© 2006 by: Peter Kershaw

The opinions expressed herein are strictly those of Peter Kershaw and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heal Our Land Ministries.

On March 2, 2006 defrocked minister Laurence Windham emailed a fund raising letter to a number of friends and supporters. I was almost immediately forwarded a copy by someone on Laurence Windham's list. The RPCGA was also sent a copy at the same time.

I'll leave it to others to comment on the ethical and moral implications of a defrocked minister engaging in fund raising activities for alleged and unspecified "ministry" purposes. However, I will comment on how Laurence Windham's letter once again dishonors the RPCGA.

The deposed Saint Peter Presbyterian Church session, and various members of the Saint Peter Presbyterian Church congregation, have been actively engaging in dishonoring and impugning the good name of the RPCGA, even maligning the Moderator of Westminster Presbytery, Dr. Kenneth Talbot. They've engaged in a smear campaign from the time that the RPCGA issued their Declaratory Judgment on January 26, 2006.

The message of their tale is clear -- the RPCGA was unjust, their actions were unwarranted, and some other Reformed denomination (in all likelihood the CREC) is waiting in the wings to pick up their case and exonerate them before the entire Reformed community to see. Laurence Windham's email only confirms these things and once again dishonors the RPCGA:

Dear Friends,

As you may have heard, the elders of St Peter Presbyterian Church have been deposed from the ministry, without censure, by our former denomination. This action was done without a trial, called witnesses, cross-examination, or opportunity for a defense. The result has plunged our beloved sacred community into the quagmire of congregationalism. The elders have been maligned and slandered incessantly by the cowardly in the lawless realm of the internet. The ensuing gossip and fallacious commentary, even by some misguided good people, have added to the confusion.

We hold out hope that we will soon be exonerated by godly men in another denomination. Even now, plans are going forward that will bring our plight before the entire Reformed world for evaluation. This will be most welcome by the entire deposed session of St Peter. In this interim, I am appealing to you for financial support for my family. The situation has left the church, the session and the Highlands Study Center's viability in question. Each of us who labor in this part of the kingdom is hopeful that things will be back to normal in a few months.

But in the short term, in the spirit of Antioch helping out Jerusalem, any support you could send this way would help us give our attention to rebuilding the walls and preparing ourselves for the regathering of the sheep.

Send all contributions for the Windham family to:

Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 30315
Knoxville, TN 37930

Thanks for your timely consideration,

Laurence

Given that I've already publicly addressed the defrocked Saint Peter Presbyterian Church session's public misrepresentations that they were "deposed without censure," and "deposed without a trial, called witnesses, cross-examination, or opportunity for a defense," I find it astonishing that Laurence Windham would once again attempt to engage in such duplicity. It not only calls into question Laurence Windham's integrity, it also tends to confirm the beliefs of many that the deposed Saint Peter Presbyterian Church session remains unrepentant and unsubmissive to the discipline of the RPCGA.

Furthermore, by continuing to engage in such duplicity it's apparent that the defrocked Saint Peter Presbyterian Church session is insincere about their former commitment to maintain the peace and purity of the church.

Once again I call on the Saint Peter Presbyterian Church session to cease dishonoring the RPCGA and submit without grumbling to the church discipline that has been justly handed down by the denomination that R.C. Sproul Jr, Laurence Windham, Wayne Hays and Jay Barfield swore oaths to submit to.

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