(Editor’s Note) The Layman is the magazine of The Presbyterian Lay Committee, whose objectives are: 1) To provide reliable information and resources concerning significant issues confronting the PCUSA and the Church Universal; 2) To inform and equip congregations and leaders in the PCUSA and other denominations concerning the urgency for greater emphasis on the teaching... Continue Reading

(Editors Note: Following is a letter posted in a blog by students and alumni who support the current status of the college. The student’s name appears in the blog but is withheld from this series of articles for consistency.) Dear Dr. Ruble, Erskine administration, and Board of Trustees, It has come to my attention that... Continue Reading

The issues which will be the subject of the Commission report to be heard at the Called Meeting on March 1-2 stem from complaints from multiple sources that came to the ARP Synod last summer, principle among them both current and former students. 144 of them signed a petition to the General Assembly this past... Continue Reading

“It felt like 10 seconds combined with three years,” is how Jay Cherry, who along with his wife volunteers at an orphanage in Haiti, described the initial shaking that began at 4:52 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday when a 7.3-magnitude earthquake began five miles under water off the coast of the impoverished Caribbean nation. Messailler, where... Continue Reading

A Baltimore Planned Parenthood official has bluntly admitted why health insurance companies are increasingly comfortable with covering abortions: because the choice to kill an unborn child is cheaper than giving birth. “A first trimester abortion is $300 to $450,” Baltimore Planned Parenthood CEO John Nugent told the national business magazine Forbes last week. “But if... Continue Reading

Exclusive from World Magazine: As a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday, missionary wife Heather Hopp “thought a truck had an accident on the highway and was rolling down the hill towards the house.” The earthquake, with an epicenter just 10 miles southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince, …caused amounts of damage Haiti’s ambassador to... Continue Reading

Opposing sides in the debate over new social studies standards for Texas schools will square off today before the State Board of Education as it prepares to decide what Texas students should be taught in U.S. history classes. More than 130 people have signed up to testify on the proposed curriculum standards, and the hearing... Continue Reading

International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) recently released its annual performance report for 2008-2009. Despite an economic downturn and a slight decrease in annual income, the abortion industry giant boasts of increased activity across all of its lines of work, including condom distribution, advocacy and abortion services. IPPF’s overall income for 2008 was US$119.7 million, down... Continue Reading

The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (CADC) has released its list of the top ten incidents of anti-Christian defamation, bigotry and discrimination in the US from last year. The list was selected by the subscribers to CADC’s e-mail list and was selected from a list of twenty of CADC’s top stories from 2009. “It is arguable that... Continue Reading

The warden at Virginia’s largest women’s prison is retiring amid allegations the prison discriminated against gay inmates and denied others access to religious services. State Sen. Frank Ruff asked the department in June to look into allegations that the prison curtailed inmates’ access to religious services and separated masculine-looking prisoners from the rest of the... Continue Reading