Allowah Children’s Hospital Dollar Matching Appeal

We’ve previously mentioned the attempts by the Allowah Children’s Hospital in Dundas (run by Presbyterian Church) to find funding.  They are “the only hospital dedicated to the health of children with disabilities in NSW”.

They’ve launched a new appeal – see a video about it here.

Baylor University charters LGBTQ group

“The news that Baylor University has officially chartered Prism, an LGBT student organization on campus, marks an important moment in Christian higher education in the USA.

To be fair to Baylor, Christian colleges and universities have a very difficult task in the current climate. Institutions of higher education are meant to be places for free discussion and exchange of ideas. With sexual identity politics now a central component of wider public discourse, freedom of discussion inevitably means that sexual identity discourse will take place on campuses. But there is a difference between students discussing these issues in the context of, say, a debating society or a mainstream political club, and discussing these ideas in an official LGBT group. To receive an official charter is to receive a formal imprimatur. …”

– At First Things, Carl Trueman writes about Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Started in 1845, Baylor is private Christian University.

From the Baylor website:

“During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, prestigious institutions of higher education founded on Christian principles began a relentless retreat from their spiritual heritage. During that time and into the Twenty-first Century, Baylor has remained one of the few to persist in the belief that not only can its Baptist heritage inform a vital approach to life in general, it can also inform the life of the mind specifically.”

and their Statement on Human Sexuality.

‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Archbishop Glenn Davies

The following is an interview with former Archbishop of Sydney Dr. Glenn Davies, one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.

This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.

ACL Podcast Author interview.

Listen here:

 

or Download the file (right-click to Save As).

Transcript:  Read more

Navigating change management in church – with Raj Gupta

From this week’s The Pastor’s Heart:

“How to navigate change management in church?

We want and need to make changes in our churches. But there are so many war stories of ‘church change resistance,’ where well meaning ministers have had relationships blow up in their faces when they attempted to bring about needed change.

Raj Gupta is the senior minister of St Paul’s in Carlingford in Sydney and a director with Moore College’s Center for Ministry Development and has insights for churches based on John Kotter’s Change Management Framework.”

– Watch or listen here.

‘The Line in the Sand’ Author Interview: Dr Claire Smith

The following is an interview with Dr. Claire Smith, one of the authors of a newly published book, The Line in the Sand.

This book is a joint initiative of the Australian Church Record and the Anglican Church League. It’s available for download here.

ACL Podcast Author interview.

Listen here:

 

or Download the file (right-click to Save As).

Transcript:  Read more

How do we read the Bible differently as Followers of Jesus?

“The Christian attitude toward the Bible is part of Christian discipleship. To follow Jesus is to follow him in this too. Put simply, we want to have the same attitude toward the Bible as Jesus had.

We must not pit the authority of Jesus—or the power of the Holy Spirit, for that matter—against the teaching of Scripture. Jesus himself turned to the Scriptures as the final word: sufficiently clear, true, and powerful to make known the person and purposes of God, and to direct a faithful response to what God has done for us in his Son. ‘It is written,’ Jesus said. ‘What does the Scripture say?’ asked his faithful servant, the apostle Paul.…”

– Crossway has published this encouraging article by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson.

It’s adapted from his just-released book, “The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction”. (It’s available to order from these booksellers.)

Freedom22 – National Conference 2022

It’s just a week to the Freedom for Faith: Freedom22 Conference in Parramatta:

“Religious Freedom in Australia has reached a crisis point.

The promised protections in the Federal Religious Discrimination Bill have been put on hold, and new State laws have removed several religious freedom rights from faith communities.

These new issues include unprecedented intrusions into prayer, unsympathetic treatment of conscience exemptions, reduced employment rights for religious schools, and a troubling surge in discrimination cases against Jewish, Muslim and other minority faith groups.

Will there be room for authentic expression of faith in Australia’s future?

Register for the Freedom22 National Conference on May 3 at Parramatta’s Park Royal Hotel to hear our distinguished speakers explain the content and consequences of these laws, as well as how we arrived at this cultural moment.

The Freedom22 speakers are:

Book via the Freedom for Faith website.

The Line in the Sand: The Appellate Tribunal Opinion and the Future of the Anglican Church in Australia

The Line in the Sand – edited by Robert Tong, Claire Smith and Mike Leite – is jointly published by The Australian Church Record and The Anglican Church League.

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia meets Sunday 8 May to Friday 13 May 2022.

What is “The line in the sand”? How does it affect the future of the Anglican Church of Australia?

“This volume of essays is published in the hope that all Australian Anglicans and especially members of General Synod will be equipped and encouraged to hold fast to the historic Christian teaching about marriage and to hold out the pure gospel of God’s grace in Christ to all people.”

Download your copy of the book at this link. (PDF and ePub formats.)

Take the time to hear (or read) these Author interviews:

•  Dr Claire Smith.

•  Archbishop Dr. Glenn Davies.

•  Bishop Dr Michael Stead.

•  Dr Mark Thompson. 

Astronaut Charles Duke walked on the Moon 50 years ago — He shares his story

“Astronaut Charles Duke played a crucial role in the very first the moon landing and also … 50 years ago, walked on the moon himself.”

– Eric Metaxas (author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Martin Luther) last week interviewed Astronaut Charlie Duke, on the 50th anniversary of Charlie’s landing on the Moon on Apollo 16.

Charlie shares that walking with Jesus is better than walking on the Moon.

(Photo: Charlie Duke at Plum Crater, Saturday 22 April 1972.)

With thanksgiving for Neil Prott

Sydney Anglicans will be saddened to hear of the death of Neil Prott, yet we rejoice that he is now with Christ.

Neil was a long time member of the ACL, and a long serving member of the Moore Theological College Council.

After studying at Moore, Neil served curacies at Caringbah (1964-66) and Albion Park (1967-68) before becoming Curate in Charge of Oak Flats (1968-72), and then Rector of Kurrajong (1972-1998).

In his retirement, Neil established Country Serve, a support for ministers and churches in country NSW.

Please uphold in prayer Neil’s wife June and their family.

A thanksgiving service for Neil will be held on Monday 2nd May.

As a man thoroughly committed to the gospel, we thought it would be appropriate to republish an article Neil wrote for ACL News in 1989 – “Evangelism – A Priority in Your Parish?”

Moore College Council passed this Minute of Appreciation on Neil’s retirement from Council

Neil Prott was elected to the Moore College Committee (as it was then known) in 1974 and remained a member without break until 2005.

Neil is a graduate of Moore and his first year in college in 1959 was the largest (46 students) post war first year to that time. The numbers were partly due to Archbishop Gough’s successful initiative in encouraging older laymen to undertake theological study to meet the manpower shortage in the diocese.

At school (Sydney Grammar) Neil was, by a year, a contemporary of Graeme Goldsworthy and a few years behind Bruce Smith and Roderick West. There he developed a love of rifle shooting (First Rifle Team) which continues today.

It was in the candidate selection committees where Neil gave of his best. His long practical parish experience and clear evangelical theology enabled him to ask perceptive questions and make well founded judgements. In Council meetings his verbal interventions were not frequent, but when made, reminded us not to neglect the inner life of the pastor-in-training and the practical demands of ministry in the striving for academic merit.

We will miss him on Council and pray that our God will bless Neil and his wife June as they serve our Saviour.

(with thanks to Dr Robert Tong for the text.)

General Synod and comprehensive Anglicanism

“Some believe that the scriptures are quite clear in their condemnation of same-sex sexual activity and that the Church has no authority to act contrary to the clear teaching of the scriptures. Therefore marriage, in their understanding, must continue to be exclusively between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others, for life.

Others believe that what’s at stake here is an important matter of justice and that LGBTI people should be fully included in the life of the Church and allowed to express their sexuality through life-long, faithful, monogamous relationships just as heterosexual people do. Other parts of the scriptures are cited in support of this view.

…

In Southern Queensland we have set as a key focus area promoting ‘comprehensive Anglican identity and purpose.’

This approach recognises that there will be different convictions, understandings and priorities among Anglicans. And it is likely that each of these perspectives includes insights into the truth.

This means that in order to comprehend the whole truth we need these various insights and perspectives to be present and engaged. …”

– Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall writes about the upcoming General Synod to be held next month on the Gold Coast – and the range of theological convictions on the question of the blessing of same-sex marriages.

How ‘comprehensive’ can Anglicans be? Worth considering:

From Article 20 of The Thirty Nine Articles:

“… it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same…”

Photo: Anglican Focus.

Three things Christians can do about physician-assisted suicide

“The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 is currently being considered by the NSW Legislative Council. The Bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly on October 14, and five days later was referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice for inquiry and report – with the report due by the first sitting day in 2022.

Notwithstanding the fact that this inquiry was still in process, the Legislative Assembly went ahead with its consideration of the Bill last year, and the Bill was passed by that house with some relatively minor amendments on November 26. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Bishop Michael Stead writes that there is a limited window of opportunity for Christians to act.

One thing you can do is to sign this e-petition which closes on Monday 25 April.

Image: Bishop Stead on The Pastor’s Heart.

Women, families and same-sex marriage on the agenda for General Synod

“Gender balance and family violence will be key issues on the agenda at the 18th Anglican General Synod in May, according to agenda documents.

The solemnisation of same sex marriage is also set to be debated by delegates. …

The issue of the blessing of same-sex marriage will also be revisited by delegates at the General Synod.

Two statements with respect to the topic of human sexuality and same-sex marriages were submitted by the Sydney Diocese for discussion on the synod’s first day.”

– Report from The Melbourne Anglican.

General Synod meets from Sunday 8 May to Friday 13 May on the Gold Coast.

SC Supreme Court rules some breakaway churches must return properties to Episcopal Diocese

“The S.C. Supreme Court ruled some of the parishes that broke away from the Episcopal Church more than a decade ago must hand over their properties to the national church and its affiliated South Carolina diocese.

The court’s April 20 ruling orders 14 of 29 parishes that split from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina to begin the legal process for handing over ownership of the properties to the Episcopal Church. …”

– From The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina.

See also this Pastoral Letter from Bishop Chip Edgar of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina:

“The ruling raises many issues that will have to play out in the coming weeks before any actions are taken, so our first response must be to quiet our hearts before the Lord as we pray for grace to meet the days ahead. Some of our churches are relieved that the court ruled their property does indeed belong to them. Some are grieving deeply, as the courts ruling went the opposite direction.”

This has been a very long running dispute – and not all the websites linked in our archival posts are still active, but the post summaries will give some perspective.

Bishop Chip Edgar began as Bishop of the Diocese last month, succeeding Bishop Mark Lawrence who has been Bishop of the Diocese since 2008.

Update:

Lawyer AS Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, has posted what may be his last of many posts on the subject –

South Carolina Supreme Court Divides the Baby

His conclusion:

“There will be one final chapter to this desultory story once the federal courts dispose of the name and trademark claims, probably in ECUSA’s favor.

I shall not return here to comment; I am done with everything that involves the Episcopal Church. Let it reap what it has so assiduously sown.”

Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham — May 2022

From the Diocese of Tasmania –

“The Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham is coming up in Hobart on 21 May and in Launceston from 27-29 May 2022.

Since 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has held Crusades all across the globe for one purpose: to proclaim God’s love to people who need Jesus Christ. Today, Will Graham Celebrations continue this life-changing mission. …”

Next Page →