Reformed Churchmen

We are Confessional Calvinists and a Prayer Book Church-people. In 2012, we remembered the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer; also, we remembered the 450th anniversary of John Jewel's sober, scholarly, and Reformed "An Apology of the Church of England." In 2013, we remembered the publication of the "Heidelberg Catechism" and the influence of Reformed theologians in England, including Heinrich Bullinger's Decades. For 2014: Tyndale's NT translation. For 2015, John Roger, Rowland Taylor and Bishop John Hooper's martyrdom, burned at the stakes. Books of the month. December 2014: Alan Jacob's "Book of Common Prayer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Book-Common-Prayer-Biography-Religious/dp/0691154813/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417814005&sr=8-1&keywords=jacobs+book+of+common+prayer. January 2015: A.F. Pollard's "Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation: 1489-1556" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-English-Reformation-1489-1556/dp/1592448658/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420055574&sr=8-1&keywords=A.F.+Pollard+Cranmer. February 2015: Jaspar Ridley's "Thomas Cranmer" at: http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Cranmer-Jasper-Ridley/dp/0198212879/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422892154&sr=8-1&keywords=jasper+ridley+cranmer&pebp=1422892151110&peasin=198212879

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

CJ Mahaney Ditches Covenant Life (Gaithersburg, MD) and Heading West

SGM Survivors offers the following letter from Covenant Life (SGM) Church, Gaithersburg, MD.  Mahaney bolted months ago and has remained over at Dever's Anabaptist Church.  Now, that the dust-off and reburnishment of the image has occurred with a few in-house SGM panels offering an analysis, Mahaney is headed west.  One wonders if Mahaney will ever return to CLC.  What will NOT be happening, is that Sir Charles won't be writing or offering anything of significance or depth, as usual. 

Meanwhile, the old Southern Baptyerian, Ligon Duncan, a man whom Dever wouldn't give Holy Communion, gives an attaboy to Mahaney with this FB post.  Here's Lig, to wit: 

"Standard registration for T4G 2012 ends at midnight tomorrow (2/29). Then the price goes up by $80! Register in the next 24 hours or so. Hotels are filling up. Registration is well ahead of 2010. Some break out sessions are near max. Join us! In this video, CJ explains why we've upgraded our approach to panels." 

Watch old Mahaney the Enthusiast do his mountebanking gig on Together For the Gospel.  Mahaney's got another home now and a new crowd to feed his inner supply-needs for admiration.  Watch him here: http://t4g.org/media/2012/02/panels-the-new-t4g-format/#.T02gsL8AzAA.facebook

Anyways, here's CLC's letter to Mahaney's orphans.  http://www.sgmsurvivors.com/?p=3369#comments

Dear Members of Covenant Life,

We are writing to update you regarding another important moment in the events of the last eight months.

Last month when his leave of absence as President of Sovereign Grace Ministries ended, C.J. Mahaney wrote the elders of Covenant Life informing us of his decision to transfer his membership to Solid Rock Church. At that time we told C.J. that the elders would like to meet with him and discuss several concerns that we had for him, as well as hear his questions and concerns for us.

This past Friday, Grant, Josh and Robin met with C.J. along with two members of the Sovereign Grace Board and had an honest conversation. We began by asking C.J. to share his concerns and disagreements with our leadership over the past eight months, and then we shared our concerns and questions for some of his actions and statements during that same time. We felt the Lord gave grace for everyone to speak forthrightly and listen to each other. We believe this meeting was an important step, though it confirmed that we have different perspectives on what has unfolded since last July.
Having had the opportunity to meet with C.J., we have agreed, with sadness, to accept and support his membership transfer. C.J. has communicated to us that he no longer thinks the formal mediation he requested last fall is needed (this mediation was going to be led by Ted Kober and was to address differences C.J. had with the pastors’ public leadership in response to the release of Brent Detwiler’s documents). We are grateful that we’ve been able to talk together, and we expect there will be further dialogue.

Because we understand there will be questions on these matters, we have scheduled another “Coffee and Questions” night for [Time & Date Edited]. We’ve created a simple form to allow you to submit your questions in advance of the meeting.

C.J. has communicated his love and appreciation for Covenant Life and that he believes God is leading him into a new season of pastoral ministry. C.J. has told us that his time at Solid Rock will be brief as he plans to plant a new church in another state later this year. Details of those plans will be announced by Sovereign Grace in the coming months.

We pray God’s blessing on C.J. and his family. We will always be grateful for his service to this church.

If you want to talk further about this, we hope you can come to the “Coffee and Questions” night on [Date], and as always, feel free to contact your pastor.

Sincerely,
The pastors of Covenant Life

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