Inside Sydney: An Insider’s view of the changes and politics in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, 1966-2013
The Rev Canon Dr Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM, former President, and now Emeritus Vice-President, of the Anglican Church League, has published a significant history of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney.
Inside Sydney: An Insider’s view of the changes and politics in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, 1966-2013 is available from The Wandering Bookseller. Click on the image for ordering details.
Here are some Endorsements of the book:
Inside Sydney is an insider’s personal perspective on one of Australia’s truly representative democracies, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. Every democracy has a political dimension and Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones participated in that democracy at every level for half-a-century. Here are the mature reflections on his experience, an analysis of how the Diocese works and why it does not and cannot work.
A lifelong lover and player of the political game, he must have been tempted, like professional politicians who write their memoirs, to engage in self-justification. But this account transcends that genre. It explains very complex machinery with exceptional clarity and never loses sight of its purpose: to support the proclamation of the gospel and to bring the people of Sydney to the new life in Christ which is the hallmark of his own life and ministry. It is essential reading for all who love the Diocese and also for those who do not love it, but need to understand it.
– Associate Professor Stuart Piggin, Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience, Macquarie University.
This is an important book that should be widely read and discussed among those with an interest in the Diocese of Sydney and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Inside Sydney is a substantial study of an important question: How should the considerable resources of the large and complex organisation known as the Anglican Diocese of Sydney be harnessed to serve the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is not the last word on its subject, nor is it indisputable in its conclusions, but it does offer an ‘insider’s’ account of events from 1966 to 2013, through which the author draws his conclusions, both critical and constructive.
Those who know BBJ will not be surprised to find the book honest (at times frankly so), very well informed (the author was directly involved in much of this story), generous (where critical judgements are made there is also a warm recognition of positive qualities and contributions) and engaging. I highly recommend this book.
– Dr John Woodhouse, Former Principal Moore Theological College, Sydney.
Few developments in the Anglican world have been more significant and yet less widely understood than the remarkable growth and expansion of the Sydney diocese over the past half-century. This book offers us an eye-witness account of what has happened and an assessment of what it might mean for the future of the Anglican Church in Australia and in the wider world.
It is to be hoped that the publication of these memoirs will encourage others to share their insights as well, so that friends and observers of the Sydney scene will have a deeper understanding of the many forces at work that have produced this remarkable turn of events.
– Gerald Bray, Director of Research, Latimer Trust, London.
Available from The Wandering Bookseller: Inside Sydney: An Insider’s view of the changes and politics in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, 1966-2013.
See also this interview with Bruce Ballantine-Jones, “Gospel Ministry and Church Politics: What’s the Connection?”
The Importance of Peter
“This year has seen two books published from the hand of Bishop Paul Barnett, my predecessor as Bishop of North Sydney and a distinguished lecturer, author and scholar (whose number of publications clearly surpasses that of his successor!).
The first was his contribution to the Reading the Bible Today Series with the release of his commentary on Philippians and Philemon. The second is his appreciation of the contribution of the Simon Peter to early Christianity…”
– Archbishop Glenn Davies reviews The Importance of Peter in Early Christianity by Paul Barnett – at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Find where you can purchase the book at this link.
Diocesan BBQ at Gilbulla
A blast from the past – from Southern Cross magazine, September 1966.
(We don’t do Barbecues like that any more!)
Being There: Wittenberg
“I have valued the experience of being in important places because it brings history to life.
A long time love of the history of the New Testament has taken me many times to Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Greece. The landscape, remains of buildings, even the climate, adds value to the written word. Being there also raises questions of chronology. What happened when, and how long was it before b followed a?
I had not visited the places that figured in Martin Luther’s life story until 2014, and more recently in 2016. Many buildings are being restored in anticipation of big crowds in 2017, the 500th anniversary of Luther’s ninety-five theses being nailed to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg. …”
– Bishop Paul Barnett reminds us that the events of the Reformation happened in real places which you can visit today.
Sola Scriptura
“Today and over the next four Wednesdays I plan to touch on key elements of what is known as the five ‘solas’ or ‘alones’ of the Reformation: ‘Scripture alone’, ‘faith alone’, ‘grace alone’, ‘Christ alone’, ‘to the glory of God alone’. …” — Posted last week, John Mason begins a brief series at Anglican Connection.
Is the Reformation still necessary?
“All over the world people are gearing up for a year of celebrations commemorating 500 years since Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg.
There is still an academic debate about whether the theses were actually ever nailed to the door, though the tide has certainly turned back in favour of saying that he did. Not that it matters much. No one doubts that the theses that ignited the Protestant Reformation were sent to his local bishop on October 31, 1517. That Reformation transformed the religious landscape in ways that continue to resonate in 2017.
Yet is it still a cause of celebration? Is it still necessary? Today some voices – including apparently Pope Francis himself – consider it is all over. The Reformation has ended. But has it, and should it?”
— Moore College Principal Mark Thompson at SydneyAnglicans.net. Read it all.
Related: John Piper on why we celebrate the Reformation.
The New ‘Jerusalem’ Papyrus: Not so Fast…
“Here are some things to remember, as this Jerusalem Papyrus garners attention:
The fact that the papyrus itself has been carbon dated to the 7th century BCE certainly does not mean that the writing on the papyrus is ancient In fact, it really means nothing. After all, ancient papyrus is readily available for purchase online (check the web and see!), thus, no modern forger worth his or her salt would forge an inscription on modern papyrus. …”
– Dr. Christopher Rollston, at George Washington University, shares his thoughts on the Papyrus which is making news.
Thanks to George Athas for the link.
The Legacy of Broughton Knox — MTC Library Day 2016
Don’t miss this special event coming up at MooreTheological College on Saturday 29th October.
David Broughton Knox (26 December 1916 – 14 January 1994) was the long serving Principal of Moore Theological College from 1959 until 1985.
DBK is considered by many to have been hugely influential, under the Lord, in the shaping of Sydney Diocese into what it is today.
The 2016 Moore College Library Day will explore Broughton’s life and theology as well as its enduring influence on Sydney diocese and beyond.
When: Saturday 29 October, 2016, 9:15 am for 9:30 am start, 3:30 pm finish
Where: Broughton Knox Teaching Centre, Moore Theological College, 15 King Street Newtown
Registration: $40 includes coffee/tea on arrival, morning tea & lunch.
Speakers include:
- Mark Thompson
- Robert Tong
- Peter Jensen
- Robert Doyle
Who was Broughton Knox? See these tributes in our Resources section.
- David Broughton Knox – What we owe to him – by Archbishop Donald Robinson.
- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – tribute to Broughton Knox – by Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane.
Reformation History Tour
From Moore College:
“In 2017, the Reverend Dr Michael Jensen, Rector of Darling Point Anglican Church, will be leading a tour of the key Reformation sites of Europe. The tour will run from 26 April to 12 May and is being organised by 316 Tours Faith Travel. The group will travel from Prague, through Germany and Switzerland, finishing in England.
Moore College MA (Theol) students can participate in this study tour as a component of the Reformation History Tour unit, lectured by Dr Ed Loane (Lecturer, Theology and Church History).”
– Interested? Details here.
From the Archives: When to make a stand
From our Archives: Here’s the text of an address given by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson during the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Conference in Melbourne in March 2015.
“Three great ‘stands’ in the history of the church:
• the stand of Athanasius over the person of Christ;
• the stand of Martin Luther over the authority of Scripture and justification by faith alone;
• the stand of the GAFCON Primates over the priority of Christ and his mission, the authority of Scripture over denominational processes, revisionist theology, and ethical practice. …
Being prepared to make a stand has characterised genuine Christian leadership throughout the last two thousand years. But why? And when? And how?”
– Very helpful. Download it here as a PDF file.
(Picture: Detail from ‘Luther at the Diet of Worms’, by Anton von Werner, 1877.)
In case you missed them: Is the Pope a Catholic? and Why the Reformation is definitely not over
We published these two articles by Mark Gilbert two weeks ago –
Why the Reformation is Definitely Not Over
and
Is the Pope a Catholic? Understanding the Catholic Church.
And you may be interested in the conference:
Understanding Roman Catholicism in the 21st Century and developing effective evangelistic strategies
Saturday 20th August, 10:00am – 1:00pm
Cost: Free
At Moore College, 19 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042
Register here. (Registrations close 19th August.)
Can we learn from history? — Bishop Colenso and the Lambeth Conference
“Once upon the time there was a bishop—an Anglican bishop—who decided that you couldn’t trust the Bible. He claimed that the Bible was not clear about human sexuality and he rejected the Christian doctrine of marriage between one man and one woman. He wrote that the Bible was not historically trustworthy, and that we ought to prefer our own powers of reason and conscience to know God…”
– Top article from Phil Ashey at the American Anglican Council.
Related: Kevin Kallsen of Anglican TV interviews Canon Phil Ashey.
Great background to the new role of the American Anglican Council in helping the development of churches in the ACNA and further afield.
Serving the Lord — Jane Barker
“Jane Sophia Barker (Nee Harden) was born in England in 1807. On October 15, 1840 she married Frederic Barker who, at that time, was serving as a rector in Liverpool, England.
They had no children and served in parish ministry together for 15 years until Frederick was asked to be the second Bishop of Sydney. They arrived in Sydney in May 1855 and Jane would remain in Sydney until her death 21 years later…”
– Jane Tooher opens a window into the life, and faith, of Jane Barker, wife of Bishop Frederick Barker. At SydneyAnglicans.net.
Moore College to celebrate 500 years of the Reformation
Moore College will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with some key events.
It’s time to mark your diary!
Details at the College website.
Is the Pope a Catholic? Understanding the Catholic Church
By Mark Gilbert, Certainty for Eternity
In Australia we have a saying we use when someone asks you something blindingly obvious. We reply, “Is the Pope a Catholic?” The assumption being, of course, that he is!
On 31 October this year Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) will take part in in an ecumenical service with the World Federation of Lutheran Churches to mark a year of celebrations to commemorate 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the castle church at Wittenberg. When commenting about this event, Pope Francis said this to reporters:
“And today Lutherans and Catholics, Protestants, all of us agree on the doctrine of justification.”
When he makes comments like this he is showing himself to be entirely Catholic—which is after all what you would expect.
Let me explain what I mean. The word Catholic comes from a Greek word which means “according to the whole”. In short, the Catholic Church means the unified church. Unity is the most important thing for the Catholic church because it is Catholic.
Which brings us to the important question: How does the Catholic church understand unity?
The Catholic Church sees itself as a sacrament of unity for the world. By this they mean that they are a visible and effective sign of unity. Visible because they are seen to be at the centre of unity, and effective in that they unite various religions and philosophies with God.
In the above diagram the large blue dot represents the Catholic Church which, according to Catholic understanding, has the fullness of unity with God. They understand unity as: unity in succession from Peter and the apostles, unity in creed – the ancient Nicaean Creed, and unity in liturgy – by which they mean the Mass.
The other blue dots represent other religions and philosophies. Those closer in represent religions such as the Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Church and other Christian churches. Those further out represent other monotheistic religions like Judaism and Islam, polytheistic religions, and even atheistic beliefs and philosophies. They are all varying distances from Catholicism but are linked to Catholicism.
The arrows represent the links between different religions and Catholicism. The Catholic Church has been working very hard over the last 50 years to document what these various religions have in common with the Catholic Church. They call this process ecumenism. Notice however that there is no sense that the Catholic church will change to become closer to other religions. No, it is entirely about identifying what other religions and philosophies have in common with Roman Catholicism. This process is important for Catholics because they believe unity with the Catholic Church is the only way these religions can be united to God – because the Catholic Church is the sacrament of unity for the world.
Because these statements of unity are based on the objective of demonstrating agreement, they unfortunately tend to obscure or even avoid any differences in order to have a document that both groups can agree on. This tends to be at the cost of clarity. The 1999 Joint Declaration on Justification between the Catholics and some Lutherans is a good example of this.
The end result of this process is Francis making statements like:
“And today Lutherans and Catholics, Protestants, all of us agree on the doctrine of justification.”
However, the truth is Catholics and most Protestants are in profound disagreement on the doctrine of Justification! The Reformation is definitely NOT over (see previous article).
Another example of the Catholic Church promoting their agenda of unity is the way in which they encourage the rapidly growing number of Evangelical leaders engaging in public displays of unity with the Pope.
These public displays of unity between Evangelicals and Catholics only serve to promote the Catholic agenda to be the sacrament (visible and effective sign) of unity with God for the world.
So what is wrong with this view of unity?
Unity is very important to God, but it is not the sort of “obscuring the differences” type of institutional unity the Catholic church and sadly some Protestants are promoting through documents like the Joint Declaration on Justification. True unity is unity based on truth because it is unity with God himself (John 17:11). Not a sacramental unity through an earthly institution but unity in the Spirit who knows no bounds with the Father through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:30-5:2). It is unity with God who has unity as a characteristic of his very being – Father, Son and Spirit.
If you are a Christian, you are already united to God by adoption into his family and therefore you are already united with every other Christian as their brother or sister.
Because unity with the Catholic Church is important for Catholics and unity in God is important for us, why not invite your Catholic friends and neighbours to be united to you and your church family by inviting them to belong to your church, your mother’s group, your play group, your Bible study group, your prayer group, your youth group. Here they can clearly hear from God directly through the Bible and by trusting him be truly united to Him and you for eternity.
Mark Gilbert
If you’d like to learn more about sharing this great message of certainty for eternity with Catholics, you may be interested in the conference: Understanding Roman Catholicism in the 21st Century and developing effective evangelistic strategies
Saturday 20th August, 10:00am – 1:00pm
Cost: Free
Moore College, 19 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…