Policy on responding to Domestic abuse passed by Sydney Synod

“A policy on responding to domestic abuse in churches has been passed overwhelmingly by Synod, following years of work by a Diocesan task force.

However, the chair of the taskforce, Canon Sandy Grant, has asked that it be passed provisionally, to allow for feedback on the policy, guidelines and resources from churches and abuse victims. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

(Photo: Archdeacon Kara Hartley, Deputy Chair of the Task Force.)

Sydney diocese donates $1m to no campaign

“The Sydney Anglican diocese has made a $1m donation to the no campaign in Australia’s postal survey on same-sex marriage.

Archbishop Glenn Davies announced the donation on Monday in his address to the 51st synod of the diocese of Sydney, telling the church that ‘removing gender from the marriage construct’ would have ‘irreparable consequences’ for society.

‘Brothers and sisters, the stakes are high and the cost is high,’ Davies said. …”

– Story from The Guardian.

(Archbishop Davies’ Presidential Address can be read via this link – PDF file.)

ACL Synod Dinner 2017 report

Each year the ACL hosts a dinner for Synod members on the first night of Synod.

This year the speaker was Paul Harrington, Rector at Trinity City, Adelaide. He spoke to a full house on the topic: ‘Being hated for the right reasons’. Speaking from his perspective of being an evangelical in the Adelaide Diocese, and being hated, by some, for his gospel conviction, he challenged us not to seek the approval of men.

He encouraged us from the words of Paul in Philippians 1: “The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I will rejoice.”

–  ACL Council member Kate Haggar reports on last night’s ACL Synod Dinner at the Chapter House of St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

Making it our aim to please God with entertainment

“When I was ten, my friend told me he’d seen a hilarious movie with his older brother, and that we should rent it to watch together.

The sheer fact that it was rated R was enough to convince me. So I asked my mum if she could rent the movie for me, with the convincing line that ‘my friends had watched it’. …”

– ACL Council member Mike Taylor has some godly advice about our entertainment. At GoThereFor.com.

Timeless gospel meets changing world

“Archbishop Glenn Davies has used his Presidential Address, delivered within days of the 500 year anniversary of the start of the Reformation, as a rallying call to stand firm in proclaiming the gospel. (download full address in PDF) …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

From the Archbishop’s address:

“Brothers and sisters, as the penetration of the gospel diminishes in our society, we find ourselves being moved in a more libertarian direction under the influence of those who want to abandon the mores of the past. Yet at the same time these permissive forces who espouse the virtue of ‘tolerance’ are seeking to impose restrictions upon those who wish to maintain the values on which our nation has been founded.

This has become nowhere more apparent than in the current debate surrounding the postal survey on same-sex marriage.

While the advocates of the ‘Yes’ campaign have been unrelenting in their attempts to redefine marriage, they have also been virulent in their opposition to those who hold a contrary view.

The innocent inclusion of drinking Coopers beer in the Bible Society’s promotion of an informed and civilised debate between two politicians, each holding opposing views on same-sex marriage, is a case in point. It resulted in an uncivilised, unwarranted and malicious campaign through social media to boycott Coopers Breweries.

Similarly, a Christian doctor who appeared in an advertisement opposing same-sex marriage was subject to a campaign to have her medical registration withdrawn.

Witness also the ludicrous attempt to rename Margaret Court Arena, merely because Margaret Court, one of our greatest Australian athletes, went public on her opposition to same-sex marriage. …”

Read it all.

Humanity & Hope in Genesis

“What is the diagnosis of Humanity in Genesis 5-11, and is there any sign of hope? What is God’s assessment of humanity’s state in the world? What hope do we have of building towards something lasting? How can reconciliation with God be achieved?

William Taylor and Mickey Mantle talk with Sam Manchester about these issues in this month’s Preaching Matters.”

– The latest instalment of Preaching Matters is out from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.

Scottish Anglican Network statement on the Meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion

“The Scottish Anglican Network is grateful to the GAFCON primates who gave courageous leadership by not attending the meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion this week. We are thankful too for the GAFCON Primates and others who did attend and who robustly supported the complementary nature of biblical marriage. …”

– Read the full statement here.

Also from the Scottish Anglican Network:

Secxit (or why I must leave the Scottish Episcopal Church) – Daniel Davies.

Can two walk together unless they are agreed?

“Today’s Communique from the Primates’ Meeting 2017, in Canterbury, England, is very disappointing, but it is not surprising.  As we have consistently said, the current ‘Instruments of Unity’ are broken, and as Archbishop Ntagali, Primate of Uganda, has said, ‘every attempt to repair the torn fabric and heal the betrayal has made the situation worse.’ This has again proved true.

When the leaders of Gafcon and the Global South, representing the majority of the world’s Anglicans, met in Cairo last month it was their prayer that ‘the outcome of the upcoming [Primates] meeting would be decisive and lead to coherent and responsible action regarding the issues which continue to tear apart the fabric of the Communion, issues that have eternal consequences.‘ Judging by the Communique, their hopes for the meeting have been disappointed. …”

– An initial Response to the Primates’ Meeting 2017 Communique from GAFCON.

Are we surprised, really?

“It was confirmed that the Anglican Church of North America is not a Province of the Anglican Communion. We recognised that those in ACNA should be treated with love as fellow Christians.”  Statement of the Primates Meeting 2017

The Primates Meeting of 2017 has issued its final statement.  Who wrote the statement—the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Communion Office, the Secretary General or the whole body of the Primates?

If the whole body of the Primates wrote the final statement, where are the signatures of the Primates who consented to all of these statements?  When did the Primates come together and write this statement?  How many drafts did they have to go through before they came to this statement?  Which Primates were actually involved in writing it?  When did they discuss and redraft?  How many Primates were present to approve the final draft?  Was it even shown to the Primates before they departed?”

– Canon Phil Ashey, President of the American Anglican Council, asks some questions about the final statement from the Primates’ meeting.

Australian Church Record, Spring 2017

The latest edition (No. 1918, Spring 2017) of The Australian Church Record is now available for download from their website.

This issue is packed with useful articles. For example, from Kirsten McKinlay:

“Now more than ever we need to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have—that the truth found in God’s word is not only still applicable and relevant, but also good.

I can say from my experience as a former student and wife of a current student that Moore College — this firmly complementarian institution — has been a guiding light in thinking hard about how to deal with the evil of domestic violence in light of God’s good design for men and women.”

Download your copy.

Response from Bishop Andy Lines to the Primates’ Communiqué

“The Primates’ Communiqué appears to continue promoting the narrative of Anglicans ‘walking together’ despite the absence of four Provinces representing millions of Anglicans, and despite profound disagreement expressed within the meeting on understandings of what it means to be Christian, and how we know what is right and wrong.

The Bishop Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church played a leading role in the Primates’ Conference. Although there was talk of ‘consequences’ for SEC’s action, he was unrepentant, and showed no concern for those under his care who cannot accept the decision to redefine marriage. They now feel betrayed and de-churched. Meanwhile millions of Anglicans will be concerned that the Communiqué does not appear to express any view on the actions of SEC or the thinking behind it.

The document does not criticise false teaching, but focuses on ‘border crossing’ as if it is more harmful. I take the long-established view of orthodox Anglicans across the world, that we cannot make an equivalence between Provinces who choose to abandon key aspects of biblical theology and ethics, tearing the fabric of the Communion and putting souls in danger, and those who respond to calls for help from faithful Anglicans within those Provinces. My role as Gafcon missionary Bishop is clearly needed more than ever: to provide ministry to and encourage emerging congregations of faithful Anglicans in Britain outside the official structures.

They, along with many within those structures want to be part of a global movement based on the unchanging truths of God’s word, and obedience to that word which includes ministry mentioned in the Communiqué: evangelism and discipleship, and also  compassionate response to those suffering in contexts of violence and poverty; ministry of which Gafcon-aligned provinces are at the cutting edge.”

– From GAFCON UK.

Anglican Communion News Service smears GAFCON and manipulates Archbishop of Canterbury

“You’d think, wouldn’t you, that you could trust the news reports which emanate from the official Office of the Worldwide Anglican Communion.

You’d hope, wouldn’t you, that the Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) might issue factual statements of reliable and verifiable truth, as all good reporting should be, instead of tinted opinion with a tainted political agenda, as all journalism so often is. …”

– “Archbishop Cranmer” takes a close look at a story promulgated by the Anglican Communion News Service.

Related: ‘Archbishop Welby “taken aback” by Las Vegas prayer criticism’ – ACNS.

Christ amongst the crayons – reaching out through a multicultural, multigenerational kids ministry

“In September 2016 my husband and I planted a new multicultural service at Chester Hill Anglican. We started with 8 kids under 4 (not all ours!). Now we regularly have 30-40 kids on Sunday and many more at mid-week activities. Our kids come from very diverse ethnic backgrounds, many are refugees. My role in the church plant was to establish and grow this kids ministry. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Beth Webb shares from encouraging news from the parish of Chester Hill.

Review of NT discrimination law — guest blog

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes,

“The Northern Territory government has released a discussion paper called Modernisation of the Anti-Discrimination Act (Sept 2017). It invites comments by 3 December 2017. You can almost get the tone of the paper from the title! After all, who in this fast-changing age could oppose anything called “modernisation”? But there are a number of concerning recommendations and comments made from the law and religion perspective, and there are some real doubts whether the proposals properly reflect religious freedom principles.

My colleague Dr Alex Deagon from QUT has graciously provided a guest blog post in which he outlines his comments on two major concerns with the proposals to amend the Act. Those who are interested in the interaction of discrimination law and religious freedom should find them very helpful, and may wish to make their own comments in response to the discussion paper. There are other controversial proposals in the paper which may be the subject of future posts. …”

– Read it all at Law and Religion Australia.

‘Freedom of speech challenged’ as No campaign denied bookings

“The Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Julian Porteous, has warned of a ‘direct challenge to freedom of speech’ after the No campaign was denied bookings by both the University of Tasmania and Wrest Point Casino for an event on Friday evening.

Archbishop Porteous had been due to speak at the function along with Australian Conservatives Senator Cory Bernardi; Victorian Liberal MP, Kevin Andrews; Australian Christian Lobby managing director, Lyle Shelton, as well as ‘mummy blogger’ Marijke Rancie.

The Archbishop issued a statement this evening saying: ‘Despite signing contractual agreements and paying hire fees in full, Wrest Point Casino has advised the No Campaign that the venue is now unavailable.’…”

– Story from The Australian. (Subscription) See also The Herald Sun.

← Previous Page — Next Page →