Volume No. 142 Issue No. 7 for 2010
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Vince's
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Dear Family and Friends of Walhalla Presbyterian Church,
This
month, we citizens of the United States of America celebrate the
birthday of our freedom as a nation. Our national freedom is God's
blessing of mercy upon us. Freedom is always costly. As we remember the
sacrifices of our armed services for the last 234 years to sustain our
national freedom; let us also humbly bow down before the cross of Jesus
Christ. We must never forget that our deepest citizenship is in the
Kingdom of God. The greatness of America will always depend upon her
goodness of heart and soul. Our ultimate and everlasting freedom was
won at the ultimate cost by the Everlasting Man. The basis of all
temporal freedom will ever be our eternal freedom of heart, mind and
soul in Christ Jesus.
The maintenance of our freedom
will always demand constant vigilance against every force that would
seek to enslave us, politically or spiritually.
This
month, I invite you to consider what the Manhattan Declaration call of
Christian conscience (which I highlighted in last month's Messenger)
has to say about freedom in its section on Religious Liberty. To learn
more, see the website at http://manhattandeclaration.org/home.aspx
MANHATTAN DECLARATION: A CALL OF CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE - Released November 20, 2009
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The
Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from
darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. Matthew 22:21
The
struggle for religious liberty across the centuries has been long and
arduous, but it is not a novel idea or recent development. The nature
of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the
God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ.
Determined to follow Jesus faithfully in life and death, the early
Christians appealed to the manner in which the Incarnation had taken
place: "Did God send Christ, as some suppose, as a tyrant brandishing
fear and terror? Not so, but in gentleness and meekness..., for
compulsion is no attribute of God" (Epistle to Diognetus 7.3-4). Thus
the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of
Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in
the image of God—a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in
every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason.
Christians
confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Immunity from
religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience.
No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will,
nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to
the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their
deeply held religious convictions. What is true for individuals applies
to religious communities as well.
It is ironic that those
who today assert a right to kill the unborn, aged and disabled and also
a right to engage in immoral sexual practices, and even a right to have
relationships integrated around these practices be recognized and
blessed by law—such persons claiming these "rights" are very often in
the vanguard of those who would trample upon the freedom of others to
express their religious and moral commitments to the sanctity of life
and to the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and
wife.
We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or
eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel pro-life
institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics),
and pro-life physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care
professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to
perform or participate in abortions. We see it in the use of anti-
discrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses,
and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they
judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business. After the judicial
imposition of "same-sex marriage" in Massachusetts, for example,
Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century-long
work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than
comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same-sex
households in violation of Catholic moral teaching. In New Jersey,
after the establishment of a quasi-marital "civil unions" scheme, a
Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it
declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it
owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual
unions. In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been
prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of
homosexuality. New hate-crime laws in America raise the specter of the
same practice here.
In
recent decades a growing body of case law has paralleled the decline in
respect for religious values in the media, the academy and political
leadership, resulting in restrictions on the free exercise of religion.
We view this as an ominous development, not only because of its threat
to the individual liberty guaranteed to every person, regardless of his
or her faith, but because the trend also threatens the common welfare
and the culture of freedom on which our system of republican government
is founded. Restrictions on the freedom of conscience or the ability to
hire people of one's own faith or conscientious moral convictions for
religious institutions, for example, undermines the viability of the
intermediate structures of society, the essential buffer against the
overweening authority of the state, resulting in the soft despotism
Tocqueville so prophetically warned of.1 Disintegration of civil
society is a prelude to tyranny.
As Christians, we take
seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in
authority. We believe in law and in the rule of law. We recognize the
duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless
the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do
something unjust or otherwise immoral. The biblical purpose of law is
to preserve order and serve justice and the common good; yet laws that
are unjust—and especially laws that purport to compel citizens to do
what is unjust—undermine the common good, rather than serve it.
Going
back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to
compromise their proclamation of the gospel. In Acts 4, Peter and John
were ordered to stop preaching. Their answer was, "Judge for yourselves
whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we
cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Through the
centuries, Christianity has taught that civil disobedience is not only
permitted, but sometimes required. There is no more eloquent defense of
the rights and duties of religious conscience than the one offered by
Martin Luther King, Jr., in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Writing
from an explicitly Christian perspective, and citing Christian writers
such as Augustine and Aquinas, King taught that just laws elevate and
ennoble human beings because they are rooted in the moral law whose
ultimate source is God Himself. Unjust laws degrade human beings.
Inasmuch as they can claim no authority beyond sheer human will, they
lack any power to bind in conscience. King's willingness to go to jail,
rather than comply with legal injustice, was exemplary and inspiring.
Because
we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict
that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions,
embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any
other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force
us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the
equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about
morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and
ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no
circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's.
"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)
Free with you in Christ Jesus,
What In the WORLD
Are We Doing?
Walhalla Presbyterian Church supports world wide missions. One of these is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) enables
congregations and mission partners of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
to witness to the healing love of Christ through caring for communities
adversely affected by crisis and catastrophic events.
Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance (PDA) is the emergency and refugee program of the
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. The core budget, including staff and
administrative costs, is funded through the One Great Hour of Sharing,
and its program work is additionally funded through designated gifts.
Haiti
February 2010 – PDA continues to respond to humanitarian needs following the January 12 earthquake. Read reports and find resources.
Chile
March 2010 –PDA will work with partners in Chile to respond to the February earthquake.
A LOCAL MISSION WE SUPPORT
Foothills
Pregnancy
Care Center
Foothills Pregnancy Care Center is always in need of disposable diapers and every sort of baby care item that young moms would need to care for their babies.
YOU are also needed as a mentor and personal support person for both young moms (women mentors needed) and young dads (men mentors needed).
For more information contact FPCC at (864) 882-8796 or on their website
at www.foothillscarecenter.org.
Our 2010 Xpujil, Mexico MISSION TRIP
APRIL 5-11, 2010
was blessed by the Lord.
Thanks for your prayers & support!
THE TEAM: Alan Houtzer, James Houtzer, Laura Dyer, Anna Alig, Don Rumer, Lamar Bailes and Fred Marcinak - will present their report at our May 11 Wednesday Night Dinner.
To see what this mission is about, see the link below:
Thanks to Alan Houtzer for his "web journal" of our mission trips to serve with Missionary Todd Luke. Just click on this link to see the journal: http://homepage.mac.com/ahoutzer/Xpujil
West Union Chapel
by Edgar Bryant
The Chapel continues to have our Sunday school at 9:45am for one hour each Sunday morning. We also have the men’s (Old Joe’s breakfast) each Friday morning at 7:50am at the Kountry Kupboard in Walhalla. We have a devotional and prayer before we have the great food that is served. We would like to invite more to attend as this is a wonderful get together.
Our Bible study group is beginning to grow and we do welcome others to this great in-depth study at 4:30 each Sunday afternoon. I love this time we spend in study, and only an emergency would prevent me from attending. Come and join us; we welcome all and will find a place for everyone.
Small Groups for
Spiritual Formation and Fellowship
have started up at WPC!
If you are interested in WPC's Small
Groups Ministry,
contact Pastor Vince on this email
link.
FIVE LONG-RANGE VISION GOALS of WPC
Approved By Unanimous Congregational Vote
In an historic Called Congregational Meeting on September 14th, 2008.
The WPC congregation completed our year-long season of discernment by
unanimously approving the following Five long-range vision goals:
(These goals are listed in the order of the averaged chronological priorities
indicated by those present at the Called Congregational Meeting)
Launch an intentional Evangelism Outreach Ministry
1. Aim for at least 10% increase in New Members per year
2. Personal outreach to Church Visitors and New Residents
3. Increased advertising/visibility/publicity
4. Special Community Events
5. Begin Evangelism Small Groups (like Alpha) for unchurched people.
Launch New Spiritual Formation, Discipleship, & Fellowship ministries.
1. Network of Small (Home) Groups for Prayer & Bible Study
2. Discipleship and Spiritual Formation Training
3. Enhance every member's spiritual growth in Christ and personal connection
with one another.
Start a NEW Children's & Families Youth program
1. Add a new full-time staff person to implement this.
2. Utilize additional interns from local colleges to assist staff person.
Launch a "Bridging Ministry" to meet Local Needs
1.To be decided: Examples: After School Program; ESOL; Family Ministry,
etc.
Improve and Update Physical Facilities
1. Use earlier Proposed New Construction Ideas as starting point
2. Consider purchase of adjacent real estate property
Every member of the WPC & WUC family has an important role to play
in the realization of these exciting new goals for the spiritual growth
of our church. Keep these goals in prayer. Seek God's direction.
To which of these goals may the Lord of the Harvest be calling you?
Current WPC elders:
(Click on underlined names to email elders who have email addresses)
Class of 2010: Rosemary Bailes,
John Lay, Bob
Tinsley, and Deb Wickliffe;
Class of 2011:
Annette Morrah, Doug Keel, Gene Nix,
and Sam Rochester.
Class of 2012: Lynda Alexander, Lamar Bailes, John Palmer, Harry Silsby
Your Session cares about you. You are encouraged to share your questions
and concerns about the church to any of the elders or the pastor. We
are here to love and serve you in the name of our Lord. Please remember to pray for the Session!
More History...
by Annie Brown
Not only was Calhoun devoted to his wife and children, but his relationship with his in-laws was also close. His mother-in-law had befriended him when he was a young college student. Ten years younger than John, Floride was still a young child when Mrs. Calhoun entertained John at her home in New Port as well as at her various homes in South Carolina. John’s relationship with Floride’s mother remained close throughout their lives. Mrs. Calhoun was an interesting and unusual character who embraced her Calvinistic faith with all of her being. Blessed with wealth, she cared little for possessions and gave away most of her holdings; “she spent money recklessly, mostly on others, without concerning herself seriously as to where it was coming from.” [5] She depended on her son (John Ewing) and her nephew (J.E.Bonneau) to find ways to pay the bills. Wiltse writes that Mrs. Calhoun was a “tough-minded and strong-willed” Calvinist [6] who knew how to appeal to the common man in the same ways that Andrew Jackson did.
The religious beliefs of the Calhoun clan were diverse. Old Mrs. Calhoun was of Huguenot descent, and she remained an active, devout Presbyterian her entire life. Her daughter Floride preferred the more formal “ceremonious Episcopal ritual.” [7] Although John often attended the Episcopal church with Floride, he had become attracted to the “more philosophical Unitarian faith” [8] while he was a student at Yale in New England. “Convinced by the logic of Unitarianism, he assumed that others must likewise be convinced, and that this faith must ultimately prevail throughout the world…(thus revealing) his profound belief that truth is absolute and all men are rational.” [9] Calhoun was one of the founders of the first Unitarian church in Washington, D.C., and he was a major contributor to the spacious building dedicated on June 9, 1822. This church was designed by Charles Bulfinch, who had also designed the Capitol, and it was located only a few blocks from Calhoun’s home in Washington. [10] In spite of Calhoun’s strong feelings, he was never able to convince any of his family to join the Unitarian Church. Calhoun himself often attended either the Presbyterian or the Episcopal church with members of his family.
Although John C. Calhoun arrived at Fort Hill following the election of 1824 feeling optimistic about his political future, by the time he returned to Washington, much tension had already developed with President Adams. Adams and Henry Clay blamed Calhoun for anything that went wrong in the administration. In reality, the campaign for the 1828 election had already begun. As time passed, it became apparent to Calhoun that Andrew Jackson’s popularity with the people was not to be denied. In 1828, for the second time, John C. Calhoun had to postpone his dream of being president and settle for being the vice presidential candidate. Still a young man, Calhoun found himself hoping that at the end of Jackson’s presidency, it would -at last- be his time to run for president. If all went well, he, as vice president, would be in an excellent position to move on to the highest office.
More of the political developments in the next More history…
(1) Edwards, Sally; South Carolina States of the Nation; pp.73-74
(2) Wiltse, Charles M; John Ck. Calhoun Nationalist 1782-1828; p. 264-265
(3) Wiltse; p. 265
(4) Wiltse; p. 265.
(5) Wiltse; p. 268
(6) Wiltse; p. 268
(7) Wiltse; p. 269
(8) Wiltse; p. 268
(9) Wiltse; p. 269
(10) Wiltse; pp. 268-269
Want Even More History? The Old Pickens Presbyterian Church is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons from 2:30pm-5:00pm during the spring and summer. Docents will be there to answer any questions. Please stop by for a visit.
PRESBYTERIANS IN THE KITCHEN
submitted by Rosemary Bailes
1 pouch (1 lb 1½ oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
3 8 –oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
¾ cup sugar
½ cup whipping cream (can use evaporated milk or Cool Whip as substitute)
3 eggs
1 jar (10 oz.) blueberry spreadable fruit (or blueberry jam)
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen whole blueberries (if using frozen ones, thaw and drain)
1. Heat oven to 3500. Spray bottom and sides of 13” x 9” pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix cookie mix, butter and egg until soft dough forms. Press evenly into bottom of pan.
2. Bake 15 minutes; cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add whipping cream and eggs; beat on low speed until well blended.
3. Spread spreadable fruit (or jam) over partially cooled crust. Sprinkle with blueberries. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over blueberries, spreading to cover.
4. Bake 40 – 50 minutes, until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Cut into 24 bars or squares (wetting knife blade makes cutting easier). Store covered in refrigerator.
“Presbyterians in the Kitchen” has been a popular section of The Messenger for a number of years.
Readers gather ideas for great dishes, salads, and desserts and also learn a bit about fellow church goers. For this feature to continue, we need your help - ladies and men.
Please send one of your favorites via e-mail to secretarywpc@earthlink.net or drop it by the church office. We would appreciate your using the
following format:
Recipe Title
Name of Contributor
Ingredients
(Please double-check ingredients and measurements for accuracy.)
Procedures-Be sure to include dish or pan size, oven temperature, and
length of cooking time.
Any personal comments or suggestions to help readers prepare your recipe.
Finally, we would love to have a short paragraph of biographical information to help us know you better (how long you've lived in our area, how long you have been a member or a friend of WPC or WUC, where you lived previously, work experience, family members, pets or hobbies, etc.).
Hymn of the Month
Submitted by: Doug Keel
Onward, Christian Soldiers
Sabine Baring-Gould 1834-1924
2 Timothy 2:3
Baring –Gould was one of the truly gifted preacher-literary men of the nineteenth century. In addition to being ordained to the Anglican ministry in 1864, he was a noted writer throughout his life. His publications include eighty-five books on such varied subjects as religion travel, folk-lore, mythology, hisgory, fiction, biography, sermons and popular theology. All are notable works. It is said that the British Museum shows more titles by him than by any other writer of this time. Yet, amazingly enough, the work for which Sabine Baring-Gould is best noted and remembered today is a simple children’s hymn written in 1865.
The author has left the following account regarding the writing his hymn:
It was written in a very simple fashion, without thought of publication. Whitmonday is a great day for school festivals in Yorkshire, and one Whitmonday is was arranged that our school should join forces with that of a neighboring village. I wanted the children to sing when marching from one village to the other, but couldn’t think of anything quite suitable, so I sat up at night resolved to write something myself. “On-ward, Christian Soldiers” was the result. It was written in great haste.
Commenting on this hymn some thirty years later, Baring-Gould remarked:
It was written in great haste, and I am afraid that some of the rhymes are faulty. I am certain that nothing has surprised me more than its popularity.
A great hymn text must always be wedded to a fine tune in order to have universal appeal. Baring-Gould’s hymn was first sung to the slow movement of Haydn’s Symphony in D, No. 15, but the union has long since been forgotten. The present tune, “St. Gertrude,” written by Sir Arthur S. Sullivan, was composed six years after the writing of the text. Sullivan, born in Bolwell Terrace, Lambeth, England, on May 13, 1842, was a noted English organist and composer. This tune was written in home of a Mrs. Gertrude Clay-Ker-Seymer in Dorsetshire, England, while Sullivan was a guest there. He dedicated the music to his hostess and the tune is known as “St. Gertrude” to this day. Sullivan is also the composer of the well-known secular classic, “The Lost Chord,” as well as a number of operettas such as “Pinafore,” “The Mikado,” etc., done in collaboration with W. S. Gilbert, the libbretist. The popular works have gained international fame.
"If you abide in My word,
you are truly My disciples,
and you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free."
John 8:31-2
