Bp David Mulready’s North West Australia Synod Address

It’s Synod time around Australia – and Bishop David Mulready’s Presidential Address last weekend to the Synod of the Diocese of North West Australia has been published online (PDF file).

He gives an overview of ministry changes in DNWA – it’s a busy place!

His address includes a prayer of thanksgiving in this Centenary year of the diocese:

Our Heavenly Father, during this Centenary year, we give you hearty thanks for your amazing love, mercy and grace poured out on your people through the Gospel in North West Australia.

We thank you for your Word and for the preachers of your Word whom you have called to serve you here. We thank you for strengthening them with the Holy Spirit to teach your truth and drive away error; to break the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of our great Saviour’s death and resurrection.

We thank you for faithful members of Congregations scattered throughout our vast area, who have served you for long and short periods of time.

We thank you for partners whom you’ve given us to share the burden through prayer, financial support and for many who have come to work alongside us for a time.

We thank you for your work of new creation as you convict people of all ages and backgrounds of their need to repent and trust in Jesus as their Saviour, and so become members of your family.

We thank you for what you’ve done over the last 100 years and pray that you would be pleased to continue to work in us and through us, so that your name might be honoured and glorified.
Amen.

(Photo with thanks to Outback Magazine.)

Bp Peter Brain’s Armidale Synod Charge 2010

Bishop Peter Brain’s Charge to the Synod of the Diocese of Armidale (delivered last Friday) is encouraging and challenging.

It’s worth reading in full – from the Armidale website (PDF file).

(Photo: Russell Powell.)

Science and the Early Chapters of Genesis

Barry Newman is continuing to produce thought-provoking articles on his blog.

Having just completed a series on The Essence of Spirit, he’s now begun a series on Science and the Early Chapters of Genesis (part 1, part 2). It’ll be interesting to see where he goes with this.

‘Anglicans warned church is on its knees’

“The Anglican Church in Sydney is in diabolical trouble. Already battered by the global financial crisis, the diocese is planning further savage spending cuts.

The archbishop, Peter Jensen, told the annual synod on Monday: ‘The financial issues are grave.’…”

– David Marr writes in The Sydney Morning Herald.

(However, to get a feel for the tone of the address as it was actually delivered, it’s very helpful to hear it.

Update: You can also watch it – in two parts – on Vimeo. Part 1, Part 2 , where you can also download the file if you are logged in.)

Is Ephesians 3:14-19 relevant to the headline?

ACL Synod Dinner talk: New Churches

Bishop Al Stewart spoke about New Churches at last night’s ACL Synod Dinner at Chapter House.

We’re thankful to Mark Earngey for posting the video online. You can see a 3 minute excerpt here – but take the time to watch the full 28 minute talk here.

You also can listen to the audio here (10MB mp3 file).

Abp Peter Jensen Presidential Address 2010

This afternoon, Archbishop Peter Jensen delivered his Presidential Address to the 2010 meeting of Sydney Synod. Here’s one encouraging excerpt:

“Matthew Pickering the Rector of Nowra received a phone call to attend the bed-side of a dying man. He found a man who had been handed a copy of The Essential Jesus by a visitor from the parish of Huskisson where he lived; he found a man who had read the Gospel of Luke in this version; he found a man who wanted to know how to become a Christian; he left a man who found the Saviour and whose whole hopes had been transformed as a result, to the astonishment of his wife. I believe that there must be many such stories all over our Diocese.”

Archbishop Jensen’s wide-ranging address is available as a PDF file from SydneyAnglicans.net. Worth reading in full.

Sydney Synod meets

Sydney Synod meets today, tomorrow and Wednesday and next week.

Doubtless all involved would value your prayers. Pray that discussions, debate and decisions would all bring honour to Christ.

Archbishop Freier to Melbourne Synod

Archbishop Philip Freier’s charge to the Melbourne Synod, which has just concluded, is now available on the (newly redesigned) Diocese of Melbourne website.

Vic Tourism ad offensive

“Perhaps someone needs to talk to Tourism Victoria about the difference between sexy and sordid, because it is difficult to think of any situation in which the concept of a double life is a positive one… Someone might also put it to them that this promotion is seriously distasteful, trampling community values and moral codes.

But there is a greater offence here…”

– Morag Zwartz in The Age writes about a Tourism Victoria commercial you may have seen. (h/t Bp. John Harrower.)

Oversight: in the grip of grace — by John Woodhouse

Paul’s description of what is needed in an overseer in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 presents a picture of a person who is firmly in the grip of the glorious gospel of God’s grace.

“when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected.”

Today we have all been touched by the culture of celebrity. We have imbibed ideas about leadership from the business world. Furthermore as we see too many churches in decline, and too few growing, we long for people with new, bold ideas and the energetic drive to change things. But when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected. Read more

October 2010 ACR online

The October 2010 issue (number 1900) of The Australian Church Record is now online. It’s downloadable as a PDF file from their website.

Lots of thoughtful content, and an editorial sure to provoke discussion.

New CMS NSW General Secretary announced

CMS NSW General Secretary John Bales writes, “It is with great joy that we can announce that Malcolm Richards, who is at present serving in DR Congo with his wife Elizabeth, has accepted the unanimous invitation of the General Committee to fill the position of General Secretary in 2011”.

John continues, “Malcolm and Elizabeth are coming back to Australia for leave and Home Assignment at the end of 2010, and we anticipate that Malcolm will take up his new role in the first half of 2011’.

Please uphold in your prayers Malcolm and Elizabeth and CMS NSW in this time of change.

Euthanasia question needs wider discussion

“Australians are overwhelmingly in favour of euthanasia. Who can resist the will of the people? So goes the pro-death argument for this sweeping social change. A much quoted 2009 survey, commissioned by the pro-euthanasia group Dying with Dignity, reports 85 per cent support for the practice. As is always the case, support is more muted among the over-65s: the prospect of death, it turns out, does concentrate the mind…”

– Andrew Cameron writes this opinion-piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.

Yahoo, Yoga, and Yours Truly

“Well, you never know what a day holds. This morning, Yahoo put the Associated Press story about my article on yoga on its front page. The rest, as they say, is history. My mail servers are exhausted. Messages have been coming in at a rate of about a hundred an hour. The first lesson — count the cost when you talk about yoga. These people get bent out of shape fast…”