Vicar Faces Official Rebuke From Church of England For Saying Trans Archdeacon is “Biologically a Bloke”
“The Revd Brett Murphy faces an official rebuke from the CofE over ‘intentionally derogatory and disrespectful’ remarks he made about the Revd Canon Dr. Rachel Mann shortly after his appointment in June.
LGBT+ campaigners had hailed his appointment as a ‘beacon of light and hope’.
The Revd Murphy, in a 32-minute-long YouTube video, criticised the CofE for putting ‘a radical rainbow activist’ in a ‘position of high authority in a diocese’. …”
– Anglican Mainstream has this excerpt from and link to a report in The Telegraph.
Since the Rev Brett Murphy has left the Church of England, he might not care very much what is said about him.
Dave Jensen: “Sydney Anglicans’ first family and its prodigal son”
“A few days after Peter Jensen was elected Archbishop of Sydney, a famously conservative Anglican diocese that frowns upon divorce, female ordination and sex outside heterosexual marriage, his son Dave, barely out of school, sat him down for an awkward conversation. …”
– The Sydney Morning Herald his this profile of Dave Jensen. A topic of conservation at work or over coffee this week?
See also:
Meet the late starter taking up Chappo’s flag. – SydneyAnglicans.
What is a Christian? — book by Dave Jensen.
Photo: SydneyAnglicans.net.
Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s Guidance on Prayers of Love and Faith
As the Church of England’s House of Bishops say that Prayers of Love and Faith are available for use from today (Sunday 17 December 2023), the Bishop of Ebbsfleet has issued his pastoral guidance. It can be summarised:
- Do not use the prayers.
- If you can, pass a PCC resolution not to use the prayers.
- Consider what implications ‘impaired fellowship’ may have on your ministry.
- Do not leave the Church of England now.
- Support the CEEC and others in seeking suitable provision.
– Read his Statement and Ad Clerum here (PDF file).
Link via Anglican Mainstream.
Hard Decisions will have to be made — Bishop Wallace Benn
“I was privileged to be part of the group at the Lambeth Conference of world-wide Anglican bishops in 1998 which produced the statement overwhelmingly supported by the Conference …
I was also part of the group that wrote the excellent Jerusalem Declaration in 2008 (which became the basis for GAFCON — the global movement of orthodox Anglicans)…”
– Both statements assert the authority of Scripture.
So, in the light of the latest moved by the House of Bishops of the Church of England, Bishop Wallace Benn asks, “What are Bible-believing Christians to do?”
– Anglican Mainstream has republished his comments from Evangelicals Now.
Photo: Bishop Benn at GAFCON 1 in 2008 by Peter Frank for GAFCON.
Top 7 stories in 2023 (from heaven’s perspective)
“It’s the season for reflecting on the year that has been.
People are compiling lists of the biggest or most momentous events of 2023. While these lists can be interesting, I want to do something a little different here.
Rather than taking the usual perspective, I want to remind us that the Scriptures give us another view of reality and it’s one that we can easily miss or forget in the midst of everyday life.
Enjoy and be encouraged and a little bit challenged as well. …”
– Murray Campbell wants us to have a heavenly perspective on 2023.
CEEC responds to House of Bishops’ commendation of Prayers of Love and Faith
“Revd Canon John Dunnett, National Director, CEEC, said: “CEEC deeply regrets the announcement from the House of Bishops which indicates that a selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same sex couples can be used in Church of England services from Sunday 17 December.
As reported in our statement on 17 November, this confirms our belief that a line has been crossed, which we hoped and prayed would not happen.…”
– The latest from the Church of England Evangelical Council.
Deaf and arrogant — The Anglican Network in Europe on the Church of England House of Bishops
Press Release:
A response to the Church of England House of Bishops’ commendation of Prayers of Love and Faith on 12 December 2023
It is hugely disappointing, but unsurprising, that the Church of England House of Bishops has ignored the pleas of the majority of the Anglican Communion, nearly half of the clergy and laity in General Synod and nearly a third of their own members to push ahead along a highly divisive path which arrogantly rejects the authority of scripture and cravenly follows the latest trends in Western secular culture.
For both clergy and laity now standing at the crossroads and prayerfully considering their future path, we want to reassure them there is a road available which avoids an unknown and unsafe future as part of an apostate denomination, and draw their attention to the recent Gafcon Primates’ statement (9 Nov 2023) which speaks of a way of being authentically Anglican apart from Canterbury-aligned structures: “We… commend the ministry and witness of the Anglican Network in Europe as the appropriate and necessary provision of Gafcon for those who cannot in good conscience remain in a Church which flagrantly abandons the teaching of Scripture.”
Rt. Rev’d Andy Lines
Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe.
Received via e-mail.
Note: The Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE) is the provision of the Primates’ Council of Gafcon to provide a faithful ecclesial structure for orthodox Anglicans within Europe. It currently comprises two dioceses: The Anglican Convocation in Europe (ACE) and The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE).
Image: GAFCON.
C of E: Prayers of Love and Faith to be made available for use from Sunday
“A selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples can be used in Church of England services for the first time from Sunday, December 17, following approval by the House of Bishops.
The final texts of Prayers of Love and Faith, commended for use in regular public worship or private prayer, are published today, together with pastoral guidance which sets out how they could be used.
At a meeting held online this morning, the House of Bishops confirmed its earlier decision to commend the Prayers of Love and Faithresources for use in regular public worship and agreed that this should take effect from Sunday December 17.
The Prayers can be used in regular scheduled services, such as a Sunday Eucharist or Evensong.
The House also continued to discuss separate proposals for special standalone services for same-sex couples to be formally authorised under canon law. …”
– from a Church of England press release.
Improving your Christmas service and talk – with Dave Jensen and James Galea
News you can use – from The Pastor’s Heart:
“How can we make our Christmas Services better?
With just a few days to Christmas, and while some of us are well planned, some of us are still scrambling around putting things together.
Whether it’s Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, or a kids gathering, carols or Gingerbread and Wreathmaking…
What are the pitfalls we can fall into? How do we avoid them?
James Galea is senior minister of Freshwater Anglican Church.
Dave Jensen will be working next year with the Sydney Anglican Churches Evangelism and New Churches team to encourage best practice evangelism.”
Canada is not only euthanizing Persons but Personhood itself
“In 2016, Canada legalized euthanasia for adults suffering severely and incurably near the end of life.
Four years later, it legalized euthanasia for adults even if death is not “reasonably foreseeable.”
Next year, euthanasia is set to become legal also for adults whose sole medical condition and source of suffering is mental illness. Recommendations have been made to legalize euthanasia for minors whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.”
The organization that regulates physicians in the province of Quebec has suggested that euthanasia should be available for infants with severe disabilities or illnesses that render them unlikely to survive. …”
– Since euthanasia has just been introduced in New South Wales, this is a very relevant article by Brian Bird at Public Discourse.
Link via Anglican Mainstream.
Moore College farewells The Rev Dr Chase Kuhn
“Moore College’s much-loved lecturer in Christian ethics and theology, The Rev Dr Chase Kuhn, has accepted the Archbishop’s invitation to become the Rector of St Matthias Centennial Park in Sydney. Dr Kuhn’s long-standing love of church-based pastoral ministry means that this move has not surprised any who know him.
While we will be very sad to see him go, we are so glad that he is able to use his very considerable gifts in the service of this community of God’s people. We share the joy of this opportunity with Chase, Amy and the family. …”
The Desecration of Man
“This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the lectures that became C. S. Lewis’s book The Abolition of Man.
Speaking to an audience at the height of the Second World War, Lewis identified the central problem of the modern age: The world was losing its sense of what it meant to be human. As man’s technological achievements were once again being used to destroy human life on an industrial scale, Lewis pointed to the dehumanization that was occurring all around. And as the war continued, the Final Solution and the atomic bomb served to reinforce his claims.
Yet modern warfare was not the only problem. As Lewis argued, the intellectual and cultural currents of modernity were also culpable. The war was as much a symptom of the problem as a cause. Modernity was abolishing man. It represented nothing less than a crisis of anthropology. …”
– There’s a great deal to contemplate in this essay from Carl Trueman at First Things.
This essay was originally delivered as the 36th Erasmus Lecture at Grove City College on 31st October 2023.
Photo: Carl Trueman, courtesy Grove City College.
Why Jesus Came — Devotional from John Piper
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
“This, I think, is my favorite Advent text because I don’t know any other that expresses so clearly the connection between the beginning and the end of Jesus’s earthly life — between the incarnation and crucifixion.
These two verses make clear why Jesus came …”
– A wonderful reminder, via John Piper.
Image: Ornaments by Lacewing Creative in Sydney.
Collect for Advent 2
Via GAFCON:
“Blessed Lord, who caused all the holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that through patience, and the comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace, and forever hold fast, the blessed hope of eternal life, which you have given us in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
See also:
The Bible: Read, learn and digest – Julian Mann at TCW.
The Sin of Selfish Ambition in Christian Ministry
“The prophet Jeremiah was inspired by God to write: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it’ (Jer. 17:9).
While it is widely applicable for many things, it functions as a particularly pertinent warning to those who would serve Christ. Even discerning one’s own motives can be a notoriously difficult thing to do. And in this regard, the words of the apostle Paul are especially apt …”
– At AP (The Australian Presbyterian) Mark Powell encourages fellow-pastors to “Take yourself less seriously, have fun, serve Christ…” – and not to promote yourself. Good advice!
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…