The YouGov poll on same-sex marriage
There’s been widespread reporting of a UK poll, with stories beginning like this one –
“Anglican churchgoers in the UK who support gay marriage outnumber those opposed to it for the first time, according to a new poll…” (Sky News Australia).
So what’s the real story?
“Last night the internet was abuzz with a YouGov poll, commissioned by the revisionist campaigner Jayne Ozanne, that was purported to show that a majority of Anglicans now supported same-sex marriage. It did no such thing…
The headlines become even more suspect when you look at the poll questions in detail.”
– Ian Paul and Peter Ould have some analysis.
Bishop Charlie Masters’ Reflections on Canterbury – Two weeks after
Bishop Charlie Masters, of the Anglican Network in Canada, shares some further reflections on what happened at the Primates’ Meeting in Canterbury –
“Those of us who have been living through what’s known as the realignment of Anglicanism – which incidentally began June 15, 2002 in Vancouver – are familiar with the image of the iceberg. What you see above the waterline though it may be immense is actually less than 1/8 of the complete iceberg; 7/8 of the iceberg looms below the surface. It is a big mistake to assume that the visible ice is all there is.
As Archbishop Foley said in his statement what happened at these meetings was only a beginning. But it IS a beginning, for which we can thank God.
As to the issue of discipline, although one could argue that the scope was far too narrow and the discipline far too weak and that others, including the ACoC should have been included, nevertheless this small step of discipline WAS taken. What was done was a good beginning…”
– Read it all on the ANiC website – or here as a PDF file.
Sydney mourns two leaders in Education
We are saddened to learn of the death of The Rev. Canon Stanley Kurrle OBE, sixteenth Headmaster of The King’s School. He died on Wednesday 20th January 2016, at the age of 93.
Canon Kurrle was Headmaster from 1965-1983.
In a message to the school community, the present Headmaster, Dr Timothy Hawkes, wrote,
“During his time at King’s Canon Kurrle was greatly respected for his pastoral care and educational leadership and was loved by his boys. He had the unique capacity to know and never forget his boys, a quality that greatly endeared him to all.”
Canon Kurrle was a long-standing member of the New Universities Colleges Council (NUCC) which founded New College at UNSW and Robert Menzies College at Macquarie University.
His funeral will be held at St. James’ Chapel, Mowll Village, Castle Hill at 11:00am on Friday 29th January.
News has also come of the death of Mr. Roderick West, Head at Trinity Grammar School 1975–1996.
Current Head Master, Milton Cujes, wrote in a message dated 25th January 2016:
“It is with regret that I inform you that we have learned that our much-loved former Head Master, Mr Roderick West AM, M.A.(Syd), B.D. (Lond.), Dip. Ed. (Syd.), F.A.C.E., died this morning. An outstanding teacher of the Classics, and an inspiring leader in Christian education. Mr West was Head Master at Trinity Grammar School from 1975 to July 1996. He was then appointed as interim Principal at Kambala Anglican Girls’ School at Rose Bay from May to December 1999.
Details regarding funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course.”
Many will give thanks for Rod West’s service in his capacity as a Trustee of Thomas Moore’s Estate. In addition, he was a valued member of the governing board of Moore College.
His funeral service will be held at the Trinity Grammar School Chapel, Prospect Road, Summer Hill on Friday 5th February 2016 at 11.00am, followed by morning tea. All clergy requested to robe.
Update: The Sydney Morning Herald has published a very fitting Obituary.
We give thanks to the Lord for these two brothers, and do not mourn as those do who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13.)
(Top photo: Canon Kurrle in 2014, courtesy of The King’s School.
Second photo: Rod West in 1994, courtesy of Trinity Grammar School, via Ramon Williams Worldwide Photos.)
Possibly the best App to help you pray
Andy Geers in the UK has updated PrayerMate to version 5.
PrayerMate is considered by many to be the best iOS and Android app to help you pray consistently and thoughtfully.
Watch Andy’s explanation of what’s new, and even consider supporting his ministry. (Andy makes his app available without charge.)
ACNA clarifies Archbishop Beach’s participation at Primates 2016
“The Anglican Church in North America has received numerous questions regarding whether or not Archbishop Beach was ‘a full voting member of the Primates Meeting…’.”
– Statement from ACNA.
Australia Day Honours 2016
In the 2016 Australia Day Honours List, a number of Anglican Christians whom we know and love have been recognised. Included among them are:
Mrs Christine Jensen, who has been awarded Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia, “For service to the Anglican Church community in Sydney”, including her many years of encouragement to women of the Moore College family and through Mothers’ Union.
In 2010, Christine was interviewed for the In Tandem ministry wives’ blog. In it, she shares some excellent advice:
“Love Jesus, read your Bible, say your prayers and ‘do the good works he’s prepared for you to walk in’ (Ephesians 2:10)”.
Mr Peter Kell, has been appointed Member (AM) of the Order of Australia, “For significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, to social welfare programs and delivery, and to the community of the Illawarra”.
Peter is well known through his many years of gospel-driven service, including as CEO of Anglicare Sydney, 2004-2011.
Our congratulations and best wishes go to them both, and to all who have been honoured.
Sydneyanglicans.net has more here.
(Photos courtesy Mothers’ Union Sydney and Anglicare Sydney.)
When politics becomes your religion
On the 4th January 2016 edition of The Briefing, Albert Mohler discusses an article, “What explains the Vicious Left?”, by Professor David Gelernter at Yale.
Speaking in a US context, Mohler says,
“…what professor Gelernter is arguing is that on the left, political ideas have taken the place of religious doctrines and religious truth claims, and have become ends in themselves and matters of absolute truth claims, and have become ends in themselves and matters of absolute truth claims. …
I think Professor Gelernter is absolutely right that for many on the left, politics is all that remains. It’s all they have left.”
Listen or read here. (Segment 3)
When Abortion suddenly stopped making sense
“We also thought, back then, that few abortions would ever be done. It’s a grim experience, going through an abortion, and we assumed a woman would choose one only as a last resort. We were fighting for that ‘last resort.’ We had no idea how common the procedure would become…”
– This long and disturbing article was written to coincide with the 43rd anniversary, this last weekend, of the Roe v. Wade decision in the US Supreme Court.
Since that time, 59 million babies in the USA have lost their lives through abortion. Image: National Review.
My Request — Phillip Jensen
Heartbreak, Humiliation and a Death Certificate
“‘Heartbreak and humiliation’ were the opening words of the current affairs show ‘The 7:30 Report’ on the national public broadcaster, the ABC, on Thursday Friday 21, 2016. The story? The tragic accidental death of David Bulmer-Rizzi, one member of a UK same sex couple who were visiting the country.
The tragedy was compounded, the report said, by the fact that the South Australian authorities were proposing to issue a death certificate which stated that the deceased was ‘never married’. But the couple had entered into a same sex marriage under UK law…”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster provides the legal context behind some of the media reporting surrounding a tragic death.
My request for Australia Day: Please stop attacking extremists
Phillip Jensen argues we need more extremists, not fewer –
“Extremism is not the problem. There is nothing wrong with extremism. It all depends on what cause you are extreme about, and how you implement it.
For people or societies that have no morality and no religion, ‘extremism’ is the worst of all behaviours. For Governments who believe in management over justice and truth, extremism is the chief ‘sin’ that has to be opposed and controlled. Western societies are trying to fight ‘extremism’ because we, in the West, refuse to even discuss religion, or religion based morality. So we are left opposing all religions as if they, and their extreme expressions, were the same thing. And we are paranoid about all extremism and only fight when something disturbs our peace.
But consider some extremists: A couple of successful, capable, health professionals leaving all the comforts, prosperity, security, and career advancements in Australia to help the desperately sick in an isolated, dangerous, impoverished, dysfunctional society. They have not done it as a short-term stint to help the needy in a crisis but starting in 1972 have continued for over 40 years. Here is a surgeon still working in his 80’s, for there is no other to replace him, amongst the thousands of well remunerated, western surgeons. He is the only surgeon for a couple of million people, building a hospital from nothing. He and his wife have not worked for money or fame but for their ultimate aim “to show the love of God”.
These people are extremists. Their whole life is anything but normal, average, usual or mainstream. They are extremists: Christian extremists. They are not alone. All over the world there are Christian extremists like this: People who have voluntarily given up the great Australian secularist life for something higher, grander, better. Extremists who have sacrificed the materialist dream to serve Christ by serving the poor, marginalised, endangered and sick.
When Muslim extremists kidnapped them, their life came into the public domain. At first they were called ‘humanitarian workers’, as were the other seven who were killed at that time elsewhere in Burkina Faso. But their motivation was not simply humanitarian, it was religion that made them extremists. And not simply religion but Christian religion – for each religion has its own ways of living extremely – and sacrificing your life for the benefit of others is profoundly Christian. We do not follow a warrior prophet but the crucified Christ. Our extremism is good for the world, which is why wise governments have supported and promoted it – for it is for the common good.
Sadly Christians don’t always get it right. But when we are wrong, call out what is wrong. Don’t blame extremism or religion. In 1963, some clergy opposed Rev. Martin Luther King’s campaign of non-violent protest. They were wrong. But they were right when they called him an extremist – for he was!
In his famous letter from the Birmingham gaol he wrote:
But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label.
Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”
Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.”
Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.”
And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.”
And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.”
And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . .”
So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?
In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime–the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.
Please stop attacking extremists; we need more of them not fewer. But we need extremists for the right causes not the wrong ones. And that means we need to face the hard issue of saying what is right and wrong and why it is right or wrong. Otherwise, we will simply end up making conformity the great good and extremism (of any form) the great evil. And that, in the end, is a recipe for tyranny.”
– Phillip Jensen.
First published at PhillipJensen.com. Formatting of the Martin Luther King quote adjusted for clarity.
Face 2016 with Prayer
“We live in a disturbing, unsettled world. This year we will face a Federal election in Australia and the possibility, if the Coalition is returned, of a national plebiscite on the nature of marriage…”
– Amid all the challenges 2016 will bring, Presbyterian Moderator-General David Cook calls Christians to prayer.
AP scores a hit with scoop on ISIS’ destruction of Iraqi monastery
“Certainly, journalists can’t do enough to explain what’s up with this orgy of monument desecration that ISIS and Al Qaeda enjoy doing. But there’s a deeper issue here…”
– Julia Duin at Get Religion looks at coverage of the destruction of the 1400 year old St. Elijah’s Monastery of Mosul monastery. (Image: CCTV.)
‘The Ugandans remember’
In this week’s video chat (Anglican Unscripted) between Anglican TV’s Kevin Kallsen and Anglican Ink’s George Conger, the topic is the Primates’ Meeting, and the TEC response.
They ask if the exclusion of TEC from certain kinds of participation is a consequence (as the Archbishop of Canterbury says) or discipline? They also respond to suggestions from some in North America that only the Anglican Consultative Council, and not the Primates, has authority to act on these matters.
Watch it here. 18 minutes.
Related
Legalism v. love — Peter Ould on responses to the Canterbury communique – Anglican Ink.
“Here’s two simple things to remember.
i) They’re absolutely right (the ones who claim the Primates have no statutory power to demand such a sanction / consequence)
ii) It doesn’t matter in the slightest, the sanction / consequence is still going to happen because the force behind them is not one of law but one of love…”
A grubby little incident – by Robert Tong at SydneyAnglicans.net, on the 2009 Anglican Consultative Council -14 meeting in Jamaica.
“In a naked display of political power, the American Episcopal Church leadership stopped the Rev Philip Ashey, the clergy representative of the Province of Uganda, from taking his place at the 14th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council held in Jamaica…”
‘ISIS destroys Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery’
“Satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press confirm what church leaders and Middle East preservationists had feared: The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a field of rubble … St. Elijah’s Monastery stood as a place of worship for 1,400 years…”
– Report from Fox News.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…