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A break-off group from the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) launched a new conservative evangelical fellowship during a meeting in Florida in mid-January. The name of the new denomination is the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO), which came together in response to the severe liberalization of the PCUSA over the past several years, particularly its decision last year to allow the ordination of openly homosexual clergy (see The New American’s coverage). The new denomination will be under the umbrella of another recent entity, the Fellowship of Presbyterians, which was launched last year in response to concerns among clergy “about the...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

Next Thursday, as the rest of us tuck into our turkey feasts, hundreds of needy families in Southern California will open "Boxes of Love." Delivered by several churches led by Pacific Crossroads in Santa Monica, Calif., the boxes contain ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal for six. They allow impoverished families to skip food lines and neighborhood pantries and enjoy the holiday in their own homes. What's unusual about the Pacific Crossroads congregation—and what underpins efforts such as Boxes of Love—is its theologically conservative raison d'être. A member church of the Presbyterian Church in America, Pacific Crossroads is committed to Reformation...

Top leader of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Moderator Cynthia Bolbach, addressed the first national gathering of More Light Presbyterians since the denomination began allowing the ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. ...Meeting at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, September 2-4, Moderator Bolbach encouraged the listeners to be the church by working together. Using the biblical story of the friends who cut a hole in the roof of a house to get a friend to Jesus to be healed of paralysis, the Moderator urged lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies to be as...

Presbyterians clear way for ordaining gays, lesbians - The regional presbytery of Minnesota just voted to allow the ordination of gay clergy, it is the 87th of 173 presbyteries to vote to allow active homosexuals to serve as elders, ministers, and deacons. With this vote, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the church of President Reagan, amends its constitution to erase clauses that describe homosexuality as sinful and incompatible with ministry. PC(USA) joins the Unitarian Church, Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a fully gay inclusive church. Several other denominations are on the brink of following suit. The...

In many ways, the second half of the 20th century was a high point for Jewish-Christian relations. Today, however, the anti-Israel politics of certain powerful Christian bodies hampers interfaith relations and threatens to breathe new life into medieval doctrine that demonized Jews for hundreds of years. In 2007, the World Council of Churches, an umbrella organization of mostly liberal Protestants... The Amman Call also labeled the barrier Israel has built to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers—which has effectively saved untold Jewish, Muslim and Christian lives—a "grave breach of international law" that must be removed. In 2008, the World Council of...

Springfield celebrated the 230th anniversary of the Battle of Springfield with a dedication of a clock and benches in Patriot Park on Wednesday. Springfield resident and member of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment Mark Hurwitz tells the story of the battle. Springfield was burned to the ground by the English. SPRINGFIELD — Springfield paused this week to remember a time 230 years ago when it was under siege. snip... On June 23, 1780, Springfield stood in the way of the British army’s attempt to attack Washington’s Morristown headquarters. The Americans held their ground there, despite being outnumbered nearly three...

A Church of Scotland body is urging congregations to celebrate their common baptism with Roman Catholics for the first time by using a special joint liturgy for the reaffirmation of baptismal vows. The groundbreaking call, seen as a huge step in inter-church links, is made in the report of the Kirk’s Ecumenical Relations Committee to the General Assembly. The liturgy was devised by the Presbyterian denomination's Joint Commission on Doctrine, made up of officials from both churches. Following an extensive study period which looked at our common understanding of baptism, this new service is now being recommended by the Ecumenical...

What are the real differences between the OPC and the PCA? Most of the stories told in the OPC are told by ex-PCA’ers who had a bad experience in the PCA. And most of the stories told in PCA are told by former OP members or ministers who were frustrated in the OPC. And so the stereotypes grow!   Alternately, someone with experience in two or three OP churches generalizes from that to the whole OPC (or vice versa, with the PCA).   My own experience is somewhat limited, but I have had the advantage of serving for the last...

ELIZABETH -- Many of the headstones marking the graves in New Jersey’s oldest cemetery are no longer readable, not only because they’re worn, but because they’re partially underground. While excavating around the headstones in the Old First Presbyterian Church cemetery in Elizabeth last week, archaeologist Seth Gartland found stones had sunk several feet, leaving only the top half exposed. When workers elevated the decaying stones, Gartland discovered inscriptions that had long been hidden. Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerRows and rows of markers in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church on Broad St. The cemetery is currently undergoing a project of preserving...

"What if church wasn't just a building, but thousands of doors?" asks a new website launched by the United Methodist Church. "Each of them opening up to a different concept or experience of church. . . . Would you come?" After watching its membership drop nearly 25 percent in recent decades, the United Methodist Church, which is still the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination, thinks it knows the answer. So it's pouring $20 million into a new marketing campaign, including the website, television advertisements, even street teams in some cities, to rebrand the church from stale destination to "24-7 experience."...

The island faiths have always seemed to me, at distant consideration, a fairly detached bunch, roused only by the threat of Sunday ferry sailings or the sight of an untethered child’s swing on the Sabbath. Okay, they don’t like anything much unless it involves walking slowly to church in a hat formerly owned by their great-grandfather, but these austere elaborations of the Calvinist reform tradition — the Free Church, the Free Church (Continuing) and the Free Presbyterian Church — always seemed too remote, too isolationist, to care about the world beyond Benbecula. But there’s one thing that does rouse their...

PALO ALTO, Calif. — As their biannual meeting concluded last week, Presbyterian Church leaders took some actions that irritated Jewish groups, but steered clear of the talk of divestment from Israel that ignited a firestorm in Presbyterian-Jewish relations in 2004. On Friday, the church's general assembly, in a 504-171 vote, approved a resolution endorsing a proposal for Middle East peace crafted in Jordan last year. Known as the Amman Call, the plan includes a "right of return" for Palestinian Arabs that Israel has rejected because it could produce a wave of immigration that would mean the demise of Israel as...

Two years ago, American Jewish community relations groups were busy patting themselves on the back for achieving a signal victory in turning back the attempt by anti-Israel radicals to hijack the Presbyterian Church USA. After the Presbyterians became the first Protestant church to embrace divestment from companies doing business in Israel in 2004, Jewish groups worked hard to overturn the decision. When the church voted to back away from this stand in 2006, it was rightly seen as a triumph not just for friends of Israel, but for the tactic of outreach itself as years of tenacious diplomacy paid off....

'Tsunami' Hits Presbyterians; Dramatic Changes Ahead Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Fri, Sep. 21, 2007 Posted: 15:57:06 PM EST Top officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have come to the conclusion that they cannot continue "doing church" the way they have been. Churches within the PC(USA), the nation's largest Presbyterian body, have "hit the wall" and "come to the end of the string," seeking new directions amid a growing exodus from the denomination. "It is as if a tsunami of change has...

Would Jesus Eat at McDonald's? Saturday 11th Aug 2007 by David Paulin The intellectual elite of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have in recent years joined ranks with the radical left. Its members vilify Israel, apologize for Islamic terrorists, and cheer on the Palestinian cause. Now, these Presbyterians have another villain: the Big Mac. America’s most famous hamburger is emblematic of the dark underbelly of globalization, according to David Hadley Jensen, an associate professor of something called “constructive theology” at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. On top of that, McDonald’s and its iconic burger are even at odds with...

Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in McCandless, the largest church in Pittsburgh Presbytery, voted 951-93 to ask to be dismissed from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to join the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Negotiations may begin this week to allow the church to keep its property. The presbytery must approve any settlement. At least 761 votes were needed to seek dismissal from the Presbyterian Church (USA). Memorial Park has more than 1,600 members, but the presbytery and the congregation agreed on a smaller number of active, available members from which to calculate the majority needed for the vote. "I feel humbled...

An audit committee has concluded that the second highest ranking financial employee of the Presbyterian Church (USA) embezzled $102,000 in denominational funds, ran up $21,912 in personal charges on her PCUSA-issued credit card and disbursed $8,925 from General Assembly bank accounts that could not be reconciled or documented. The committee's report was presented to the General Assembly Council during its meeting in Louisville last week. The audit said the former employee, Judy Golliher, who was fired in late June, had admitted that she embezzled funds from the church. The denomination has turned over the committee's report to criminal prosecutors, pending...

Associated Press Church Trial in Presbyterian Gay Case By DAN NEPHIN , 09.13.2006, 05:03 PM A Presbyterian minister has been charged with breaking church law for performing a marriage between two women. Janet Edwards of the Community of Reconciliation Church in Pittsburgh was charged Tuesday with presiding at the June 2005 wedding in violation of church standards that marriage should be reserved to one man and one woman. Ministers are only allowed to bless same-sex unions. "For me, Scripture teaches that the message of marriage is the covenant - the love and commitment between the partners" and not their gender,...

With the Presbyterian church re-examining its ban on the ordination of actively gay men and women, a five-week course on homosexuality and the Bible at a Danville congregation is drawing overflowing crowds. "We want to provide a safe place for people to listen," said Roberta Hestenes, teaching pastor at Community Presbyterian Church. "The issue inspires so much controversy it deserves more than slogans, clichés and sound bites." The course focuses only on the ordination of pastors, elders and deacons -- not on sexuality or the blessing of gay unions. "At this moment in history, this issue is the sharp front...

But for some of the Christians who had made it out in this convoy, it was not just privations they wanted to talk about, but their ordeal at the hands of Hezbollah — a contrast to the Shiites, who make up a vast majority of the population in southern Lebanon and broadly support the militia. “Hezbollah came to Ain Ebel to shoot its rockets,” said Fayad Hanna Amar, a young Christian man, referring to his village. “They are shooting from between our houses.” “Please,’’ he added, “write that in your newspaper.” In past wars, Christian militias were close to Israelis,...

Liberal Christianity is paying for its sinsOut-of-the-mainstream beliefs about gay marriage and supposedly sexist doctrines are gutting old-line faiths.By Charlotte Allen, CHARLOTTE ALLEN is Catholicism editor for Beliefnet and the author of "The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus." July 9, 2006The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn't simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity. Embraced by the leadership of...

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on June 14, 2006 - 13:04. As a Jew, I try to tread lightly when it comes to discussing matters Christian. But I think I can say with confidence that if you're a traditional Christian who is not offended by Jim Rigby's column at the Huffington Post, Christians Who Want Democracy Must Stop Bowing to a Dictator, you're not reading carefully. Rigby is the pastor at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX. He has gotten into hot water for conducting ceremonies for homosexual couples. His church has also admitted a professed atheist as a member....

A coalition of Jewish and Christian institutional investors - Jewish Voice for Peace, Sisters of Loretto, Mercy Investment Program, Sisters of Mercy, Maryknoll Sisters and Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers - joined in a resolution calling for the separation of the roles of CEO and Chairperson at Caterpillar, Inc. They say that they hope to encourage "corporate accountability." But what they really want is to scare the hell out of the corporation's management, from which they want action - against Israel. This coming Wednesday thousands of delegates to the Presbyterian General Assembly in Alabama will discuss the "violation of human rights...

This column was inspired by Michelle Malkin, whose work I much admire. Her latest article is, “It’s the Jihad, stupid.” I’ll explain home-grown terrorism in the US, Canada, England, France, and a few hundred other nations around the world, in terms even the dumbest Member of Congress should understand. I won’t name names, just initials: There’s RD in the Senate (Ohio) and CMcK in the House (Georgia), for example. Imagine that Presbyterians were running amok all over the world. Bombing restaurants, kidnaping people, cutting off heads, and making videos of all that for the Presbyterians who weren’t there and missed...

Last October, American soldiers serving in Iraq stripped the dead body of a young man, tied it to the back of a humvee, and dragged it through the city. No such incident ever happened, of course. To publish such a story would be to slander America’s men and women in uniform, and we would be right to entertain questions about the motivations and prejudices of a person who would not only accept but repeat such a story. The story, however, is of a familiar type. Stories casting enemy soldiers as inhumane monsters capable not only of desecrating a dead body,...

US Presbyterian Leaders Challenge Church's Flawed Divestment Policy A press release from the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel: US PRESBYTERIAN LEADERS CHALLENGE CHURCH’S FLAWED DIVESTMENT POLICY AGAINST ISRAEL & CALL ON PC-USA 217TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RESCIND IT Completing a five-day fact finding mission throughout Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, a group of eleven Presbyterian Church (USA) leaders announced today that the Church’s current policy to divest their $7 billion pension fund against the State of Israel is flawed and called on the PCUSA’s over 500 voting commissioners to rescind the policy at their upcoming General Assembly June...

On the plane back from a recent conference in Israel, Presbyterian Pastor Will McGarvey met members of another Christian tour group. They had visited many Christian holy sites on their tour, but they did not travel to Bethlehem or to any Palestinian cities in the West Bank. "Some folks go over and see the holy sites and don't ever talk to a Palestinian," said McGarvey, sitting amid stacks of papers and books in his office at the Community Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg. "The Christian community in the United States is very divided when it comes to questions of Israel and...

As Presbyterians across America gear up for their biennial assembly next month, the legacy of the last such meeting is still roiling the Jewish community and the church’s own members. Two years ago, the Presbyterian Church USA passed a resolution calling for “phased, selective divestment in multinational corporations operating in Israel.” Those who long have followed Jewish-Protestant relations weren’t surprised. “It was the culmination of decades - not years, but decades - of hostility toward Israel and Zionism, not by the rank-and-file members of these churches, but by some of the leadership,” said Rabbi A. James Rudin, senior interreligious adviser...

The next general assembly of the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian protestant denomination, will be looking at a proposal to “re-examine” its stand on the use of living human beings at the embryonic stage for research. Known informally as the Kirk, the church has up to now said that embryonic human life must be protected, although at the same time it supported the cloning of human embryos as stem cell farms. This weekend, however, the Kirk’s Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) project, announced that it has reviewed the science, theology and ethics and has reversed its previous 2001 ruling. The...

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has decided to parcel out over a seven-year period the $14.4 million remaining from a record-setting burst of generosity by Presbyterians despite some complaints by hurricane victims in the Gulf Coast states that the denomination has been slow to respond to their needs. The decision to adopt a seven-year plan was made during a recent meeting of PDA's advisory board. The denomination raised $23 million in response to hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. About 70 percent of the contributions were made within 90 days after the storms. Donors were not informed that the distribution of their gifts...

The Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) victory in the Palestinian elections may have given pause to anti-Israel Mainline church officials in the U.S. But do not expect these officials to criticize the new radical Palestinian regime, even though Hamas’ brand of radical Islam is hostile, and sometimes deadly, to Christians. The 3.2 million member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has especially pushed hard against Israel, having endorsed divestment in firms doing business with Israel. And the 1.3 million member United Church of Christ has similarly endorsed “economic leverage” against Israel. Some officials of the 8.2. million member United Methodist Church are also pondering...

Remember that old adage: “when all else fails, read the manual”? Well, Arab enemies of Israel have turned that concept into a reality. Thanks to a “Divestment Manual”, recently published on an Arab website (see footnote #5), we can now read a step-by-step instruction booklet educating divestment supporters as to how they can literally franchise divestment movements across the USA and abroad. And that is exactly what divestment supporters seem to have done. Acting as a hitherto unrecognized fifth column, insinuating themselves deeply into our society, divestment activists have initiated a series of divestment movements that pretend to be grassroots...

And so we come to the illustrious S. I. Rosenbaum of the St. Pete rag, with whom I wasted thirty or 45 minutes of my life a few days ago, while if I had not been fool enough to think that she might be decent and fair I could have slavered a little and given her what she wanted in no more than twenty seconds. Rosenbaum called me looking for material for her story which appears today, "Are bloggers against hate, or feeding it?" (thanks to all who sent this in). You can imagine which side she comes down on,...

Blogs dedicated to protecting America against terrorism are troubling the Muslim community. Kaufman's site is only one of a constellation of blogs with names like JihadWatch.com, MilitantIslamMonitor.org, and WesternResistance.com that are dedicated to the surveillance of American Muslims. The blogs link to one another, with more-traveled sites amplifying stories from more obscure ones, like Kaufman's. Last month, after Kaufman called a Tampa Muslim religious retreat a "jihad camp for children" and wrote that the speakers were "linked to al-Qaida," death threats poured in to the Presbyterian camp hosting the event. Muslims say the blogs breed hate. "He's spreading lies, slandering...

Muslim retreat sparks threats A retreat for young Muslims was to be held at a Presbyterian camp, until a blogger alleged a speaker was linked to al-Qaida. By S.I. ROSENBAUM Published December 31, 2005 LITHIA - Death threats have closed a church camp where a Muslim youth retreat was planned this weekend, after an Internet blogger alleged that a scheduled speaker was linked to al-Qaida. Mohamed Moharram, president of the Muslim American Society of Tampa, said the three-day event at Presbyterian Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center was supposed to teach young Muslims leadership skills as well as the core tenets...

Threats force Muslim youth retreat to meet at secret location Careerbuilder December 31, 2005, 2:49 PM EST LITHIA, Fla. -- A weekend church retreat for young Muslims was moved to a secret location after Internet bloggers alleged a scheduled speaker had terrorist ties, prompting death threats. The three-day event was to be held at the rural Presbyterian Cedarkirk Camp and Conference Center to teach youth leadership skills and core religious studies. However, reports began to appear on Web logs that Mazen Mokhtar, a North Brunswick, N.J., man scheduled to speak, had ties to al-Qaida. "Nothing rings in the new year...

The Presbytery of the Pacific has taken steps to oust two ministers from Hollywood Presbyterian Church in California, one of the most prominent evangelical congregations in the United States. The presbytery's Committee on Ministry asked Alan J. Meenan, the senior minister, and David Manock, associate pastor of program and ministries, to resign, but they refused. They are supported by overwhelming majorities of the 2,700-member congregation and the 24-member session. Nonetheless, the committee – without specifying any reasons other than the "peace, purity and unity" of the congregation – is pressing for their resignations. The presbytery has scheduled a special meeting...

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Wednesday declared improper a request by the Presbyterian Church (USA) to allow an immediate takeover of the property of First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif., and the installation of former General Assembly Moderator Syngman Rhee as the interim minister. Judge David Yaffe ruled that their request was improperly timed and that he would not consider it until after conducting a hearing in June. The leaders of the 2,700-member Torrance congregation, the largest Korean church in the PCUSA, are seeking to renounce the jurisdiction of the PCUSA and stake claim to their property, which is...

In His Words, a Rubric For Unity A couple of years ago, as I sat down to lunch with a friend, he said, "I understand you Presbyterians don't believe in Jesus anymore." ...I responded, "Are you talking about your Jesus or my Jesus?" [snip] He chose John 14:6..."No one comes to the Father but through me." I reminded him of the first part of the verse: "I am the way, and the truth and the life." [snip] "I am the way." "The way" is an Eastern religious practice that some know as Taoism...which predates Jesus by anywhere from three to...

--snip-- The May 10 presbytery meeting included an interfaith worship service with a prayer to "Allah" a reading from the Koran and the second vote on the Hollywood issue. --snip-- But before the actual vote on the motion, the presbytery heard readings from Scripture and the Koran. The Islamic text, Surah 30:37-38, said: "When we give men the taste of a good thing they rejoice in it, but when evil befalls them through their own fault, they grow despondent. Do they not see that God gives abundantly to whom He will and sparingly to whom He pleases? Surely there are...

LOS ANGELES - When the Rev. Alan Meenan took over as senior pastor at the nationally prominent Hollywood First Presbyterian Church, it had been losing members for 20 years. Now, hundreds of new worshippers are flocking to an alternative service staged by the church at a nearby nightclub that offers live rock music and a casual atmosphere that doesn't frown on flip-flops and nose piercings. The service, called Contemporary Urban Experience, has bolstered membership at one of the most storied Presbyterian congregations in the country. But it has also created a deep rift between old and new members that threatens...

Equating filibusters with hearing minority voices, the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is urging that Congress' use of filibusters on President George Bush's judicial nominess not be ended. In its May/June 2005 Washington Report, Elenora Giddings Ivory, director of the Washington Office, said "Careful and independent scrutiny of judicial nominees can happen during the confirmation process in the Senate. Scrutiny should not be shortchanged by cutting off extended debate (filibuster). Without careful review we can almost guarantee that we will open our newspapers one morning and see stories of judges who are being impeached." According to Fox News,...

Three Catholic issues drive critics nuts. Articles criticizing Pope Benedict XVI keep singling out three issues: the celibacy of priests, the all-male priesthood and the prohibition of artificial contraception. During May, our editorials will look at each of them, starting this week with celibacy, which is a little bit different from the other two. It isn’t a teaching on faith or morals - the Church doesn’t teach that it is impossible for a married man to be a priest. In fact, celibacy wasn’t required of priests for the first millennium of the Church’s history (though most priests were, in fact,...

Seminary professor says PCUSA task force will follow Lutherans on ordaining active homosexuals By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Saturday, June 18, 2005 EDINA, Minn. – "All mainline denominations are heading toward the rapids," said Robert A.J. Gagnon as he opened his workshop on "Scriptural Authority, Church Unity and Sexual Conduct" at the New Wineskins Convocation on Thursday. Gagnon at his Thursday workshop. "The United Church of Christ is has already gone over," he said, then asked, "Who's next?" His opinion – in order: The Episcopal Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and...

The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 43,175 members in 2004, the third straight year that more than 40,000 people have left the denomination. The 2004 loss was both the second highest numerically and as a percentage of membership since the Southern and Northern streams of mainline Presbyterians merged in 1983 to form the PCUSA. The 43,175 departing members represented 1.79 percent of the 2003 membership. The loss in 2003 was the highest – 46,658, or 1.9 percent of the 2002 membership. The ongoing declines have reduced the membership of the PCUSA by 401,869 since the mainline Presbyterian merger – down from...

With tempers flaring and many congregants bursting into tears, a contingent led by Rick Ufford-Chase, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), tried unsuccessfully to take over the June 26 worship service being conducted by the majority of First Presbyterian Church in Torrance, Calif. The service verged on pandemonium as Ufford-Chase and his allies milled around the chancel area, some of them talking loudly during prayers and hymn-singing and one, on at least two occasions, trying to forcibly grab the microphone, which was broken during one attempt. Church officials filed a police report, accusing the intruders of vandalism. Three security...

The group named heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, communications giant Motorola, military contractor United Technologies and electronics manufacturer ITT Industries - all of which supply the Israel Defense Forces . . . The Church also listed international banking conglomerate Citigroup, which was cited in April by The Wall Street Journal for "having moved substantial funds from charities later seen to be fronts funneling money to terrorist organizations," including "funds [which] ended up as payments to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers" . . . The 2.5 million-strong church, the ninth largest in the U.S., represents most U.S. Presbyterians.

A special panel of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) appealed Thursday for the church's 2.4 million members to seek unity as they continue a divisive debate over homosexuality and the Bible. The panel urged the church's 2006 national General Assembly to make no changes to a 1997 law that limits clergy and lay officeholders to sex within heterosexual marriage, though liberals have submitted bills to repeal the rules. Instead, the panel outlined a strategy in a 39-page report it says "is designed to help the church maintain peace, unity, and faithfulness to scriptural and theological principles while that debate continues." The...

A special panel of the U.S. Presbyterian Church appealed Thursday for the church's 2.4 million members to seek unity as they continue their divisive debate over homosexuality and the Bible. The panel urged the church's 2006 national General Assembly to make no changes to a 1997 law that limits clergy and lay officeholders to sex within heterosexual marriage, although liberals have submitted bills to repeal the rules. Instead, the panel outlined a strategy in a 39-page report it says "is designed to help the church maintain peace, unity, and faithfulness to scriptural and theological principles while that debate continues." Continuing,...