Andrew Cameron to be Director of St Mark’s Canberra
“The Right Reverend Trevor Edwards, President of St Mark’s Council, announced today the appointment of The Reverend Dr Andrew Cameron as Director of St Mark’s National Theological Centre.
The appointment follows a careful, thorough and rigorous selection process by St Mark’s Council and the consent of Bishop in Council. It will be effective from 1st July 2014, and follows the resignation of the Right Reverend Dr Tom Frame…” – news from the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn.
Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Glenn Davies spoke of Dr Cameron as:
“both an accomplished scholar and a faithful servant of Christ. He possess an incisive mind, a firm integrity and a pervasive godliness which he brings to every task he approaches.
St Mark’s Theological Centre has chosen well and I have no doubt that Dr Cameron will continue to bless the Australian Church in his new role.”
And Moore College Principal Dr. Mark Thompson says,
“Andrew is an extraordinarily able ethicist. His contribution to Moore during more than a decade on the faculty has been of the highest quality and the most enduring character.
While we are very sorry that he is leaving us — it is a very significant loss — we are not at all surprised that others have seen the value of Andrew’s ministry and invited him to lead them.”
Sufficiency
“After spending the last 37 years of my life being a Christian pastor, 26 of those years training others to be pastors and missionaries, I have reached this conclusion…
– David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, writes about the sufficiency of Scripture. (You may need to scroll down – now updated but originally published on 17 February 2014.)
Vale Allan Bryson
Dr. Allan Bryson died on Monday 17th February, in his 100th year.
He was, for many years, a stalwart member of the Anglican Church League and its Council, and served the cause of Christ in the Diocese of Sydney fearlessly in Standing Committee and in many different capacities. He was a long-serving member of the Presentation Board, and was also a member of General Synod Standing Committee and its Doctrine Committee.
Dr Bryson’s funeral will be held at St Andrew’s Roseville, at 10:30am on Monday, 24th February, 2014.
Members of the Anglican Church League, and many others, give thanks to the Lord for this faithful servant.
From his funeral notice: “The LORD preserves the faithful. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” – Psalm 31:23-24.
Happy 70th Birthday to Tyndale House
“70 years ago today, with the War still raging, Tyndale House was purchased for just 4,500 pounds Sterling to be established as a residential centre for biblical research.
Since then many hundreds of scholars have been supported and equipped through Tyndale House to serve the church. Around 300 PhD theses have been substantially written in our library. The Bible translations alone that have been produced by scholars who have spent time here have reached millions, and the impact of scholarship from Tyndale House has been global. We’re thankful to God for this and look to him for the future.”
– from an e-mail from Tyndale House in Cambridge.
A young Broughton Knox, then in the UK, was convinced of the worth of such an institution. According to the minutes of the meeting of the group that set up Tyndale House, the motion that it be a residential library and not simply a library, was moved by DBK.
See this video introduction to Tyndale House.
Pastoral Guidance from the C of E concerning Same Sex Marriage
The Church of England House of Bishops has issued a Letter and Statement offering Pastoral Guidance on Same Sex Marriage.
“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
We write as fellow disciples of Jesus Christ who are called to love one another as Christ has loved us. Our vocation as disciples of Christ in God’s world is to hold out the offer of life in all its fullness. God delights always to give good gifts to his children.
The gospel of the love of God made known to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest of these gifts. The call of the gospel demands that we all listen, speak and act with integrity, self discipline and grace, acknowledging that as yet our knowledge and understanding are partial.
As members of the Body of Christ we are aware that there will be a range of responses across the Church of England to the introduction of same sex marriage. As bishops we have reflected and prayed together about these developments. As our statement of 27th January indicated, we are not all in agreement about every aspect of the Church’s response. However we are all in agreement that the Christian understanding and doctrine of marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman remains unchanged. …”
Updated with these comments:
“Anglican Mainstream appreciates and affirms the clear and unequivocal statement that the Christian understanding and doctrine of marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman remains unchanged. We are grateful for the assurance that the idea of same sex marriages being solemnized in C of E churches in future is not supported by the Bishops. …”
– Andrew Symes, Anglican Mainstream.
“… The credibility of this pastoral guidance will, I fear, be very quickly tested. How these things are handled in practice will determine and define the Church’s stance on the issue, more than well-intentioned words. It will be difficult for the bishops to implement their guidance in the face of the intense lobbying they will face, and we must pray for them and support them in any way we can as they seek to carefully shepherd the flock.”
Why Follow Jesus?
“At the end of the rather amazing narrative in John 6 Jesus asks the twelve remaining disciples, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’
The context was that 5000 were following him at the beginning of the day but now the last of them has drifted off and only the original twelve remained.
Peter replies for the twelve, ‘Lord, to whom can we go?’ And his reason was, ‘You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know that you are the holy one of God’…”
– Bishop Paul Barnett reminds us who it is who has the words of eternal life.
The False Teachers: Arius
“This morning I am setting out on a new series of articles that will scan the history of the church – from its earliest days all the way to the present time – and pause to examine some of Christianity’s most notorious false teachers. …
We will begin this morning with one of the very first, and certainly one of the most dangerous, false teachers: Arius.” – Tim Challies begins a new series.
Paul’s Missionary Journeys
CleverWhy support Moore?
Why support Moore College with your prayers and your finances?
Read commendations from two men we know and love – at the Moore College website.
Reflections on ‘What Can Miserable Christians Sing?’
“Of all the things I have written, my little essay, ‘What Can Miserable Christians Sing?’ has provided me with so many delightful surprises over the years. …”
– Carl Trueman at Westminster Seminary reminds us of “the power of liturgy to shape the mind of a Christian congregation” – at 9Marks.
A Sat-Nav with Nowhere to go
“Do you ever find yourself driving on auto pilot? Not just do you change gears and use the traffic indicator without conscious thought but do you also travel along habitual routes without thinking about it? Have you ever found yourself following your usual route but going in the wrong direction? Forgetting your destination is a significant mistake to make…”
– Phillip Jensen writes in his latest column for the Cathedral.
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, author of “The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert”, spoke recently at Wheaton College in Illinois. The video and audio files from her talk are now available.
Update: You are What – and How – You Read
“I just returned from a well-known (and well-heeled) Christian college, where roughly 100 demonstrators gathered on the chapel steps to protest my address on the grounds that my testimony was dangerous. Later that day, I sat down with these beloved students, to listen, to learn, and to grieve.”
Senate rejects push to dump Lord’s Prayer
“The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed the Senate’s decision to reject the Greens’ push to dump the Lord’s Prayer from parliament.”
– from the Australian Christian Lobby.
TEC Annual Litigation Summary 2014
A. S. Haley, Christian lawyer and blogger (as The Anglican Curmudgeon) has provided a comprehensive list of legal action by (and against) The Episcopal Church of the USA.
See also: How Much Has ECUSA Spent on Lawsuits? (Updated Jan. 2014).
Church Society Director looks to Archbishop Welby for credible action
“After this candid speech, we are looking to him, in a positive and hopeful way, to make the claim that he wants evangelicals like us to flourish in the Church truly credible. He could do that in two ways: first, by engaging conservatives in real dialogue, listening in detail to our concerns; and second, encouraging and ensuring the appointment of 12 Conservative Evangelical Bishops.”
– Church Society Director Lee Gatiss responds to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Presidential Address to the Church of England’s General Synod.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…