St Helen’s Bishopsgate, fears ‘repercussions’ for newly commissioned leaders

“The names of the seven men commissioned as ‘leaders’ at a service in St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, last week, are not being publicised out of concern about ‘repercussions’, the Rector of the church, the Revd William Taylor, said on Wednesday.

Mr Taylor told the Church Times that he was concerned that those who had been commissioned might be sanctioned by bishops in their dioceses. …”

– Report from Church Times – via Anglican Mainstream.

Image: Scene from the Commissioning service included in the video of William Taylor’s explanation of the event.

Reflections on Preaching Conferences

“Preachers around our city, country and world stand up each Sunday to echo God’s life-giving and powerful Word to gatherings of sheep. They stand before people in need of nourishment, in need of encouragement to press on in Jesus’ footsteps, in need of assurance that trust is rightly placed in Him, in need of a clear word to call them back from straying, in need of a seeing again the Lord God, Father, Son and Spirit in all His glory, love, wisdom and grace.  They’ve laboured in the text and on their knees, with the Spirit to guide, and made use of some tools to understand what God says and to bring it on Sunday with conviction and engagement.

Sometimes they go home on Sunday, gladly spent from their labour and love for the flock, not just this day but the hours in their study, in prayer, and at kitchen tables and hospital bedsides.  They’ll start again tomorrow …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, Janet Riley reflects on the value and encouragement of Preaching Conferences.

Image: Rod Chiswell and David Cook at one of the recent preaching conferences. (There’s one at Wahroonga coming up.)

Cross Cultural Sydney

“In many ways in Sydney, mission has come to us. Nations all around the world have come to our doorstep providing us with an abundance of opportunities to share our faith with them. There is a joy in knowing that we are all one people in Christ Jesus. But ministries focussed on a specific culture or people group can also be highly beneficial and effective. I myself became a Christian through going to an ethnicity-based church. When you are reminded every day that you stand out from the crowd, being with others who stand out with you can be a strong drawcard in building a community.

At Moore, we benefit from the wisdom and experience of people who continue on this work of evangelising a specific people group. Their insight, knowledge and research are generously shared with us to grow the next generation of gospel workers reaching the nations. I look forward to gathering before the throne of the Lamb with every nation, tribe, people and language (Rev 7:9) and singing his praises with these, and many other, people groups. …”

– The Rev Susan An, Dean of Women at Moore College, helps us to get to know some of the people groups of Sydney.

Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s Regional Conferences Talks

From Church Society:

“On Soundcloud now are uploaded talks from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s regional conferences.

Eleanor Hayden on positive ministry relationships.

Are we in our churches reflecting well the beauty of God’s complementarian design in our mixed ministry teams? Eleanor examines the biblical ideal God is calling us to, some of the challenges we face in living it out in 21st-century England, and ends with some questions to help us face our weaknesses and blind spots.

Lee Gatiss on biblical ministry oversight.

Conservative evangelicals are profoundly uneasy about the current state of the Church of England and deeply concerned about its trajectory. Do we need to question the whole structure of having bishops in the first place? But let us not throw out the ‘baby’ of episcopacy with the ‘bathwater’ of current failings.

Rob Munro preaches on Acts 20: 17–38 and reflects on the crisis of ministry in the Church of England.

He explains that at the heart of biblical ministry is the principle of self-sacrifice.”

– Links on this page.