New Anglican Diocese of Bathurst Bishop Mark Calder’s hope for region

“Just over eight months after Ian Palmer’s retirement, the Right Reverend Mark Calder was recently appointed as the new bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst and he has a big hope for the region.

Rev Calder was installed as bishop on Saturday, November 23, at the All Saints Cathedral… And just a week into his new rule, he’s made his number one goal as new bishop clear for all. …”

– Story from The Western Advocate.

Photo: Mark and Susan Calder with Archbishop Glenn Davies at the Installation service at Bathurst Cathedral, 23 November 2019. From The Diocese of Bathurst.

Gafcon Ireland pushes back against claims it is un-Anglican

Here is a letter printed in the Irish Times in response to the open letter from liberal Irish clergy urging the Irish bishops to reject the election of David McClay as Bishop of Down and Dromore due to his support of GAFCON.

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Sir, – It saddens me that once again The Irish Times has allowed its pages to be used to spread vicious and untrue rumours about Gafcon (Analysis, November 18th, Rite and Reason, November 19th). Far from being schismatic, Gafcon has allowed the vast majority of the Anglican Communion to remain united despite attempts from some to tear the very fabric of our common life.

The pleas of brothers and sisters across the globe have been ignored and the plain teaching of Scripture has been abandoned. Instead there has been a persistent and prolonged attempt to drive the Church of Ireland away from its true Anglican heritage shared by millions across the world. It was my privilege to be at Gafcon in Jerusalem last year, the biggest international gathering of Anglicans in over 50 years. Men and women from more than 50 countries gathered in that great city to proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations.

Every Church of Ireland minister is committed to this. At their ordination, they promise to expound the Scriptures and teach the doctrine of the Church of Ireland to all irrespective of gender, race or sexuality.

Anyone reading the Jerusalem Declaration, which sets out the beliefs of the Gafcon movement, will notice that it merely upholds the classical authorities of Anglicanism, the Bible as the word of God written, the Creeds and Councils of the early church, the Articles, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal. This is something that every bishop in the Church of Ireland is called to do and what the average church-goer in Ireland expects from their bishop. These are the things that unite us. – Yours, etc,

Rev Timothy Anderson, Chair, Gafcon Ireland

– from GAFCON.

Freedom of religion vs Freedom of Expression

From Assoc. Professor Neil Foster, at Law and Religion Australia:

“I presented a paper at a continuing legal education seminar entitled ‘Freedom of Religion vs Freedom of Expression: Critical Legal Issues’. A copy can be downloaded here. And yes, it mentions issues raised by the case of Mr Israel Folau!”

The gospel and marriage part 2: Husbands (Ephesians 5:25–33)

“The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches husbands to take initiative to love and give themselves to their wives. This radical teaching involves both actions and attitudes. …”

– At Forget the Channel, Lionel Windsor reaches the challenging exhortations for husband in Ephesian 5.

Sharing the Good News in a World of Fake News

“How do Christians move forward in sharing our faith in this environment of fake news, bad news and a general mistrust of claims of truth?”

That’s a question many of us are asking ourselves, and it was the question St. John’s Vancouver, a church in the Anglican Network in Canada, posed to the entire congregation.

“I think every Christian who lives in the West has the sense right now that we are sailing in uncharted waters culturally,” Rev. Canon David Short, the rector of St. John’s, said. “The idea that there might be some sort of truth out there, we [people in our culture] don’t like that idea. And I think the affect for us as Christians has been uncertainty…and some of us, I think, have been silenced.” …

– The Anglican Church in North America points to a helpful initiative at St. John’s Vancouver.

Preparing for GAFCON Kigali 2020

Archbishop Foley speaks briefly about why evangelism is a key theme for the Kigali 2020 conference being planned by GAFCON.

When the smoke clears

“A journey to Port Macquarie for a funeral, a trip to Mt Tamborine to speak at a convention and a return to Armidale, these trips have more than filled my lungs with smoke. …”

– Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers writes to his local community about the fires and the drought.

Why would you?!

ACR chats to Uni ministry campus director Ryan van der Avoort about what compelled him to move from South Africa to Sydney to study at Moore Theological College:

“Originally I had not wanted to do live-in theological education. I wanted to do it via correspondence while continuing with local ministry. But looking back, that relational and residential element of Moore deeply shaped and impacted who I was when I returned to SA.”

– Read it at The Australian Church Record.

Archbishop Philip Freier to conclude as Primate on 31 March 2020

“The Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Archbishop Philip Freier of Melbourne, has announced that he will not seek reelection as Primate. He will stand down on 31 March 2020 in order to allow sufficient time for an election and for his successor to prepare for the pivotal General Synod in June.”

– David Ould has the news.

Sermon at the installation of Mark Calder as Bishop of Bathurst

Bishop Mark Calder was installed at Bathurst Cathedral today.

Hear the sermon he preached, from Luke 18:9-14. This is a pre-recorded version. Watch and share.

Evangelical Anglicans on the Fault Line in New Zealand

“I have been privileged to visit New Zealand twice this year. On my first visit in May I had time to explore a little of this beautiful land from alpine mountains to the lush forests bordering restless volcanic lakes, but I am still haunted by the sight of the ruined Christchurch Cathedral, its west end still open to the elements after the spire collapsed in the 2011 earthquake.

My second visit in mid-October was for the consecration of the Revd Jay Behan as the first bishop of the new Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa, New Zealand …”

– GAFCON’s Charles Raven reflects on what’s happening in New Zealand.

Attending to the National Soul: Book launch Thursday 12 December

Here’s an invitation to all ACL members and others interested in Australian history:

Attending to the National Soul – Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1914 – 2014 by Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linder follows the highly awarded book The Fountain of Public Prosperity – Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914, which was published in 2018.

Both volumes are the result of thirty years’ research and writing. Read more

Mark Calder consecrated as Bishop of Bathurst

“The Bishop-elect of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has been consecrated in Sydney prior to his installation as the new Bishop in the Central West of New South Wales two days later.

Assisted by a large contingent of visiting bishops, the bishop-elect was consecrated by the Metropolitan of New South Wales Archbishop Glenn Davies at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney on Thursday, 21 November. …”

– Story and photos by Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.

(Photo: Mark and Susan Calder after the service.)

Australian Bishops issue Communiqué: “testing times”

“The Bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia met this week in Melbourne to discuss the growing crisis in the national church precipitated by the decision of the synods of Wangaratta and Newcastle to legislate for a liturgy of blessing for those in same-sex marriage.