Southern Cross, June-July 2023

The latest issue of Southern Cross magazine from the Diocese of Sydney is now out in churches – and also available online.

Why is sexuality such a big deal?

“Why is the debate on sexuality and marriage in the Church of England (and other churches) such a big deal? Why can’t we just agree to disagree—to get on together and learn to live with difference?

Two groups regularly say that to me.

The first is those who want change in the Church’s teaching. Why are evangelicals making such a fuss? they ask. The Church has altered its practice on marriage in various ways in the past? Why can’t we make this adjustment now?

But the other group are those who are busy getting on with the business of planting new churches, growing current ones, and reaching young people. They are often younger, and have not been engaged so much with the ‘politics’ of the Church (lucky them!). Why can’t we just get on with the business of ministry? Will this issue really make much difference? After all, we have continued with gospel ministry in the past when the leadership has believed all sorts of questionable things—so why is this different?

An immediate response to both groups might be to say – you are right, it is not such a big deal. We are not talking about central Christian doctrines like the incarnation, salvation, or the Trinity. But here’s an interesting test case …”

– At Psephizo, Ian Paul lays out why sexuality is such a big deal, and a huge debate for the Church of England.

The Global Anglican 2022 Digital Digest

Church Society has published a Digital Digest with excerpts from Volume 136 of The Global Anglican:

“This new digital digest aims to make some of the best content from the previous year accessible to everyone.

Included are all four editorials from Peter Jensen, as well as an extra editorial piece from Bishop Keith Sinclair, published ahead of the 2022 Lambeth Conference.

There are four further articles and ten book reviews, selected from the four issues that comprise volume 136.”

It’s available for free download on this page – as an encouragement to subscribe.

Photo: Church Society Director Dr Lee Gatiss with Global Anglican Editor Dr Peter Jensen.

Know and Tell the Gospel — 42 years on!

Back in October 1991, the ACL’s newsletter featured this short article by the Rev Brian Telfer, Rector of Christ Church Gladesville. Brian was writing on the tenth anniversary of the publication of John Chapman’s book Know and Tell the Gospel.

Without doubt, our culture has changed a great deal since the book was published in 1981, but every Christian will benefit from reading it – for the first time, or the tenth time – and may our hearts be stirred to know, and to tell, the gospel.

___________________

 

Ten years, and nearly 45,000 copies down the track, John Chapman’s book on Evangelism is still required reading.

But it may be that some have not yet discovered this most useful and encouraging book!

Brian Telfer gives Know and Tell the Gospel a timely plug…

Many books written on Evangelism could be described as HOW TO books. John Chapmans’ book is a WHAT and WHY book first and a HOW TO book second.

1991 marks the 10th anniversary of the publication of Know and Tell the Gospel – and it has gone through eight subsequent printings.

What makes it so popular?

There will be as many reasons as readers. You’ll probably add others, but let me share with you a few that immediately come to mind…

John Chapman has been a friend and encourager to many— not only in this Diocese, but throughout the world. We “put not our trust in men”, but approach Know and Tell the Gospel with confidence in the writer as a teacher and preacher of the gospel.

It is a lifetime reflection on the nature of the gospel — having grown out of discussion and debate with friends and opponents alike — the result of 30 years of preaching. It is vintage Chappo.

PRACTICAL HELP

Know and Tell the Gospel refuses to avoid the difficult questions like God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility and sets the gospel where it ought to be — at the heart of Biblical Theology.

And it is readable — accessible to those who wouldn’t call themselves readers — as well as to those who are theologically trained.

When I first read the book I saw its value as a study book for the congregation.

It begins dealing with basic questions such as — What is the gospel? Why must it be preached? and What is God doing in Evangelism?

It continues by looking at the Howto’s — giving us a model to follow and suggesting ways to answer difficult questions.

As we studied the book I was again impressed — it was rooted in Scripture and centred on Jesus. It helped people understand their faith and convinced them they should share it.

If you are looking for some thing to help you and your congregation “get started” in telling the gospel, you can’t go past Know and Tell the Gospel.

_____________

Of course Know and Tell the Gospel is still available – now in its fifth edition – from Matthias Media .

Moore College end-of-financial-year appeal 2023

Watch former Archbishop of Sydney and Moore College Principal Dr Peter Jensen:

“If you’re asking, ‘What should I support? How should I support?’, I would say, never forget your need to support Moore College…”

– See the College website.

The art of Christian pastoring after Christendom

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“Major cultural change is making a big impact on Christians and the church. Something radical has changed.

Admitting you follow Jesus ‘weirds people out’ in a way it never has before. And doing church the way we did no longer yields the same results.

Senior minister of Dapto Anglican David Rietfield says there’s fewer new people and the regulars are coming less frequently.”

– Watch or listen here, and learn about David’s new book.

The Jewel and the Sun: Justification and Union with Christ according to the Reformers

“Jewellery and sunshine. These are two powerful images used by the Reformers to describe our relationship with God by his grace. The reality they illustrate is still vital for us to remember today.

One key issue the Reformers were wrestling with was understanding and explaining justification by faith. …”

– Lionel Windsor writes in the Moore Matters for Winter 2023.

Read the article on the College website – or (better still) read the complete issue online – or pick up a printed copy at church.

GAFCON Sunday 2023

“This is a critical time for the Anglican Communion.

The 2022 Lambeth Conference demonstrated the deep divisions in the Anglican Communion as many bishops chose not to attend, and some of those who did withdrew from sharing at the Lord’s table.

Since then the General Synod of the Church of England voted in February 2023 to welcome proposals by the bishops to enable same-sex couples to receive God’s blessing, which is contrary to the teaching of God’s Word. Resetting the Global Anglican Communion is now an urgent matter which was welcomed in the Kigali Commitment, the statement from GAFCON IV in Kigali, Rwanda.

The goal is that orthodox Anglicans worldwide will have a clear identity, a global ‘spiritual home’ of which they can be proud, and a strong leadership structure that gives them stability and direction as Global Anglicans.

This Gafcon Sunday (25 June 2023) will mark 15 years of faithfully proclaiming the unchanging word of God to a lost and desperate world. There is much to do, and your help is needed. …”

– Learn more from the GAFCON website.

Created male and female — ACR Journal

Gav Perkins writes in the latest ACR Journal (Easter 2023 – PDF) – and now featured on the ACR website –

“It is foundational to what we know of God, as the one who speaks his pow­erful word to bring all things into be­ing, and who then orders, arranges, and blesses.

It is foundational also to what we know of ourselves, as uniquely cre­ated in the image of God, and commis­sioned to rule and subdue.

We learn here what it means to live and work in God’s creation and relate to the rest of that creation, leading to a genuine Christian – rather than pagan – envi­ronmentalism.

We also learn what it means to have a genuine Christian – rather than pagan – understanding of gender and sexuality. These chapters are simultaneously timeless and pro­foundly pertinent within our culture.

In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that our gender, male or female, is a central part of who we are, as created by God. …”

– Read here. Very timely.

Pray for workers for the harvest in Bathurst Diocese

From the Diocese of Bathurst Facebook page:

“Our recruit pathways taskforce met tonight to plan and pray and strategise about how to effectively put before Bible college students and those already out in ministry, the great challenges and the joy-filled opportunities of ministry in central and western NSW.

Please pray to the Lord for the harvest… 12/28 parishes need clergy.”

Heritage of Evidence in the British Museum — A review

“Dr Peter Masters (Spurgeon’s latest successor at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London) takes us in this book on a room-by-room tour of the British Museum, pointing out various exhibits and assessing each one of them as being direct evidence for biblical events and names, or confirming the authenticity of biblical descriptions, or giving insights into the biblical environment. …”

– Bob Thomas at AP (The National Journal of the Presbyterian Church of Australia) provides a brief review of Heritage of Evidence in the British Museum by Peter Masters.

Living without fear

The latest Church Society podcast:

“Ros Clarke and Lee Gatiss discuss how the psalms can help us overcome fear and anxiety with Kirsty Birkett.

Her book, workbook and journal include reflections on several psalms, along with suggestions about how to put them into practice as we negotiate life in a complicated and confusing world.”

– Listen here.

Forthcoming Book: Truth be told: Living truthfully in a post-truth world

“As Christians, we cannot afford to let our society’s loose relationship with truth influence our thinking, living and speaking. In Truth be Told, Lionel Windsor goes back to the Bible to show how the gospel provides a foundation for both understanding truth and interacting truthfully with our culture. Provocative and timely, this book offers Christians practical help in the task of sharing the truth of the gospel with confidence and conviction. …”

– ACL Council member Dr Lionel Windsor has a new book coming out in September from Matthias Media.

Anglicans among those honoured in the first King’s Birthday list for more than 70 years

“A firefighter, an historian and a bell ringer are among Sydney Anglicans honoured in the King’s Birthday honours. …”

– Russell Powell has the story at SydneyAnglicans.net.

CEEC remains committed to Lambeth I:10 and therefore opposes the criminalisation of LGBT+ people

Published  by the Church of England Evangelical Council, 13 June 2023:

CEEC is fully committed to Lambeth I.10 in its entirety. This means upholding biblical teaching concerning sexual “abstinence…for those who are not called to marriage” between a man and a woman and not “legitimising or blessing” same-sex unions or ordaining those in them. It also means both “rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture” and calling on all people “to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear” of gay people. As all human beings are equally created as God’s precious image-bearers CEEC agrees with the Primates of the Anglican Communion in 2005 that, “The victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is anathema to us”.

If we are to be faithful in our Christian witness, all these convictions need to shape how we respond in any and every culture. As our then National Director, Bishop Keith Sinclair, recently reminded the GAFCON conference, we need to recognise that: “Different parts of Lambeth 1.10 will challenge our different cultures in different ways, sometimes in difficult ways, but that is what will happen when we do not conform to this world but allow the Spirit of God to transform us by the renewing of our mind. At all times and in all places we will find we have to be countercultural, including in relation to sexuality”.

We recognise that there are challenges in understanding and responding to different cultural contexts. The role of law in relation to sexual behaviour and wider social policy and cultural commitments – such as supporting family structures and resisting global forces seen as undermining these structures – is complex. We also confess that we and the Church of England have failed and continue to fall short in various ways in our churches and in our responses to our own culture. We believe that the Primates of the Communion were right in 2016 to state their “rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people”. We oppose the criminalisation of consensual homosexual behaviour, especially when combined with severe penalties and requirements to report people for their behaviour. We believe such laws encourage victimisation of those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or same-sex attracted and make the church’s commitment to listen to, care for, and disciple all people, regardless of sexual orientation, much more difficult to live out.

On the basis of these convictions, we are committed to further reflection on these matters and are engaging privately, through EFAC, with GAFCON and GSFA. We continue to pray for Christians and non-Christians whose lives such laws impact so severely and for all of us that, in our diverse cultures, we will learn from each other and bear faithful witness to Christ in word and deed.

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For further reflections on these issues we recommend the following articles:

Kirsten Birkett, “Don’t criminalise gay people”, Church Society (2021).

Sean Doherty, “Why LGBT People Should Not Be Criminalised”, Living Out (2021), recently republished as “Jesus would fight the criminalisation of LGBT people and so should we”.

Fulcrum, “Fulcrum Briefing on ‘The Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ in Uganda”, Fulcrum (2009).

Peter Jensen, “The Challenge of, and the Challenge to, Gafcon”, Church Society (2023).

Ian Paul, “Statement on the criminalisation of LGBTQI+ people” (2021).

Ephraim Radner & Andrew Goddard, “Rights, Homosexuals, and Communion: Reflections in light of Nigeria”, Fulcrum (2006).

Source: CEEC.

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