Australian Church Record Journal for Autumn 2021
The latest Australian Church Record Journal (for Autumn 2021) has been posted on their website.
This issue focusses on topics relating to the election of the next Archbishop of Sydney.
(Note that the ACL does not have a preferred nominee but encourages continued prayer for the Election Synod and each of the Nominees.)
Engaging Preaching
“In his substantial biography of J.I. Packer, Leland Ryken interviews Dr. Packer regarding his literary and spoken style and rhetoric:
Did Packer consciously cultivate the stylistic and rhetorical strategies that I have explored?
I asked him that question and he said yes. He followed that affirmation with the explanation, “One of the things I am is a communicator”.
Ryken highlights Packer’s anticipation of questions in his hearers, ‘but someone will say’, or, ‘but wait a minute’, or ‘you may still be wondering’, all of which serve clarity…”
– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook shares encouragement for preachers.
Anglican Aid’s India COVID-19 Emergency Appeal
“Anglican Aid is responding to the COVID-19 crisis in India by supporting Herbertpur Christian Hospital with essential supplies and equipment.
We have received urgent requests for help to provide equipment like ventilators, monitors, PPE (personal protective equipment) kits, and food for the COVID patients.
The hospital is being overwhelmed with cases after being designated a COVID hospital in response to the crisis. They currently have a total of 30 beds for COVID treatment and are working to bring that number up to 50. The hospital services an area with a population of 2 million people, serving anyone regardless of race, caste, creed, or religion.
It is the only COVID hospital in a 20km radius. …”
– Read more from Anglican Aid (Diocese of Sydney) and help as you are able.
Photo: Herbertpur Christian Hospital COVID beds, via Anglican Aid.
Love and Gospel in the Time of Corona
“A bishop once said: ‘Everywhere St Paul went there was a riot; everywhere I go they serve tea.’ Our lives can get very comfortable, all too easily. Everything is predictable and orderly and follows a set pattern with little disturbance. That is how it is until God steps in. We often say that God is in control, but we lose sight of the fact that he doesn’t place at the top of his agenda that everyone should live comfortably and happily. …”
– On the website of George Whitefield College in Capetown, Principal Dr Mark Dickson observes that “the illness that has swept away millions and wreaked economic havoc is God’s reminder that this world cannot be all that there is”.
Read his article and watch the moving video.
Anglican Network in Europe Commissioning Service (updated with video links)
The Anglican Network in Europe held a Commissioning Service with a difference on Monday evening 19th April European time.
Video greetings were sent to the Commissioning Service from around the world.
Related:
In this video recorded last month (March 2021), GAFCON’s Ernie Didot speaks with Bishop Andy Lines, Philip de Grey-Warter and Lee McNunn about the Anglican Network in Europe.
Things I have learned about coaching senior ministers – with Peter Mayrick
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“Ministers have a crucial role as a source of guidance and authority in the church environment – but we also need coaching, guidance and support.
So how do we make sure that as spiritual leaders we are doing effective ministry? What heart issues and skills should we be focussing on to encourage sustainable and innovative service?
This week we’re speaking to an expert on the topic of ministry training, Peter Mayrick. As the co-director of the Centre for Ministry Development at Moore College, his key area of responsibility is supporting pastors and churches. Peter shares his wealth of experience with us as we discuss what’s helpful for coaching those who will shoulder the most responsibility for the health and growth of a church.”
Giving thanks for John Stott on the Centenary of his birth
John Stott was born in London one hundred years ago today, on 27 April 1921.
In the above video Chris Wright speaks of the centenary and the John Stott website has links to various resources.
Related:
Sydney Church History – David Cook.
ACL tribute to John Stott – Dr Mark Thompson, July 2011.
John Stott – a tribute – Bishop Paul Barnett, August 2011.
DISCOVER Diocese of Kilimanjaro
GAFCON has posted this encouraging video from the Diocese of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Common Prayer for Homes — a new resource
Repost: Originally posted 04 April 2020 – a reminder of this locally produced resource:
From the Better Gatherings website (an initiative of the Diocese of Sydney), here is a very helpful addition to use when you can’t meet in church.
“A new liturgical resource has been completed which provides flexible forms of household worship to serve the churches, by complementing the spiritual resources already being offered during this difficult period: Common Prayer for Homes: Resources for Family Worship.
We trust it will be of some assistance to the ministry already taking place in homes, and ultimately we hope that it provides some good benefit to the spiritual lives of Christ’s flock.”
“Common Prayer for Homes” contains:
- HOUSEHOLD WORSHIP – 1ST ORDER
a classic approach to Christian worship, easily modified for any household - HOUSEHOLD WORSHIP – 2ND ORDER
another classic approach to Christian worship, with various options to suit many households - HOUSEHOLD WORSHIP WITH KIDS
a simple approach to Christian worship which is suitable and easily adaptable for young children - MORNING PRAYERS FOR EVERY DAY
an all-in-one guide to morning prayers for each day of the week, for group or individual use - VARIOUS PRAYERS FOR THE HOME
a short collection of prayers which can be prayed in our homes - COLLECTS
this traditional name is given to short and beautiful prayers which cover the whole year, and special occasions.
Download “Common Prayer for Homes” from Better Gatherings. – and do share widely.
Here is some encouragement from the back cover:
Read the Holy Scriptures humbly with a meek and lowly heart, to the intent that you may glorify God, and not yourself, with the knowledge of it. And read it not without daily praying to God, that he would direct your reading to good effect.
– Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)
Therefore, confident in your holy teaching and promises, and all the more since we are gathered here in your presence and in the name of your Son our Lord Jesus; we fondly plead with you, our good God and Father, that in the name of our only Saviour and Mediator, by your infinite mercy, you would freely forgive our transgressions and so draw and lift our thoughts and desires to you, that from our whole heart we may seek you, and that according to your good pleasure and will, which alone is reasonable.
– John Calvin (1509-1564)
The Almighty Lord, which is a most strong tower to all that put their trust in him, to whom all things in heaven, in earth, and under earth, do bow and obey: be now and evermore your defence, and make you know and feel, that there is no other name under heaven given to man, in whom, and through whom, you may receive health and salvation, but only the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
– from the Book of Common Prayer (1549)
Related:
We ask Mark Earngey about ‘Common Prayer for Homes’
Resources for ANZAC Day
This Sunday is ANZAC Day – These resources from Defence Anglicans (including audio of the Last Post) might come in handy for use in your regular church service or for a special gathering.
Related: What to preach on for Anzac Day? – David Cook.
Freedom and faith: Scotland’s lockdown
“This has been a difficult year for Christians in Scotland, but one in which our convictions have been sharpened, our unity stretched, and the historic constitutional settlement in which we worship called into question.
Our family moved from Sydney to Scotland in August 2018 so that I could complete a PhD in Systematic Theology at the University of Edinburgh. We have stayed in Edinburgh the entire time since the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread across the globe. I’m due to finish my PhD in 2022, and we have never given any serious consideration to returning to Australia early. The fact that Australia has closed its borders so tightly—even to its own citizens—has been a stark reminder that ultimately our citizenship is not of this world. …”
– Matthew Baines writes from Scotland for The Australian Church Record.
A Royal Funeral with a message for everyone
“Kings, Queens and Princes, the great and the small, the young and old, will all meet death and face the judge of the earth. As the writer to the Hebrews explains, ‘people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment’ (Hebrews 9:27). …”
– Murray Campbell in Melbourne gets to the clear message from the royal funeral.
See also: The Order of Service.(PDF)
Image: Royal.uk
More than 1,000 vicars vow to defy any vaccine passport plans for churches
“In an open letter to the [British] Prime Minister concerning vaccine passport proposals, the church leaders said: ‘To deny people entry to hear this life-giving message and to receive this life-giving ministry would be a fundamental betrayal of Christ and the Gospel.‘…”
– Story from The Telegraph (via MSN).
And from the Letter:
Open Letter from Christian Leaders to the Prime Minister Concerning Vaccine Passport Proposals
“Dear Prime Minister,
As Christian leaders across a range of denominations, we continue to pray at this time for your government ‘and all in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity’ (1 Timothy 2:2).
However, we write to you concerning an area of the most serious concern, namely the potential introduction into our society of so-called ‘vaccine passports’ which have also been referred to as ‘COVID-status certificates’ and ‘freedom passes’. We are wholly opposed to this suggestion and wish to make three points about the potential consideration of any scheme of this type. …“
– Read the full letter here. It is signed by a number of UK Christians leaders who would be known to our readers.
Luther and the Diet of Worms @ 500
“On April 18, 1521, Martin Luther—age 37—gave his famous “Here I Stand” speech at the Diet of Worms.
On April 17, 1521, Luther arrived in Worms after completing his 15-day, 300-mile journey from Wittenberg. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor reminds us of this key moment in history.
Related:
From Article VI of The Thirty Nine Articles:
Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scriptures for salvation
“Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.”
Wrong Paradigm, Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Solution
“Our response to the world needs to embrace more than lament, but a deep malaise has descended upon contemporary Western society.
There is a hardness of heart, but a softness in the head; a trivialisation of life, yet a lack of humour; and a coarsened culture but a distorted sensitivity concerning giving offence.
Any example would do as an illustration, but the recent moral outrage at the sexual misbehaviour of parliamentary staffers in Canberra is clear enough. …”
– Dr Peter Barnes, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, makes the case that if the diagnosis is wrong, the solution will evade you.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…