Pressies gear up for Reformation 500
What better way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Ninety-five theses?
The Presbyterians take a lead.
Terrific.
The Church Praying — latest 9Marks Journal
“Abraham prayed. Moses prayed. David prayed. The prophets prayed. The apostles prayed. Jesus himself prayed.
But do our churches pray when they gather together?
My own experience suggests, not much. There might be a few cursory upward glances through the course of a church service. But there are almost no studied, careful, extended times of prayer—little to no adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or supplication. And that lack of praying, when you think about it, is embarrassing. Do we actually think we can change the leopard spots, or bring the dead to life? Anything a church does that will be eternally worthwhile must be done by the Lord, which is to say, through prayer.
Our primary hope for this Journal is that it would both encourage churches to pray more together and offer a few pointers on how.”
– Jonathan Leeman introduces the latest 9Marks Journal.
Where do we find Anglican Communion?
“This idea that the church’s role is somehow to uncritically affirm the culture and hold out the love of God without any call to repentance is at the very least a defective view of New Testament Christianity and certainly cannot be called evangelical.
But for me to say such a thing is itself the problem, according to another Bishop, Colin Fletcher who has been acting Bishop of Oxford for the past 18 months…”
– At Anglican Mainstream, Andrew Symes reviews the notion being pushed ahead of the Church of England’s General Synod of “unity in [doctrinal] diversity”.
Built on Prayer: Moore College Sunday 2016
Churches will have received information packs for this year’s Moore College Sunday, set for August 7th.
Enjoy a sneak peak at the video that’s been produced to encourage you to uphold the College in prayer.
Or course, you don’t need to wait until August to pray for the College. Please don’t!
From the College:
“How wonderful to know that our College is, and continues to be, built on prayerful dependence and trust in the Almighty Creator of all.
Every year, one Sunday is carved out as an especially focussed day of uniting in prayer for our College. Moore College Sunday will happen across Sydney and beyond on August 7. Supporters, students, faculty and past College members will be joined in their asking for God’s sustained goodness towards Moore College.
To help you and your church family pray powerfully, the Moore College Sunday site is full of information and resources. You can send through prayer requests, sign up for our prayer bulletins or download sample prayers to share with your congregation.”
In the video, College Principal Mark Thompson is leafing through A Centenary History of Moore Theological College by Marcus Loane.
Diocese of the Northern Territory position vacant
The Anglican Diocese of the Northern Territory is seeking a full time Executive Assistant for the Diocesan Office located in Darwin.
Interested? Know someone who might be?
Details from the NT Anglican website.
Homosexuality and “hate speech”
“Simply expressing opposition to homosexuality from a religious perspective, not accompanied by incitement to violence, should not be classified as unlawful ‘hate speech’.
The terrible events at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed by a man claiming to act in the name of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ group, have naturally generated much heated comment online and in the news media. As others have noted, this was almost a ‘perfect storm’ of hot-button controversies in the world today: Islam, homosexuality and gun control being some of the main ones.
… it might be worth reminding ourselves of some facts about homosexuality, religious perspectives, and the idea of ‘hate speech’. I’d like to offer five propositions, and comment on them briefly…”
– Neil Foster (Assoc Prof. in Law) provides some clarity on ‘hate speech’ in the context of current events. Read it all at the link.
Related:
Shorten, Greens dismay gay marriage foes – News.com.au
“Anti-gay-marriage groups have slammed comments by Labor and the Greens linking a national vote on same-sex marriage to the deadly Orlando mass shooting.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed away from associating a plebiscite with gay hate crime on Saturday, after earlier making reference to the mass killing, but he said he was concerned ‘ugly arguments’ would emerge.’
Dawson Trotman remembered with thanksgiving — 60 years on
At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor has a profile of Navigators founder Dawson Trotman.
Trotman drowned at a Christian camp on July 18th 1956.
A Year of Mercy for Catholics
“Pope Francis… has declared 2016 to be a Year of Mercy for all Catholics. This is quite a big thing for the world’s Catholics. Francis published a book containing one of his encyclicals on mercy in 2015 called The Name of God is Mercy, Catholic schools around the world have structured their syllabi around this theme, and Catholic churches are organizing their teaching programs around the theme of mercy this year as well.
Having recently read Francis’ book, I thought it would be good to share a few thoughts on how to engage with Catholics who will be thinking about mercy more this year…”
– Some good ideas from Mark Gilbert to help us connect with our Catholic friends. At GoThereFor.
(Photo via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
‘Bill Shorten says same-sex marriage plebiscite would not lead to homophobia-driven violence’
“The Federal Opposition Leader has said although a plebiscite on same-sex marriage could be damaging to the LGBT community, he does not think that it would lead to a shooting like the one in Orlando.
Bill Shorten said during the online leaders’ debate on Friday night that he did not want to hold a plebiscite because it would encourage homophobia.
He also referenced the recent shooting in Orlando and the murder of British MP Jo Cox…”
– Report from ABC News.
Related:
“Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s linking of the Orlando massacre to a people’s vote on marriage was an unfortunate form of emotional manipulation designed to silence debate, according to the Australian Christian Lobby…” – Australian Christian Lobby.
Orlando: A Time to Weep… A Time to Mourn
Phillip Jensen writes about the tragic shootings in Orlando, Florida, this week:
“At the moment, what we know is that thousands of Americans are this day mourning the loss of a close relative, a friend, a colleague, a neighbour. Their heartache is real and deep and will not cease when the news cycle moves on to another beat up. … They need our compassion and our tears, our prayers and condolences.”
Read it all here. (Picture: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
ACL AGM pledges support for Archbishop Nicholas Okoh
This motion of support for Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria was passed unanimously by the Anglican Church League’s Annual General Meeting tonight, 16th June 2016 –
“The Anglican Church League gives thanks to God for the strong spiritual leadership of the Chair of the GAFCON Primates Council, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria.
In particular, we stand with the Archbishop in his call to the leaders of the Church of England to uphold the teaching of the written word of God on human sexuality, to distance themselves from the false teaching and corrupt practice of the American Episcopal Church, and to give themselves afresh to the proclamation of the crucified and risen Christ and the re-evangelisation of Europe.
We pledge our prayerful support of Archbishop Okoh as he continues to lead the GAFCON movement with grace, faithfulness and boldness.
We call on all Anglicans across the world to join with him in upholding biblical truth and genuine Christian discipleship, which is characterised by humility and a resolute commitment to the teaching of the Bible, the centrality of the gospel of Christ, and the new life of faith, repentance and obedience.”
Andrew Bruce elected President of the Anglican Church League 2016-17
The Rev. Andrew Bruce has been elected the President of the Anglican Church League, at the ACL’s Annual General Meeting held tonight at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney.
Andrew has been the Rector of St. Peter’s Cooks River since 2011, and has previously served on the ACL Council as the Secretary and in several other capacities.
Above: Outgoing President Gav Poole congratulates Andrew (on the left) after his election.
In the photo below, he is seen with previous ACL Presidents – The Rev Gav Poole, The Rev Dr. Mark Thompson (Principal of Moore Theological College) and the Rev Zac Veron (CEO of Anglican Youthworks).
Orlando — Grief in a time of Culture War
“Like me, you have more than likely been staggered by the tragedy of the nightclub murders in Orlando, Florida. It seems inconceivable that someone could go to such lengths, sink to such depths of depravity, as to plan and then so callously execute his scheme to kill as many as possible.
Sadly it seems that no sooner has the dust settled but many from every side of every debate have used the attack to make their various points…”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, David Ould reminds Christians to respond differently from how many might expect. Read it all here.
ACL President’s Address 2016
Outgoing President of the Anglican Church League, Gav Poole, gave this address at the Annual General Meeting on 16th June 2016.
ANGLICAN CHURCH LEAGUE AGM
PRESIDENT’S REPORT Read more
PM, Premier attend Orlando commemoration service
“Leaders have attended what the Prime Minister called a ‘loving’ commemoration service for victims of the Orlando massacre.
Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy took time out from the election trail while Premier Baird, the NSW Governor David Hurley and the American Consul General, Hugo Llorens sat in the front row during the service led by the Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. Opposition leader Bill Shorten was represented by Senator Doug Cameron…”
– SydneyAnglicans.net has a report on last night’s service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
From Archbishop Glenn Davies’ address:
“As the leader of the Anglican Church in Sydney I want to affirm my stance against all such outbreaks of violence, and if any members of our churches have participated in such acts of violence against women, against young people, against ethnic minorities, against religious minorities or against those from the LGBTI community I offer my heartfelt apology.
Yet we must all search own hearts, as evil resides in each one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are without fault. Words of derision, mockery and exclusion so frequently fall from our lips when directed against persons who are different from us.”
– Read it all here (PDF may download to your computer).
Photos courtesy SydneyAnglicans.net.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…