Tuesday 31st October 2006
“Presiding Bishop's Chancellor Threatens Fort Worth, Quincy Dioceses” “On the eve of Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s investiture as the 26th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, her chancellor, David Booth Beers, has written identical letters to the chancellors of two traditionalist dioceses demanding that they change language ‘that can be read as cutting against an “unqualified accession” to the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention of The Episcopal Church’... ‘The timing of this letter is shocking,’ Fort Worth Bishop Jack L. Iker told The Living Church.” Report from The Living Church.
Friday 27th October 2006
 Helpful resources from Oak Hill College, London In recent times, Oak Hill College in London has begun making some of its resources available via its website. See the Resources section for lecture transcripts and mp3s as well as a list of recommended Bible commentaries. And see the News section for a report that David and Lesley Peterson plan to return to Sydney at the end of the academic year, next July (David has been the Principal of Oak Hill since 1996).
Friday 27th October 2006
Daylight Savings reminder Don’t forget – Daylight Savings starts in New South Wales at 2:00am on Sunday morning. That means 1 hour less sleep.
Friday 27th October 2006
“Four Primates Offer to Meet with Dioceses Requesting APO [Alternative Primatial Oversight]” “The primates of four provinces in the Anglican Communion have offered to meet in November with the bishops, chancellors and standing committee presidents from the eight Episcopal dioceses that petitioned Archbishop Rowan Williams last July for alternative primatial oversight...” Story from The Living Church.
Thursday 26th October 2006
 “Dallas: Bishop Withdraws Alternative Primatial Oversight Request” – report “The Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, the Rt. Rev. James Stanton has withdrawn his request for Alternative Primatial Oversight (APO) from the Archbishop of Canterbury. This reduces to seven the number of dioceses looking for ecclesiastical cover as they search for ways to sever ties with the Episcopal Church, USA... Sources close to the bishop also seem bewildered by the action of Bishop Stanton with one questioning if in fact he really had done so. ‘Bishop Stanton mentioned that he would be withdrawing his request. I do not know that he has, but I have heard from other quarters that he has withdrawn.’...” Report from VirtueOnline. See also the Diocese of Dallas website.
Thursday 26th October 2006
“Sydney dreams of being a new Canterbury” – SMH “Archbishop Peter Jensen says the world has shifted on its axis in ways that could see the Anglican Diocese of Sydney become the new centre of post-Reformation Christendom. The reason lies in the consecration of an openly gay man as an Episcopal bishop in the United States, the approval of blessings for same-sex unions by a liberal Anglican diocese in Canada and, most importantly, the failure of church authorities in both countries – and internationally – to do much about either...” – article by Chris McGillion. Though the article covers much of what Archbishop Jensen said, and what Sydney can offer to others, these words from the Archbishop seem to have been overlooked – “Calls for help are likely to intensify in the years ahead. We may even see a giant shift in loyalties and a new world-wide fellowship emerge. I think that we would be fooling ourselves to think that we will have a major role in such a seismic shift; but we would be equally foolish to think that we will not be involved at all. Only today I have received another anguished letter from an evangelical minister overseas seeking to bring his church into the membership of this Diocese. It is not the first I have received. My response has always been that the difficulties are best met at as local a level as is possible. The closer to the problem, the better the solution...”
Read Chris McGillion’s full article in The Sydney Morning Herald, and also read or hear Archbishop Jensen’s full remarks here.
Wednesday 25th October 2006
Archbishop Peter Jensen interviewed on ABC Radio’s Religion ReportStephen Crittenden from the ABC’s Religion Report spoke with Archbishop Peter Jensen about the Sydney Synod and the Anglican Communion. Archbishop Jensen – “First of all we’re saying to the Global South people, ‘Look, you’re not on your own. It’s not as though the West has turned entirely against you, there’s an awful lot of people within the western churches who feel as you do, so you’re not on your own’, and the idea that the Global South are somehow primitives and don’t know what they're doing is a totally false one in fact, and the fact is that many people in the West feel exactly as they do. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is, it’s also sending a signal to people in the UK, Canada and the USA, that they too are not on their own. Very often evangelicals in particular, are so involved with the pastoral work of the churches, that they do little at what you may call the political level of their churches. This has just been true for a couple of hundred years. Consequently when a great political crisis arises, they feel marginalised, they feel as though they’re powerless, they feel alone, and therefore for Sydney to say, ‘No, look, we’re here; we believe as you do. We have a strong theological tradition and we would like to support you in this’. It’s a battle, if you like, of ideas rather than a battle of politics...”
Read the full transcript and listen to the interview at the Religion Report website.
Wednesday 25th October 2006
  Canadian Bishop offers response to requests for helpArchbishop Terrence Buckle of the Diocese of Yukon has offered to help implement recommendations of the Panel of Reference concerning parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster. In a statement dated last Friday, he writes, “As Metropolitan of the Province of British Columbia and Yukon I will respond willingly and fully to any request for assistance in implementing the recommendations of the Panel of Reference in concert with the parishes concerned, the Bishop of New Westminster and the Provincial House of Bishops.”
See Archbishop Buckle’s statement by clicking on the image at right (280kb PDF via www.anglican.ca).
Wednesday 25th October 2006
 Bruce Ballantine-Jones retires from SynodLast night, the end of the 2006 Sydney Synod also marked the end of the Synod career for former ACL President Bruce Ballantine-Jones. The Archbishop invited Bruce to close the Synod meeting in prayer. On Tuesday of last week, this motion was brought to the Synod by Mr Robert Tong and Bishop Robert Forsyth – “Synod thanks God for the long, faithful and energetic service to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ through this Synod of Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM. In particular we thank God for his passionate commitment about the cause of Christ in this Church and beyond, and for his at times provocative, but always honest and wise engagement in the Synod.
Synod notes that – (a) Bruce first became a member of the Synod in 1963 as a layman and was a member of the election Synod for Archbishop Marcus Loane, and (b) his creative and energetic membership of the Standing Committee, outstanding leadership as a General Synod representative and a key participant in all major debates of the last 30 years mark Bruce’s tenure in central bodies of the Diocese, and (c) his role as Deputy Chairman of the Glebe Administration Board and President of the NSW Council of Churches and his involvement with the Independent Commission Against Corruption and as a Jannali bushfire fighter were recognised by the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia.
In all this Bruce, under God, built and nurtured a large and active congregation at Jannali assisted by his late wife, Raema.
Synod thanks God for his fellowship in the gospel and prays that God’s blessing might rest on Bruce for a long and fruitful retirement.”
Wednesday 25th October 2006
 Read the full text of Robert Tong’s Synod Speech on “The Anglican Communion”On Monday night, ACL Chairman Robert Tong proposed this motion, which was passed in a slightly amended form – “Synod commends the Primates of the Global South for their forthright stand in upholding biblical truth and expresses its support and encouragement for all within the Anglican Communion who are seeking to uphold biblical principles and prays for the Archbishop of Canterbury in his difficult role.”
Among other things, Mr Tong said, “The wind of change which freed many from a colonial yoke created independent nations and independent national churches in Africa and Asia. Those churches now call on the churches of the old world to stand firm. Whatever our own view, about the nature, character and structure of the Anglican Communion, the struggle with liberal theology is a fight against the principalities and powers.”
Read the full text of Robert Tong’s remarks here.
Wednesday 25th October 2006
Sydney Synod declines to re-open Women’s Ordination debateAfter a gracious debate, Sydney Synod members yesterday voted against a proposal to re-open the debate on the ordination of women to the priesthood. The move had been to ask the Sydney Synod to pass an ordinance to adopt the ‘General Synod – Law of the Church of England Clarification Canon 1992’. The vote indicated that the majority of members believed the question had been settled by the Synod previously, and that there was no cause to formally revisit the debate. Several speakers pointed out that the Synod has considered the wider question of women’s ordination to the priesthood fourteen times over the last twenty years or so. The question put before the Synod was whether leave would be given for the mover to introduce the ordinance. In a secret ballot by houses, the voting was – | House | Laity | Clergy | | Valid votes | 349 | 196 | | Yes | 114 | 31 | | No | 235 | 165 | | Informal | 2 | 2 |
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See this report from SydneyAnglicans.net. See also this report in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Monday 23rd October 2006
 Archbishop Peter Jensen speaks on “Sydney in the Anglican Communion”Tonight, Archbishop Peter Jensen addressed the Sydney Synod prior to a debate on the Anglican Communion. In part, he said – “[A] remarkable transformation ... is occurring in the Communion. We can see this in the communiqué of the Global South Provinces after a highly significant meeting in Kigali Rwanda this September. These Provinces, which represent over 70% of active Anglicans have issued what I judge to be a strikingly important document. It illustrates a new sense of maturity and independence from the West – a desire to find their own way forward in matters to do with evangelism, social action and theological education. The conference was definitely not a one issue event. It is almost palpable that in the last five or so years, these Anglicans have grown in assurance and capacity for independent activity and action. All this flows from their observation that the western churches cannot discipline their own for deviations from the teaching of scripture and that they of the south must take responsibility for themselves and for others. Frankly it is breathtaking. ... As you know, I have taken the view from the beginning that the crisis over human sexuality is a very deep one indeed. The idea that we are somehow to blame for making so much fuss about sex is ludicrous. Human sexuality is so powerful a gift and so basic to our human nature, and so fraught with both good and ill, that it is bound to occupy a large part of our thinking. Indeed it is all part of our cultural reappraisal of the roles of men and women, with vast consequences for the quality of family life and the good of the begetting and nurturing of the race. In the end, it is also a crisis over biblical authority and its clarity; hence the importance of Biblical Theology. Here is a crucial sticking point. To accept various contemporary ways of reading scripture will leave us vulnerable at all points. We will not defend the uniqueness of Christ, if we will not defend the plain teaching of scripture on human sexuality.”
Archbishop Jensen’s statement is well worth reading in its entirety.  When the Archbishop delivered his address, he added slightly to his prepared text. To hear exactly what he said, download this mp3 file, courtesy of SydneyAnglicans.net. |
See also the Kigali Communiqué.
After the Archbishop’s statement, the Synod debated and overwhelming voted for a motion – commending “ the Primates of the Global South for their forthright stand in upholding biblical truth”, expressed its “support and encouragement for all within the Anglican Communion” seeking to uphold biblical principles and called for prayer for the Archbishop of Canterbury “in his difficult role.”
The motion was moved by Robert Tong and seconded by Bishop Peter Tasker. Prior to the debate and Archbishop Jensen’s statement, Archbishop John Chew, Archbishop of Singapore and Primate of South East Asia, spoke to the Synod during the Missionary Hour and shared the latest exciting developments from his region. See this report on Archbishop Jensen’s statement in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Sunday 22nd October 2006
“Bishop from Bolivia Defies the Rules”“Wearing a scarlet miter and colorful vestments, Anglican Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia stood before an Evanston, Ill., church last Sunday and called the faithful to kneel at the altar. ... Lyons has embraced what some congregations call ‘the Diocese of Bolivia’s Northern Deanery’ with zeal. In defiance of U.S. bishops, he ordains priests, lays hands on the sick and shrugs off complaints that his actions contravene church law and common courtesy. He ignores letters from other bishops asking him to stay out.” Report from The Ledger.
Friday 20th October 2006
 “Anglicans set to renew links with Chinese Christians as Archbishops pay Mission exploratory visit”“While attending the installation of the Archbishop John Chew as the Anglican Primate of South East Asia in February 2006, Archbishop Akinola met with some Chinese Christian leaders who repeatedly invited him to visit the country. The Nigeria Primate and his South East Asia counterpart the Most Rev. John Chew decided to jointly visit the vast country in July 2006. As usual with Abp. Akinola, he went along with a serving bishop of the Church of Nigeria. This time, he was accompanied by the archbishop of Ibadan ecclesiastical province, the Most Rev. Joseph Akinfenwa. ” Report from The Church of Nigeria News.
Thursday 19th October 2006
Tony Abbott’s online PollTony Abbott MHR, the Federal Member for Warringah, has an online poll on his website. The question is – “Should public hospital authorities be prevented from placing Gideons Bibles by patients’ bedsides?”
See the current results and, if you wish, add your vote.
Thursday 19th October 2006
“Anglicans tick teacher recruitment moves”“Sydney Anglicans have endorsed initiatives to recruit and provide ongoing training for teachers both within the church and in the wider community. Clergy and laity gathered for the annual Synod in Sydney voted to endorse the initiatives, first embarked upon almost two years ago, said Laurie Scandrett, CEO of the Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation...”
Report from NineMSN.
Wednesday 18th October 2006
“Anglican Church to elect Aboriginal leaders”“The Anglican Church in Sydney will for the first time give Aboriginal people a voice on its supreme decision making body, the Synod. The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, is behind the move, which was debated yesterday at the church's annual Synod meeting...”
Story from ABC News.
Wednesday 18th October 2006
“Jesus in cyberspace – you’d better believe it”“Sydney Anglicans have appointed their first web evangelist to oversee a new, internet-based ministry. David Horne, a lay pastor, has been employed by the church’s media group as its first internet missionary. His job is to establish an interactive website forum for Bible studies...”
Story from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Wednesday 18th October 2006
“Synod sends strong message on abuse”“Sydney’s Anglican church has sent a strong message to the public on the issue of child abuse and sexual misconduct within its ranks, voting unanimously for a new disciplinary ordinance. Clergy and laity gathered in Sydney for the diocese’s annual synod passed the ordinance, put forward by Diocesan Professional Standards Unit director Phillip Gerber...”
Full report from NineMSN.
Wednesday 18th October 2006
“Rwandan Bishop Visits ‘Noah’s Ark’ During Clergy Retreat”“Rwandan Bishop Sandy Greene sees the floating in by barge of their new church building as ‘a very tangible encouragement to the people of Pender Harbour’. In his second visit in the past year to BC, Bishop Greene affirmed the great symbolism and encouragement of Pender Harbour’s accomplishment for Canadians and Anglicans worldwide...”
News from The Anglican Coalition in Canada.
Tuesday 17th October 2006
 “Panel of Reference Fails to Address Divisive New Westminster issues”“The Panel of Reference was supposed to have saved the day and provided a safe harbour for Evangelicals and Anglo Catholics caught in the Tsunami actions of revisionist bishops in North America, and in other parts of the Anglican Communion. Regrettably the report they delivered, failed. After 20 months of waiting and wondering, the POR last week delivered its first verdict in the case of four orthodox parishes in the ultra-liberal Diocese of New Westminster and its Bishop Michael Ingham, looking for alternative oversight. Instead they found themselves being offered stones instead of bread, reinforcing the option that lawsuits and fights over properties will not stop, and the slow disintegration and polarization of Anglicanism worldwide will continue...”
Opinion from VirtueOnline.
Tuesday 17th October 2006
 “BBJ calls colleagues to stand firm”“A veteran of the Australian church scene, Bruce Ballantine-Jones, has urged evangelicals to safeguard the gospel by being active and vigilant outside their local parish. In an address to the annual Anglican Church League Synod dinner yesterday, the former ACL President said it is a ‘dangerous development’ to see some people taking less of an interest in wider church matters such the Sydney Synod, which is convening this week and next. ‘Because the essential life of the church finds its expression in local churches than denominational structures this has led some to take less interest in synodical affairs as they can’t always see the connection between the two,’ he says..”
Read the report at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Monday 16th October 2006
 Archbishop Peter Jensen’s Presidential Address to Sydney Synod 2006Archbishop Peter Jensen has delivered his Presidential Address at the first night of the Sydney Synod for 2006. In a wide-ranging address, Dr. Jensen spoke on leadership, change and the local church.
Read his full address at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Monday 16th October 2006
Press Release: Anglican Coalition In Canada Response to the Panel of Reference report“Vancouver, BC- We feel sad for our ‘Common Cause Partner’ ACiNW/Anglican Network in Canada brothers and sisters who have been ‘sold down the river’ by the Panel of Reference. The Panel of Reference has clearly ‘dropped the ball’ after such a long period of procrastination. It has been eight years since the Diocese of New Westminster first voted to do same-blessings, and since the orthodox Anglicans in the Greater Vancouver, BC area first appealed for the wider Anglican constituency to intervene. It has been four and a half years ago since the orthodox Anglicans walked out of New Westminster Synod and officially appealed for another orthodox Anglican Bishop to provided oversight.
The Panel of Reference does not seem to realize the level of trauma that faithful Greater Vancouver Anglicans have endured during their stand for biblical truth and traditional Anglican morals. This has not been a Sunday School picnic. Many faithful Anglican congregations in Greater Vancouver have been closed, taken over, decimated, or forced to ‘move overseas’ to Africa to obtain new Anglican jurisdiction and oversight.
The POR’s suggestion that Holy Cross Abbotsford and Church of the Resurrection, Hope should go back to the diocese, reveals that the POR does not really comprehend the level of spiritual abuse that these two congregations have been through.
The POR is encouraging the four remaining ACiNW parishes still in the New Westminster diocese to repay their withheld assessments and go back to the very Synod they courageously walked out from four and a half years ago. In return, all they are offering is a temporary visiting bishop with no jurisdiction. Nowhere does the POR challenge the diocese of New Westminster to repent of its apostasy and immorality. The POR has given the ACiNW a stale crust of bread.
We agree with the deep concerns about the POR report expressed by Archbishops Greg Venables and Drexel Gomez. We hope that the rest of the Global South Primates soon speak clearly with one voice about this deeply flawed POR report.
This unfortunate, long-delayed POR report merely reinforces our gratitude that two and a half years ago, the Anglican Coalition in Canada was rescued from this burning house by our five Global South Anglican primates. We are so grateful that they kept their promises ‘not to leave us as orphans’. This Global South solution is readily available to other Canadian Anglicans who are willing to put everything on the line.
The Rev Ed Hird
Communications Officer, Anglican Coalition in Canada.”
Sunday 15th October 2006
“Two Primates Blast Panel of Reference Report as Inadequate”The full text of comments by Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone and Archbishop Drexel Gomez of the West Indies is now available – via Stand Firm. Archbishop Drexel Gomez – “... one cannot help but conclude that the Panel has failed to understand the political and theological reality of the situation in which the applicants find themselves. Consequently, in my opinion, the recommendations of the Panel do not respond adequately to the real situation...”'
See also this helpful article – A Crisis in Koinonia: Biblical Perspectives for Anglicans – written more than two years ago by the Rev. David Short Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver.
Saturday 14th October 2006
 “it is now tragic to receive a report that fails to address the crisis in New Westminster adequately...” – Archbishop Gregory Venables |
“Panel of Reference Report Called Inadequate” “The Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, Archbishop of the West Indies, and the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone, characterized the Panel of Reference’s Oct. 13 report on the Diocese of New Westminster as being an inadequate response to the reality of the situation. Their written responses came the day the report was issued. ‘Given that the Panel of Reference process has taken 20 painfully slow and drawn out months to do what was considered desperately urgent at the onset, it is now tragic to receive a report that fails to address the crisis in New Westminster adequately,’ Archbishop Venables said. The ‘Global South Primates are committed to working with Communion structures to implement the steps and solutions that the crisis requires,’ he said, but he believed that ‘unless there is a radical revision of the panel’s operation, it does not appear that it will offer solutions of adequate or appropriate substance.’ ‘It is unrealistic and most unwise to send Biblically committed clergy and congregations back to a synod and bishop who have so tragically abandoned the foundations of the faith,’ he said. ‘These faithful clergy and people need the jurisdiction of a bishop who is fully committed to Biblical faith and Anglican tradition and practice.’... ” Full report from The Living Church.
Saturday 14th October 2006
 Panel of Reference Report on New Westminister releasedThe Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference report on the Diocese of New Westminster has just been released and is available on the Anglican Communion website. The report is a 10 page, 55kb PDF file and may be found here. Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada says, “I believe this report represents an important milestone in the ongoing dialogue in Canada.” And this is from a statement released by the Diocese of New Westminster – “I do hope the four parishes who have chosen not to participate in the life of the diocese will be open to full re-engagement with the Diocese and the Anglican Church of Canada” said Dean Peter Elliott, who as dean of the diocese is acting bishop (commissary) until Bishop Michael Ingham returns from sabbatical in December. “We reaffirm our commitment to unity in diversity,” he said. “We respect the conscientious convictions of all members of the diocese. We hope for nothing less than that the parishes which now feel separated from the diocese would be willing to resume their full and proper role in diocesan life and Anglican ministry.”
Wednesday 11th October 2006
 “Archbishop of Canterbury Receives New Brazil Primate and Recife Bishop”“In an action that will likely force deeper divisions in the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury has received the new Primate of Brazil the Most Rev. Mauricio Andrade and the new Bishop ‘Diocese B’ of the Diocese of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Sebastião Gameleira Soares. At the Province of Brazil’s website, www.ieab.org.br a photo op is shown of the ABC and both bishops, it says that ‘the purpose of the meeting was to talk about the Report of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent emissaries to the Anglican Diocese of Recife by Bishops Patrick Harris and William Godfrey, who were present at the Provincial Synod, in Curitiba, and then in Recife.’ ... The Diocese of Recife was the first case to ask to be referred to the Panel of Reference...” Full report from VirtueOnline. See also the website of the original Anglican Diocese of Recife (“under the Primatial Authority of the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America”).
Wednesday 11th October 2006
 Above All Earthly Powers – Desiring God Conference“Above All Earthly Powers: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World” was the theme for this year’s Desiring God National Conference in Minneapolis the week before last. Speakers included John Piper, D.A. Carson, Tim Keller and David Wells. mp3 files of the very helpful talks are now available for free download from the Desiring God website.
Tuesday 10th October 2006
“Plea from churches for Hicks”“Australia’s two most senior church leaders have condemned the treatment of David Hicks and called on the Federal Government to ensure he is given a fair trial as quickly as possible. Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen said Hicks’ detention at Guantanamo Bay for 4 1/2 years without trial was an abuse of human rights...” Report from The Age.
Tuesday 10th October 2006
 “Rising from the Sea on the Sunshine Coast” In March 2005, the Rev. Barclay Mayo (right) and the congregation of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church walked out of their church building and left their property.
The conflict with the Diocese of New Westminster was over faithfulness to the Bible on questions of human sexuality. It all came to a head when Bishop Michael Ingham threatened legal action. (See this archived report by David Virtue.) Now, the congregation has a new church building – floated into Pender Harbour on a barge last week. Report from the Anglican Coalition in Canada. See also the church website.
Monday 9th October 2006
 “Anglicans vote for female bishops”“Perth took a big step to becoming the first Anglican diocese in Australia to ordain female bishops after more than 400 clergy and lay people last night voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move. Archdeacon Angela Webb’s motion affirming the ministry of women across the Anglican hierarchy, including as bishops, was carried at the weekend annual synod of the Perth diocese...” Report from The West Australian.
Saturday 7th October 2006
“We know what ‘listening’ means in the modern Anglican lexicon.”“It costs tens of thousands to train clergy in the Church of England’s theological colleges. Yet after sponsoring Nick Howard, the former Tory leader’s son, in his three-year training at Cranmer Hall Durham, the Diocese of Oxford refused to ordain him. Mr Howard’s calling to the priesthood has had to be put on hold and he is working as an evangelist instead, according to an interview in the Mail on Sunday. Those who pay the bills in the Diocese of Oxford should be asking questions about this apparent waste of money. But those questions should not just be about the sheer economic nonsense of the diocese’s decision, but about the theological background to it...” Story by Andrew Carey in The Church of England Newspaper, via VirtueOnline.
Thursday 5th October 2006
“Peter Jensen: Towards a state of grace”“It is good that a political leader of the stature of Kevin Rudd has given us something both serious and impassioned on church and state in Australia. So far, any discussion that has taken place has been dominated by secularists fearful of newly invented demons such as ‘the Christian Right’. Rudd’s discussion appears in the October issue of The Monthly. The connection between church and state in Australia is far deeper and more complex than some slogans suggest. We have rightly committed ourselves to a form of government that is secular; that is, interested in the affairs of this world and not dominated by a state church or religion. But the nation itself has never been secular...” Opinion piece by Archbishop Peter Jensen in The Australian.
Thursday 5th October 2006
“Anglican women regroup to fight ban on ordination”“The Sydney Anglican church’s exclusion of women from the priesthood is to be challenged for the first time in six years. Just weeks after the Church of England voted to allow women bishops, an Anglican minister, backed by the Movement for the Ordination of Women, is leading a fresh push in this month’s annual synod to permit women to head parishes in Australia’s wealthiest and most influential diocese...” Report from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Wednesday 4th October 2006
“Complaints Mount Against Panel of Reference”“The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference conducted a field investigation last week into the dispute between the Diocese of Florida and the “Florida 6.” The rare field interview occurred at a time when frustration is growing among leaders of the Global South group of primates with the slow pace of review and the seemingly arbitrary manner in which appeals are forwarded for consideration. The review of the Florida appeal, one of four under active consideration by the panel, was described by the Rt. Rev. Samuel Johnson Howard, Bishop of Florida, as “courteous and productive.” The four days of talks were led by Robert Tong, a solicitor from Sydney, Australia, and the Most Rev. Maurice Sinclair, retired primate of the Southern Cone...” Report from The Living Church.
Tuesday 3rd October 2006
 New issue of ‘The Australian Church Record’ onlineThe latest issue (no. 1890) of The Australian Church Record has been published and can be downloaded from the ACR website. Articles in this issue include – From the Editorial: “In the last hectic weeks before Synod, it has been revealed that a motion will seek to introduce a further debate on the introduction of women to the priesthood by promoting a General Synod Canon that has been twice rejected by Sydney Synod...” From Gavin Poole: “The 2006 Episcopal Church’s General Convention had to come up with something. The Windsor Report calls for a moratorium on the blessing of same sex couples and any further consecration of bishops living in same gender union. To walk away from the convention with no resolution would have been a clear snub to the Anglican Communion, but who can behappy with the final outcome?...” From Nigel Fortescue: a review of “A Clear and Present Word” by ACL President Dr. Mark Thompson. Download the current issue here – as a 600kb PDF file.
Monday 2nd October 2006
“Williams told to act over gay clergy or face summit boycott”“Conservative Anglican leaders are urging the Archbishop of Canterbury to crack down on gay clergy in England or risk a boycott of the 2008 Lambeth Conference. The archbishops, mainly from Africa and Asia, have expressed privately to Dr Rowan Williams their fears that the Church of England is fast becoming as liberal as its American counterpart. They are particularly angry that bishops are failing to discipline gay clergy who have openly defied official guidelines on civil partnerships...” Report from The Times.
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