Marcus Loane: with Christ
It has been announced that Sir Marcus Loane, Archbishop of Sydney from 1966 to 1982, died this afternoon in Sydney after a brief illness.
Sir Marcus had an enormous influence on the Church in Sydney is beloved of generations of Christians for his godly leadership, his edifying books and his keen understanding of history. He was 97.
Archbishop Peter Jensen, who is in London, has released this statement:
“We mourn the passing of Sir Marcus but give thanks for the life of a remarkable leader who served both church and nation.
As the first Australian Archbishop of Sydney and as Primate he was a formative leader in our church.
In national life, he offered leadership which transcended politics. In particular he spoke up for the poor and helped spark the Henderson enquiry of the early 1970s.
He offered distinguished service with our troops in New Guinea during World War II.
He was a prolific author with an international influence and ministry.
But he will be remembered most as one of the key architects of post-war Anglicanism in Sydney.”
Quoting from 2 Samuel 3, “a prince and a great man has fallen this day”, one senior ACL member sent this message, “We thank God for every remembrance of Marcus Loane in all the dimensions of his life and ministry”.
Details of a memorial service will be released later this week. Anglican Media Sydney has more. (Photo: Marcus Loane in 1955, as Principal of Moore College, from his ‘A Centenary History’ of the college.)
Most American Christians don’t believe Satan or the Holy Spirit exist
“A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent. …
More than one-fifth (22%) strongly agreed that Jesus Christ sinned when He lived on earth, with an additional 17% agreeing somewhat.”
– Press release from the Barna Research Group.
Some Good Friday experiences with Tasmanian media
“After the Good Friday worship service at the Cathedral I spoke to a TV crew on the meaning of Good Friday. They also interviewed worshippers for their comments.
On watching the TV news that evening the overall reporting on the Christian celebration was positive and I was delighted with the comments of the two worshippers. I was appalled, however, when the TV News cut my own comment to, ‘(Easter) is about relationships’. In the actual interview I had completed the idea, ‘(Easter) is about relationships, our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbour.’…”
– Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, reflects on how local media reported Easter.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…