170 Years of Moore Exhibition
From Moore Theological College:
“The Donald Robinson Library is celebrating the College’s 170th anniversary with a special exhibition on the Lower Ground Floor, featuring archival items from across the College’s history.
The display starts with Thomas Moore and the College’s early days in Liverpool, followed by items showcasing its growth and expansion.
The second part of the exhibition features documents from the lives of three key Principals (Nathaniel Jones, T.C. Hammond and D.B. Knox), alongside informal photographs and student-led publications giving an insight into the College’s communal life.
On display now until 19th June.”
New CEO for Bible Society Australia
“Bible Society Australia (BSA) has appointed long-serving mission leader, Chris Melville, as its new Chief Executive Officer …
Mr Melville has been serving as Interim CEO for the past six months and previously held the role of Chief of Mission, where he oversaw BSA’s domestic and international mission work. …”
– News and photo via John Sandeman at The Other Cheek.
Two long-term governors of Moore College called home
“Over its 170 years Moore College has been served by a faithful succession of wise and godly governors. These men and women have overseen the work of the College, at least at two points in its history have helped to rescue the College when it was going through hard times, and have ensured that the College’s fundamental mission of preparing godly ministers of the word of God for Sydney and the world remained unwaveringly central to all we do.
We have very great cause to thank God for those who share in the governance of our College. …”
– Moore College gives thanks for Neil Cameron (pictured) and Professor Keith Watson.
The influence of reading
Ian Carmichael – with Matthias Media from the start (when they were known as St Matthias Press!) – shares some thoughts about reading:
“It will, I’m sure, come as no surprise to you that I am a reading enthusiast. But I don’t mean I read enthusiastically; I don’t. I generally find reading quite hard work (especially reading whilst remaining awake – which I concede is the more effective of the two modes of reading). No, I am a reading enthusiast because I believe wholeheartedly in its benefits. I am confident of its benefits generally and its benefits for our growth and maturity as Christians.
An organization in Australia called Australia Reads is on a mission to get more Australians reading, and they’ve published a significant report into the reading habits of Aussies in the hope of revealing potential strategies for achieving that mission.
I have now read that report. (See, their mission is working already!) …”
– Read it here.
Admittedly, this is could be a plug to buy books from Matthias Media (their New Year sale ends tomorrow!), but it’s also encouragement to church leaders to set an example in reading.
Photo: Ian and Stephanie Carmichael.
The Long Road to the English Bible: William Tyndale’s life and legacy, part 1
A new resource from Tyndale House.
Tony Watkins hosts a new Tyndale House Podcast series as 2026 marks the 500th anniversary of the publication of William Tyndale’s New Testament.
“This is the first episode in our new series exploring William Tyndale’s life, Bible translation, and legacy. Tony Watkins interviews experts in the sixteenth century and the history of the Bible. In this first episode, they explore the history of Bible translation prior to William Tyndale and the cultural context in which he lived and worked.”
– See it here – or direct on YouTube.
Will the new Archbishop of Canterbury be any different?
“The election of the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury will be confirmed at St Paul’s Cathedral on the 28th January.
She inherits a Church and a Communion in crisis.
It is profoundly regrettable that the lack of decisiveness of Mullally’s predecessors will now become her problem. The failure to deal with progressive teaching at home and abroad, and the fallout that comes from decades of prioritising the reputation of the institution over and above the needs of victims of abuse, means Sarah Mullally has a very full inbox. …”
– Sadly, the writer of this opinion piece at Anglican Futures does not have high expectations.
Where we complementarians can get it wrong with preaching
“Over my past 26 years of ministry, I have become increasingly aware of a problem in the way complementarians teach about who should be allowed to preach.
Let me be clear—I am a complementarian, and I believe that a faithful application of 1 Timothy 2:11–15 includes a prohibition against women authoritatively teaching (now referred to as preaching) to a mixed congregation. I also believe that women who have the gift of preaching should be encouraged, trained, and given appropriate contexts to exercise that gift. I want to affirm and train women in this area.
However, complementarians often speak about 1 Timothy 2:11–15 in isolation from 1 Timothy 3:1–7. …”
– Fiest published in the ACR’s Synod 2025 Journal, Moore College’s Dean of Students Mal York points us to the full context of what Paul says about who should preach.
Image: Mal York preaching at Moore College chapel.
How did we get here? How 1776 culturally and intellectually shaped the post-Christian West
From The Pastor’s Heart –
“Wisdom for pastors seeking to preach and lead well in a post-Christian age.
So much of our culture judges events in isolation — a single moment, a single failure, a single decision — detached from what led to it and what flows from it. But history doesn’t work like that. Events emerge from long trajectories, and they reshape the future in ways no one fully controls or intends.
We’re joined by Archie Poulos, Head of the Ministry Department at Moore Theological College, to reflect on Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West by Andrew Wilson.
Wilson’s argument isn’t that everything changed overnight in 1776, but that the events clustered around that year give us a window into the forces that have shaped the WEIRDER world we now inhabit — Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic, Ex-Christian and Romantic.
We explore why reading history as an ecosystem rather than isolated episodes matters, why Romanticism isn’t just a past movement but our present operating system, and how Christian faith — offers a deeper, more hopeful way to understand our moment.”
Anglican Heroes: Josephine Butler — Church Society Podcast
From Church Society:
“Ros Clarke talks to Sarah Allen about the life, faith and work of 19th century social reformer Josephine Butler.”
– Listen here.
Anglicans honoured in larger Australia Day awards
“A number of Sydney Anglicans have been acknowledged for their contributions to church and community in the Australia Day honours list, which expanded by 200 places this year.
Among the 2026 honourees was Emeritus Professor Christopher Bellenger, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia. …”
– Russell Powell reports at SydneyAnglicans.net.
God is the Judge of the World
From Phillip Jensen:
“The climax of Paul’s great Athenian sermon is the call of God for all people to repent. But there are some strange elements in this call. One important element is its timing. Another is in the judgement ‘by a man’.
Let’s listen afresh to Paul’s great gospel statement.”
– Here Phillip and Peter Jensen discuss, including the difference between repentance and remorse. Who will judge the world? Why is the Resurrection so important?
The faith of our fathers and my hope for Australia
Andrew Hastie, Federal Member for Canning in Western Australia, shares this thoughts for Australia Day.
Regardless of one’s political persuasion, this is worth reading. It’s also worth contemplating how we might gently point people to true hope in Christ, in whatever realm of life we find ourselves.
And it’s also a reminder to pray for members of Parliament.
“Let me share a memory that gives me hope for my country, from the Sydney suburb of Ashfield, where I saw my father weave together a people from vastly different ethnic groups. And I will offer my thoughts on the kind of politics that will let us repair a fraying nation.
This hope is a gift from my father. At Bondi Beach in 2025, we saw how one man’s hatred was passed to his son. Decades earlier, in Ashfield, my father passed to me his love for others as he faithfully served his church community. His example is why I do not despair for our country and our future. …”
Photo: The front doors of Ashfield Presbyterian Church.
Recognition on Australia Day 2026
Spotted in today’s Australia Day Honours List:
Appointed as Officers of the Order of Australia (AO) –
“Mrs Jocelyn Kathleen Edna ELLIOTT
WA
For distinguished service to international relations through humanitarian medical care in remote regions of Burkina Faso.Dr Kenneth Arthur ELLIOTT
WA
For distinguished service to international relations through humanitarian medical care in remote regions of Burkina Faso.”
You will remember that ten years ago, after serving in Burkina Faso since 1972, Christian medical missionaries Dr. Ken Elliott and his wife Jocelyn, were kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists. (Previous posts here.)
Related:
How Ken Elliott survived seven years in the desert as a prisoner of Al Qaeda – ABC News, 29 August 2024.
Meeting Dr Ken and Jocelyn Elliott – Government House, Western Australia, 18 November 2024.
And, appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in today’s honours list –
“Emeritus Professor Christopher Raymond BELLENGER
NSW
For significant service to veterinary science, to tertiary education, and to the Anglican Church of Australia.”
In addition to Professor Bellenger’s much-valued service in the Diocese of Sydney, he has had a long association with university student Christian ministry in Australia and internationally.
Richard Johnson’s Address to the Inhabitants of New South Wales
This Australia Day, give thanks once more for the Rev. Richard Johnson, Chaplain to the First Fleet and first Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales.
In 1792, Johnson wrote a tract designed to be distributed widely in the Colony. He gives his reasons for doing so:
“My Beloved,
I do not think it necessary to make an apology for putting this Address into your hands; or to enter into a long detail of the reasons which induced me to write it.
One reason may suffice. I find I cannot express my regard for you, so often, or so fully, as I wish, in any other way.
On our first arrival in this distant part of the world, and for some time afterwards, our numbers were comparatively small; and while they resided nearly upon one spot, I could not only preach to them on the Lord’s day, but also converse with them, and admonish them, more privately.
But since that period, we have gradually increased in number every year (notwithstanding the great mortality we have sometimes known) by the multitudes that have been sent hither after us. The colony already begins to spread, and will probably spread more and more every year, both by new settlements formed in different places under the crown, and by a number of individuals continually becoming settlers. Thus the extent of what I call my parish, and consequently of my parochial duty, is enlarging daily. On the other hand, my health is not so good, nor my constitution so strong, as formerly. And therefore I feel it impracticable, and impossible for me, either to preach, or to converse with you so freely, as my inclination and affection would prompt me to do.
I have therefore thought it might be proper for me, and I hope it may prove useful to you, to write such an address as I now present you with…”
Johnson’s warm pastoral tone, and his urgent call to trust Christ and to turn from sin, are clearly evident in this Address.
Download An Address to The Inhabitants of The Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island as a PDF file here.
(Photo: Richard Johnson’s Address – copy held by Moore College.)
Football and “transgender vilification” — the Kirralie Smith cases
“I have written previously about litigation involving Kirralie Smith stemming from her comments about a biological male playing in a womens’ football team.
In that post I noted the decision in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘NCAT’) in Blanch v Smith [2024] NSWCATAD 20 (22 January 2024). …”
– at Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster shares updates and his opinion on four recent legal decisions.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…