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A small Presbyterian congregation in Artesia, Calif., has decided to leave the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is asking the state's Superior Court to rule that the denomination cannot take away its property. A lawyer for the congregation filed papers today with Superior Court Judge David Jaffe, asking him to declare that the congregation's property is no longer subject to the denomination's property trust law. The Serone Presbyterian Church filings also seek injunctions that would prevent the denomination and its governing bodies "from seeking to impose or enforce any trust on Plaintiff or any of its property, and from taking any...

GALLATIN, TN — Chuol Yat, smartly dressed in a crisp black suit and blue tie, stood alone near a remote stretch of a two-lane Tennessee road on a cloudy Sunday evening last month. But the tall Presbyterian, who two decades ago at the age of 16 fled civil war and famine in Sudan’s ravaged Christian south, wasn’t just idly standing around. And he wasn’t alone for long, either. Yat, now in his early 30s, was in the parking lot of the Sudanese Presbyterian Church in Gallatin, where he was waiting to greet Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the 216th General Assembly...

Dear Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy: We, the undersigned religious leaders and organizations, write to express strong concern regarding the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General of the United States. As people with a deep commitment to racial justice, we appreciate that President Bush has nominated a number of people of color for cabinet positions. Greater racial diversity at the highest levels of government is an important step towards the Beloved Community. Like the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., we dream of a day when all people "will not be judged by the color of their skin but...

The Christian Underground http://www.christian-underground.com A Denominations Descent into Liberal Madness Jan 1, 2005 Dr. Earl Tilford The Presbyterian Church USA  (PCUSA) typifies the ravages of liberalism.  The Apostle Paul, writing in Romans 1: 21-27, detailed the results of humans substituting their wisdom for God's perfect wisdom.  "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals."  The result was perversion: men lusted after men and women lusted after women. The Presbyterian Church, USA, like most liberals, is confused.  The radicals who dominate its...

The Bishop of the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan called Israel a "terrorist state" and denied a request to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish nation. Earlier this month, a Rev. Boiz, who reportedly said he was a pastor from Pakistan's Presbyterian Church, led a demonstration in Karachi, Pakistan, demanding the church recognize Israel. But the church this week distanced itself from the protest. "We the Christians of Pakistan and especially the United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan categorically condemn this demand," said the Rev. T. Nasir, bishop of Pakistan's Presbyterian Church. "We believe that [the] present state of Israel is a...

In a 2003 report on membership, ministers and finances, the research arm of the Presbyterian Church USA said the denomination continues to lose membership. The church has lost 42.4 percent of its membership since 1965. That accumulated loss of more than 1.8 million has resulted in an increase in the number of churches with small congregations. There were 4,171 congregations of fewer than 100 members in 1984, but 5,004 in 2002. The median contributions of those small congregations was $44,678. Older Americans are dropping out of organized religious activity in significant numbers, a research firm that tracks church trends said....

The head of the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States wrote a letter to President George W. Bush, asking him to take alternate measures in securing the safety of the Iraqi people, on Dec. 10, 2004. Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick’s letter comes at a time of heightened tension for the minority Christians living in the war-torn nation; Churches have been vandalized, looted and burned by terrorists in several instances over the weeks leading up to the first democratic election. “We have been watching with grave concern the chaotic situation in Iraq as it has continued to worsen since you declared...

LOUISVILLE — Several weeks of intense dialogue between Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders and members of an Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP)-led delegation that held a controversial mid-October meeting with Hezbollah officials in southern Lebanon has culminated in an exchange of letters. A joint statement to the Presbyterian News Service on Dec. 13 included the two letters and a brief report of the delegation’s Oct. 14–31 visit, which included stops in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel/Palestine and Egypt. The Oct. 17 meeting between the Middle East “fact-finding” delegation and leaders of Hezbollah — which is on the U.S. government’s list...

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) recently passed a resolution "to initiate a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel...." The above resolution was adopted in order to pressure Israel to desist in its ongoing war against terrorism, while totally ignoring the other side of this war of annihilation foisted on Israel's citizens. Such an ugly, one-sided and transparently anti-Israel and anti-Semitic resolution must not go unanswered. Dear Members of the Presbyterian Church General Assembly (USA): I read the above resolution you passed with growing trepidation, consternation and concern. I feel so terribly guilty,...

Israel has no more claim on God's promises and blessing than Paraguay December 10, 2004 In the wake of the General Assembly action calling for divestiture of holdings in some companies doing business with the government of Israel, there has been a disturbing amount of theological ignorance displayed in the pages of The Layman. I refer to prooftexting from Old Testament verses in which the Lord promises blessing and protection for Israel. The assumption of many writers, both clergy and laypeople, seems to be that the Israel of the Old Covenant and the modern state of Israel are, if not...

To: The 542 GA Commissioners at the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Whereas, on July 1, 2004 Commissioners at the 216th General Assembly voted (431-62) to direct the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI) initiate a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel, in accordance to General Assembly policy on social investing, and to make appropriate recommendations to the General Assembly Council for action; And, whereas many in the worldwide Judeo-Christian community of faith have been deeply offended and have denounced this action. (The denouncements can be read at http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?presby2 or www.presbyweb.com or...

In the Northwest: Anti-Israeli slant harms Jewish-Christian dealings By JOEL CONNELLY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST As fundamentalist brethren were out beating the bushes for Bush, the annual convention of Western Washington's Episcopalians recently showed in a small way how "mainstream" churches are putting themselves on the margins. The diocesan convention approved a resolution condemning the security wall that Israel is building, ostensibly as protection against terrorists coming from the occupied territories. Debate was cut off before a priest, waiting at the microphone, could offer an amendment to condemn indiscriminate killing by Palestinian terrorists as well as Israeli soldiers. Instead of acting...

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa, which previously broke off its relationship with the National Capital Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has also severed its ties with the Detroit Presbytery because of its support for ordaining practicing homosexuals. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa "has to terminate the partnership … because we are not yoked together by the cross of him who emptied himself for the human race," the Rev. Dr. David Gitthi, moderator of the fast-growing East African denomination, said in a letter to Edward M. Koster, stated clerk of the Detroit Presbytery.

Yesterday at the fall meeting of the Peace River Presbytery, the Commissioners were given a packet of information entitled "Resources to Help Understand The Question of Divestment" Several things stand out on this biased resource packet. 1. The omission of letters from US Congressmen/women and the omission of letters and press releases from "true" Jewish leaders. 2. The quotations from the Latin Rite Patriarch of Jerusalem are not all from his Christmas letter of December 2003. Nor is it known whether the photo attributed to his Christmas letter is true. 3. Implying that Jewish Voice for Peace represents the Jewish...

Check the poll question associated with this story. Should US-based churches boycott certain companies doing business with Israel?

The Rev. Jane Spahr, a lesbian activist in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has been charged with violating her ordination vows and the PCUSA constitution by performing a same-sex union ceremony that looked a lot like marriage. Of curse, she had to go to Canada to do it: The Presbytery of the Redwoods has filed a disciplinary charge against the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, a Presbyterian lesbian activist, stemming from her participation in a same-sex marriage earlier this year in Canada. If convicted, Spahr, a member of the presbytery for more than a quarter-century, could face a number of punishments including...

Presbyterian Church USA now joined by HRW in divesting in Caterpillar. Human Rights Watch called on U.S. heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. on Tuesday to stop selling heavy bulldozers to Israel because they are used to destroy Palestinian homes. The New York-based rights group said the bulldozers, which are armoured by Israel, were the army's "primary weapon" to raze Palestinian houses, destroy agriculture and ruin infrastructure such as sewage pipes and roads.

Here is a list of “religious” members of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The list is from their website. Some may be surprised to see that their “churches” are officially pro-abort “churches.” The list: Conservative Judaism Rabbinical Assembly United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Women’s League for Conservative Judaism Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church Ethical Culture Movement American Ethical Union National Service Conference of the American Ethical Union Humanist Judaism Society for Humanistic Judaism Presbyterian Church (USA) Presbyterians Affirming Reproductive Options (PARO) Women’s Ministries Washington Office Reconstructionist Movement Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Reform Judaism Central Conference of American Rabbis North American...

Josh Reubner, grassroots advocacy coordinator for the US Campaigns and the Israeli Occupation (www.endtheoccupation.org), a diverse nationwide coalition of 175 organizations that work to end US support for Israeli occupation in the territories, applauds the church’s decision. “For the Commerce Department to threaten organizations that are considering divesting from companies that profit from human rights violations, and to call this a violation of US an anti-boycott law is ridiculous,” said Reubner. “It’s the Commerce Department that is breaking US law by licensing caterpillar bulldozers to be sold to the Israeli Army in full knowledge that Israel is using these bulldozers...

Bypassed for PCUSA honors, Rice is new secretary of state By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, November 16, 2004 In naming Condoleezza "Condi" Rice as the nation's new secretary of state, President George W. Bush chose an evangelical Presbyterian who has never mustered a mention in the denomination's selections for Women of Faith Awards. How Rice, who turned 50 on Nov. 14, became a Presbyterian in the first place is a story that resonates with the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s attempt to increase its minority membership. But, despite her deep faith, her public service for President Bush and his...