Peter Jensen to succeed Gerald Bray as Editor of Churchman

“After 35 years as the editor of Churchman, Professor Gerald Bray has decided to retire from the role at the end of 2018. We are very sorry to see Gerald hang up his boots, after sterling service over half a lifetime and nearly 140 entertaining, provocative, stimulating editorials. Over the decades he has established Churchman as the leading international journal for Anglican Evangelical theology, and we owe him a huge debt. …

We are delighted to announce that the new editor of Churchman, from January 2019, is Archbishop Peter Jensen.”

– Read the details at Church Society’s website.

Zeal without Burnout – free ebook in September

During September 2018, The Good Book Company is giving away a free ebook of Christopher Ash’s highly regarded Zeal without Burnout (via their UK website).

Even if you don’t feel you need to read the book right now, grab a copy anyway before the end of the month!

Related: Slip, slop, slap for sustainable sacrifice – Lionel Windsor.

Tim Chester ‘Meet the Author’ – in Sydney this Saturday

Reformers Bookshop in Stanmore is hosting a ‘Meet the Author’ event with Tim Chester on Saturday afternoon (22 September 2018) from 2:30pm.

Details from their blog.

Bishop Andy Lines commissioned for GAFCON Ministry

“In an evening marked by wit and good humoured banter, reflecting the character of its central figure, six bishops from six provinces of the Anglican Communion joined with members of General Synod for the commissioning of Bishop Andrew Lines. …

Bishop Lines was commissioned as chairman of GAFCON UK and as a deputy General Secretary (there is one for each international region) of GAFCON by the outgoing general secretary of GAFCON, Archbishop Peter Jensen and his successor, Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi of Jos Nigeria. …”

– Chris Sugden wrote this report for the Church of England Newspaper. Republished by Anglican Mainstream.

Should we call ourselves Feminists?

“The New York Times magazine labelled 2015 as ‘the year we obsessed about identity’, and it’s an obsession that isn’t finished yet. Answers to questions of personal identity – ‘Who am I’ and ‘What do I identify as’ – are now shaping public discourse, and increasingly the answers are expressed in labels. I even discovered recently you can now ‘identify’ as vegan!

And one of the labels people are obsessing over is whether or not to be a feminist.…”

– Dr. Claire Smith asks, Should we call ourselves Feminists?, in her first article on the topic of ‘The Challenge of Feminism’ – at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

Learning to delight in physical limitations (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

“The persistent pressure of a physical ailment.

In a passage of intimate personal biography Paul reveals that he was troubled by a physical affliction. He calls it ‘a thorn in the flesh‘ – language which suggests that it was something very painful and unpleasant, something physically agonising, intolerable, exhausting. …”

– In this article, first published in the Australian Church Record in November 1960, Alan Stibbs reflects on what Paul learned in suffering. (Photo: ACR.)

What is ministry? Two examples

“The ReNew conference, a gathering of 470 clergy and senior lay leaders at a hotel in Leeds, has just finished.

The emphasis of ReNew is to encourage churches and ministers with conservative evangelical convictions, to continue working together for the evangelisation of the nation, through the ‘establishing and securing’ of existing healthy Anglican congregations, and pioneering new ones. …

The Gafcon movement was given prominence throughout, and especially highlighted by guest speaker Archbishop Peter Jensen.”

– Anglican Mainstream’s Andrew Symes speaks about the encouragement of the ReNew Conference in the UK.

China’s church leaders take a brave stand for freedom of religion

“More than two hundred Chinese church leaders have issued a brave declaration calling for religious freedom, in an echo of the stands taken by German church leaders against the Nazis in the 1930s and Romanian church leaders against the Communist regime in the 1980s.

The persecution of religion, but especially Christianity, is growing in China. On 10 September, the Chinese government announced new draft measures to control online religious activity that will ban the live streaming of church services, requiring organisations publishing religious information online to obtain a licence. The regulations also prohibit foreign pastors from preaching online. …”

– This news story from Barnabas Fund includes some suggestions for your prayers.

‘Men Praying for Moore’ Breakfast – Saturday 22 September 2018

Here’s an opportunity for men to come together, and to share in breakfast and in prayer. As well, Dr Peter O’Brien, will lead a devotional.

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God..”

Details from Moore College.

Church of England should avoid only calling God ‘he’, Bishop says

“The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, bishop of Gloucester, the Church of England’s first female diocesan bishop, said: ‘I don’t want young girls or young boys to hear us constantly refer to God as he,’ adding that it was important to be ‘mindful of our language’. …”

–Story from The Telegraph.

(Photo: Diocese of Gloucester.)

Where to from here? Assembly of Confessing Congregations national conference meets in Sydney

This week (Monday 17th – Wednesday 19th September 2018) the National Conference of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the Uniting Church of Australia meets in Sydney.

The most important business will be a response to the Uniting Church’s decision in July [earlier related posts] to have two different and contradictory doctrines of marriage, thus allowing for same-sex marriage while pretending to have not changed anything important.

Doubtless, all attending the conference would value your prayers for godly wisdom.

In the September 2018 issue of their ACCatalyst magazine, The Rev Dr Tim Patrick, Principal of the Bible College of South Australia, writes (“Uniting Sin & Farce”),

“So where to from here? I am incredibly encouraged by the evangelical Uniting Church ministers who have called their congregations to forty days of prayer as they discuss next steps. I have no privileged inside knowledge, but I know they are talking together about the best group action that can be taken. There could perhaps be a fellowship established within the Uniting Church that parallels the GAFCON movement in the Anglican Communion. Or maybe a mass exodus to another denomination or accrediting body. Or something else. This is not my decision to make, but I do think that a coordinated approach will best serve the evangelical churches and congregation members far better than if each just independently started heading off in different directions.

There are, however, two possibilities that I would particularly love to see explored. The Uniting Church as a whole could turn back to its historic doctrine and thus abandon the sinful and absurd outcome of the recent Assembly. This would bring real joy to so many as the great desire of our hearts is to experience that unity for which the church is named with those whom we dearly love as our sisters and brothers. However, if this cannot happen, perhaps those who are so keen for the change should consider leaving the denomination. …” (pages 32 and 33).

The same edition of ACCatalyst notes (page 4) that the Assembly of Confessing Congregations was granted observer status at GAFCON 2018 in Jerusalem.

Of possible interest for ACC members is “The Crisis of ’77” by The Rev. Bob Thomas, on the 1977 decision by some in the Presbyterian Church to ‘continue’.

Why Millennials ARE coming to church

“There have been plenty of articles about why Millennials – those twenty somethings – are not coming to church. Plenty of time and attention towards what would bring them back.

Well, in our church at the moment plenty of Millennials ARE coming. It’s been noted by the older crowd that they’re starting to get outnumbered by that particular cohort this year. …”

– Here’s an encouraging article by Stephen McAlpine.

Why the Welsh Bishops are calling evil good

“ ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’ (Isaiah 5:20)

These words were addressed by the prophet Isaiah to the people of Judah as part of his warning of forthcoming divine judgement. They warn that God will judge those who seek to justify sin by arguing that it is not really sinful at all because good is evil and evil is really good. They came to mind this week following the announcement this week that the Governing Body of the Church in Wales had voted to support a proposal from the Welsh bishops to explore ‘formal provision for those in same-gender relationships.’

In this post I shall explain why the words of Isaiah apply to the Welsh decision. …”

– At his blog, Reflections of an Anglican Theologian, Martin Davie considers this week’s announcement by the Bishops of the Church in Wales that “it is pastorally unsustainable and unjust for the Church to continue to make no formal provision for those in committed same-sex relationships”.

Photo: Archbishop of Wales, John Davies (courtesy The Church in Wales.)

2018: Now is the Time for Evangelism

“I was born in 1975, and I would go so far as to say this is the best evangelistic environment in Australia in my lifetime.

We should be proclaiming the gospel with confidence. We should expect fruit. And we must not allow our fear about the institutional and legal environment to bleed into a pessimism about evangelism as such.”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Rory Shiner writes to encourage you to expect fruit from evangelism.

Church in Wales to explore formal provision for same-sex couples

“The Bishops of the Church in Wales have been given the go-ahead to explore formal provision for same-sex couples in church. …

They voted with a clear majority in favour of the bishops looking at new approaches which could be brought back to the Governing Body for approval at a later date.

The private ballot followed a presentation to the meeting from the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Bishop Mark Strange…”

– Report from The Church in Wales. (Graphic: The Church in Wales.)

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