» News: Lagniappe Church Dedicates Home

Keeping up with the good work being done by Lagniappe Presbyterian Church (PCA) on the Mississippi Gulf Coast would be a fully time job for any reporter. We wanted to highlight what is thankfully a common event in the life of Lagniappe - the dedication of a home that they have built for victims of Katrina. Read about it at the Lagniappe Church blog.

» News: PCA Ruling Elder, Son Killed by Intoxicated Driver

Sunday morning, Allen Mays and his 12 year old son Madison were killed in a head-on collision with an intoxicated driver, Juan Manuel Landaverde, who crossed the median. Mays and his son were seated on the driver's side of the vehicle. His wife and daughter, seated on the passenger's side, were only slightly injured. Landaverde, who received only minor injuries, has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of first-degree assault. Baldwin County police are holding Landaverde until a bail hearing later this week.

Allen Mays served as a Ruling Elder at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Athens, GA. Readers of RN from Redeemer have contacted us and requested prayers for the church, for Mays's parents who are both members, and for his wife and daughter.

Source for Details: News Article

» News: Mainstream Press Coverage of Presbyterians

The "Get Religion" blog explores press coverage of religion - as in, "The Press just doesn't 'get' religion". In a posting today, a PCA member notes how often the press aims to make a point about the decline of mainline Presbyterianism yet fails to distinguish carefully between presbyterian denominations.

The author, Daniel Pulliam, writes:

"As a member of the Presbyterian Church in America I found it downright frustrating that the article failed to mention that there are in fact other Presbyterian denominations out there. Lots of them. But the article is not really about Presbyterians, except for the fact that other denominational struggles are mentioned only briefly. It's really about conservative and traditional Presbyterians abandoning the PC USA for elsewhere due to what they view as an abandonment of basic biblical teachings. And this story is hardly unique to the Presbyterian denomination as you all know.

But this isn't really news for Presbyterians, at least in the context the story gives us. Presbyterians have always been abandoning each other in the search for doctrinal purity. The various splits go back as far as John Knox of the 17th century in Scotland."

» News: Second PCA Pastor Responds to Nine FV/NPP Declarations

Previously, RN reported on Peter Leithart's letter written in response to the PCA's adoption of the recommendations of the General Assembly study committee concerning the "Federal Vision" and "New Perspectives on Paul". This week, Pastor Steve Wilkins (Monroe, LA) drafted a letter to the Louisiana Presbytery and made the letter public (pdf). The Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church's Federal Vision page contains a number of documents related to the Louisiana Presbytery's ongoing judicial case with the PCA's Standing Judicial Commission.

» News: Lagniappe Presbyterian Church Featured on Weather Channel

The Weather Channel covered the Lagniappe Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Bay St. Louis and its valuable ministry activity. The church not only serves the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast, but it also was born amidst the disaster, being formed as it ministered to the coastal area. The church has helped manage the activities of nearly 7000 volunteers and continues to help build houses and do other reconstruction efforts. The video below contains footage of an interview with Pastor Jean Larroux who describes the work they are doing. Thanks go to readers who sent us this clip. The segment aired on June 5, 2007.

» Feature: Sermon O' the Weekend

This weekend's featured sermon comes from Tenth Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Philadelphia, PA. Pastor D. Marion Clark delivered the sermon "Fellowship of the Gospel" on Phillipians 1:27-30. The sermon is available at SermonAudio in both audio and video format.

» News: PCA General Assembly Overtures

Examining the recordings of the PCA General Assembly committee of Bills and Overtures, we may now report action on the following Overtures:

Overture 1 from Southeast Alabama Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise BCO 35-7 to Omit Transcript of Testimony" - NEGATIVE

Overture 2 from Presbytery of New Jersey (to CCB and OC)
"Delete 'or' and substitute 'the' in BCO 56-4.d." - NEGATIVE

Overture 4 from Westminster Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise BCO 21-1 Regarding Presbytery's Declining to Approve a Pastoral Call" - NEGATIVE

Overture 9 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise RAO 15-2 to Limit Service on Overtures Committee to Three Consecutive Assemblies" - NEGATIVE

Overture 10 from The Presbytery of Eastern Canada (to CCB and OC)
"Amend BCO 12-1 and 12-2 to Change Quorum Requirements for Session Meetings" - AFFIRMATIVE (with ammendments to perfect the language)

Overture 13 from Alexandria Presbyterian Church (VA), Rejected by Potomac Presbytery (to CCB and OC)
"Revise BCO 13-1; 14-2 to Require Church Giving to Higher Courts in order to Vote in Higher Courts" - NEGATIVE

Overture 14 from North Texas Presbytery (to OC)
"Resolution of Praise to God for the Ministry of TE Paul G. Settle" - AFFIRMATIVE

Overture 15 from Potomac Presbytery (to OC, CCB)
"Amend BCO 21-4, Paragraph 7, Regarding Teaching Approved Exceptions" - NEGATIVE (Vote: 58-1-0)

Overture 16 from Southeast Alabama Presbytery (to OC)
"Honor RE W. Jack Williamson" - (~ AFFIRMATIVE, already acted upon in the assembly, no need to vote)

Overture 21 - NEGATIVE

Overture 7 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Add 'from presbyteries' to RAO 11-1" - AFFIRMED

Overture 8 from James River Presbytery (to CCB & OC)
"Revise RAO 14-8.d and RAO 19-2 to Delete Oral Reading of Reports" - AFFIRMED

The following Overtures were not mentioned in the reports of the committees we have reviewed, and we will continue our attempt to find the outcomes. In the cases of Overtures 20 and 21, neither of these were included in the original list of overtures. Most of the remaining overtures below concern Presbytery configuration changes.

Overture 17 from Tennessee Valley Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Tennessee Valley Presbytery"

Overture 18 from Nashville Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Nashville Presbytery"

Overture 19 from Heartland Presbytery (to MNA)
"Divide Heartland Presbytery; Create Platte Valley Presbytery"

Overture 20 - ?

Overture 3 from Metropolitan New York (to MNA)
"Redefine Metropolitan New York Boundary" -

Overture 5 from New York State Presbytery (to MNA)
"Redefine Boundary New York State Presbytery"

Overture 6 from Philadelphia Metro West (to AC)
"Commemorate 500th Anniversary of Calvin's Birth"

Overture 11 from James River Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of James River Presbytery"

Overture 12 from Eastern Carolina Presbytery (to MNA)
"Change Boundaries of Eastern Carolina Presbytery"

» News: PCA General Assembly Wrap-Up

Complete archives of the PCA General Assembly videocast are now available in Windows Media format. This format is playable on both Windows and Mac computers.

The assembly finished its work on Thursday. As previously reported, on Wednesday the PCA voted by a large majority (90 to 95% by most estimates observed online) to adopt the recommendations of the Federal Vision / New Perspectives Study Committee. The Assembly's adoption of the recommendations has the following effects: 1. The assembly commends the committee's report to the PCA for consideration, 2. The assembly reminds the PCA of the role of the Westminster Standards "as standard expositions of the teachings of Scripture in relation to both faith and practice", 3. The assembly commends the 9 declarations of the report to the denomination as "a faithful exposition of the Westminster Standards" and calls upon ruling and teaching elders to inform "their courts" (i.e., sessions, presbyteries) of any differences between their views and the 9 declarations, 4. The assembly reminds Sessions and Presbyteries of its duty to exercise doctrinal oversight, and 5. The assembly dismisses the study committee with thanks.

The nine declarations of the report now become the focus of the PCA's consideration. The declarations each have the form of stating that a particular view associated with either the Federal Vision or New Perspectives on Paul is contrary to the Westinster Standards. Two questions confront Presbyteries as they examine elders who are either accused of holding suspect views or elders who submit their views to Presbyteries for consideration: a. do their views in fact fall under one of nine disallowed views, and b. if so, will their views be considered allowable exceptions or become grounds for further discipline. Currently the PCA does not have uniformity with regards to what exceptions are allowable or disallowable by every presbytery. One case is presently before the Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) that tangentially involves the Federal Vision issues; it relates to the procedures used by one presbytery in its examination and exoneration of a minister accused of holding views associated with the Federal Vision that are out of accord with the Westminster Standards. As a result of the SJC's inquiry, the presbytery, Louisiana Presbytery, conducted a reexamination of the minister in question, Steve Wilkins, in accordance with the SJC's instructions to keep minutes and record the examination (recordings available in MP3 - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). On January 20th, the Louisiana Presbytery met to consider the issue and voted to forward its decision that there is no "no strong presumption of guilt" against Wilkins, together with a copy of the oral exam transcript, recording, and Wilkins's written responses. The next action in this case will come from the SJC and we will report any action when it occurs. The only other judicial case arising from challenges to ministers based upon alleged violations of the Westminster Standards with regard to the issues associated with the Federal Vision was handled by the Pacific Northwest Presbytery in the case of Peter Leithart (report pdf). The Northwest Presbytery examined Leithart and issued its report, stating the need to devote further time to investigating the issues involved with the Federal Vision perspective. It did not find sufficient warrant to discipline Leithart, but recommended studying the issues further.

The General Assembly is not specifically a time for theological controversy - by far the vast majority of floor time at the General Assembly is spent reviewing the ministries and activities of the church. Commissioners heard reports from the denominational seminary, Covenant Seminary, as well as the various missions committees of the church - Mission to North America, and Mission to the World. A video presentation highlighted two PCA works that seek racial reconciliation and community integration between caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans.

In the Thursday morning report of Covenant Seminary Bryan Chapell noted that 250,000 people per month download the seminary's online courses. The seminary has experienced 17 consecutive years of annual record enrollment. Chapell showed photographs of the building process of "Founders Hall" - a new addition to the campus, doubling the number of classrooms. Chapell noted that 300 hours of supervised field work are now required of M.Div. students. Covenant's placement rate is over 90% in the last decade for those seeking ministry positions with the school's recommendation. The retention rate (for the first 5 years in ministry) is four times the seminary average in North Ameirca. One in four M.Div. graduates will plant a new church within 8 years of graduation. Chapell emphasized that the seminary teaches from a "grace perspective" - love for Christ overcomes love of sin; redemption is more than freedom from guilt, it is freedom from the alluring power of sin. Chapell emphasized the qualities of this generation of incoming students - most are concerned to break down walls of prejudice, antipathy and class, wanting to teach confessional theology beyond traditional social boundaries.

RN will report on the outcome of the various overtures in a future story.

» News: Sparkman Reports on PCA Logo Progress

General Assembly News: Wayne Sparkman, PCA Historian, began his report today on the development of a PCA logo with an historical overview of the question of creating a logo - a question that has been on the agenda of the PCA for quite a while. Sparkman noted his desire to receive logo suggestions, and announced that there will be a new section on the Historical Center website dedicated to the development of a logo.

» News: PCA General Assembly Continues

Part of the work of a General Assembly is the hearing of reports by the various ministries that are undertaken by the church. Yesterday, the reports of Reformed University Fellowship (WMA Link) and Covenant College (WMA Link) were received. Reformed University Fellowship is a campus ministry of the PCA that places an ordained pastor on a college campus to organize fellowship and discipling activities among college students. RUF attempts to integrate college students into the local church, and part of the presentation consisted of testimonies from students who benefitted from the ministry. This morning, the denominational seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary, presented a report (we will add link when the archive becomes available). Reports from the other broad ministries of the church both in the USA and abroad will be presented later today (Mission to North America and Mission to the World).

» News: PCA General Assembly Day 2

Will be blogging in this spot throughout the day.

10:30 a.m. - Today began with the singing of "The Church's One Foundation"

10:39 a.m. - Report of the Stated Clerk, Roy Taylor - annual membership growth rate of 1%, but many presbyteries do not report statistics. We now have churches in all 50 States.

10:44 a.m. - Now Taylor is talking about overtures. There is no commissioner's handbook PDF online as far as we have been able to see, but we will post a link if such is posted.

10:59 a.m. - Term limits for SJC members was defeated

11:02 a.m. - Discussing overture #7 (PDF) - it passed. Overture #8 (PDF) passed. All the overtures can be read here.

11:09 a.m. - Passed a few recommendations all at once in omnibus fashion. Prayer now for fraternal delegates from other churches to speak.

11:12 a.m. - Rev. Jack Sawyer, OPC (Pineville, LA) speaks to the assembly as fraternal delegate. OPC has grown by 2% this year. OPC will be receiving a report on illegal immigration at its GA this week. OPC also received a report on the Federal Vision / NPP and it is available in pamphlet form. Sawyer expresses the OPC's interest in the PCA's deliberation of the Federal Vision issue. Sawyer also memorialized a few ministers who passed away this year.

11:20 a.m. - URCNA Minister to speak - a Pastor Freswick of Bethany United Reformed Church, Wyoming MI. URCNA will be seeking to find a way to reciprocate fraternal relations with the PCA, though its rules do not currently allow this. URCNA Synod in early July will consider union with Canadian Reformed Church and will also consider a Federal Vision report. He is now speaking against paedocommunion and wondering why the PCA FV report contains nothing about paedocommunion. He praised the PCA's proposed report as well. Paul Gilchrist, of the Interchurch Relations Committee commended the PCA's previous report on paedocommunion to the URCNA delegate stating we were 'way ahead' on the issue.

11:28 a.m. - Presbyterian Church of Brazil representative, David Gomez, speaking to the assembly... 4% growth per year of Presbyterian Church in Brazil, and they now have nine seminaries and one post-graduate theological institution. Sending missionaries to 28 countries around the world.

11:35 a.m. - Korean Presbyterian Church representative speaking, Kim In-hwan, President of Chongshin Seminary.

11:42 a.m. - Rev. James Holland, EPC representative speaks and brings fraternal greetings. Their assembly meets next week.

11:44 a.m. - Brief introductions of other fraternal delegates. End of Interchurch Relations Report. (Some laughter about a "false fire alarm" notification that came through the PA system from the facility)

11:49 a.m. - Prayer and recess for Lunch

(Note: It isn't our intent to "live blog" the entire General Assembly, but we will update pretty frequently throughout each day.)

» News: PCA General Assembly Commences

The 35th annual PCA General Assembly began this evening at 7:30 central time in Memphis, TN. We will be posting updates through the evening as news emerges. You can watch the broadcast of the General Assembly opening worshipping service online at the PCA General Assembly website. Earlier, the Real Audio stream was not working, but the Windows Media stream worked fine.

9:18 pm Update: The worship service is over and there is a short intermission before the election of a new moderator.

10:09 pm Update: E.J. Nusbaum, Ruling Elder at Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, CO is the new moderator of General Assembly. Nusbaum was the sole nominee. Previous moderator, Dominic Aquila, currently serves as Interim Pastor of Village Seven Presbyterian Church. At the 33rd General Assembly, Nusbaum served as Secretary of the Committee on Constitutional Business (CCB), class of 2007. At the 32nd General Assembly, Nusbaum was also secretary of the CCB. At the 31st General Assembly, Nusbaum served on the CCB, though he was not an officer at that point. Nusbaum is a graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point), serving seven years of active duty. He has worked as an insurance agent since 1985. He was ordained to the office of Ruling Elder in 1987 and served as Clerk of Session for five years. He also has served on the Rocky Mountain Presbytery MNA Committee among other service rendered to the church. Active in politics and government, in 2005, Nusbaum testified in the Colorado Senate committee on Business, Labor, and Technology against Senate Bill 5 that attempted to restrict the use of credit scoring by insurers in underwriting and rating purposes. He also testified before the House Committee on Business Affairs and Labor in opposition to a similar House bill.

» News: Signatures Increase to "Humble Answers" Letter

An update on a previously reported story - signatures added to the "Humble Answers" letter concerning the Federal Vision controversy in the PCA have been posted online. In addition to the original nine drafters, at the time of this news story, an additional 95 signatures have been added to the letter that seeks to defend the General Assembly study committee report from its detractors. Discussion of the Federal Vision issue is docketed for Wednesday afternoon at the PCA's general assembly and we will do our best to provide near-live coverage.

» News: News Roundup Continued

CRC: The Christian Reformed Church celebrated its 150th anniversary with a worship service attended by about 14,000 worshippers. The CRC annual synod meets this week at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. The delegates elected Rev. Joel Boot as its president; Rev. Cecil Van Niejenhuis as its vice president, elder Henry Baron as first clerk, and Rev. Jake Kuipers as second clerk.

ARP: The 203rd annual synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church met last week; details will be published as RN is able to collect further information. ARP is also planning to plant a mission church in Appalachia.

OPC: The Seventy-fourth General Assembly meets this week at Dordt College, Sioux Center, Iowa, beginning at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 13.

RCA: Wes Granberg-Michaelson, the general secretary of the RCA's Synod told the gathered commissioners that the RCA should become a "missional" church. Says Granberg-Michaelson, "How do we take good, old wine--the core of our Reformed tradition--and pour it into new wineskins--missional styles and structures that engage the culture with the power of the gospel? We need models of ministry--new churches and revitalized congregations--that combine the best strengths of Reformed identity with the most courageous expressions of missional engagement."

URCNA: General Synod planned for July 9-14, 2007.

PCA: Former Moderator Sam Duncan, ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church in Hattiesburg, MS writes a summary of this week's PCA General Assembly. Speaking of the Federal Vision controversy, he summarizes, "For the layman, who is not familiar with this topic, the Federal Vision basically teaches that membership in a local church makes one elect; once one is elect, his salvation may be lost; baptism results in regeneration; and justification is achieved through both faith and good works."

» News: Fire Destroys PCA Church in Lincoln, NE

Early this morning, a fire destroyed large portions of the building of Zion Church (Presbyterian Church in America) in Lincoln, NE. According to the local press, the over 100 year old building is "lost." For correspondence - office@zionpca.com; the church's offices are located at 610 'J' Street, Suite 20 / Lincoln, NE 68508.

The stated clerk has released the following statement:

Dear fathers and brothers of Heartland Presbytery, Stated Clerks in the PCA, and brothers and sisters of Grace Covenant Church:

Please be in prayer for the congregation of Zion Church (PCA) in Lincoln, Nebraska and their pastors: Stu Kerns, Tobey Brockman, Adam Odell, and Keith Ghormley and elders. The main building and worship facility of the church was destroyed completely last night in a fire that apparently began in the basement kitchen area. By the time fire fighters were called to the building at 5:00 a.m., there were 15-foot flames emerging from the north side of the building and the fire had spread to the main floor. Firefighters had to go into "defensive" mode to keep the flames from spreading to nearby buildings, with the main building already a total loss. To learn more visit this site.

Zion has been a flagship church in our Presbytery, and a mother to many of us. Let us rally to her in her time of need. Please pray that they will be able to secure a meeting place tomorrow for what will no doubt be a time of grieving and worship. Also pray for the leaders as they seek to secure a temporary meeting place for worship, care for the needs of a grieving and stunned congregation, and plan for the future. Zion was to break ground on a new addition tomorrow in order to meet their growing needs for Christian Education space.

Grace,

Todd Bowen
Stated Clerk
Heartland Presbytery

Photo Credit: Keith Ghormley

» New: Friday News Roundup, Part 1

PCA: General Assembly meets next week, online webcast will be available, and RN will post a link when it becomes available. Currently, there are two websites - pcaga.com and pcaga.org - and the content appears to be spread across the two at this moment. As previously reported, a group of PCA ministers supportive of the GA FV committee published an open letter with an accompanying website. The website now has more content, including responses to specific objections to the report made by the earlier Open Letter by another group of ministers in opposition to the report. The writers of the "humble answers" document have solicited signatures to the letter, and we will link to the signature list once it is made available. RN has learned that the "30 Reasons" paper written by Jeffrey Meyers in response to the committee's report was mailed to every PCA session in the United States. Joel Garver has published a multi-part review and critique of the FV Study Committee Report: (Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Covenant Radio has posted a podcast that consists of a roundtable discussion with PCA Pastors Mark Horne, Jeffrey Meyers, and Mark Duncan about the Study Committee Report (MP3). Attorney and PCA member Jordan Mark Siverd has released a legal analysis (PDF) of the FV study committee report. Siverd also has created an online petition asking the 35th General Assembly to recommit the report.

» News: Release from PCA's MTW / RBI

RN received this joint press release from the Presbyterian Church in America's Mission to the World / Retirement and Benefits corporations - it relates to some rumors that have been circulating about the changes to the Retirement and Benefits Annuity plan. Below is the text of the release:

A Joint Communique from Gary Campbell, President of Retirement Benefits, Inc., and Paul Kooistra, Coordinator of Mission to the World

As the General Assembly approaches, we (Gary Campbell, President of Retirement Benefits, Inc., and Paul Kooistra, Coordinator of Mission to the World) know that there has been much talk about Mission to the World's decision to manage its own annuity program. We have a very active grapevine within our denomination noted by the many communications both of us have received. The talk has varied over a wide continuum. There have been some who have charged Mission to the World with being disloyal to the PCA and moving their annuity program to the Southern Baptist Convention. On the other hand, there have been those who have stated that RBI is in trouble and must be failing.

Both of us (Gary Campbell and Paul Kooistra) plan to jointly approach the Committee of Commissioners for our respective agency or committee. Together we plan to explain why MTW's decision to manage their own program is a reasonable decision for MTW and does no harm to RBI.

RBI has been blessed by God as their program has grown over the last few years. They also have a new president who God has uniquely gifted in the area of investments. The future is brighter than ever for the RBI annuity program.

MTW on the other hand has a very unique constituency that requires a specialized communication infrastructure and in place, dedicated international advisors that if RBI were to attempt to meet these needs the cost could raise expenses to all participants in the RBI plan.

As a result of this change, RBI will be able to focus more of their resources on the majority of their constituency. The requirement on RBI to meet the needs of MTW missionaries scattered around the world will be reduced and their services to non-MTW participants will be enhanced. Because the potential loss of some MTW participants is not significant relative to the total assets under management in the retirement plan, RBI believes that over time it will be able to lower the expense ratio from its present 1.12% as assets grow and expenses remain under control. For MTW there are significant advantages to having services that will allow missionaries spread all over the world, some in very sensitive places, to interact with their annuity program advisors in a more efficient way. For those who study investing you know how important that is to the ultimate performance of a retirement portfolio. MTW will also be able to reduce the number of personnel that they employ who are now involved in the annuity program from seven to three or four.

MTW is not moving their annuity program into the Southern Baptist Convention retirement plan as some seem to be suggesting. This program will be a PCA program just like the MTW medical program is at the present time. MTW will be the plan sponsor as well as the plan manager. GuideStone was one of several third party administrators and investment advisors MTW studied over the last two years. They were chosen for only one reason and that is because they have the most experience with missionaries.

It has been said that the committees and agencies of the PCA in Atlanta, Georgia, cannot get along and that this event is just another example of that fact. Because of that, there will be skeptics concerning our stand of unity. From the point of view of both of us, this has come about through much prayer both at RBI and MTW. Jesus said and Scripture teaches that the mark of the Christian Church is their unity and love for one another. This decision was not easy for either of us. We have seen God's spirit work through us as we have been honest with each other. If nothing else, this process has been a blessing for both of us as we have seen the love of Christ work in both of our hearts.

It is likely that readers who are interested in these issues can hear more about the situation at the upcoming General Assembly of the PCA where all the various PCA sub-organizations and committees report on their ministries and activities.

» News: Friday News Roundup

Here's all the buzz that buzzed near us this week:

PCUSA: Dennis L. Cobb, 50, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree indecent exposure. The denomination has fired Cobb from his position as manager of assembly programming citing a "no tolerance" policy.

PCA: As mentioned previously, a group of 10 ministers has written an "open letter" urging fellow presbyters to vote against the denominational Federal Vision / NPP study committee report at the upcoming General Assembly in June. Discussion of the open letter occurred here at RN and here. A joint statement has been published by the Retirement and Benefits and Mission to the World corporations about some upcoming changes.

OPC: The June issue of New Horizons was published this week and it concerns the topic of worship in light of OPC discussions concerning whether or not to adopt a drafted directory for public worship. George R. Cottenden discusses the upcoming issue of the vote on the directory in a feature article and the issue includes articles by Hart, Muether, Larry Wilson, Peter Wallace, and William Shishko on various aspects of worship and sacraments. The June / July issue of Ordained Servant also was published this week and contains discussions of the church and science / technology. Reviews include D.G. Hart on Sean Lucas's book "On Being Presbyterian" (P&R, 2006).

CREC: Nate Wilson publishes a book with Random House ("Leepike Ridge") and gets some kind words from Books and Culture, and Nate Wilson is also responsible for the text of a few new children's books published by Canon Press. The Augustine Presbytery of the CREC will have its meeting October 11-12, and the Anselm Presbytery will meet October 22-23.

CRC: Interesting press release- "What to Watch for a Synod 2007" including some interesting sacramental discussions about infant baptism and paedocommunion. Meeter Center purchases 1562 edition of a book by John Calvin about the doctrine of election. Korean CRC church plays role in Virginia Tech shooting healing.

EPC: General Assembly takes place June 20-23 in Colorado - new issue of the EPC's newsletter contains GA information.

Acts 29: Main session audio lectures of 2007 Seattle church-planting Boot Camp have been posted.

CPC: "Covenant Presbyterian Church" - this is not a denomination with which RN has familiarity, but they have sent us a press release (PDF) and we will attempt to cover them as well.

Reformed Parachurch: Reformation21's June issue is now out, including further reflections on Roman Catholicism by Carl Trueman, an article about blues music by Stephen J. Nichols, and Phillip Ryken reflects on the new atheism movement. Ligonier Ministries is offering a free gift subscription to Tabletalk with a regular subscription just in time for Father's day. Yes, that sound like a commercial, but we have received no funds from Ligonier, just thought readers would like the information. Still no word on the Gospel Coalition materials, but we continue to monitor the website and will alert you when these are available.

Interesting Discussions: Discussion of the Gospel Coalition at Daniel Kirk's blog, Against Heresies conducts a three-part interview with Michael Scott Horton, Lane Keister wraps up an eleven part review/critique of Jeff Meyers's 30 Reasons, Meyers releases a shorter version of his 30 reasons. Paul Helm takes on the issue of the relationship between Biblical and Systematic theology.

Note 1: Thanks for reading our site, and thanks for the letters. Please keep the news tips coming in and pay close attention to our sponsored advertising; we survive by God's grace via that advertising. Also consider getting involved in our discussion forums; it would be great if the Reformed world had a central place to discuss issues together.

Note 2: We've decided that our corrections policy will be to note the erroneous content in the comments for the post that contains the error. This keeps the correction with the material to be corrected. For example, see the comments for last week's news roundup for a correction made by a reader.

» News: Pastors Draft "Pastoral Letter" on PCA FV Report

A group of ten ministers has written a "pastoral letter" concerning the Federal Vision study committee report releasedto be considered in June at the PCA's General Assembly in Memphis, TN. This letter first came to our attention at the blog of PCA Deacon, Joel Garver. Download the letter here (PDF). The signatories are: Vito Aiuto, Matt Brown, Ray Cannata, Sam Downing, Josh Eby, John Haralson, Mike Khandjian, Iron Kim, Sam Wheatley, and Shayne Wheeler.

The letter divides its discussion into seven issues - the procedure of the committee's appointment, the issue of confessional interpretation, the issue of election, covenant theology, ecclesiology, baptism, and justification. The letter concludes, "Fellow presbyters, until the committee clarifies these issues, it would be premature for us to ratify their report. We encourage you to carefully and prayerfully think through these issues and not enter into this vote hastily. We are convinced that the report as it now stands lacks the quality and scholarship of a PCA General Assembly position paper. "

Vito Aiuto is the pastor of Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Matt Brown is the pastor of Park Slope Presbyterian Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Ray Cannata is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New Orleans, LA.

Sam Downing is the pastor of City Presbyterian Church in Denver, CO.

Josh Eby pastors at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN.

John Haralson is pastor of Grace Seattle in Seattle, WA.

Mike Khandjian is pastor of Chapelgate Presbyterian Church in Marriotsville, MD.

Iron Kim is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Orange, CA.

Sam Wheatley is pastor of Newsong Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City, UT.

Shayne Wheeler is pastor of All Souls Fellowship in Decatur, GA.

Discuss the pastoral letter in our forums.

» News Release: By Faith Online's Forthcoming Issue

Received this letter today from By Faith, the magazine of the PCA - PDF. This press release is a promotional item about the next issue of the magazine. We will report on ByFaith's progress in gaining subscribers to its print publication after the report at June's General Assembly. At last year's PCA General Assembly, some discussion took place about the future of the magazine and its need for more subscribers. By Faith contains some denominational news, but its primary focus is on the people of the PCA and their ministries and would be appropriate reading for anyone in any Reformed denomination because of its positive tone and focus. By Faith Online is the web version of the magazine.

» News: New NT Professor for Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS)

The news has not yet appeared at the RTS news site, but before this becomes old news, we feel confident to report this news based on the recent blog post of Professor Ligon Duncan of RTS. Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS appoints Guy Waters (M.Div., Westminster Theological Seminary, Ph.D., Duke University) Associate Professor of New Testament. Waters's CV may be found here at the Belhaven College website where Waters currently teaches.

» News: Friday Blogosphere Roundup

In this weekly column, we will be reviewing the week in Reformed blogging, giving you, the reader, a sense of the general subject matter that has been of interest to Reformed bloggers.

Gender Roles: The issue of gender roles in the Reformed church is getting a lot of discussion this week. Long known for being concerned about the issue of the roles of men and women in the PCA, pastor Tim Bayly discusses his wish that the PCA would leave aside the Federal Vision controversy and focus on what he sees to be a growing movement of pastors who are bending the rules. He writes, "Over the long haul, the prevalence within PCA churches and presbyteries of egalitarian views is as great a danger as FV theology to our spiritual well-being." In a more recent post, Bayly specifically targets City Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Denver, Colorado and its Pastor's argument in favor of referring to an unordained, female member of the staff as a "minister of congregational life". If you have time, by the way, check out the work that City Pres is doing in Denver, as well as the outreach ministry to prostitutes that the Pastor Downing's wife, Leanne, established - Street's Hope. The discussion group "bbwarfield" discussed the motions concerning the use of the title "minister" brought up by Bayly's critique. In the background of this discussion over gender is the now year-ago movement out of the PCA into the RCA of the City Church in San Francisco. In other gender discussions, Mark Traphagen, a Westminster Seminary student, discusses a recent article by Carl Trueman that discusses some of the more cultural expectations that are imposed upon women in the conservative Reformed church.

Federal Vision (FV): This controversy appears to be at its peak in the PCA; the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) issued its report on the matter last year, and the PCA is now looking to consider its committee report at the General Assembly in June. This week's main blogosphere event was the publication by PCA Pastor Jeffrey Meyers of a document providing 30 reasons to oppose the committee report's adoption. Some of the blogosphere commentary relates to the fact that both the committee report and Meyers's response are long and technical - hard to imagine that every presbyter will have the time or inclination to work through them both. It is not incorrect to generalize that the more FV-friendly blogs seem to regard Meyers's response as "devastating" while the places less friendly to the FV perspective tend to view Meyers's response as unsuccessful. Doug Wilson, for instance, writes "In my view, you could summarily throw any fifteen of his reasons out the window before you start reading, and his response is still devastating." Most of the discussion of Meyers's response is occuring in the following places, if you care to listen in: Green Baggins (post 1, post2), Meyers's own blog, The Puritan Board, and there has been limited interaction on the BBWarfield list. As for private lists, we rely on news tips, but we understand that the OPC discussion group has been having a lively discussion of the report and the response from Meyers. In other denominations, an Australian minister reports his disappointment at the failure of a motion to condemn the FV in the Presbyterian Church of Victoria.

Emerging Church: On this front, the Acts 29 church planting network has received some discussion. The Acts 29 network tends to be conservative and reformed, and one of its distinctives - male ordination only - has been generating negative responses from other parts of the emerging movement (for convenience, we are thinking of the Acts 29 network as part of the emerging movement, but it is arguably a sui generis enterprise). Traphagen's blog discussed a new video titled "With Weeping for my Sisters" that contrasts quotes from various reformed authorities (including from Mark Driscoll of the Acts 29 network) with photographs of the church life of intelligent and reformed women known by the director of the video. The director writes in "the point in making this video was that I wanted a way for my friends to understand the grief I was experiencing as I have been taking a class on the history of Christianity. I wanted to share my emotional experience with them of what its like to realize how all these quotes (and soooo many others I left out!) affect me today." The video may be viewed at YouTube. Driscoll's controversial church planting video ran into distribution problems, and he discusses the matter on his own blog.

Roman Catholicism: Because of the conversion of the president of the Evangelical Theological Society to the Roman Catholic Church, the blogosphere contained many discussions of what Berkouwer called "the Riddle of Roman Catholicism" - what is the ongoing reason for the split between protestants and Catholics? R. Scott Clark, minister in the URC and professor at Westminster California asks Why Can't Evangelicals See the Canyon? and Carl Trueman of Westminster Seminary reflects on the Beckwith departure in a very irenic way. Trueman's article generated discussion at the blog Barlow Farms that included interaction with Trueman from Philosopher Bryan Cross, himself a convert from PCA membership to Roman Catholicism. Cross's own blog advocates church unity.

Other Reviews and Miscellaneous Items of Note: Paul Helm, no not this one, the professor of philosophy critiques John Franke's approach to systematic theology. Books and Culture reviews Wilson's new response to Harris's "Letter to a Christian Nation." The Work Research Foundation (neo-Calvinist) published a new edition of their Comment magazine that covered the business world, calling, etc. We at RN are impressed by the design and layout of their print version of the same and look forward to reading it each month. Covenant Seminary's magazine "In Covenant" for Summer (Download PDF) featured a fascinating interview with PCA minister Marcus Toole who currently ministers among First Nations people in Alberta. The interview is a fascinating portrait of someone who is pouring himself out for his people. Blogger Jonathan Barlow proclaims that The Kinists are Back in a lengthy post that offers a critique of the Kinist philosophy. By "back" Barlow seems to mean back online after an absence. (Background: Kinism is a kind of racial separatist sociology combined with a reformed Christianity; a throwback to the non-egalitarian consensus of Southern Presbyterian culture in the style of Dabney or Thornwell).

Bloggers and discussion list participants discussed many other things this week - politics, the abortion stance of various politicians, whether Christians should vote for a Mormon candidate, gas prices, the situation that remains in New Orleans, the tragedies in Kansas, etc. But our journey must end somewhere. RN

» News: PCA Minister Responds to GA FV Committee Report

Breaking News Today: Pastor Jeffrey J. Meyers of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in St. Louis, MO has released a response to the GA committee's proposed report about the Federal Vision controversy. Meyers titled his response 30 Reasons Why It Would be Unwise for the PCA General Assembly to Adopt the Federal Vision Study Report and Its Recommendations.

Meyers previously served on the Missouri Presbytery's study committee (PDF of their report) that considered some of the same issues comprehended in the denominational study committee report.

Editorial Comment: We hope to arrange interviews with Meyers and with committee members if they are willing to discuss the '30 Reasons' provided by Meyers in his response. We'll also be monitoring the blogosphere to get a feel for the zeitgeist. As far as we are aware, there has been little to no discussion of the committee report so far. As always, send us links if we are missing any interesting or inspiring news in the Reformed world.

» Discussion: This Summer's General Assemblies

Every summer reformed Christians turn their attention to Synods, Assemblies, Presbytery Meetings and assorted other outlets for pure Robert's Rules of Order-goodness. Personally, we here at RN are dying to learn what progress has been made towards the creation of a PCA logo. The PCA Historian is slated to give a report at the General Assembly, but when contacted for comment, remained tight-lipped about the "look" of the logo or even whether there would be a logo ready in time. What are you looking forward to in your denomination's summer meeting? What are you dreading? Click on the discussion link below to let us know. Be sure to include in your comments an indication of which denomination you're discussing so that other readers can nod in solidarity.

» News: PCA Federal Vision Study Report in Under the Wire

The PCA Federal Vision Study Report is currently available only at the PCA's denominational magazine. The General Assembly commissioner's handbook has been mailed out to participants and does not contain the report.

Committee member Sean Lucas reports that "the report will be part of the supplemental packet that all commissioners will receive when the register for GA. The committee literally worked until the very last day before the supplemental materials were to go to the printer. However, we wanted to make sure that commissioners had access to it prior to GA; that was why it was distributed first through ByFaithonline."

The lengthy report will be considered for adoption between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13 at the PCA's 34th General assembly in Memphis.

Editorial Comment: So far, there has been little debate of the report's content in the blogosphere. We will keep our ears to the ground and alert readers to discussions that develop.

» News: New Pastor for 2nd Pres, Greenville

Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, SC will soon have a new pastor - Richard Phillips, formerly a pastor in Margate, FL.

(Sources: 1, 2)