Category Archives: Church of Scotland

Presbyterian News Headlines For The First Half Of January 2014

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I am going to take a break from my research and writing on church property news long enough to highlight a few news headlines. As I have been going back and forth to the headlines over the last few months I am thinking that maybe this model of doing half of a month at a time might be the right balance. We will see. But on to a few of the items that have caught my attention since the first of the year.

A lot happening in Scotland right now but let me mention one new item I have not covered previously — the Scottish Parliament holding hearings on a petition regarding the role of churches in the schools and a recommendation to limit their role.

MSPs hear bid to cut religious influence on schools – from Herald Scotland

Edinburgh secularists challenge religious privilege in Scotland’s education system – from National Secular Society

Church responds to Petitions Committee decision on religious representation on local authority education committees – from Chruch of Scotland

Also related to the Church of Scotland and schools is a program advocated for by the church to help all younger students with school meals

Chewing over the details: what will free school meals mean for Scots pupils? – from The Courier

And a chaplain who was dismissed because of comments he made on Facebook

Church of Scotland minister loses role as chaplain of Glasgow school after calling homosexuality a ‘disorder’ – from The Telegraph

There was also wide coverage of a BBC program that profiled Scottish minister’s wives

In and beyond the Manse – looking at the role of the Minister’s wife – from Stornoway Gazette

Scottish church ministers’ wives set to star in new reality television series – from Scottish Daily Record

And the Church of Scotland Youth program issued an interesting paper

A guide to ethical living from Church of Scotland Youth – from Scottish Christian

On to Africa – a few interesting headlines from there

Ghana: Minister Bemoans Corruption in Churches – from allAfrica

Presidential Authority Is Abused In Ghana-Rev. Martey – from Spy Ghana

Morally Refreshing Leadership from Moderator Martey – from GhanaWeb

BT Synod urges women to contest as independent candidates – from Nyasa Times

I have mentioned this before but here is an update

Paving the way: Lebanon’s first female pastor – from MSN News (although I think the author really does not understand some of the religious subtleties; the earlier story was much better)

And finally, this headline from the PC(USA)

Youth Convince Presbytery to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies – from Burnsville Patch; this will be an overture from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area to the 221st General Assembly and it looks like it will be a concurring overture to one already submitted by the Presbytery of Boston. Looking through the supporting materials I personally see some issues and I may elect to return to this for a more detailed discussion at a later time. Among other things a particular quote comes to mind… “One word: Plastics”

That’s it for this time. Back with more in a couple of weeks…

Presbyterian News Headlines For December 2013

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Yes, I am going to attempt to do a whole month at once to get caught up. This does mean that by necessity I will be a bit selective about the headlines included.

The month began with a public safety helicopter crash in Scotland that saw the Church of Scotland on the front line with chaplaincy services and worship services of remembrance:

Chaplains at front line of Glasgow tragedy – from Church of Scotland press release

Prayers for helicopter victims – from BBC News

And in Kenya, ten youths were killed and thirty six more injured in a bus crash as they were returning from a Presbyterian Church in East Africa youth conference:

President mourns Mariakani accident victims – from Standard Digital News

In Louisville it was decided that the resources were not available to reopen the Presbyterian Community Center that had been closed a few months earlier:

No hope of reopening the Presbyterian Community Center in Smoketown, board says – from Courier-Journal

Concerning damage to churches, we have two fires and the theft of copper pipes:

Fire damage closes 900-year-old Aberdour church at Christmas – from Fife Today

160-Year-Old Long Island Church Goes Up In Flames – from CBS New York

Wyoming church recovering after copper pipe theft – from Times Leader, in Pennsylvania

In Africa, words from church leaders to politicians:

Ghana pregnant with bribery, corruption — Moderator – from CitifmOnline

ASUU Strike: Presbyterian Prelate urges government action – from WorldStage News; about a student strike in Nigeria

Two Presbyterian-related schools in the U.S. got court orders exempting them on religious grounds from the Department of Health and Human Services Affordable Care Act Contraception Mandate:

Judge rules Geneva College does not have to provide coverage for contraception – from Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Christian universities and seminary win against HHS mandate in federal court – from examiner.com (Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania)

And finally, two more articles. The first a gift that allows a Presbyterian camp to continue and the second a new high-profile hire in the Church of Scotland Communications Office:

Woman, 81, leaves church camp $2.5 million from her estate – from WBRC (Birmingham)

BBC’s Rob Flett to join Church of Scotland comms team – from allmedia scotland.com

And with that we close out the year. Best wishes for the new one and back with more headlines in a few days.

Top Ten (Plus) Presbyterian News Topics of 2013

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As we spend this day looking back I thought I would once again post my personal list of the top ten news topics related to Presbyterians around the world from 2013. In this list I deliberately use the term “topics” because, as you will see, there were a number of parallels in the different branches when it came to certain items.

And so here, in no particular order, are my picks for the top ten news topics of 2013…

Elections, Elections, Elections and a Referendum

This fall it seemed that various Presbyterian branches were regularly linked with elections happening in their state or country. The list includes the Presbyterian Synod in Mizoram state in India asking for – and getting – a change in polling dates, CCAP synods defining the terms for political involvement of clergy running for office and commentary from the Presbyterian Church of Ghana on election decisions.

Falling into this category is the work of the Church of Scotland running forums and debates ahead of next year’s Scottish independence referendum.

Disasters

Somehow the natural disasters, and the global Presbyterian response, for this year stick out more than in previous lists and it includes damage done in a tornado outbreak in the central U.S. in May and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in November.

World Hotspots

The variety that could be included here is pretty large but let me mention Presbyterians speaking out to two of them – the response against attacks on Syria (e.g. PC(USA) ) and those speaking out about the violence in South Sudan (e.g. Presbyterian Church in Ireland).

In a particularly moving story, a Church of Scotland pastor lost many members of his family in an attack on a church in Pakistan and spoke of forgiving the attackers.

New Presbyterian Leaders at Seminaries

Four Presbyterian teaching elders were named, approved and/or installed at seminaries in the Presbyverse: Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson at Union Theological College, Belfast; Rev. Dr. M. Craig Barnes at Princeton Theological Seminary; Rev. Dr. Mark Labberton at Fuller Theological Seminary; Rev. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan at Reformed Theological Seminary.

Church of Scotland General Assembly Middle Way on Same-sex Issues

The Church of Scotland General Assembly dealt with ordination and marriage issues and rather than adopting one of the two options presented by their Special Commission chose a middle option that affirmed past teaching while opening the door to congregations being able to dissent. This led to their speaking against the proposed legislation in the Scottish Parliament that would permit same-sex marriage and asking for robust religious protections. In addition, the compromise solution was not completely satisfactory to the whole church and a few pastors and congregations have left.

Congregational Loss in the PC(USA) and Gracious Dismissal

In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2012 Membership Statistics for the first time ever the number of churches transferred out of the denomination (110 churches) was larger than the number of churches dissolved (86 churches).

Associated with this was the emphasis on presbyteries having Gracious Dismissal Policies and fairly generous allowances to be dismissed with property, although there was at least one PJC case and some civil litigation, e.g. Caldwell and Highland Park.

Re-purposing Church Buildings

Along with the dissolution of churches comes the question of what to do with the property? Although to be fair this also may be a question if the church outgrows their existing property. Answers this year include a residence in Scotland, a restaurant in Belfast, and maybe a town hall in Maryland. In addition, there were several, at least, demolished and controversy down under with a presbytery of the Uniting Church proposing to close churches and sell off the buildings to satisfy debts.

With that I have hit all the cross-branch and big-topic themes that I ranked highest and have to decide on the last three from a field of several worthy and interesting candidates. Well, this is my blog and I can adjust the rules so here are five more…

The BBC Northern Ireland produced a documentary on Irish Presbyterians called “An Independent People”

Also from Northern Ireland, there was an agreement that the leaders of the failed Presbyterian Mutual Society would be ineligible to head up other companies and word of at least one bank that declined the offer to take over the failing institution.

The work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding the dark history of native residential schools continues in Canada and this year the Commission was addressed by the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the church issued a formal apology to Kenora residential school survivors.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year issued guidelines on what was required to be included in employee health care plans and several Presbyterian-affiliated organizations objected to the contraception mandate. This year at least two, Geneva College and Westminster Theological Seminary, won court cases exempting them from the HHS mandate. Review by the U.S. Supreme Court is expected so this may come back again next year.

And the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation issued a new hymnal, “Glory to God”, but not without a little controversy about one hymn that was originally to be included but deleted when a slight word change was not approved by the authors.

And there you have my suggestions for the top ten twelve Presbyterian news topics of 2013. Your mileage may vary.

So as we look ahead to 2014 – and many of my friends around the world are already there or now busy celebrating Hogmanay – I wish all of you a very Happy New Years and best wishes for the coming year.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Week Ending November 24, 2013

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Here are a few of the things that caught my attention this week.

The first are the multiple articles about church buildings being re-purposed for other uses. Here is one in Scotland to be a residence:

Historic church building to be converted into home – from Kirriemuir Herald

From Northern Ireland a new restaurant:

Former Ulsterville Presbyterian Church ready for new lease of life as upmarket eatery on Belfast’s Lisburn Road – from Belfast Telegraph

And from Maryland, a deal that would convert a Presbyterian church into the new town hall:

University Park negotiating for heavenly home – from Maryland Community News Online

In one of the bigger headlines of the week, the Catholic Church of Scotland has begun releasing information about abuse allegations in the church. Associated with this, they have asked Dr. Andrew McLellan, the former chief inspector of prisons for Scotland and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland 2000 General Assembly, to conduct an external review.

Roman Catholic Church in Scotland reveals abuse case details – from BBC News

There seems to be a number of crime reports associated with Presbyterian churches this week including embezzlement in Ghana:

Ghana: Stealing in the House of God Two Billion Presby Cash Looted – from allAfrica

Missing handbells in Wisconsin:

Wisconsin man accused of stealing, pawning bells from Sheboygan church where he was elder – from Minneapolis Star Tribune

And an unknown woman trying to pick up children from a church Sunday School:

River Forest cops investigating attempted abduction at First Presbyterian Church – from Forest Leaves

Continuing stories from the Mizoram, India, elections, which were held this week:

Presbyterian Church holds key to campaign in Mizoram – from Hindustan Times

On Sunday, politics in Mizoram mingles with spirituality – from DNA India

Lalzirliana rapped for church ‘ploy’ – from The Times of India; complaints by the opposition that a candidate received endorsement by the church

There were two obituaries of note for pastors in the PC(USA):

Rev. Ben Martin dies at 82; worked to heal Kirkwood’s racial divides – from St. Louis Post-Dispatch (who attended a presbytery meeting the day before his death of a stroke)

Central Presbyterian pastor dies – from Merced Sun-Star (The Rev. Henry B. Greene III, who died of a heart attack while hiking in Yosemite.)

Finally, while I could note that a “son of the manse,” actor David Tennant, was voted “the nations’ favourite Dr. Who” in the UK as part of the 50th anniversary of that Sci-Fi series (and I would note that I am personally partial to the fourth Doctor), Mr. Tennant made news in another area this week as he is lending his support to fighting cystic fibrosis. He endorsed the book The Magic of Words: Humorous and Serious written by Dr. James A. Simpson and dedicated to the author’s granddaughter who died of the disease shortly before publication. Dr. Simpson served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland three years before David Tennant’s father, the Rt. Rev. Sandy McDonald, held that same position.

And so for my American readers, I wish you the best of Thanksgivings tomorrow. To all the liturgical out there a “happy new church year” and wonderful First Sunday in Advent this weekend. And to all, a good rest of the week and blessings this coming Lord’s Day.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Week Ending November 17, 2013

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Let me begin this week with information about the response to the typhoon that hit the Philippines:

Bruce Reyes-Chow, the Moderator of the 218th GA of the PC(USA) was in the Philippines when the typhoon hit and has been blogging about it on his personal blog and then his Patheos blog. In addition the PC(USA) Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is collecting relief money and the leadership of the church have issued a call to prayer.

In the Presbyterian Church in Canada their Presbyterian World Service & Development has issued an emergency appeal.

The Presbyterian Church in America is responding through their Mission to the World branch.

Similarly the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is reaching out through their Mission Overseas agency. The Belfast News Letter carries an article, “Superb Generosity of our Ulster Churches“, with comments by the Moderator of the General Assembly.

The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has no direct mission in that country but is collecting funds to partner with similar Reformed bodies that are present there.

The Church of Scotland and others in the UK are directing donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee or the Tearfund. In the US some, like the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, are directing donors to World Relief.

In other headlines…

A determined woman leads Tripoli church – from The Daily Star (Lebanon); “TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Rola Sleiman never planned on running a church. But
when the opportunity came along five years ago, she embraced the chance
to serve a small Presbyterian congregation in Lebanon’s second city.”

Moderator: War on slavery ‘best way to honour Livingstone’s legacy’ – from STV News; Comments by the Church of Scotland Moderator of the General Assembly at a service marking the bicentennial of David Livingstone’s birth

Hillsdale Train Depot to experience new life as Presbyterian church – from Hillsdale Daily Times; “Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church will hold its first worship service at the Old Train Depot at 44 Monroe Street Sunday.”

Anger Management Class Robbed At Spartanburg Church – from WSAV

And finally, to send you off into this coming week, how could I not conclude with this headline:

Cameroon: Christians Celebrate Presbyterian Church Day – from allAfrica

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Two Weeks Ending November 11, 2013

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Well, I started out thinking I would do the one week version and then looked at how little I had flagged and decided it was probably just as well to consider them all in a two-week block.

Let me begin with the extra day here, November 11, and note that for those in Europe, and even in Canada, this is a much, much bigger day of Remembrance than our American observance of Veterans’ Day. For those of us in the U.S. we observe something similar on Memorial Day in May which has ties to our own Civil War about 150 years ago. However, in my own congregation our Veteran’s Day observance was marked by prayers over one of our members who is about to be deployed with the Marines to Afghanistan. But from other parts, here are a few of the headlines for Remembrance Day:

Fallen remembered at Sunday services – from Portadown Times

A tribute to all victims of war – from The News of New Glasgow, Canada

Scotland marks Remembrance Sunday – from BBC News

Remembrance Day – from Stornoway Gazette

Some other headlines…

Some details came out about the failure of the Presbyterian Mutual Society in Northern Ireland and its attempts to find another financial institution to take it over:

Co-op bank refused the PMS – from Belfast News Letter

In Ghana the calls for the church to help straighten out the state continue

Ghanaian youth must demand accountability – Kufuor – from GhanaWeb

Christians urged to support the government – from Ghana Business News

Otumfuo appeals to the church to fight against corruption – from Ghana Business

And while we are on church and  state issues, pieces about Mizoram state of India and the strong influence of the church in the elections:

Mizoram: Church imposes rules, controls poll – from Deccan Chronicle

Church-backed watchdog body has its own poll rules – from The Morung Express

And finally, the second Presbyterian installed as a seminary president in as many weeks. In Pasadena, TE Mark Labberton was installed as the new President of Fuller Seminary:

‘Renaissance man’ elected as fifth Fuller president – from Pasadena Star-News

So that is it for now. Take care

Moderator Designate Of The Church Of Scotland 2014 General Assembly

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A couple of weeks ago the Church of Scotland completed their selection process and announced that the Moderator Designate for their 2014 General Assembly will be the Rev. Dr. Angus Morrison, pastor of the Orwell and Portmoak Parish Church.

The press release tells us that Mr. Morrison moved around as a child as his father tended different lighthouses. His college career began at the University of Glasgow with further studies at Pisa University and London University. He completed his Ph.D. at Edinburgh University’s New College. He was ordained by the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1979. (Note – not the Free Church as was originally reported in some accounts, although the branches share some of the same lineage.) He later transferred to the Church of Scotland. With the Free Presbyterians he served churches in Oban and Edinburgh. Before his current position he was at St. Columba’s (Old Parish) Church in Stornoway.

Beyond the parish he has served the church in several ways including as Moderator of the Presbytery of Lewis, member and Vice Covener of the Panel on Doctrine, Queen’s Chaplain, Covener of the Mission and Discipleship Council and as a member of the Special Commission on Same-sex Relationships and the Ministry.

He and his wife Marion have four children between the ages of 16 and 27.

Upon his selection he is quoted as saying “It is my great desire to encourage the Church in its vital God-given
mission to the people of Scotland and beyond. In these troubled times
the peace and unity of the Church are dear to me and I shall endeavour
to promote them in every way I can.”

So our congratulations to Rev. Morrison. We wish him well for the six months leading up to the Assembly and our prayers for him and the Kirk as he moderates and for his moderatorial year.

UPDATE 18 March 2014: Today it was announced that due to health issues Rev. Morrison would be stepping down as Moderator Designate. A new Moderator Designate will be announced shortly.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Week Ending October 20, 2013

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Another week on the quiet side in my news stream, and the couple of active items that were there are “works in progress” that I will defer to the next round when there should be something more to report than “the committee is thinking about it.”

So to begin with, a few items from churches in Africa:

Malawi: Domasi CCAP Advises Faithful to Vote – from allAfrica.com; “Domasi Presbytery of CCAP Blantyre Synod has called on all its faithful
that registered for the 2014 Tripartite Elections to exercise their
rights and responsibilities by voting for leaders of their choice.”

M’mbelwa roasts Livingstonia Synod over Kanyika mine – from Nyasa Times; “M’mbelwa district council on Monday took a swipe at  CCAP Livingstonia
Church and Society for frustrating the mining of niobium at Kanyika mine
in Mzimba.”

Presbyterian University College Council inaugurated – from Ghana News Agency; “The
Right-Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, has inaugurated the 5th Presbyterian
University College Council at Akropong.”

A couple of notes from the Church of Scotland:

Have your say on Scotland’s future – from Carrick Gazette; The Church of Scotland is ramping up the discussion sessions ahead of the independence vote.

Church of Scotland proposes changing religious observance in schools to ‘time for reflection’ – from Christian Today; “The Church of Scotland has proposed changing religious observance to a ‘time for reflection’. The Kirk said a time for reflection in schools would help shift the
debate about religious observance in schools from an argument between
opposing views to learning together.”

And finally from the PC(USA) and the Presbytery of Chicago:

Wild patience: Years of discussion lead to signing of covenant between presbytery and Islamic communities in Chicago – from The Presbyterian Outlook

So there is what caught my eye for last week.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Week Ending October 13, 2013

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Just a quick update here to list a few of the news headlines that caught my attention. It was a generally quiet week and since I am in the middle of a couple of other analyses for this blog I will keep it short.

I saw a couple of articles this week about denominations selling off unused churches. The second is one that I don’t normally track but the pattern is worth noting.

Kirk’s historic churches for sale – from Herald Scotland; “BUYERS have been moving to secure a slice of Scottish heritage after a
surge in the number of historic churches being put up for sale by the
Kirk.”

Uniting Church puts properties up for sale to clear debts – from ABC News; “The Uniting Church is putting $100 million worth of property in
Victoria up for sale in an attempt to clear its debts by December 2014. The collapse last year of the church-run school, Acacia College, left the church with a $36 million debt.”

In continuing developments from the previous update:

Presbyterian Moderator pays a visit to graffiti-hit church – from the News Letter; reaction continues following the sectarian vandalism

ANC equal with God on earth? – from News24; President Zuma’s comments at the Presbyterian Synod meeting continue to draw critical reactions

And another from Ireland:

Presbyterians spend £6.2m on new projects – from the News Letter

A story linking Scotland and the church bombing in Pakistan

Kirk minister Aftab Gohar forgives his family’s killers – from BBC News

While in the South Pacific

Vanuatu Presbyterian Church calling for ban of same-sex marriage – from Radio New Zealand International

Finally in the PC(USA)

Largest Presbyterian Church’s (PC USA) Property Ownership Case Headed to Court – from The Christian Post; It was decided that the case would be heard in state, not federal, court. And note that the news outlet consistently gets the size rank wrong: while they are the largest in Texas they are the fourth-largest across the denomination.

Film reaches out to Presbyterians as Detroit prepares to host convention – from the Detroit Free Press; a film made by a local Presbyterian promoting the city for the General Assembly.

So there is a snapshot of that week. Hoping to get a couple of new posts up in the next few days.

Presbyterian Headlines For The Week Ending October 6, 2013

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And now for this past week’s – and yes, I really do mean this this past week singular – news headlines. A bit more than last week happening out there.

As I mentioned in the last post, the news from Mizoram is a bit of a hold-over because it hit as a developing story right at the end of the preceding week. So here are the headlines for the Presbyterian synod in northeast India related to the upcoming elections:

Church urges parties not to use insurgents in Mizoram polls – from Business Standard; “[T]he largest church in the state also urged all political parties,
candidates and campaigners not to indulge in character assassination,
baseless allegations against political opponents and use muscle and
money power to get elected.”

Mizoram sets up election watchdog – from The Morung Express; the watchdog group is supported by the Synod

Mizoram synod asks voters to shun poll prophets – from Times of India; “The Mizoram synod of the Presbyterian Church of India, in its poll
message to the masses, urged the voters to reject so-called
prophecies and predictions on which party would win the coming assembly
elections in the state. The synod said such self-proclaimed prophets did
not believe in God.”

Mizoram parties appeal to Election Commission for changing Assembly poll schedule – from The Economic Times; To move voting to more convenient times and move the counting day off of Sunday

Moving on, there was an important series of headlines from Northern Ireland this week as well:

Churches launch peace initiative in Northern Ireland – from Christian Today; An interdenominational effort that includes the Presbyterian church.

Graffiti daubed on walls of Ballyarnett Presbyterian Church – from BBC News; “Sectarian graffiti has been daubed on the walls of a Protestant church in Londonderry.”

Bishop Good condemns graffiti attack on Ballyarnett Presbyterian Church – from Diocese of Derry Raphoe press release

And near by in Scotland two Church of Scotland clergymen of some note left the Kirk and were received into membership in the Free Church of Scotland:

More ministers defect over gay clergy row – from The Scotsman

Moving to Africa:

Zuma: ‘Church must help with difference between right and wrong’ – from eNCA; in South Africa “Zuma urged the Evangelical Presbyterian Church to continue supporting government and helping to build a caring society.”

On Zuma’s conflation of church and state – a commentary on the event from PoliticsWeb

Presby Church, traditionalists clash in Beposo – from GhanaWeb; A clash resulted when a local church did not observe a request for no noise making that is part of a traditional festival.

In Michigan, a group trying to save a presbytery camp has a new bid:

Camp preservation group ups ante $2.9 million – from The Commercial Record

And if US Presbyterians who are furloughed as part of the government shutdown are looking for something to do here is what some are up to:

Furloughed NASA workers volunteering their time – from WVEC.com; “About a half a dozen volunteers are renovating a wing at Yorkminster Presbyterian Church in York County.”

Finally, it is commentary and not journalism from a religious news outlet, but an interesting piece that may be of interest to some Presbyterians:

The Emergent Pope: Pope Francis Meets Frances Schaeffer – from The Christian Post

 

OK, so is it really Monday and I am now caught up on headlines? I guess I am getting a handle on this. Got a couple more things in draft form now so this might be a good week for blogging. We will see.