Time to move on past Canterbury and seek the renewal, revival and reform of the Anglican way — Archbishop Beach tells GAFCON IV
“GAFCON IV will not spend five days bemoaning the failures of the Church of England, but is focused on recalling the wider Anglican world to renewal, revival and reform, the chairman of GAFCON the Most Rev. Foley Beach indicated in his presidential address tonight. …”
– At Anglican.ink, George Conger shares his take on Archbishop Foley Beach’s address on the first night of GAFCON IV in Kigali.
The Challenge of, and the Challenge to, GAFCON
“As the fourth GAFCON conference begins today in Kigali, we are glad to publish the latest editorial from The Global Anglican, written by Peter Jensen, himself a former General Secretary of GAFCON.
This edition of The Global Anglican is due to be published at much the same time as the fourth Gafcon Conference is meeting in Kigali Rwanda.
In speaking of the challenge of Gafcon, I ought to indicate, of course, that I myself was present when the idea of Gafcon was born in December 2007 and helped organise the first Jerusalem Conference in June the next year. Following that I became the General Secretary of Gafcon, a position I held until 2018. Thus, I am no uncommitted bystander, although I am no longer present at the key policy-making decisions.
However, I can speak with some knowledge about the history and significance of the movement, and I want to discuss something of the challenge that Gafcon represents in the Anglican Communion and a particular challenge that Gafcon faces. …”
– Read Peter’s full editorial at Church Society’s website.
Photo: Archbishop Kwashi with Archbishop Peter Jensen in Jerusalem in 2018.
Watch the Heart of GAFCON Broadcasts
Livestream on YouTube (when live) is above.
The full list of available interviews can be found at The Pastor’s Heart.
And here are the recordings of the full broadcasts.
Live video is also available on the GAFCON 23 Vimeo channel below:
This channel covers the plenary sessions, as well as other interviews from time to time.
For an idea of what’s happening at Kigali each day, see the Conference Schedule. (Times are Central African Time, UTC+2.)
George Verwer, OM founder, 1938 – 2023
iJustin Taylor has written this tribute to George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization.
OM also has a tribute, and the video below –
Top image: OM Australia.
Michael Calder commissioned at St John’s Wishart
The Rev Michael Calder was yesterday commissioned as priest-in-charge at St John’s Wishart in the Diocese of Brisbane.
Michael had been serving as Assistant at St Bart’s Toowoomba.
Do pray for Michael and his wife Rachel and the St John’s congregation, as well as for Peter Judge-Mears and his family and others who formed Southside Anglican in Brisbane late last year. Pray that both churches might be used by the Lord to bring eternal blessing to the people of Brisbane.
Photos on the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page.
GAFCON Primates meeting today
“The Gafcon Primates are meeting on Sunday (April 16) and Monday ahead of the GAFCON IV conference. The Trustees and Guarantors of Gafcon are also involved.
Pray that as they take counsel together the Holy Spirit may provide guidance and inspiration in all the discussions and decisions.”
Preview of the ‘Heart of Gafcon’ live broadcast — Starting Monday 17th April
GAFCON IV begins in Kigali, Rwanda, on Monday. Here’s a brief preview.
We’ll have a link on our website to the broadcast for each day. Stay tuned!
60 Days of Prayer for the Church
Church Society in the UK has been promoting “Sixty Days of Prayer for the Church“.
“Church Society is calling us to 60 days of prayer for the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion. The Church of England is teetering on the precipice of grave doctrinal error and pastoral disaster. The potential implications will be felt across the Anglican Communion, with many provinces having already made it clear that they cannot continue in fellowship with the Church of England. The situation is extremely serious, and what we most need is to call on the Lord.
For several years, at Church Society, we have made weekday posts throughout Lent on a number of theological, biblical and pastoral themes.
This year, however, it seemed appropriate to use this time to call the church to prayer. The collects of the Anglican church are intended to gather up the thoughts of the people into short, clear prayers, and so we will be using these as the basis for our prayers.
Each day we will be posting a selected collect along with some thoughts about its significance for the contemporary church, and we hope that these will prompt your own prayers.
The sixty days begin on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, and finish at the end of the GAFCON meeting in Kigali, on April 21st.
Please join us for this important season of prayer.”
It’s not too late to join in prayer. You can see each of the daily posts at the Church Society website.
Today’s post: Withstand the world, the flesh and the devil, by Sandy Grant, is a reflection on the collect for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity –
“Almighty God,
grant your people grace
to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only God,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.”
and Stephen Tong wrote this post on the collect for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Canowindra partnership opportunity
From the Diocese of Bathurst Facebook page.
“To minister full-time, some of our ministers rely on the generosity of others.
At the moment, Jono Williams in Canowindra, would so appreciate your support. The parish can only afford 3 days a week stipend. Jono is working full time.
Click this link (not the photo), hit ‘Give’ and then find Jono from the drop down menu to give regularly (or a one-off).”
A matter for prayer – and perhaps for action.
Click the image for a larger version.
ACR Journal Autumn 2023 now available
There’s much worthwhile reading in the just-released copy of the Autumn 2023 ACR Journal –
Editorial: Taste and see that the Lord is good – Mike Leite
The law of the Lord is perfect – Andrew Leslie
Created male and female: Reflections on Genesis 1-3 – Gav Perkins
God’s goodness in 1 Timothy – Lionel Windsor
Interview: William Taylor – Micky Mantle
How to preach truth yet teach falsely – Mike Leite
A God worth trembling before: Isaiah 66 – Craig Schafer
Preaching a good and powerful word – Paul Grimmond
Will we be teachers who tremble at His Word? – Phil Colgan
Reflections: An interview with Phillip Jensen – Ben George
Displaying God’s love daily: School chaplain interviews – Stephen Tong
This is the Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God – Mark Earngey
You are enough, and other lies we like to swallow – Jocelyn Loane
Richard Johnson: Chaplain under fire – Stephen Tong
From the vault: The evangelical heritage – Archbishop Howard Mowll
From the vault: The cross and the resurrection – John Stott
Book review: Eager to serve by Ray Galea – Ben Pfahlert
Book review: The Doctrine of Scripture: An Introduction by Mark Thompson – Andrew Leslie
Book review: The Life of Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine by Peter Jensen – Sandy Grant
Book review: Biblical critical theory by Christopher Watkin – Rory Shiner.
Download your copy from The Australian Church Record.
Where did all this Expository Preaching come from?
“There’s no doubt that, at least within Reformed churches, this is an age of expository preaching – of preaching sequentially through books of the Bible while always ensuring that the point of the text is the point of the sermon.
Yet you do not need to look far into history to find that it was not always so and that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such preaching was rare.
I was intrigued by Bob Fyall’s explanation of how expository preaching became not only accepted but expected. …”
– Tim Challies writes of key figures who promoted expository preaching in England and Scotland. Let us never take such preaching for granted.
Related: Sydney Church History – David Cook.
CofE & King Charles at odds over ‘other’ faiths at Coronation
“In an article printed [in] Daily Mail, King Charles has reportedly been in a dispute with Church leaders over the extent to which non-Christian faiths should participate in his upcoming Coronation ceremony. …”
– Kevin Kallsen reports at Anglican.Ink.
From barefoot refugee to leader in Global Anglicanism – with Archbishop Laurent Mbanda
In the lead up to the big GAFCON gathering in Kigali next week (17 – 21 April 2023), Dominic Steele has this fascinating interview with the Primate of Rwanda, Archbishop Dr Laurent Mbanda.
– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.
THAT’S EASTER — Life to Death – and Death to Life
Back in 2010, St. Helen’s Bishopsgate released this video.
Good to share (again).
See also THAT’S EASTER Death to Life:
Do you know death?
“Over the past three years, it’s been sobering as the world confronts its mortality. Covid’s death toll overwhelmed hospitals, filled the morgues, converted paddocks into mass graves. The words of Hamilton have felt prophetic: ‘Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinner and the saint, it takes, and it takes, and it takes…’
In the wake of Covid, we awoke to the reality of death. Suddenly, the false hopes of medicine, exercise, healthy diets to fix everything were exposed as fake, phonies, flimsy bandaids that offered only temporary solutions. And suddenly the desire for pretty things, faster internet, on-trend fashion, tastier coffee faded in comparison to the desire for life and love and longevity.
But death shouldn’t surprise us. …”
– At The Australian Church Record, Jeanette Chin shares something of her story, our story, and the sure hope we have in Jesus.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…