North West Network February 2021

The latest issue of North West Network, the newsletter of the Diocese of Northwest Australia, is now available.

Download your copy and use it as fuel for your prayers for the churches and people of the North West.

Peter Jensen’s sermon at the Consecration and Installation of Rod Chiswell in Armidale

Dr. Peter Jensen, former Archbishop of Sydney, preached at the service of Consecration and Installation of Bishop Rod Chiswell in Armidale this morning.

Most encouraging and very much worth your time – and an extra insight into how to pray for your bishops.

Here’s the Order of Service, and please uphold in prayer Rod and Jenni Chiswell in this new sphere of service of the Lord Jesus.

In Our Discipling Relationships, Best-Sellers are Great . . . But the Bible is Best


“Books are tremendous tools for discipling. But with so many good resources out there, we can be tempted to forget the best book on discipleship – the Bible.”

– At 9Marks, Sam Koo has some encouragement for you.

Investing in Preparation

“I am facing the dilemma of all retirees – Australia’s inflation rate continues at between 1 and 2%, at the same time as interest rates are virtually non-existent.

This means that $1 in the bank after a year is worth 98c and there is no gain added from the bank in interest. Bank balances therefore are shrinking. So retirees are looking for return on investment, at least buying shares in Australia’s banks returns 3-4% on investment.

What does this have to do with preaching? In preparing to preach it is important to invest your time where it will pay a rich dividend!…

In his book Why Johnny can’t preach, T. David Gordon says that every sermon must have one idea – what is your sermon about? Is the idea related to the text and are relevant applications offered?”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook strongly encourages preachers to invest their time in preparation – and has something which can help you.

When Amazon Erased My Book

“My book When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment was released exactly three years ago. It was attacked twice on the New York Times op-ed page. The Washington Post ran a hit piece on it that was riddled with errors. It was obvious the critics hadn’t read the book. But they were threatened by it and wanted to discredit it lest anyone pick it up and learn from it.

Now, three years after publication, in the same week that the House of Representatives plans to ram through the Equality Act—a radical transgender bill amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964—Amazon has erased my book opposing gender ideology from its cyber shelves. …”

– At First Things, Ryan T. Anderson wonders why his book disappeared from the world’s biggest bookseller.

Related:

World’s Largest Bookseller Opens on the Web – Press release, October 4, 1995.

Amazon Has Basically No Competition Among Online Booksellers – The Atlantic, May 31, 2014,

Responding to the Transgender Moment: A Conversation with Ryan T. Anderson – Albert Mohler, June 4, 2018.

To win power in the Church of England?

“The newly-launched Movement of Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church (Mosaic) has a clear political motive: to win power on the Church of England’s governing body, the General Synod. …”

– At Conservative Woman, Julian Mann shares his thoughts on a newly formed group seeking fundamental change in the Church of England.

Tactics for the Spiritual Battlefield

“If we are to be effective as soldiers of Christ, we need to understand and employ strategies and tactics which will defeat the enemy, seizing his territory and releasing the captives.

In order to do this, we need military-type discipline: unquestioning loyalty and obedience to our King Jesus. We also need sound spiritual-military strategies. …”

– In the February 2021 “Ministry Matters” newsletter of the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand, Vicar-General, the Rev. Michael Hewat, encourages churches to be ready to adapt methods of proclaiming the gospel.

And it’s a good reminder to pray for the progress of the gospel in New Zealand.

Peter Grice consecrated as Bishop for Rockhampton

Peter Grice, until recently the Dean of Geraldton Cathedral in the Diocese of North West Australia, was consecrated in St John’s Cathedral Brisbane this evening.

He will be installed as the 13th Bishop of Rockhampton at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Rockhampton on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 11:00am (AEST, Noon AEDT). That service will be streamed live.

(The consecration service was streamed live, and a recording may be viewed here.)

Please uphold Peter and Virginia in prayer in this new phase of their service of the Lord Jesus.

Top image: Bishop Grice (back to camera) is greeting by Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies as Brisbane Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, seated, looks on.

When vice presents as virtue: stopping sin before it’s too late

“Some personal styles can result in highly effective ministries.

If you are task-orientated, decisive, and confident, your ministries will probably be highly efficient. And if you pair your efficiency with some charisma, people will certainly want to follow you.

But there is a challenge for people who fall into this category (and those of us who serve alongside them): could this kind of ‘effective’ personal style inadvertently excuse sin?…”

– Wise words from Nathan Milham at The Australian Church Record.

Make the most of Easter evangelism post COVID

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Don’t let Easter creep up on you.”

Dominic Steele is joined by Paul Webb, Elliot Temple and Andrew Levy in thinking about how to make the most of Easter this year.

Watch at The Pastor’s Heart.

Also at The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic addresses the tragedy of the recent revelations concerning Ravi Zecharias.

The Dennis Canon Dead in Texas

“With its denial of certiorari (review) this morning to two of the Episcopal Church in the USA’s (“ECUSA’s”) groups in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States Supreme Court has put to rest the multiple adverse claims made for the last twelve years against the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.

All of those various claims, and the stages of their ups and downs, have been chronicled on this blog, which began just before the legal disputes emerged.

It is gratifying, therefore, to report that this blog has managed to outlive, along with (retired) Bishop Jack Iker and his faithful flock, the Machiavellian intrigues of the schemers at 815 Second Avenue to hound and intimidate them into surrender of their properties…

The success in Texas leaves just one long-standing ECUSA dispute still festering: its pursuit of Bishop Mark Lawrence and his Diocese of South Carolina.”

– Read it all at The Anglican Curmudgeon, the blog of Christian lawyer A. S. Haley.

And much earlier, on our website …

Diocese of Fort Worth: Living with litigation – Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, September 2013.

“Living with litigation has become a way of life for us as members of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. For the past 4 ½ years, we have been under the cloud of a lawsuit brought against us by The Episcopal Church and its local supporters, seeking to deprive us of our buildings and assets.”

Also, most of these post are relevant to Fort Worth.

And on South Carolina, most of these posts are relevant.

Rod Chiswell’s Consecration and Installation as Bishop of Armidale this Saturday

From the Diocese of Armidale:

“Our new Bishop, the Reverend Rod Chiswell, will have his consecration and installation service at St Peter’s Cathedral Armidale on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 10 am, followed by a reception at the Armidale Ex Services Club.

The Metropolitan of NSW, the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, will be presiding.

Unfortunately COVID-19 restrictions mean that numbers at the service and reception will be limited, and so attendance will have to be by invitation only. However there are plans to make a live stream of the service available.”

Update: The livestream will be available here.

Photo: Rod and Jenni Chiswell.

How to Pastor when Sanctification becomes Illegal

“Where I live and pastor some aspects of sanctification are now illegal.

A recent decision in my home state of Victoria – in Australia – seeks to overturn this work of God’s grace. The Victorian Parliament has adopted the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill 2020.

Amongst other things, the Conversion and Suppression Practices Bill criminalizes any prayers or conversations in which one person aims to persuade another that pursuing certain sexual activity is not the best course of action.

It’s not only illegal to pray or speak with an individual about changing their sexual orientation or gender identity – unless, of course, this change means embracing an LGBTIQ lifestyle – the law states that suppression is also illegal.

‘Suppression’ includes prayers for celibacy, and any advice that communicates sexual faithfulness to one’s spouse is a matter of holiness.…”

– 9Marks in the USA has published this piece by Murray Campbell in Melbourne.

Second group of Deacons ordained in Sydney

“The second group of new Deacons was ordained at St Andrew’s Cathedral, in a smaller service because of COVID restrictions, but with the same scriptural charge to follow their Lord’s example.

The Making of Deacons service is held annually in February following the completion of the ordinands’ theological studies the year prior. Due to COVID and subsequent reduced capacity in the cathedral, an additional service was held last November for half of the ordinands, who had already been working in parish ministry.  This decision allowed the Cathedral to enable more family and friends to attend in support of the ordinands and encourage them as they commence their ministry. …”

– Full story at SydneyAnglicans.net.

An Introduction to the Homilies

For Lent 2021, Church Society’s Director Lee Gatiss is preaching through a modernised version of the Homilies.

In the first video, he introduces the Homilies and explains their purpose.

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