Dean of Dallas reflects on 41 years in the Episcopal Church

As he retires from his position as Dean of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, Kevin Martin bemoans the direction in which TEC is heading –

“Things have changed and I think not for the better. For example, as a seminarian I attended the General Convention held in Houston. I remember the hearing held on the proposed new Baptismal Rite. It started with a 20 minute presentation by a leading theologian and seminary professor on the need for changes. This was followed by a 10 minute ‘response’ by another theologian from a different perspective. This theologian began by affirming a number of points made in the initial address, and only then did he respectfully present a differing opinion. This was followed by a panel discussion among a group of outstanding leaders and thinkers. Only then was the discussion open to deputies in the audience who could ask questions.

Compare all this to a discussion at the General Convention in 2000 over the issue of ordination of gay and lesbian persons in same-sex relationships. The initial resolution that would be taken to the floor of convention was read by the Chair of the Committee and then members of the audience were invited to give testimony limited to two minutes. Participants went to a set of microphones labeled either pro or con.

I saw a seminary dean given only two minutes to speak to the Church’s theology of marriage. This was followed by a two minute personal sharing by a woman who was married to a transvestite on how accepting their local parish had been. I sat watching as a once thoughtful and intelligent community that valued substantive engagement with issues reduced itself to a community of passionate partisanship who reduced discussion to a superficial series of slogans and clichés.”

– Read it all at his blog. (h/t Anglicans United.)

Decline and Fall

“Practical Ethics, a webpage based at the University of Oxford, has an interesting post on research that suggests a society’s crime rate will be higher where there is widespread rejection of the notion of hell. …”

– Carl Trueman writes at Reformation21.

What Joy in Hell?

“Whatever we do or do not know about the details of hell, it is clear from Jesus’ teaching that it is so terrible and terrifying that we should do all in our power to avoid it. …”

– In his weekly column, Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen turns to a topic many gloss over.

The Wisdom of the Cross (1)

“Hardly a weekend goes by without a conference being held somewhere in Sydney at which Christians can gather together to hear the wisdom of the great and the good on various subjects – everything from how to be a leader, entrepreneur, evangelist, preacher, parent or spouse right through to the finer aspects of tasting a beer, dissecting a side of beef or cooking your way to the kingdom of God!

Sydney culture in general is extremely pragmatic as we all as individuals get about the business of constructing the good life for ourselves and/or for our families …

It is in this context that the Scriptures have some sobering questions about wisdom for us to consider and the first one to consider comes from Paul’s first letter to Corinth: Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? (1 Cor.1:20)…”

– Dr David Höhne at Moore College writes on the Faculty blog.

Heavenly tours?

“Travelling to heaven and back is where it’s at today. Don Piper spent ninety minutes there and sold four million copies of his account. Colton Burpo doesn’t know how long he was there, but his travel diary has surpassed 6 million copies sold …  There have been others as well, and together they have established afterlife travel journals as a whole new genre in Christian publishing…”

– Tim Challies has serious misgivings about popular books you’ll find at some Christian bookshops.

Archbishop Peter Jensen in the Sydney Morning Herald on same-sex marriage

The Sydney Morning Herald has published this opinion-piece by Archbishop Peter Jensen –

“We are in the midst of a sustained and brilliantly orchestrated campaign to radically alter the marriage laws of this country to allow same-sex marriage.

Three slogans carry the message: ‘marriage equality’, ‘marriage won’t change’, ‘it’s inevitable’. Of course, the difficulty with slogans is that they are not arguments and, so, are hard to refute, except by slogans in return…”

– Read it all here, ‘Stylish same-sex campaign glosses over real issues’. Worth reading and passing on.

‘Is David Cameron about to force the Queen to break her Coronation Oath?’

Well-known UK blogger ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ looks at some implications of the British government’s proposals –

“The newspapers today are full of reports of the likely consequences to the Church of England of the Government’s plans to redefine the institution of marriage to include same-sex unions, contra the official teaching of Church, as established by Act of Parliament. The Report has been hyped, selectively quoted, misquoted and misrepresented by much of the media, so His Grace urges you to READ IT for yourself…”

– Read it all here. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)

The brave new world of the media

At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell comments on the media stories of the week:

“I’m fairly cynical about the media, having worked in it for 30 years, but even I was taken aback.”

– See why here. (Photo: Zac Veron.)

The modern marriage ideology

“Marriage has always been ‘discriminatory’. Not everyone can have it: children, siblings, those already married, those with no-one offering to marry them, and so on. But three ‘marriage equality’ bills now before our Federal Parliament seek to leverage a good thing, equality, in a new direction.

I find it sad to write about this matter just as you might find it hard to read about it, for this dispute has become personal. I am acutely aware of those I know with same-sex partners. I don’t want to lose their friendship. On other days, I get angry at how disagreeing with same-sex marriage is portrayed as discrimination, homophobia and hate…”

– Dr Andrew Cameron writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

The seduction of pornography and the integrity of Christian marriage, Pt 1

“Not only have we severed sex from marriage, but as a society, we now look at marriage as an imposition, chastity as an embarrassment, and sexual restraint as a psychological hang-up. The doctrine of sin explains why we have exchanged the glory of God for Sigmund Freud’s concept of polymorphous perversity…”

– Albert Mohler begins a two-part series on the pornographic crisis gripping the western world.
Related:
Online safety resources (Communicate Jesus),
Avoiding pornography’s perils (SydneyAnglicans.net),
and Just1ClickAway (from John McDowell Ministry).

Depression and Euthanasia

“I am deeply troubled by the availability of euthanasia to people suffering from depression and mental illness. Recent research from Oregon, USA, where euthanasia is available has not stilled my troubled soul. …”

– from Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower.

An Anglican Conference focussed on the Future

Gav Poole was among the attendees at the FCA Conference in London –

“The crisis has happened, there is impairment within the communion and now we look forward to the renewal of the Anglican communion.”

“The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) leaders conference was held in London, 23 to 27 April. It was made up of 200 delegates within the Anglican communion from 30 countries. The theme of the conference was ‘Jesus the Christ: Unique and Supreme’.

The conference was designed to critique the current state of the Anglican communion and under teaching from the Scriptures move the delegates to a common commitment as to the direction of the FCA and its role within the Anglican communion. The program included Bible studies, services, seminars and networking. It culminated in the adoption of a conference commitment at the end of the week.  Read more

As good as it gets

“‘This is as good as it gets’ the man assured me. I was initially shocked, but then deeply saddened by his statement. It was an astonishing statement but there was no doubting the sincerity with which he was speaking.

It was the night before the Commonwealth Day Service in the Cathedral. Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Edward were all to be present. …”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen writes in his weekly column.
(Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.)

The day I took Matthias Media’s money to the casino

“I was in the precinct of Sydney’s main casino on Saturday, and, with the full knowledge and approval of several of my Matthias Media colleagues, I trotted off to the casino with $140 of MM’s money in my pocket…”

– At The Briefing, Ian Carmichael reflects on what he saw.
(Photo: Matthias Media.)

Two holes in our Theological leadership

“With the announcement of Dr John Woodhouse’s retirement, two of the most significant positions in Sydney Diocese will now need to be filled in 2013.

The new Archbishop of Sydney will have the responsibility to maintain the character of the Diocese, especially through his power to make appointments. Since Moore College provides the people appointed, the Principal steers an institution that creates the Diocese.

Both positions require theological acuity and a determination to ensure that Sydney’s long and strong evangelical heritage continues on into the future…”

– The Editorial from the just-released issue 1905 of The Australian Church Record, June, 2012. Read the editorial here. Download the current issue here.

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