The Prodigal

“I was recently asked to speak on the story of the Prodigal Son, a story which you can find in any Bible. The story is a famous one and often used proverbially in words like, “the prodigal returns”. Some literary giants have described this story as the greatest story ever written. For me it is the greatest story I have never really addressed. So in this article I thought I would invite you into the story that Jesus tells.

The story is really about three shameful people. …”

– Bishop of Armidale, Rick Lewers, continues to write helpful pieces for his local newspaper. Here’s the latest. Many of these could be useful conversation-starters.

How should we respond when a church leader is guilty of abuse?

“I have been asked to reflect, in the light of the bible and Christian theology, on how we should respond when it comes to light that a church leader has been guilty of abuse.

I recently wrote a blog post asking in more general terms, how we should respond when a church leader falls. All that is said there applies here.

But this paper addresses a more particular situation involving abuse, and two kinds of abuse in particular. …”

– Christopher Ash (pictured) has written a very helpful paper (PDF file) to assist Christians responding to some distressing news which has recently come to light, and which was discussed in public at last week’s Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London.

No forgiveness for Folau’s sins

“It is testament to the blinkered arrogance of political correctness, and of those who do its bidding, that these people could not see the profound moral contradiction at the heart of their chilling statement. In the name of preventing ‘vilification based on race, gender, religion or sexuality’, they vilified Folau on the basis of his religion. …”

– Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked, writes this opinion piece in today’s The Australian.

Strong words from the Bishop of the Diocese of The Arctic

The Rt. Rev. David W Parsons, Bishop of the Arctic, has issued an open letter to all Canadian Anglicans regarding the upcoming vote to change the marriage canon. In part, he writes:

“It would not be wise to think that General Synod and the 68.4% of bishops who voted in favour of changing the church’s Marriage Canon are a majority. The Anglican Church of Canada is marginal in size, representing only 0.65% of the Anglican Communion and only 0.025% of the Christian church worldwide. It is spiritually dangerous to follow this marginal segment of the Christian church, those who think they alone have this prophetic message from God–a message that calls us to turn from Scripture and follow them.

As for me, I choose to remain with the Word of God and represent the gospel in the confines of the traditional Biblical doctrines of the Diocese of The Arctic, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Communion, and the Holy Catholic Church and to walk with those who choose likewise. As for those who choose to reject the Word of God and the doctrines of the Anglican Church of Canada in our Book of Common Prayer, and the Doctrines and precepts of the Anglican Communion, and choose instead to develop their own worldly doctrines and humanistic theologies, they must do so on their own. I will treat them with love and respect but as those who have walked away from the doctrines of the Christian faith. I will pray for their repentance, but I will not walk in rebellion with them.“

– Via the diocesan Facebook page. Read the full letter (PDF file) here. Text at Anglican Samizdat.

Christ’s body: A brief history (Ephesians 4:11–13)

“…if you care a lot about organisation, strategy, and leadership, then you can end up reading the Bible entirely through the lens of those particular concerns. You can start to believe that the most important questions in the world are pragmatic questions.

And so you can assume that the Bible is written to give you answers to those questions.

So, for example, you can end up reading passages describing the church and ministry as if they’re extracts from a handbook designed to answer Roman-style questions: Who’s in charge? What does the organisational chart look like? What are the various offices and what exactly do they do? What’s the division of labour? …”

– At Forget the Channel, Lionel Windsor draws our attention to Ephesians 4.

C of E’s Newcastle Cathedral plans a weekend festival of LGBT events

From Church Society:

“Newcastle Cathedral is planning a weekend festival of LGBT events in July. These events include a panel discussion on ‘Queering the Church: beyond tolerance to inclusion’ featuring, among others, ‘a nonbinary genderqueer transgender person’ who is an ordained deacon.

We are working with local evangelical ministers to support them in responding to this event. …”

– More here. (Image via Anglican Ink.)

Related: How LGBT Pride Month Became a Religious Holiday – Joe Carter

“We do not love our neighbor when we tell them they can continue to engage in unrepentant rebellion against God.”

Reading or speaking the Bible?

“Words are the lifeblood of relationships.

When a person speaks to another, the speaker reveals something of themselves to the hearer; when the hearers listens, they come to know the speaker better. …“

– At The Australian Church Record, ACL Council member Scott Newling reflects on reading and hearing the Bible.

GAFCON Chairman’s June 2019 Letter

“Brothers and Sisters, greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord!!

Seeking to be Biblical Christians in a global age, participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference are busy proclaiming Jesus Christ faithfully to the nations by making disciples, evangelizing those who don’t know Jesus, and speaking into corruption, economic injustices, and moral concerns in their local communities.

Here are just a few stories from around the world. …”

– GAFCON Primates Council Chairman, Archbishop Foley Beach, has released his June 2019 Pastoral Letter.

Have all our changes been good ones?

“Perhaps it is an opportune time to ask ourselves about some of the changes that have occurred in church ministry in the last little while. It would be good to begin a conversation about whether those changes are all as good as we might have thought them to be.”

– Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson asks some questions about change, in order to provoke discussion.

See them, and consider your response, at Theological Theology.

Bishop Michael Stead speaks with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on backing Israel Folau

2GB’s Ben Fordham spoke with Bishop of South Sydney, Michael Stead, this afternoon.

Well worth hearing.

Freedom of faith and Israel Folau — Public Statement from Archbishop Glenn Davies

“Christians do not ask that everyone agree with us on the reality of heaven and hell, but it is part of our faith-DNA that we speak out about the salvation that is only found in Jesus, whatever the cost. I support the right for him to articulate his faith in the public sphere of social media.”

Archbishop Glenn Davies has issued a public statement on Israel Folau and the issue of Freedom of Speech, Conscience and Belief.

Full statement follows:

“Israel Folau’s right to express his faith and act according to his conscience is of fundamental importance in any democracy, and it is of great concern to many Australians that this right is being denied and vilified. Many are wondering whether they will be next. No-one should suppose that there are not deeply held views on either side of this issue. But at the moment, only one side is being heard. The way in which Folau’s motives have been impugned and his avenues of support have been cut off smacks of a new and ugly Australia where dissent from narrow cultural views is not tolerated.

The original post on Instagram canvassed some basic tenets of the Christian faith. It was not the entire Christian message, but it was posted without malice and from a place of deep conscience and concern. It encompassed all people, for we are all liars. It was posted with respect and with urgency. It had nothing to do with rugby and it should have been his right as a citizen to speak of what he believes without threat to his employment.

Christians do not ask that everyone agree with us on the reality of heaven and hell, but it is part of our faith-DNA that we speak out about the salvation that is only found in Jesus, whatever the cost. I support the right for him to articulate his faith in the public sphere of social media. I admire the resolute way he has given his personal testimony.  Why, in the diversity of views in modern Australia, is that faith to be silenced – the faith from which springs so much of the values and virtues of our own civilisation, let alone the charitable works of many Christian churches across our land.

Ultimately, this will not be decided in the media. The clear support of ordinary Christians has been ignored, marginalised and silenced. Many commentators (and many politicians) have failed to understand the precious nature of conscience and belief and its power in the lives of ordinary Australians. Loud, intolerant voices swamp the quiet faith of many. But I pray that what Israel Folau is going through may shine a light on an issue which is vital to our democracy and of crucial importance for Christians – freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom to live according to our faith.”

Dr Glenn N Davies
Archbishop of Sydney
25 June AD 2019.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Australian Christian Lobby donates $100,000 to Israel Folau

“In the wake of GoFundMe’s removal of Israel Folau’s fundraiser, the Australian Christian Lobby has today donated $100,000 to his legal defence and is assisting Israel Folaul to launch an alternative fundraising site. …

–  Read it all here.

Update: Israel Folau’s donations surge past $600,000 after GoFundMe ban – ABC News.

“The Australian Christian Lobby’s Israel Folau support fund looks set to surpass the sacked rugby star’s previous GoFundMe campaign total of $750,000 in just 24 hours.

Donations have poured in at a rate of almost $1,000 per minute with the fund now worth more than $675,000…”

(Editor’s note: The Anglican Church League and the Australian Christian Lobby share the same initials, but are different organisations.)

“Grafton Synod indicates rejection of both National Constitution and Bishops’ Agreement”

“The Synod of the Diocese of Grafton, which met this last weekend, has passed a number of controversial motions and heard a question which indicate a walking away from aspects of the national church constitution and the recent Bishops’ Agreement. …

the Synod debated asking the General Synod to introduce same-sex marriage and blessing liturgies. That motion, as expected, was passed along with a number of related matters. What surprised some delegates at Synod was that the following motion was comprehensively defeated:

27. Standard of Worship and Doctrine

That this Synod affirms the authorised standard of worship and doctrine of the Anglican Church of Australia as set out in the Fundamental Declarations and Ruling Principles of the Constitution.

The motion was defeated in a vote by houses with approximately 2/3 of the delegates voting against.”

– David Ould has a report.

‘Smear campaign’: Why Aussies are giving Israel Folau their money

“The managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby says Australians are pouring money into Israel Folau’s GoFundMe appeal in fear of their rights around religious freedoms. …

‘Israel Folau has today been accused of greed, playing the victim, and being in a conflict of his own making. All three accusations are false,’ the Australian Christian Lobby MD wrote on Facebook. …”

– Story from Yahoo! Sport.

In his weekly video, ‘The Truth of It”, published 19 June 2019, the Australian Christian Lobby’s Martin Isles read a long excerpt from Israel Folau’s ‘controversial’ sermon in which he allegedly ‘targeted transgender youth’. What did he actually say?

Update: ‘Israel Folau’s campaign shut down by GoFundMe, donors to be refunded’ – ABC News.

“Sacked Wallaby Israel Folau’s attempt to crowdfund for his legal action against Rugby Australia has been shut down by GoFundMe, which will refund all money raised to donors. …”

How might Folau’s court case impact religious freedom?

“A victory in his case would be helpful as sending a message that believers have the freedom to speak in accordance with their faith, even when saying something that offends. And perhaps in persuading employers that they should not try to rely on over-broad “codes of conduct”. …

If he loses his case, it will in my view send a message to corporate Australia that they can require uniformity of opinion on controversial topics. It may lead to further restrictions on what Christians can say in public.”

– The Gospel Coalition Australia speaks with Associate Professor Neil Foster about the decision by Israel Folau to begin legal proceedings against Rugby Australia.

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