Presbyterian Moderator General reports on the General Assembly
“The triennial meeting of the General Assembly of Australia testified to our fundamental unity around the truth of God’s Word and the power of Christ’s gospel.
It’s time to reflect and review a most excellent week…”
– New Presbyterian Moderator-General John Wilson reviews the recent General Assembly of Australia.
Why ‘No Creed but the Bible’ is a lousy creed
“First, it’s impossible not to be confessional. Everyone is confessional; now, whether it’s written and whether it’s biblical is another matter. And everyone is a theologian…
It’s always better when we’re clear on our theology, and for that nothing beats writing it down on paper. Writing does not guarantee infallibility, of course, but it does make it easier to determine whether the doctrine we’re confessing aligns with Scripture.
Second, the point of a confession of faith isn’t to put something above Scripture. The point of a confession is to ensure the public teaching of the church is as close to the teaching of Scripture as possible. When we don’t write down our theology and confess it publicly as a church, it leads not to healthy freedom but to unhealthy restriction.”
– Is it biblical for the church to use confessions of faith? How should a confession be used? What makes a good confession of faith?
At The Gospel Coalition, Jeff Robinson put these and other questions to Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary.
Sadly, many churches seem to think creeds are outdated. It’s not too late to repent – check out:
Creeds and other affirmations of faith – from the Diocese of Sydney’s Better Gatherings.
The Athanasian Creed – from Church Society’s An English Prayer Book.
400 attend Renew Conference in Northern Powerhouse
“The rector of a plant into an Anglican church which began in 1961 with a congregation of one plus the organist, and who is only its second rector in 55 years chaired a 30 hour Renew Anglican conference of over 400 in Leeds on September 19-20. Many of the participants were vicars, curates and ministry colleagues from over 200 churches whose average age was in the early 40’s.
William Taylor of St Helen’s Bishopsgate told the Conference: ‘I am sometimes asked whether our constituency is planning to leave the Church of England. We are not. We are, however, putting in place spiritual relationships that enable us to pursue our ministry goals of pioneering, establishing and securing Anglican evangelical local churches.’
The Renew Conference has grown by 100 people a year and moved for 2016 from the Midlands to Leeds to find a big enough venue and to support the work of Anglicans in the north of England…”
– Report in The Church of England Newspaper, via Anglican Mainstream.
(The ReNew conference is organised by Anglican Mission in England, Church Society, and Reform.
Crossway reverses decision to make ESV Bible Text permanent
“The publisher of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible has reversed its controversial decision to finalize the text after tweaking 29 verses.
‘We have become convinced that this decision was a mistake,’ stated Crossway president and CEO Lane Dennis in an announcement released today. ‘We apologize for this and for any concern this has caused for readers of the ESV, and we want to explain what we now believe to be the way forward. Our desire, above all, is to do what is right before the Lord.’…”
– Story from Christianity Today.
The Legacy of Broughton Knox — MTC Library Day 2016
Don’t miss this special event coming up at MooreTheological College on Saturday 29th October.
David Broughton Knox (26 December 1916 – 14 January 1994) was the long serving Principal of Moore Theological College from 1959 until 1985.
DBK is considered by many to have been hugely influential, under the Lord, in the shaping of Sydney Diocese into what it is today.
The 2016 Moore College Library Day will explore Broughton’s life and theology as well as its enduring influence on Sydney diocese and beyond.
When: Saturday 29 October, 2016, 9:15 am for 9:30 am start, 3:30 pm finish
Where: Broughton Knox Teaching Centre, Moore Theological College, 15 King Street Newtown
Registration: $40 includes coffee/tea on arrival, morning tea & lunch.
Speakers include:
- Mark Thompson
- Robert Tong
- Peter Jensen
- Robert Doyle
Who was Broughton Knox? See these tributes in our Resources section.
- David Broughton Knox – What we owe to him – by Archbishop Donald Robinson.
- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – tribute to Broughton Knox – by Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane.
No need for a censor if we censor ourselves
“It happened again this week. It will doubtless happen many times in the weeks and months and years to come.
A Christian dared to elaborate publicly on why he thought homosexual practice was morally wrong, and was greeted not with counter-argument or rebuttal, but outpourings of abhorrence and anger, as well as regret and apology on the part of the event organisers (that such a view had come to be to be expressed on their platform)…”
– At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, Tony Payne writes about the strong temptation for Christians to ‘self censor’.
Related: “Can we talk about same-sex marriage?” – Wednesday 19th October at the Centre for Christian Living.
For the Bible tells me so: Biblical authority denied … again
“‘Jesus loves me — this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ This is a childish error
Evangelical Christianity has a big problem, says Andy Stanley, and that problem is a reliance on the Bible that is both unwarranted and unhelpful. In a recent message delivered at North Point Community Church and posted online, Stanley identifies the evangelical impulse to turn to the Bible in our defense and presentation of Christianity as a huge blunder that must be corrected.”
– Albert Mohler warns against diluting Biblical authority in an attempt to connect with our culture.
Rod Bower in his own words
“Three decades on, Father Rod Bower, 54, is the one causing headaches as Australia’s most outspoken, social media savvy and incongruous priest. …”
– The Australian has this profile of Rod Bower, Archdeacon of the Central Coast in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.
(h/t David Ould. Photo: Rod Bower via Facebook.)
Related: From October 19, 2014, Report: Bishop of Newcastle appoints Rod Bower as Archdeacon of the Central Coast. (Which includes this link.)
LGBTI threats against Mercure Hotel show ‘poison’ in public life
“The poison in Australia’s public life has reached a point where a casual bystander now can fall victim to the tactics used to win a fight at all costs.
The latest sign of the illness came when employees at a Sydney hotel answered the telephone last week to hear threats of physical violence. Their crime? The Mercure Sydney Airport Hotel had taken a booking for a conference room for four Christian groups.
This was not an isolated threat. The phone calls kept coming. …
Threatening phone calls to a Sydney hotel may seem like a minor test of these principles, yet the affair is instructive all the same. When the campaign went too far there was a reluctance to call it out. Australian Marriage Equality refused to condemn it. The Greens have declined a request to comment. The early response from the ‘progressive’ side of politics was to deny the problem. The message is that rights are not always worth fighting for.”
– from The Australian. (via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
Inboxes. Getting all the stuff out of them. Every day.
“This post is about a core habit that helps me to reduce everyday stress: emptying inboxes. I’m not just talking about getting my email to ‘inbox zero’ every so often. I’m talking about identifying all my inboxes in life, and daily emptying them. That means getting all the vaguely undefined and stressful “‘stuff’ out of those inboxes and into my trusted system, where they can do some good.”
– At Forget the Channel, Lionel Windsor continues his series on “sustainable sacrifice” in Christian ministry.
John Howard and the Myths of the 2004 Marriage amendments
“The debates over redefining marriage in Australia have acquired in recent years some high profile “myths” or, to use the modern parlance, “memes”, which are regularly repeated.
One of the most enduring is that the battle for same sex marriage is impeded by a supposedly shocking set of amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 which were made by conservative Prime Minister John Howard in 2004.
To take some recent quotes which illustrate the points:
“It was the Howard Government that in 2004 changed the Marriage Act to specifically refer to marriage being “the union of a man and a woman,” locking out any possibility to include gay couples in the definition without a change in the law.”
“[T[his weekend marks the twelfth anniversary of John Howard’s amendments to the Australian Marriage Act. You know, those amendments that didn’t require a plebiscite? Those amendments that made it a legal requirement for celebrants to remind champagne-tipsy wedding parties around the country that marriage was between a man and a woman at the exclusion of all others?”
There are two ‘myths’ being presented here…”
At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster tackles two oft-repeated myths –
“Myth 1: the 2004 amendments redefined marriage” and “Myth 2: Celebrants reading out the words”.
‘Printer bans book against gay marriage’
“First we saw two commercial TV stations ban an ad backing traditional marriage. So did SBS. Then we saw a Catholic Archbishop taken to the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commission for defending traditional marriage. Next, we saw a meeting of Christian opponents of same-sex marriage bombarded with abuse and threats, forcing its cancellation. And now a printer has refused to print a book arguing against same-sex marriage …”
– Andrew Bolt writes in The Herald Sun.
See also The Australian Marriage Forum blog.
Anglican Mission in England Pioneering Plan
Here’s an encouraging video on AMiE’s plans to plant 25 gospel-focussed churches in England by 2025 and 250 by 2050.
Bishop of Newcastle to bless “Multi Faith Bridge”
“Bishop Greg Thompson, Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, will be visiting Albion Farm Gardens in Woodville on Sunday September 25 to bless a multi-faith bridge.
The bridge will become a significant part of Maitland’s history as it was constructed from stone given by a variety of faith communities.
Stone has come as from as far as Jerusalem, as well as from local faith groups including Anglican, Catholic, Presbyterian, Uniting, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim. The Jewish community gave a stone from a synagogue…”
– from the Diocese of Newcastle.
Also coming up: Blessing of the Animals at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle.
Canberra & Goulburn updates Bishop’s election process but retains Synod vote
“The most important decision a synod makes is to select its next bishop. The 2016 Synod revised the process by which future diocesan bishops will be elected. It decided to retain the capacity to elect the bishop while expanding the role of an election committee to vet and nominate candidates for consideration…”
– Report from The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…