Gospel Coalition 2009 Conference audio and video online
Audio and video files of the main talks at last week’s The Gospel Coalition 2009 Conference in Chicago are now online.
Outgoing Archbishop of Kenya
As he heads towards retirement this month, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya, said that he hopes he leaves behind “a strengthened, transformed province,” one that is “well-grounded in the word of God” and “well-equipped to meet the challenges of the new millennium.”
… “When we talk about same-sex unions, it is to us a big challenge because missionaries, when they came here, taught us that we can’t change the word of God,” said Archbishop Nzimbi.
– article in the Anglican Church of Canada’s Anglican Journal. (h/t Anglican Mainstream. Photo: Jow Gwaltney at GAFCON.)
ACNA ‘announces 28 dioceses’
25 April 2009
Dallas/Fort Worth – Leaders representing Canadian and US orthodox Anglican jurisdictions approved applications for membership of 28 dioceses and dioceses-in-formation and finalized plans for launching the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Twelve Anglican organizations are uniting to form the ACNA. …
– See the full press release from ACNA (PDF file – direct link) received via e-mail.
Better Bishops
“Reform is sometimes heard as being, at heart, opposed to episcopacy itself. Occasionally we are accused of being ‘congregational’. This is where Mark Burkill’s booklet is so helpful. He carefully reviews the history of how episcopacy has developed and shows that while it cannot be regarded as ‘essential’ to the life of the church, it is nevertheless a wise way to order our affairs. … Mark’s booklet highlights the benefits of a biblical approach to episcopacy and helps us to see how we can support godly bishops. …
He finishes with a plea that something which is a secondary feature of church life should not be regarded as primary.”
– Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, writes about Mark Burkill’s booklet Better Bishops – published by Reform in December 2008, and now made available on their website.
Oak Hill 2009 Yearbook online
Oak Hill College in London has made its 2009 Yearbook available online. It’s a good way to get a feel for how this key college is going.
Principal Mike Ovey reflects on the GAFCON Conference and the Jerusalem Declaration –
“the conference was clear-sighted about being Anglican, and what that meant. I cannot resist quoting because the words are so good: ‘The doctrine of the Church is grounded in Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.’
…this roots Anglicanism not in robe-wearing or parish organisation or summer fêtes, but in the great truths of the Reformation and salvation by grace through faith alone…”
– Download the Yearbook – a 4.3MB PDF file (direct link) from the Oak Hill website.
Archbishop Peter Jensen in Scotland
Archbishop Peter Jensen spoke last weekend at St. George’s Tron Church in Glasgow.
On Saturday night he spoke on ‘Contending for the Faith’, and on Sunday morning, ‘Striving side by side for the Gospel’.
The audio files of the talks are now available at the links above.
No Truth without Love, No Love without Truth
“The church’s engagement with the culture involves a host of issues, controversies, and decisions — but no issue defines our current cultural crisis as clearly as homosexuality. Some churches and denominations have capitulated to the demands of the homosexual rights movement, and now accept homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle. Other denominations are tottering on the brink, and without a massive conservative resistance, they are almost certain to abandon biblical truth and bless what the Bible condemns.…”
– Albert Mohler challenges in his blog.
Tasty evangelism resource
Lesley Ramsay’s new book A Taste for Life has just been released.
It’s a terrific evangelistic giveaway book for women and features 10 mouth-watering recipes.
On sale from Evangelism Ministries in Sydney, the books are $9.90 each.
Bulk discounts: 10-29 copies: $7.70 each; 30 + copies: $5.50 each (plus post and packing).
GAFCON – Game Over or New Game?
John Richardson writes on the lack of media interest in the GAFCON Primates’ announcement of their recognition of the new Anglican Province of North America –
“Some have read this as indicating that GAFCON is washed up. Personally, I believe it is rather because the national press now recognise there is no story in the division of the Anglican Communion — not because the Communion has survived the pressures of recent years but because it quite evidently has not. As a headline, ‘Anglican Communion Faces Split’ is now entirely on a par with ‘Dog Bites Man’.”