[Ed. note: Last year I started doing these headlines posts but dropped it during GA season and never restarted. Well, enough interesting things are happening that I thought I would restart this weekly post. As before, these are generally news items about global Presbyterianism that catch my attention but I don’t have time to blog about individually. I do however reserve the right to come back and write more about a story later. – SLS]

Lord High Commissioner for the Scottish General Assemblies
This is actually old news – Her Majesty’s Government issued the announcement three months ago – but it was highlighted this past week by a release from the Free Church of Scotland. While the Lord High Commissioner is technically only a position with the national Church of Scotland, they usually also visit the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.

This year’s Lord High Commissioner is that same as last year, The Right Honourable Lord James Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, Baron Selkirk of Douglas, PC, QC.

New Role for Ex-Moderator
The Newsletter reports that the Rev. Dr. Stafford Carson has been selected as the new Principal of Union Theological College, Belfast. Rev. Carson was the Moderator of the 2009 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is the pastor of First Portadown Presbyterian Church. Union College has about 300 students with about 10% of them training for the ministry.

The position still needs a series of approvals of which the final one is from this year’s General Assembly in early June.

Austin Presbyterian seminary receives $2.5 million gift
An article from the Austin Statesman informs us of a gift to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary to endow the Blair R. Monie Distinguished Chair in Homiletics. The gift is from Mary and Robert J. Wright of Dallas and honors their pastor. The Rev. Monie has been a long-time trustee of Austin. (There is also a press release from the Seminary)

Asante Presbytery creates website to keep members informed
The Asante Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has launched a new web site. The objective is clear from the article: “…to keep its members, both home and abroad, adequately informed about its activities.“