Into all the world — Moore College Graduation 2015
Moore’s 2015 graduation was held on Monday night, with 109 graduates receiving their awards.
Anglican Aid opens appeal for Vanuatu
“Anglican Aid has opened an appeal to aid the nation of Vanuatu in the wake of the worst cyclone in memory.
Reports emerging from the Island say Cyclone Pam, which struck on the weekend of the 14th and 15th of March, left unprecedented devestation. Vanuatu’s president Baldwin Lonsdale was in tears as he described the effects of the ‘monster’ storm…”
– Details at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Image: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team.
Pakistan bomb attack — March 15 2015
“The attacks took place as Christians met together for Sunday morning worship services in the predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Youhanabad in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. The two churches targeted were separated from each other by about half a kilometre…”
– Barnabas Fund has this summary and appeal for prayer and financial assistance.
And the Primate of The Church of Pakistan, Bishop Samuel Azariah, also asks for prayer. (Anglican Communion News Service.)
Presbyterian Appeal for Vanuatu
David Cook, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, has launched an appeal for Vanuatu:
“The Presbyterian Church of Australia has a unique relationship with the Church in Vanuatu, we have a long history of Ni Vanuatuan students training for ministry in Australia, and have had a strong connection with the Bible Training College in Talua.
At this stage we dont know of about loss at Talua, the worst impact of the cyclone was in the south, whereas Talua is in the north.
Please pray for Vanuatu, pray for relief to be provided, pray that there will be selfless rescue and generous love shown both from those on the ground in Vanuatu and neighbouring nations…”
– from Australian Presbyterian World Mission.
And an update (Monday 16 March) here.
Professor Edwin Judge — Engaging Rome and Jerusalem — book launch
On March 11th 2015, Bishop Paul Barnett gave this address at the launch of a collection of essays by Professor Edwin Judge. Very encouraging:
(Update: See also Assoc. Prof. Stuart Piggin’s remarks, and ordering details for the book.)
Book Launch – Text of Bishop Paul Barnett’s remarks:
E.A. Judge, Engaging Rome and Jerusalem,
(ed. S. Piggin; North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014).
In 1966 E.A. Judge, Reader in History at the University of Sydney had a small third year Roman History class of which I was a member, along with a younger Tom Hillard.
Tom has gone on to great things as a Roman historian and I have pursued the study of Christian origins within the canon of Jewish, Roman and early Christian texts. Another in the class, Judith Nicholls, now a senior mature age student, is researching her PhD on Jerome.
Edwin Judge’s office is lined with the higher degree theses of his dozens of supervised students. These volumes are silent tribute to a master teacher’s scholarship but equally to his generosity. Read more
Twin blasts at churches in Pakistan kill 10
“Bombs outside two churches in the Pakistani city of Lahore killed 10 people and wounded more than 55 during Sunday services, rescue workers said, and witnesses said quick action by a security guard prevented many more deaths…”
– Report from the Anglican Communion News Service. BBC report.
How can we pray for terrorists?
Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council writes to encourage Christians to pray for those involved in terrorism.
North West Network March 2015
Keep up with happenings in (and pray for) the churches of the Diocese of Northwest Australia through their latest North West Network newsletter, March 2015.
Download it here as a 900kb PDF file.
‘There is no biblical justification, in any circumstance, for domestic violence.’
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement March 13th, 2015
Domestic violence and churches
(response to SMH and ABC)
“There is no biblical justification, in any circumstance, for domestic violence. The classic Christian understanding of a husband’s loving, sacrificial, servant-like leadership leaves absolutely no room for violence or fear.
We would be very open to participating in a cross-denominational survey of domestic violence issues, benchmarked with society in general. Whether or not such a survey is conducted, we will continue to speak out against domestic violence through education, training and advocacy.
I also encourage our ministers to explore this issue further with their congregations, making them more aware of the problem and the necessity of properly dealing with specific cases where-ever they may be found.
Archbishop Glenn N Davies,
March 13, 2015.”
First published at SydneyAnglicans.net.
C. E. B. Cranfield (1915-2015)
“The Reverend Professor Charles E. B. Cranfield, who has died six months short of what would have been his hundredth birthday, was one of the leading British New Testament scholars of the second half of the twentieth century.…”
– Tom Wright has written this tribute to C.E.B. Cranfield, who died last week.
Oak Hill & Acts 29 to partner in church planting training
“Acts 29, the global church planting network, and Oak Hill College have entered into a partnership to establish an academy to train people for ministry and church planting in Europe and the 10/40 window…”
– News from Oak Hill College in London.
‘Submission’ to my husband allows us both to flourish in our marriage
“Recent articles in this newspaper about evangelical churches’ “oppressive” doctrine of male headship reveal a complete failure to understand the Christian psyche…
Some see inconsistency between the Bible’s teaching of “Christian freedom” on the one hand, and female submission on the other.
However, it is precisely the Bible’s teaching on freedom which so transforms a person’s thinking once they become a Christian that they are ready to submit to others.”
– Sarah Colyer writes this helpful opinion-piece in The Sydney Morning Herald.
First C of E woman bishop to be installed at Chester Cathedral
“The Church of England’s first woman bishop, Libby Lane, will be formally installed in her new role as Bishop of Stockport this afternoon. More than 1,500 people are expected to attend the event at Chester Cathedral on International Women’s Day…”
– Report from ITV.
Human Sexuality and the ‘Same Sex Marriage’ Debate
This promises to be a very useful book:
“The current debates about gender, the meaning of marriage and human sexuality are of interest to people inside and outside the Christian churches. A massive exercise in social engineering is underway around the world and it is often difficult to discern how Christians might contribute to the debate in a way that will not simply be dismissed as traditionalist bigotry.
The Sydney Diocesan Doctrine Commission has spent two years reflecting upon the issues and has produced this little book as a resource for Christians who wish to understand what is happening and how they might respond, as well as an explanation to others of why Christians have found the debate and the way it has been conducted in the public arena deeply disturbing.”
The members of the Doctrine Commission who have contributed to this report include:
- Rev Dr Peter Bolt
- Bishop Robert Forsyth
- Archdeacon Kara Hartley
- Rev Dr David Höhne
- Rev Tony Payne
- Rev Gavin Perkins
- Rev Robert Smith
- Rev Canon Dr Mark Thompson (chair)
– Now available as a pre-order from Anglican Press Australia (an imprint of Youthworks’ Christian Education Publications).
The Mark Drama at Moore College
Moore College is putting on two performances of The Mark Drama – on Wednesday April 1st and Thursday April 2nd.
Why not take a friend? Details and booking here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…