Church of Scotland to moves toward conducting same-sex weddings

“The Church of Scotland has moved a step closer to allowing some Ministers and Deacons to conduct same-sex marriages in the future.

The General Assembly voted 345 by 170 to instruct the Legal Questions Committee to prepare legislation with safeguards in accordance with Section 9 (1A) of the Marriage Scotland Act. …”

– Report and image from The Church of Scotland.

Related:

Buried Coins: Jesus and the Parable of the Talents

“Back in 2014, news broke that archaeologists digging near the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv Highway had uncovered a cache of ancient Jewish coins. The inscription and images on the 114 bronze coins allow us to date them precisely to AD 70—the exact year that the Romans conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. In the midst of this turbulent time, a Jewish person saw fit to place the money in a small ceramic box and bury it for safekeeping.”

– At his blog With Meagre Powers, Moore College’s Dr. George Athas shares some insights into the Parable of the Talents.

NZ move prompts ‘deep regret’ in Sydney

“A move by the Anglican Church in New Zealand to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions has led to a strong statement from the Diocese of Sydney. …

At its first meeting since the decision, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney passed a motion which ‘notes with deep regret that the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has amended its Canons to allow bishops to authorise clergy to bless same-sex unions’…”

– Read the full story at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Here’s the resolution in full:

Standing Committee conveys to the Primates of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia that it:

a.     notes with deep regret that the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has amended its Canons to allow bishops to authorise clergy to bless same-sex unions;

b.     notes with regret that this step is contrary to the teaching of Christ (Matt 19:1-12) and is contrary to Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference;

c.      expresses our support for those Anglicans who have left or will need to leave the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia because of its abandonment of biblical teaching, and those who struggle and remain; and

d.     prays that the ACANZP will return to the doctrine of Christ in this matter and that impaired relationships will be restored.

– Source, SydneyAnglicans.net.

Bibles for South Sudanese refugees

Australian Presbyterian World Mission is seeking to raise funds to buy 33,000 Bibles for South Sudanese refugees who have fled into Ethiopia –

“In 2013 civil war broke out in South Sudan between the two major tribes — the Dinka and the Nuer. Many South Sudanese fled to neighbouring countries with little more than the clothes they were wearing. In the neighbouring country of Ethiopia, the refugee camps house 385,000 people. About 100,000 of them belong to our sister church the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.

What do our brothers and sisters ask for? Bibles in their mother tongue — the Nuer language.”

– Read about the need, and see the video from the refugee camps.

(The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid is also working to help refugees from the violence in South Sudan.)

All You Need is Love … ?

“Between writing a sermon and posting hilarious gifs from Suits, I watched a bit of the Royal Wedding on Saturday night. Of course—it was the sermon more than the dress that caught my attention. That’s no surprise—being a Christian, a preacher and having zero interest in dresses. What was a surprise was that everyone else focussed on the sermon too! When was the last time that happened?

It was also interesting to watch the reactions from fellow Christians on social media. ‘Great sermon!’; ‘Loved it!’; ‘I wish my minister preached like that!’ And then—‘Heretic!’; ‘Disappointing’; ‘Dangerous!’. How can fellow Christians have such opposing views when they listened to the same sermon? And what should we think about all this?

First of all, to understand the reaction from some Christians you need to understand who Michael Curry is. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Tom Habib provides crucial background for that sermon – and has some suggestions on how you can talk about it.

(Photo: Episcopal Church.)

Moore College comes up well in student survey

“Moore College participated in the National Course Experience Survey this year for the first time. This tool allows graduating students at Australian universities and private higher education providers to evaluate their experience.

The Australian Government Department of Education runs the survey, and publishes the results on the Quality Indicators in Learning and Teaching (QILT) website. …”

– Good news from Moore College, as their Open Week (21-25 May 2018) begins.

God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9)

“In 2 Corinthians 9 Paul exhorts his readers to prepare to take their share in a collection that he is making for the poor Christians at Jerusalem. Let us see what we can learn from this chapter about Christian giving. …”

– The Australian Church Record republishes this piece by former Oak Hill Principal Alan Stibbs.

Moore College Open Events May 2018

From Moore College in Newtown:

“Each year at Moore we hold Open Events to give people an opportunity to find out more about the College. We would love to welcome you on Open Night or any day during Open Week in May, to get a taste of life at Moore!

Here are the details of our first Open Events for 2018…”

Bishop Michael Curry offers the world ‘Christianity-lite’

“Yes, Bishop Curry, as St John wrote, God is love. But unlike you, St John defines Love and shows us that it is a longing and meeting of longing that travels the way of the cross, the way of renunciation.

But if you want to be popular, don’t invite the people to renunciation. And Bishop Curry didn’t. But Jesus did. …”

– At his blog, Gavin Ashenden echoes the thoughts of many who watched TEC Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s passionately-delivered sermon at the royal wedding.

And further reflections from Gavin Ashenden:

“The dear couple had no idea who was being asked to preach at their wedding. It was an idea that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had suggested to them. They were hardly in a position to know or refuse.

And at one level, the choice was brilliant. Michael Curry is a gifted preacher and black. What a great way of signalling the coming together of American and British culture, white and coloured.

But there was a hidden sting in the tail. There is a civil war raging at the moment in Anglicanism (and elsewhere) between progressive Christianity that takes its priorities from the zeitgeist, the present culture, and a faithful orthodox belief, that keeps faith with what Jesus taught in the Gospels.”

More from David Robertson at The Wee Flea:

“… for the moment let me simply say that this was at best a pick ‘n’ mix Christianity – a Gospel sermon without the Gospel – a Christian sermon without Christ. …

It is not ‘curmudgeonly’ nor ‘unloving’ to ask that preachers should preach the Christ of the Bible. Indeed it is unloving to feed the people anything other than the bread and meat of the Word.”

See Bishop Curry’s sermon – Text (Episcopal News Service) and Video (BBC).

Photo: Episcopal Church of the USA.

J. C. Ryle: Prepared to Stand Alone, by Iain Murray — Review

“One of the greatest Christian leaders to come out of England in the nineteenth century was John Charles Ryle. Famously known as ‘the man of granite with the heart of a child,’ Ryle stands out as a towering example of Christian fortitude and pastoral excellence.

Although he died more than a century ago, he still has much to say to our generation. And perhaps no one is better suited to teach us about Ryle than renowned biographer Iain Murray. …”

– At the 9Marks website, Nate Pickowicz briefly reviews Iain Murray’s J.C. Ryle, Prepared to Stand Alone.

Yale Divinity School grad to deliver sermon at royal wedding

“As spectators around the world tune in on Saturday to watch the royal wedding of Prince Harry of Wales and American actress Meghan Markle, Yalies take note: Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry DIV ’78 will deliver the wedding’s sermon. …

Two and a half years ago, the Anglican Church … placed sanctions on the Episcopal Church that limited its ability participate in Anglican religious matters in retaliation for the Episcopal Church’s authorization of same-sex marriages in July 2015. …

Despite presiding over the decision to sanction Curry’s church, Welby tweeted on May 12 that Curry is a ‘brilliant pastor, stunning preacher and someone with a great gift for sharing the good news.’…”

– From Yale Daily News.

Related: Video – Presiding Bishop Michael, Archbishop Justin speak ahead of the Royal Wedding – Episcopal News Service.

Photo: Episcopal Church.

Why Cranmer would have approved of the Oxford Martyrs’ Memorial

“How many British national newspaper journalists apart from Peter Hitchens would be willing and able to write so knowledgeably about the sixteenth-century Protestant martyrs burned at the stake in Oxford? Surely not very many.

Mr Hitchens’s highly educative piece about the English Protestant martyrs in First Things, the magazine for the New York-based Institute on Religion and Public Life, certainly achieved its purpose. It showed the moral difference between the Protestant Christians martyred under Mary Tudor and the Jesuit fanatics executed for high treason under Elizabeth Tudor.

But his portrayal of the conduct in the fire of persecution of respectively Bishop Hugh Latimer, burnt at the stake in 1555, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, burnt in 1556, calls for a rejoinder for the sake of a more complete picture of the Church of England’s theology as expressed in its historic formularies, namely its 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Ordinal and 39 Articles of Religion. …”

– Julian Mann, Vicar of Oughtibridge in South Yorkshire, reflects on Peter Hitchens’ characterisation of Bishop Latimer.

Reformers Bookshop: Reformation Worship Deal – Expression of Interest

“Reformers Bookshop is considering putting together an offer for Reformation Worship by Jonathan Gibson and Mark Earngey – a new book on reformed liturgies throughout church history.

If there is sufficient interest, Reformers Bookshop will offer 30% off the retail price with free shipping.

Normally retailing at $99.99, this offer will make Reformation Worship available for $69.99 with free shipping to Australia or New Zealand. …”

– If you haven’t already ordered a copy of this highly commended and much anticipated book, check out this proposed deal from Reformers Bookshop in Stanmore.

Read more about the book in our post last week.

“In the modern church where so little attention is given to ‘entering his courts with praise,’ this collection of liturgies should inspire and correct much of the blandness of the assemblies of God’s people on earth so that they might truly reflect that festal gathering of angels at Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to which we have already come.” — Archbishop Glenn Davies.

The greatest enemy of freedom is freedom


“Christians find themselves at odds with our world on many fronts. But surely we can all agree that ‘freedom’ is a good thing—something we should all protect and promote as widely as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that, because there are starkly different visions of “freedom” at play in our society. In fact, as Os Guinness will explore in this lecture, what Western culture regards as ‘freedom’ may, in fact, be the enemy of true freedom.

As Christians, we need to understand the ‘illusions of contemporary freedom’ (as Os Guinness describes them) so that we can embrace true Christian freedom and bring its blessings to a needy world.”

Coming up at Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living on Wednesday 30 May 2018, 7:30pm-9:30pm. See the link for details and booking.

In Defence of Duty

“We treat the idea of duty with some suspicion these days. We fear that doing things ‘out of duty’ means acting in a way that isn’t genuine and therefore is less meaningful. But is that the whole story?…”

– Adrian Russell takes a look at duty – at The Australian Church Record.

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