided to speak out because flogging is a
practice many women endure in silence. She even
sent printed invitations to the press and public
figures to attend her expected trial. |
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| UK:
Government agency advice to students: An orgasm
a day keeps the doctor away – by
Jack Grimston / The Times of London |
| |
A
National Health Service leaflet is advising school
pupils that they have a “right” to an
enjoyable sex life and that regular intercourse
can be good for their cardiovascular health.
The advice appears
in guidance circulated to parents, teachers and
youth workers, and is intended to update sex education
by telling pupils about the benefits of sexual
pleasure. For too long, say its authors, experts
have concentrated on the need for “safe sex”
and loving relationships while ignoring the main
reason that many people have sex, that is, for
enjoyment.
Note: Great Britain has the highest teen
pregnancy rate in Western Europe. |
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| 5-year
old internet ministry records over one million
decisions for Christ in one month – by
Eric Young / Christian Post |
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For
the first time in its five-year history, the media
arm of Campus Crusade for Christ recorded over
one million decisions for Jesus Christ in a single
month.
In its announcement
Wednesday, CCC’s Global Media Outreach (GMO)
reported that 1,030,581 people indicated either
a first-time decision to follow Jesus or a decision
to recommit their life to Christ through one of
more than 90 GMO-hosted Gospel Web sites in June.
Since its inception
in 2004, GMO has seen the number of people making
commitments to Christ grow from 21,066 people
a year to more than 3 million people in 2008.
For this year, the ministry had projected around
5 million decisions. In the first six months of
2009, it has already recorded 4.1 million.
On an average day,
sites like Jesus2020.com get 150,000 visitors,
and about 25,000 of them click a button to say
they want to learn more. Of those, about 5,000
a day fill in a form so an online missionary can
contact them via e-mail.
GMO estimates that
1 in 1,000 Internet searchers is looking for information
about God. On a daily basis, around two million
people look for God.GMO estimates that 1 in 1,000
Internet searchers is looking for information
about God. Around two million people look for
God each day.
Out of the 1 million
decisions recorded in June, 360,903 came through
GMO’s mobile sites. |
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Where
Jerusalem and Mecca meet – One
Baptist college's social (and evangelistic) experiment
in having Muslim students on campus.
By Gregg Chenoweth and Caleb Benoit / Christianity
Today |
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College
freshman Nida Hassan, 18, walks between buildings
to a campus lawn where students routinely fall
prone across mats, praying toward Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, the most sacred site of Islam.
But this isn't
Public State U. It's Houston Baptist University
(HBU), a confessionally Christian liberal arts
school whose Muslim undergraduate enrollment jumped
from 26 in 2006 to 61 in 2009.
Hassan insists
that Muslims are respected on the urban, ethnically
mixed campus founded by the Baptist General Convention
of Texas. Hunter Baker, HBU's director of strategic
planning, agrees, but says the school can prod
students toward the Cross even while working toward
its institutional goal to "bring Athens and
Jerusalem together."
President Robert
Sloan, the man whose ambitious plan to turn Baylor
University into a premiere Christian research
institution polarized the Waco campus in 2005,
has brought a similar faith-and-learning vision
to HBU—one that has room for Muslim students.
"It keeps us from being too insular,"
says Sloan, president since August 2006. "It
also gives us an opportunity to learn how to witness
right here, from experience." |
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Episcopalian
gay bishops decision confounds activists
By Ann Rodgers / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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Strong
differences have emerged over how to interpret
a resolution of the Episcopal Church General Convention
regarding partnered gay people being bishops.
Some activists
on both sides of the gay ordination issue consider
it a repeal of a 2006 moratorium on the consecration
of partnered gay bishops, while key leaders of
the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh say it merely
describes the fact that the Episcopal Church already
has openly gay priests and one partnered gay bishop.
The moratorium
"is still there. We did not repeal it,"
said Bishop Robert Johnson, assisting bishop of
the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which has been rebuilding
since October, when the original diocese split
after voting to secede from the Episcopal Church.
The General Convention,
which governs the 2.1 million-member Episcopal
Church, declared Tuesday that gay and lesbian
people in lifelong committed relationships "may
be called to any ordained ministry in the Episcopal
Church." It continued: "... Christians
of good conscience disagree about these matters."
Related:
• Episcopal
bishops OK prayer for gay couples / AP
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Episcopal bishops authorized
the church Wednesday to start drafting an official
prayer for same-sex couples, another step toward
acceptance of gay relationships that will deepen
the rift between the denomination and its fellow
Anglicans overseas.
Many Episcopal
dioceses already allow clergy to bless same-sex
couples but there is no official liturgy for the
ceremonies in the denomination's Book of Prayer.
The measure still needs the approval of the lay
people and priest delegates at the assembly, which
ends Friday.
• Episcopal
juggernaut – by Julia Duin /
The Washington Times
"...conservatives have fled the denomination
and last month created a new province: the Anglican
Church in North America. Some conservatives and
their bishops remain within the Episcopal Church
(the dioceses of Central Florida and South Carolina,
for instance), but they have been unable to mount
much of a fight at this year's General Convention..."
•
"The orthodox are finished" –
blog by Albert Mohler
"...the Episcopal Church... has, in effect,
told the Anglican Communion that it will go its
own way, whatever the cost...
"Amazingly,
these votes came shortly after the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, had spoken to the
General Convention, pleading for delegates to
take no action that would widen the breach between
the churches in his communion..." |
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The
heresy of 'individualism'? – The
'individualism' we profess is not only not a heresy
– it is at the heart of the gospel.
By Richard J. Mouw |
| |
"In
her opening address to the Episcopal Church's
recent General Convention, the Rev. Katharine
Jefferts Schori, the church's presiding bishop,
made a special point of denouncing what she labeled
"the great Western heresy" – the
teaching, in her words, "that we can be saved
as individuals, that any of us alone can be in
right relationship with God." This "individualist
focus," she declared, "is a form of
idolatry."
"There is
good news and bad news here. The good news is
that the Episcopal Church's presiding bishop is
not afraid to denounce heresy. The bad news is
that we evangelicals turn out to be the heretics
she is denouncing...
"We evangelicals
never downplay the importance of individuals –
as individuals – coming to a saving faith
in Jesus Christ. We never say that an individual's
very personal relationship to God is not important.
What we do say is that individual salvation is
not enough..." |
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Gay
marriage opponents in Maine raise large sums
By Kevin Miller / Bangor Daily News |
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AUGUSTA, Maine – Groups on both sides of
the debate over gay marriage in Maine are building
massive campaign warchests in anticipation of
a costly and emotional political campaign already
drawing national attention and money.
Opponents of Maine’s
recently enacted same-sex marriage law have yet
to file the signatures needed to have a “people’s
veto” question appear on the November ballot.
But within the past month, the major campaigns
seeking to defend or repeal Maine’s same-sex
marriage law have amassed more than a half-million
dollars in donations. |
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From
Amish to vampires, Christian fiction expands
By Eric Gorski / AP |
| |
Even
as Christian publishing suffers during the recession
- one study found net sales for Christian retailers
were down almost 11 percent in 2008 – several
publishing houses are adding or expanding their
fiction lines with both the tame (Amish heroines)
and boundary-pushing (Christian vampire lit).
The undisputed
industry leader is so-called Amish fiction –
typically, romances and family sagas set in contemporary
Amish communities. They're a surprise hit with
evangelical women attracted by a simpler time,
curiosity about cloistered communities and admiration
for the strong, traditional faith of the Amish.
But not all new
Christian fiction is prairie wholesome. There's
building buzz - and some trepidation – about
upcoming titles that bring a Christian perspective
to tales of vampires and the undead. |
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Sotomayor
has mixed record on church-state dispute
By Adelle M. Banks / RNS |
| |
As a federal judge, Sonia Sotomayor sided with
Santeria prisoners who wanted to wear religious
beads and Muslim inmates who wanted to break the
fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
At the same time,
she ruled against Muslims who wanted a Muslim
crescent and star added to post office holiday
displays that featured Christmas and Hanukkah
symbols.
As the Senate holds
confirmation hearings on the woman who hopes to
be the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court,
experts who monitor church-state cases say --
as on other matters – that Sotomayor's past
decisions indicate that she's hard to pigeonhole.
"They're certainly
not totally predictable in terms of her siding
with one side or another," said Howard M.
Friedman, a retired law professor at the University
of Toledo, whose Religion Clause blog tracks church-state
legal developments. "She looks pretty carefully
at all the facts."
Related: Howard M Friendman on Sotomayor
hearings on his blog Religion Clause |
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