A celebration of uncommon leadership — Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s sermon for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
“Princess Elizabeth was 25 years old and on tour in Kenya on her way to Australia, when she learnt the tragic news of the early death of her father, King George VI.
King George had acceded to the throne only after the unprecedented abdication of his brother King Edward VIII.
It had shaken the nation, and its impact on her father, the royal family and the kingdom is undoubtedly part of the background to Her Majesty’s unswerving devotion to her role.
Her uncle’s reign was the shortest of any British monarch. Her Majesty’s eclipsed that of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, more than six years ago. …”
— Archbishop Kanishka Raffel preached at a special service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney today on the Occasion of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Photo:
Queen Elizabeth shakes hands with Bishop Jack Dain outside St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, on 13 March 1977. Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane is at the Queen’s side, and Bishop John Reid is at centre. At right, Dean of the Cathedral, Lance Shilton, stands with Prince Philip. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.
The anatomy of an Anglican service
From The Australian Church Record:
“Today we begin a new series of five articles on the elements that make up an Anglican service.
These pieces by the Moore College student orientation team were developed in 2022 to help new students understand the theological logic behind the Anglican services – based on the Book of Common Prayer – that are followed in Moore College chapel.
We’re sharing these because they help to demonstrate how and why Anglicans do what we do in church, for the encouragement and building up of the saints to maturity in Jesus Christ. We hope that you find them beneficial!”
Published so far –
More to come at The Australian Church Record.
Portrait of Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke.
Albert Mohler on the Ukraine crisis
In his The Briefing for Monday 28th February 2022, Albert Mohler tackles what’s happening in Ukraine.
He provides an interesting and disturbing analysis, emphasising the importance of a Christian worldview.
Archbishop Janani Luwum — martyr for Christ — remembered
Forty-five years ago today, Archbishop Janani Luwum, Anglican Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire, was assassinated, apparently on the orders of Ugandan President Idi Amin.
The event was a turning point – both for Uganda and for the Church.
Read about Archbishop Luwum at the Church of Uganda website and give thanks for his courage in the face of death as well as for the resulting preaching of the gospel.
Photo of Archbishop Luwum with President Idi Amin (right) via this article at Taarifa Rwanda –
“The Archbishop was separated from his bishops. As he was taken away Archbishop Luwum turned to his brother bishops and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I see God’s hand in this.’
The next morning it was announced that Archbishop Luwum had been killed in a car crash.
His body was placed in a sealed coffin and sent to his native village for burial there.
However, the villagers opened the coffin and discovered the bullet holes.”
The story of the Bible in Australasia, 1788-1850
Dr Meredith Lake, author of The Bible in Australia: a cultural history, is speaking on “The story of the Bible in Australasia, 1788-1850” on Wednesday 6th April at Moore College.
– Details here.
The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Today marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II acceeded to the throne, on the death of her father King George VI.
Her Majesty has gone on to reign longer than any other British Monarch in history, and to become a beloved figure around the world – one who is unashamed to speak of the Lord Jesus.
Whatever your view of the British Monarchy, do be encouraged to pray for her, and to give thanks for her long, stable reign. As the Apostle Paul exhorts us,
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-6.
Photo:
Queen Elizabeth shakes hands with Bishop Jack Dain outside St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, on 13 March 1977. Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane is at the Queen’s side, and Bishop John Reid is at centre. At right, Dean of the Cathedral, Lance Shilton, stands with Prince Philip. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.
In his biography of Archbishop Loane, “From Strength to Strength”, ACL Emeritus Vice-President Allan M. Blanch writes, on page 317,
At a special cathedral service on 13 March, the Archbishop preached from Revelation 21 about the City of God. He referred to Augustine of North Africa who, in the fifth century, ‘with the destroyers rapidly approaching the city … gave himself to contemplation of the City of God’.
Loane spoke of the citizens of that heavenly city: ‘They will suffer neither from poverty nor misery, from pain nor vice, from sorrow nor crying … There will be no room for a permissive society, or an alternate culture, or a wealthy elite, or a down-trodden minority; there will be no place for political intrigue, or public wrangling, or partisan interests, or power struggles’.
He concluded by saying, ‘Therefore let us pray that the Silver Jubilee of an earthly reign will enlarge our vision of all that lies beyond the frontiers of earth and time, and will strengthen our resolve to live our lives for the glory of Jesus Himself who reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords for ever and ever. Amen.’ [Emphasis added.]
St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney is marking the anniversary at its services today.
Richard Johnson to the inhabitants of New South Wales
In 1792, Chaplain to the Colony, the Rev. Richard Johnson, penned an evangelistic booklet which was thus addressed –
“To the British and other European Inhabitants of NEW SOUTH WALES and NORFOLK ISLAND.
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…”
– Read it all here (PDF file).
(Photo: Richard Johnson’s Address – copy held by Moore College.)
The Story behind Amazing Grace
Marylynn Rouse from The John Newton Project was interviewed on Premier Christian Radio’s Sunday Night Live for 16 January 2022.
Most encouraging.
Amazing Grace — a hymn for the New Year
John Newton wrote his most famous hymn, Amazing Grace, 249 years ago.
Learn more at The John Newton Project.
“The words of Amazing Grace were etched on Newton’s heart daily.
But we assume that he first wrote this hymn for his New Year’s Morning sermon of 1 January 1773, for it fits his sermon notes so closely and the text he chose to write above it in the Olney Hymns, 1 Chronicles 17:16,17, is identical to the sermon’s text.”
You can also hear some of the earliest tunes used to sing the hymn.
Statements on the nature and development of the Anglican Communion from the first Lambeth Conference to the Anglican Covenant
“The fact that the Lambeth Conference is going to be held next year means that in the coming months there will be much discussion about the nature of the Anglican Communion.
In order to provide a historical perspective on these discussions, I have decided to post a paper I first wrote in 2011 which uses primary sources to trace the development of Anglican thinking about the nature of the Anglican Communion from the time of the first Lambeth Conference in 1867 up to the issuing of the proposed Anglican Covenant in 2009. …”
– Anglican theologian Martin Davie posts the first of a three part series to give some historical perspective to the coming (and ignored by many) Lambeth Conference.
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World — Review
At his website, John Anderson has posted a review of Tom Holland’s Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World –
“Holland’s Dominion is already regarded as a masterpiece of sweeping philosophical history, grounded in a deep reading of the primary sources.”
The Latest Evangelical Convert to Rome. What Does Rome Have to Offer?
“I am not English, nor Anglican, but the story of the conversion of the former Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali to Catholicism struck me.
He is not the first evangelical Anglican to become Roman Catholic, and he probably will not be the last. He stands on a tradition that has important antecedents like the conversion to Rome of John Henry Newman (1801-1890) and many more.
However, Nazir-Ali was a well-known evangelical Anglican who belonged to the ‘evangelical’ family and was a respected voice in that world.…”
– At The Vatican Files, Leonardo De Chirico, who understands the Roman Catholic Church better than most, has some reflections on the recent announcement by Michael Nazir-Ali.
Should Pastors Today Care about the Reformation?
“Pastors devoted to their ministry have so many things to do. …
So, why should I set aside valuable hours to read up on the Reformation, usually thought to have kicked off about 500 years ago?…”
– In this 2017 article at 9Marks, Don Carson has answers to the question “Should Pastors Today Care about the Reformation?”.
The Reformation of English
“In the late summer or fall of 1525, sheets of thin sewn paper bounced across the English Channel, hidden in bales of cloth and sacks of flour.
They passed silently, secretly, from the Channel to the London shipyards, from the shipyards to the hands of smiths and cooks, sailors and cobblers, priests and politicians, mothers and fathers and children.
De-clothed and un-floured, the first lines read,
I have here translated (bretheren and sisters most dear and tenderly beloved in Christ) the new Testament for your spiritual edifying, consolation, and solace.
And then, a few pages later:
This is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son also of Abraham . . .
Here was the Gospel of Matthew, translated from the original Greek into English for the very first time. The entire New Testament would soon follow, and then portions of the Old Testament, before its translator, William Tyndale (1494–1536), would be found and killed for his work. …”
– At Desiring God, Scott Hubbard gives thanks for William Tyndale and his influence on all who speak English.
Luther and his most important impact
“On 31 October 1517, in a small provincial university town, an Augustinian monk who served as a professor in the university, nailed a document to a church door. And it started a revolution.
Today, 500 years later and on the other side of the world, that unexceptional act — there would have been lots of notices on that door, since it was the unofficial notice board for the university — still captures the imagination.
The story of Martin Luther is well known. More books are written about him every year than about any other figure in history save one — the master he served, the Lord Jesus Christ. …”
– In 2017, Dr Mark Thompson gave this address at the opening of the Luther exhibition at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney. Good to re-read, this Reformation Day.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…