Gambling on Good Friday a ‘terrible desecration’
From Anglican Media Melbourne:
Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, today described Tabcorp’s proposed move to allow gambling on Good Friday as a “terrible desecration.”
“Good Friday is a day of profound significance for many Australians because it’s the day we remember Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. Read more
Latest 9Marks eJournal: Advice for young pastors
The latest 9Marks eJournal has been released – with a focus on help for ministers who are new to a church. Topics include:
Is this a hill worth dying on? – Matt Schmucker
What I can and cannot live with as a Pastor – Mark Dever
Love the church more than its health – Jonathan Leeman
Should Pastors change anything in the first year? – Phillip Jensen
Worth downloading – from 9Marks (592kb – pdf direct link).
Tim Keller in London: videos
Tim Keller recently spoke at the Newfrontiers Conference in London. Video of his three talks is now available on Vimeo. (h/t Adrian Warnock.)
1. Preaching the Gospel – 77 minutes.
2. The City – 65 minutes.
3. Cultural Transformation – 52 minutes.
Niagara to begin same-sex blessings
The Bishop of Niagara has informed the Archbishop of Canterbury that his south central Ontario diocese will begin blessing same-sex unions. Writing in the March issue of his diocesan newspaper, the Rt Rev Michael Bird said that in January he met with Dr Rowan Williams at Lambeth Palace to brief the archbishop … that it was his intention to authorize gay blessings…
– Report from George Conger at Religious Intelligence. (Photo: Diocese of Niagara.)
Dallas and Sth Carolina question process
Kendall Harmon reports that the Executive Council of the Diocese of Dallas and the Convention of the Diocese of South Carolina have questioned the ‘election’ of a single candidate, the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester, as the bishop of the Diocese of Northern Michigan.
(h/t Stand Firm.) See also Bishop-elect Forrester’s answer to critics of his Buddhist practices (pdf file – direct link). Photo: Episcopal News Service.
How to save an empty church building
Alpha’s Nicky Gumbel is the darling of the London diocese. Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, the Golden Goose of London with all its rich, young and beautiful worshippers in Knightsbridge, Kensington and countless “planted” offshoots, the Bishop of London Richard Chartres is fulsome in his praises of the merits of this evangelical stronghold. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, speaks there often.
So what has inspired the star of numerous Alpha videos to weigh in against the diocese? It is, as we report, the proposed sale of St Mark’s Mayfair to the developer of Covent Garden’s Sanctuary, to be turned into an alternative health centre.
– Ruth Gledhill at The Times writes on London Diocese’s decision to sell off a church building. (Photo: Save St Marks.)
Lessons from Little Rock
On the 6th April 1998 TJ Johnston, an Episcopal priest and senior pastor of an unofficial church plant in Little Rock, Arkansas, became a missionary priest of the Province of Rwanda under the oversight of John K. Rucyahana, Bishop of Shyira. …
Though growing, the church was small and did not have much in the way of financial or social muscle, but this courageous stand set off a chain of events which was to lead to the formation of the Anglican Mission in America and create the precedent for other African jurisdictions which are now coming together in the emergent Province of the Anglican Church in North America with over 100,000 regular Sunday worshippers. …
– Charles Raven writes at SPREAD.
Theology at the Keyboard: an idea for Connect09?
Recently, Capitol Hill Baptist Church ran one of its Henry Forums – and pianist Jennifer Jackson spoke on ‘Bach and the Goldberg Variations’.
Sound a bit high brow? Listen to her talk and consider how something similar (yet on a completely different topic!) might be a helpful avenue of gospel outreach for your church.
Breaking up hard to do
“The Anglican Church of Canada has reached the point where its bureaucracy has outlived its compassion. There. I said it. And I can speak with at least some small authority, considering that I was once an Anglican myself, although my observations led to enough disillusionment to see my departure from the Anglican Church. …”
– Walker Morrow writes in The Citizen. h/t Anglican Essentials Canada blog. (Crest: Diocese of British Columbia.)