Vale Margaret Rodgers
Readers will be saddened to hear of the death of Deaconess Margaret Rodgers early this morning (31 May 2014).
Margaret was a well-known figure in Sydney Diocese over many years.
Most notably, she served as Principal of Deaconess House (now Mary Andrews College) 1975–85. As well, she was Research Officer, General Synod, 1985–1993, CEO of the Anglican Media Council 1994–2003 and the Archbishop of Sydney’s Media Officer 2004–2007.
Margaret also served on a variety of key boards and committees within and outside Sydney Diocese.
In the 2014 Australia Day Honours List, Deaconess Rodgers was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Kara Hartley, Archdeacon for Women in Sydney Diocese, writes:
“Margaret was passionate for women to be mobilised for ministry. As Principal of Deaconess House, and through her involvement in the Diocese and national church, she was tireless in her support & encouragement of women seeking to serve The Lord. The deaconesses have lost a dear friend and sister.”
Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson writes:
“Moore College owes a considerable debt to Deaconess Rodgers who, as Principal of Deaconess House, gave lectures in church history and participated in the life of the faculty, and of the College more generally, in a variety of ways. The College has lost a very dear friend.”
Archbishop Dr Glenn Davies writes:
“A warrior for Christ, not ashamed of the gospel and not afraid to confront those with whom she disagreed, but always with a winsome smile and a heartfelt desire to see Christ honoured in all areas of life. She will long be remembered, but greatly missed.” (More here.)
Jane Tooher, Director of The Priscilla & Aquila Centre at Moore College, adds:
“I last spoke to Margaret a couple of months ago when I invited her to speak at a conference. Although she was unable to be involved because of her precarious health, the conversation with her was remarkable. She encouraged me and her wonderful sense of humour left me in hysterical laughter at points. All who knew her, and especially those of us at Moore College, have very good reasons to thank God for the life of this faithful servant.”
John Sandeman of Eternity Newspaper has this tribute:
“Most Australian Christians will complain about how the mass media deals with their church, or Christianity itself. It’s rare to see someone set out to deal with this problem and even rarer to see someone succeed, not just once but many times. Margaret Rodgers, who ran media relations for the Sydney Anglicans for a decade and a half, fitted the third category exactly.”
In 2007, Margaret was farewelled on her retirement. “Media Officer’s brilliant career.”
In 2011, the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney took time to specially thank Margaret.
(Photo: Mary Andrews College.)
Permanence before experience — the wisdom of marriage
“Rightly understood, marriage is all about permanence. In a world of transitory experiences, events, and commitments, marriage is intransigent. It simply is what it is – a permanent commitment made by a man and a woman who commit themselves to live faithfully unto one another until the parting of death. …”
– Albert Mohler writes at Southern Seminary’s blog on the wisdom of marriage.
Why Creeds?
“In every major service in the Prayer Book, the congregation recite one of three Creeds, helpfully laid out for us in Article VIII: ‘Of the Three Creeds’.
The Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’s Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture. …”
– At Church Society’s blog, Mark Smith writes to encourage saying of the Creeds.
ChristChurch Cathedral to be ‘deconstructed’
“An order preventing deconstruction of ChristChurch Cathedral has just been lifted by the High Court…”
– Report from The NZ Herald. (Photo: The Cathedral before the earthquake.)
Asylum seekers
“I don’t want to be too controversial in this column but I think the time has come to write something about asylum seekers…”
– Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook challenges not only the government but also the churches and individual Christians in his latest (29 May 2014) Pastoral Letter.
(Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
NZ Vicar leaves Anglican Church over same-sex blessings
Charlie Hughes, the Vicar of St Michael’s Henderson, in West Auckland, has left the Anglican Church over its decision to move to bless same-sex relationships.
“Two-thirds of St Michael’s board had also resigned as had half the staff…”, according to this report from the New Zealand Herald. (Photo: St Michael’s Henderson.)
Condemned Christian woman gives birth
“Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death in Sudan for apostasy, has given birth to a daughter…”
– Report from Barnabas Fund.
The Historical Reliability of the Gospel of Luke — Peter Williams
Dr. Peter Williams, Warden of Tyndale House in Cambridge, spoke at an event for St. Helen’s Bishopsgate last week.
His topic? “The Historical Reliability of the Gospel of Luke”. The 54 minute audio file and is well worth hearing and passing on.
Update: the video of the slides is now available.
Morning Tea for Moore
Work in the City?
This Wednesday (28th May 2014) there’s an opportunity to learn about Moore College over morning tea.
Vice Principal Bill Salier, and faculty members Jane Tooher and Peter Orr, will be on hand to chat about the College and to answer questions. In the QVB Tea Room, 10:00–11:00am – details here.
Healed at Last — What promise am I given?
“When we bow our heads and bend our knees in prayer to the God of all creation, we participate in an impossibly privileged activity. To be able to meet with the one whom the Old Testament saints feared even to name, let alone look upon (lest they be consumed by his glory and die), should be a cause for great humility and no small amount of trembling. The Christian holds an astonishing status before God. On any day, at any time of the day, we may approach God to speak with him personally. We are to approach him as his own children—without fear and with confidence, but always in an attitude of reverent awe and deep respect.
Very often, however, it seems we forget that it is a privilege to come before our Father God – a privilege that Jesus won for us by his sacrifice on the cross. Too often Christians exhibit a bawdy familiarity that verges on contempt. Our regular presence in the throne room can cause us to develop a tendency towards carelessness and presumption, and our humble caution turns into disrespect.…”
– In this extract from his book “Healed at Last”, Scott Blackwell looks at how Christians should pray for healing, and what they should expect. But there’s much more to the extract than that.
Read it at The Briefing, and you can order the book here.
Presidential Address — Tasmanian Synod 2014
Bishop John Harrower’s Presidential Address from the 2014 Synod of the Missionary Diocese of Tasmania:
“The Aurora over the landscape of Tasmania draws from within me a deep longing that the Light of the World, our Lord Jesus Christ, will break into our lives and ministry in powerful and transforming ways. We yearn for His radiance to be fully known, that His rule and Kingdom will be on earth as it is in heaven.
Our State, Tasmania, needs the Church, our Anglican Church, and every Christian man, woman, boy and girl to fulfil our biblical mandate to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom and to declare the purpose of God in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. …
Let me focus you – Do you still love Jesus?
Yes, I know! It is the question you have heard from me on many occasions. It is the question I ask the clergy. But on this occasion let me ask this of each one of us? Yes, each one of us gathered here on this occasion: Do you still love Jesus? Is this the focus of your life? Is your love for Jesus your inspiration, comfort and yearning? …”
Religious Violence and the Kidnapped Girls
“It is an unmitigated horror. There is no excuse and no way of justifying the dreadful kidnapping of the girls in Nigeria. The terror, pain, suffering of those poor young women is beyond comprehension. We must continue to pray for them, support whatever actions are available to rescue them and bring the perpetrators of such a barbaric act to justice. …”
– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column.
Newcastle to renew Tri Diocesan Covenant
The ‘Tri Diocesan Covenant’ signed in 2008 by the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle and the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Maitland-Newcastle and Broken Bay will be renewed at a service in East Maitland next week, according to the Diocese of Newcastle website.
Reading the Bible — Regularly, carefully, prayerfully
The latest two posts by David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church, deal with sin, and reading the Bible (respectively). Here’s a quote from “Reading the Bible – Regularly, carefully, prayerfully”.
“Do you wonder how many people in church read the Bible regularly? The latest statistics I could find from the Bible Society are 19% read on a daily basis, 14% several times a week, 10.5% several times a moth. That means that more than half are not reading the Bible at all. We need to do something about this.”
The church David attends is seeking to do something.
Both posts are under Moderator General’s Comments (you may need to scroll down to 20 May 2014 to find them).
30 Days of Prayer
This year’s 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World prayer guide is now available from their website.
A very practical and heart-felt way to show love for Muslim people with a focus during Ramadan, June 28 – July 27.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…