Anglican Church in North America elects new Archbishop
“The College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America elected today the Rt. Rev. Dr. Foley Beach of the Diocese of the South. Bishop Foley Beach will succeed the Most Rev. Robert Duncan, the first archbishop for the Anglican Church in North America…”
– from The Anglican Church in North America.
And a response from Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Glenn Davies:
“Bishop Foley will be a strong conservative voice within this newly formed province, among the GAFCON Primates and throughout the Anglican Communion. He is a man who has stood firm for the gospel in difficult circumstances, and has not been afraid to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.”
Credo: Shadow and Substance in Contemporary Anglicanism
The Rev. Charles Raven gave three lectures last month at George Whitefield College in Capetown. His topic: “Credo: Shadow and Substance in Contemporary Anglicanism.”
Charles is well qualified to speak about the key issues facing the Anglican Communion.
“My personal story has been closely bound up with these momentous events. What you will hear from me is not just the product of academic study.
The church of which I was incumbent in England was the first after the Lambeth 1998 Conference to act on the biblical principle that fellowship cannot be continued with leaders who persistently and publicly contradict core truths of Christian doctrine and morality.
In February 1999, my diocesan bishop likened the Lambeth Conference to a Nazi Nuremburg rally and claimed that those bishops who had affirmed the historic biblical understanding of sexuality were a manifestation of the demonic powers and principalities of Ephesians 6:12.
After a period of prayer and reflection, my Church Council declared that it could not receive the ministry of the bishop. The result was that after some two years, I lost the parish church, the vicarage and my stipend. I did not however lose the congregation.”
You can read the text of his lectures at the GAFCON website. Summaries (from the GAFCON website) here –
Since the Lambeth Conference of 1998, there have been two basic reactions to radical revisionism in the West. The theological response, focused by GAFCON, is recovering the confessing Anglicanism of our Reformation title deeds, whereas the Lambeth based ‘Instruments of Unity’ have succumbed to the pragmatic attraction of an illusory middle ground where biblical truth is relativized to culture.
Whereas in Thomas Cranmer we find hermeneutic confidence and ecclesiological pessimism, in Rowan Williams we find the reverse – hermeneutic pessimism and ecclesiological optimism. While the former, as developed by his successors such as Jewel and Hooker, offers a stable paradigm of what it is to be both Catholic and Reformed, the latter is neither Catholic nor Reformed and is irretrievably unstable.
The great sign of hope among the chaos is that there is a consciousness within the Communion that it must define itself by the history of God as revealed in Holy Scripture rather than the history of England. Paradoxically, it seems that what I believe to be my country’s greatest contribution to the world, the English Reformation, will only come to its full fruition in the Anglican Communion when England is no longer at its centre.
Charles is also the author of Shadow Gospel: Rowan Williams and the Anglican Communion Crisis.
C of E General Synod agenda ‘built around women bishop business’
“The General Synod of the Church of England meets in York in July for a five day meeting from 3.00 pm on Friday 11th July until 1.00 pm on Tuesday 15 July.
The Agenda for the meeting is published today. The Agenda is constructed around a sequence of legislative business on Women in the Episcopate…”
– Report from The Church of England.
Why not ‘burn out for Jesus’?
Cornhill’s Christopher Ash spoke on ‘How to maintain pastoral zeal while avoiding pastoral burnout’ at a conference in the US last month.
Justin Taylor has the video and audio, as well as links to the books mentioned.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for anyone in ministry (and anyone who supports them) to watch this. Runs for 52 minutes.
12 Questions to ask before you watch ‘Game of Thrones’
“The closer I get to death and meeting Jesus personally face to face and giving an account for my life and for the careless words that I have spoken (Matthew 12:36), the more sure I am of my resolve never intentionally to look at a television show or a movie or a website or a magazine where I know I will see photos or films of nudity. Never. That is my resolve. And the closer I get to death, the better I feel about that, and the more committed I become…”
– Perhaps ‘Game of Thrones’ isn’t your thing – but this is still good advice from John Piper.
Related: “Foxtel says about 500,000 Australians watch each episode via a paid subscription, while another half a million download it illegally…” – ABC News.
God made me this way
“The nature argument is expressed: ‘I was born this way.’ ‘This is how God made me.’ ‘I can’t help it; it’s not my fault; it’s in my DNA.’ …
The nurture argument is expressed: ‘I am free to do whatever I like, however I like to do it.’ ‘You mustn’t restrict me from, or require me to do, anything because of my race, sex, or biology.’…”
– Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column for the Cathedral newsletter.
Presbyterians Church (USA) to allow gay marriage ceremonies
“At their gathering in Detroit, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States voted to allow their clergy to perform same-sex marriages…”
– Report from USA Today.
And for something quite different, the June edition of The Pulse, magazine of the Presbyterian Church in NSW is well worth a look.
Moore College School of Theology 2014
Moore College’s 2014 School of Theology is set for Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th September.
The focus is on the Gospel of Matthew.
Registration is now open – and there’s a list of Contributors and their topics at the link!
Oh, and if you are a user of the College Library, note that it’s closed June 23rd to July 11th, inclusive.
High Court strikes down chaplaincy funding
“Funding for school chaplains has been declared constitutionally invalid for the second time by the High Court of Australia…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reassured the community of the government’s commitment to the program when he said it ‘very much supports [the program] and wants it to continue’. It follows the announcement in May to continue to fund the program a further $244 million over four years.
In the Senate Question time today, Senator Brandis said “It is important to note that in arriving at that conclusion, the Court did not deal with the merits of the program, merely that the question of whether it fell within a particularly constitutional definition”…”
– Report from The Australian Christian Lobby.
New Moore College faculty member appointed
“The Governing Board of the College has approved the Principal’s nomination of Rev Dr Lionel Windsor to the faculty from 1 January 2015. Dr Windsor is a graduate of the College who is currently serving as Assistant Minister at St Augustine’s Anglican Church, Neutral Bay…”
Archbishop Aspinall to refocus on Brisbane
“In a few weeks my nine year term as Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia will come to an end…
The Board to elect a new Primate will meet in Adelaide on Saturday, June 28. I will then preside over the 16th General Synod from June 29 to July 4, immediately following which I will hand over the reins to the newly elected Primate.”
– Archbishop of Brisbane Phillip Aspinall reflects as he nears the end of his time as Primate – in the June – July 2014 issue of FOCUS from the Diocese of Brisbane. (Page 2, see also page 15ff.)
Learning to pray
Dr Michael Spence, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sydney, spoke movingly at this year’s Sydney Prayer Breakfast about his own prayer life after his wife died.
His talk has been made available at Eternity Newspaper.
Latest ‘New Life’
The latest issue (15 June 2014) of New Life newspaper, published in Melbourne, is now up on their website. (PDF file.)
It has a good spread of international news you might not see otherwise. In addition, there’s mention of a new commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah by Moore College graduate Greg Goswell (now Academic Dean at Christ College in Sydney).
The Pen is mightier
“A student entering a lecture room today would consider taking notes on a laptop entirely natural. Why would anyone in their right mind question that activity?…”
– a thought-provoking piece from George Whitefield College.
‘Why Christians are under pressure to exit Iraq’
“The Archbishop of Mosul Amel Nona said that in the 11 years following the 2003 US-led overthrow of Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein, Christians in Mosul had declined from 35,000 to 3,000. This week, Mosul’s last remaining Christians had left their homes, he said.”
– This report from World Watch Monitor summarises the precarious situation for Christians in Iraq. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…