All Entries in the "Newsletter" Category
Light!
There is no metaphor better than Christmas to proclaim Jesus as the Light of the World.
An Open Letter to the “Star Wars Cantina Presbytery” (Second Presbytery)
A former member of Second Presbytery once referred to our presbytery as “The Star Wars’ Cantina Presbytery”. By that, he meant that the presbytery was made up of the oddest people. I was taken aback by his cutting sarcasm; however, I am now convinced that Second Presbytery is much more than odd. We are a gallimaufry of various blends and shades of strangeness that makes Second Presbytery a caricature of a presbytery that is then a caricature of itself – a garish Hudibrastic burlesque of Presbyterianism!
The FAR OUT Crowd
Other than the photograph, there is NOTHING beautiful about this issue of ARPTalk. It is about as FAR OUT as one can get in the realms of the bizarre and surreal without going through the Looking Glass and having mercury and lead laced tea with the Mad Hatter at the cotillion of the evil and insane Queen of Hearts. Reading the comments posted is something like eating a Lay’s potato chip: “Bet you can’t eat just one! Indeed, the Editor challenges the reader to look at the third part of the issue and read just one post and stop.
Crenshaw Is GONE!
A tip of the hat is due President David Norman of Erskine College and Seminary. The story coming out of Due West. SC, is scant and cryptic; however, the news is that Dr. Norman has done what four other Erskine Presidents were unable or unwilling to do: he has disciplined Dr. Bill Crenshaw and suspended him from his teaching position.
A Vision for Erskine as Articulated by the Erskine Facebook Participants
It is safe to say that it would have been unthinkable at that time for anyone in the ARP Church to envision Erskine Seminary as a place where there would be attempts to undermine and even betray the theological tenets of the ARP Church. In the last 40 years, what once was unthinkable has been thought and has taken place and is continuing at Erskine Seminary.
What’s Going on with the EC Foundation?
There is a constant call on the Alums’ Facebook Site for contributions to be made to the EC Foundation. The EC Foundation reportedly has a war chest of at least $150,000 to bring a civil suit against the ARP. Four of the EC Foundation Directors are ARP Elders (Can we hear echos of Parker Young?). What will the ARP Church do when this takes place?
An Open Letter to the Participants at the Monday Pre-Synod Meeting at Reformation Presbyterian Church
I think most of us who were participants in the 2011 General Synod of the ARP Church arrived at Bonclarken discouraged and left for home encouraged. Honestly, I expected more and deeper division amongst us; however, I returned home with a renewed hope for unity and renewal in the ARP Church.
An Open Letter to Columbia Theological Seminary
Enclosed is the motion by Dr. Rob Roy McGregor that was adopted by the 2011 General Synod that condemns the PCUSA for allowing the ordination of those who are avowed, practicing homosexuals.
2011 General Synod Report
Well, the June/annual meeting of the General Synod of the ARP Church has come and gone, and the Editor of ARPTalk is not depressed. The Editor, in fact, was surprised by both the actions of the Erskine Board of Trustees (EBOT) and the General Synod (GS). Included is a recounting of the highpoints of the meeting of the 2011 General Synod with commentary.
An Open Letter to the 2011 General Synod of the ARP Church
I think that the tragic character Gollum in J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings is specifically analogous to the relationship between the ARP Church and Erskine College and Seminary. Like Gollum and the ring, the ARP Church for the past 50 years has been both spiritually seduced and gelded by the power of a deadly ring. Our dream of an evangelical and confessionally Reformed college and seminary that are second to none has gripped us in blind and stubborn devotion to the point that we have thrown ourselves and our resources into a fruitless and, I sincerely believe, sinful endeavor.
