New Archbishop to take his seat
“The 12th Archbishop of Sydney will take his seat in St Andrew’s Cathedral at an inauguration service on Friday, 23rd August, watched by church leaders from every Australian state and territory and from overseas.”
– Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Photo: T Taylor. (A cathedral is so named from the Greek word kathedra, referring to the chair from which the bishop would teach.)
Mediocrity Is Not ‘OK’
Colin Adams at Unashamed Workman links to this encouraging article by Ajith Fernando. (Dr. Fernando has been a guest at several CMS Summer Schools in recent years.) –
“I was once at a meeting of preachers, and they were discussing the problem of having inadequate time to prepare their sermons.
One person said that given all the things he had to do, it was impossible for him to give much time for preparation, and therefore he usually went to preach without much preparation. I was shocked by what I heard, but I did not say a word. This happened more than a year ago, and I have suffered much since then. Thoughts have been rolling over and over again in my mind as to what I should have said that day. I have finally decided to put my thoughts on paper …”
– Read it here.
Free New Testament offer
As the screening in Australia of The Bible ‘epic mini-series’ comes to a conclusion tonight, those who want to learn more are being offered a free copy of The New Testament.
Story from the Bible Society.
The Antidote to Anaemic Worship
“In far too many churches, the Bible is nearly silent. The public reading of Scripture has been dropped from many services, and the sermon has been sidelined…”
– Even though Albert Mohler writes in an American context, this is a good reminder.
Annual Moore College Lectures — Daily lectures
At this year’s Moore College Annual Lectures (daily lectures August 20, 21, 23, 23), Vice-Principal Bill Salier is aiming “to survey the whole Bible’s teaching on the ‘world’ as the context for God’s people living lives filled with faith, hope and love”.
Minister wins opportunity to co-host The Project this Wednesday
“David Ould is an Anglican Minister serving in Macquarie Fields, a struggling suburb on the outskirts of Sydney.
Just over a week ago on the spur of the moment, David applied to co-host The Project, as part of its ‘Your Chair’ promotion. Not expecting to hear back, he was shocked and delighted when a producer rang him last Tuesday to let him know he’d been shortlisted, and shocked again when they confirmed he’d be co-hosting The Project this Wednesday night. …”
– Report on ACL Council member David Ould – from Eternity Newspaper.
Archbishop Davies’ Inauguration to be streamed live
The inauguration of the 12th Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, will be streamed live from St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Friday (23rd August) from 7:00pmAEST.
Overseas? That’s Friday 09:00GMT / 10:00am BST / 5:00am US EDT.
You’ll be able to watch it here – with thanks to Audio Advice.
The Puritans
Over the the last few weeks, Tim Challies has published biographical sketches to introduce several of the key English Puritans. Each includes a list of their most important works.
They include Matthew Henry (author of the much-loved Bible commentary), and Richard Sibbes (from whom Mark Dever has been reading in public at Capitol Hill Baptist Church).
So far in this series:
John Owen (1616–1683)
Jeremiah Burroughs (1600–1646)
Richard Sibbes (1577–1635)
Thomas Brooks (1608–1680)
Matthew Henry (1662–1714)
William Perkins (1558–1602).
Cardboard Cathedral opens in Christchurch
“Christchurch has officially opened a transitional cathedral made from cardboard in Latimer Square, replacing the neo-Gothic structure destroyed in a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people in New Zealand’s second largest city.”
– report from ABC News.
Image from cardboardcathedral.org.nz
Mark Dever heading to Sydney
“Over the next two weeks Dr Mark Dever is going to be speaking in Sydney.
Mark is the senior pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC. He is also the President of 9Mark Ministries. … He is one of the most important voices in North American Christianity today.”
– Phillip Jensen with news of Mark Dever’s engagements at the Cathedral.
Moore College Overview Video
With Moore College Sunday coming up this weekend, this 5 minute 30 second video is a great resource to show to your congregation or in small groups.
(The shorter Moore College Sunday Video can be found here.)
Egypt — a call for prayer
“As I write these words, our St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Suez is under heavy attack …
Please pray that the situation will calm down, for wisdom and tact for the police and the army, for the safety of all churches and congregations, and that all in Egypt would be safe.”
– A call for prayer from Archbishop Mouneer Anis.
Update from the ACNS.
Ugandan primate calls for GAFCON support
“The primate of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali has likened GAFCON/FCA (Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans) to the East African Revival and called for believers to back the Nairobi conference to be held in October. …”
– from the GAFCON website.
Backlash in Western Sydney
“Islamic and Christian leaders in western Sydney have warned of a backlash against Labor following Kevin Rudd’s reversal of his views on gay marriage and his pledge to bring forward a bill to legalise it within 100 days of the election. …
In the marginal Labor seat of Greenway, held by Michelle Rowland, Geoff Bates of Quakers Hill Anglican Church said in the view of his 800-strong congregation, Mr Rudd was ‘walking away from the very people who put him in’. …”
– Report from The Australian.
Newcastle election synod set for 14 September
“After failing to reach agreement on a new bishop earlier this year the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle will meet next month to vote again. In March, five candidates were considered to replace retired bishop Brian Farran but none of them received enough votes.
The synod will be considering just one person this time, Northern Territory bishop Greg Thompson. …”
– Report from ABC News.
Diocese of Newcastle election synod page. Photo: Diocese of the Northern Territory.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…