Bishop plans ads to attract same-sex couples
Bishop Marc Andrus of California announced in a letter that the diocese will soon begin an advertising campaign “celebrating the [recent California] Supreme Court ruling and inviting same-sex couples to our churches for pre-marital counseling and nourishment in communities of faith.” …
– Story from The Living Church. (Photo: Diocese of California.)
Bishop Martyn Minns interviewed on BBC
Bishop Martyn Minns was interviewed on the BBC’s HARDtalk on Monday. Following the usual style of the programme, the mode of Stephen Sackur’s interview is aggressive.
The 23 minute segment may be seen in Real Video format via this page. (Photo: BBC.)
‘The archbishop says No’ (to reforms)
“The Anglican Church faces a modern Great Schism, with gay-tolerant Christians on one side and radical ‘Bible-believers’ on the other. And at the forefront of the hardliners is Australia’s outspoken evangelist Peter Jensen. …”
– David Marr in The Good Weekend in last Saturday’s The Sydney Morning Herald. It’s those hardline “radical ‘Bible-believers’” causing trouble again!
See Archbishop Jensen’s statement last Friday, for a somewhat different perspective. (Photo: Ramon Williams.)
Word of Faith preachers
Like it or not, some members of your church probably watch US TV preachers. The so-called ‘Word of Faith’ preachers increasingly dominate the US Christian cable channels, and are also being seen in Australia. Who are these preachers – and what is their message?
One who has studied their teaching is Justin Peters. He visited faith healers as a teenager, hoping to be healed of Cerebral Palsy. At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his Master’s thesis was an examination of the life and ministry of Benny Hinn.
Justin went back to Southwestern to give a 30 minute overview of the seminars he runs in churches. A video file of that overview is available on his website (a 101MB download in Windows Media format via this page). Justin has also been interviewed on Christian radio in Toronto (5.2MB mp3). DVDs of his seminars are available from his website.
(For some light relief, here’s a page from Sacred Sandwich.)
Canadian Pastor fined and told to remain silent
On Friday, the Alberta Human Rights Commission ordered Alberta pastor Stephen Boissoin to desist from expressing his views on homosexuality in any sort of public forum. He was also commanded to pay damages equivalent to $7,000 as a result of the tribunal’s November decision to side with complainant and homosexual activist Dr. Darren Lund. The tribunal has also called for Boissoin to personally apologize to Lund via a public statement in the local newspaper. …
– Full story from LifeSite News. (Photo: CanadianChristianity.com)
Other ways of talking about the divine?
“I am a deacon in the Sydney Anglican Diocese. In the Anglican Church I have found my life enriched and my faith strengthened. Yet that has not always been because of the teaching of its leaders in Sydney. …”
– Plenty for discussion in this Opinion piece by Susan Emeleus in The Sydney Morning Herald and Brisbane Times.
Integrity’s Susan Russell interviewed on Gene Robinson’s ‘wedding’
Integrity USA President Susan Russell preached at the civil union of Gene Robinson and his partner of 20 years on Saturday. In this video clip, she describes the service.
Watch the Integrity video if you must – on Google Video via Stand Firm. It runs for 5’27”. There’s also a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.
David Wells interviewed on his new book
David Wells was interviewed about his new book on Al Mohler’s radio programme on Thursday. The Courage to Be Protestant is an overview of his earlier books, designed to be more accessible to a wider readership.
One of his main points: Historic Christianity is doctrinal in its shape – and when that is lost, there’s not much left.
Take the time to listen to the interview, which starts 11 minutes and 20 seconds into the audio file. (The book is available from MooreBooks.)
Gay Bishop vs. Straight Bishop
The first bishop married his gay partner in New Hampshire this weekend. The second bishop will be settling into a new house with his wife in a New Jersey suburb, chosen so that he can shuttle more easily between conservative churches opposed to the first one’s theology and lifestyle.
– Time magazine on Gene Robinson and Bishop Martyn Minns, as a backgrounder for Lambeth and GAFCON.
(Photos: TEC and Truro Church.)
‘Doubts about the Bishop of Durham’
Bishop Tom Wright has an international reputation as an Evangelical whose credentials as a biblical scholar, teacher, preacher, and pastor are of the highest order. When he is suspected of compromising traditional Evangelical teaching, especially in relation to the iconic doctrine of justification, then the big guns need to be trained on him — and among Evangelical conservatives, the guns don’t get much bigger than John Piper. …
– John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln, provides some background to John Piper’s book – in The Church Times.
Stand Firm also note a reply from Bishop Wright. See also our earlier stories, Godliness and good learning by Mike Ovey and Paul Helm on The Future of Justification (both reviews of John Piper’s book) and The Theology of N T Wright from the White Horse Inn of June 1st 2008.
Church of England proposes repeal of protection for opponents of women bishops
As first reported in the Daily Telegraph, the House of Bishops of the Church of England is indeed bringing a proposal to the General Synod in July to adopt the first approach outlined in the Manchester Report to provide for the consecration of women bishops, which will remove the legislative provisions put in place in 1993 and replace them with a ‘Code of Practice’. …
– Report from John Richardson at The Ugley Vicar.
From the Files: A Crisis in Koinonia
Newspaper articles, prophecies of doom, and synod resolutions aside, Jesus is still building his church.
For Anglicans, in a denomination that now sanctions same sex unions, this now means changes in the shape of our relationships so they might help rather than hinder the mission of Christ. The new oppressive liberal orthodoxy in North America must choose between using the current denominational structures as instruments of coercion, or through an act of love, allow a realignment of relationships within different structural patterns. If those in power choose the first course of action, biblically orthodox Anglicans will be forced to choose between the gospel and Anglican structures. Either way the Anglican communion as we know it will cease to exist. …
– We published this very helpful paper by David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, back in 2004. With GAFCON just around the corner, and Lambeth close behind, it’s worth re-reading “A Crisis in Koinonia: Biblical Perspectives for Anglicans”.
‘Without gay priests Church would be lost’
The openly gay bishop whose ordination sparked the crisis in the Anglican Communion has claimed the Church of England would be close to shutting down if it was forced to manage without its gay clergy. …
He said many of the English church’s clergy lived openly in their rectories with gay partners, with the full knowledge of their bishops.
– Story by Ruth Gledhill in The Times Online. Ruth also posts an interview with Gene Robinson here, amid speculation that he is about to marry.
(Photo credit: Geoff Forester and Diocese of New Hampshire.)
Statement from Archbishop Peter Jensen on the Lambeth and Jerusalem conferences
Statement from Archbishop Peter Jensen
6th June 2008
It is not long now before I leave for the Jerusalem Conference. I am immensely grateful for the support and prayers of so many of you. I’m looking forward to meeting with the leaders representing 35 million Anglicans across 27 different countries and it is my hope that God will give us wisdom during our time together. As we look to the future of this great communion of churches, I am praying that we will maintain the highest level of unity possible.
I have just written to the Archbishop of Canterbury to assure him of my prayers for him and for the success of the Lambeth Conference. We have different views on how best to see the future of the Anglican Communion at this time.
But we are at one in seeking its good health and doing what can be done to make sure that the turmoil created by those who have set aside fundamental Christian teaching does not destroy it. On the contrary, our aim should be to see it united as never before in the service of Christ in this world. I am praying that both the Lambeth Conference and the Jerusalem Conference will help achieve that goal. Will you join me in your intercessions?
The Death and Doctrine of Nicholas Ridley
Bishop Nicholas Ridley is one of the martyrs of the English Reformation – dying with Bishop Hugh Latimer in Oxford on October 16th 1555. But what was it all about?
In this helpful talk, Dr. Garry Williams of Oak Hill Theological College, London, puts the death and doctrine of Nicholas Ridley into their historical and theological context.
Dr. Williams’ 54 minute talk is available as an mp3 file at The Theologian.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…