What’s next for New York Churches

“Don’t Leave Our Church Homeless” read the signs distributed during Thursday’s press conference outside New York City Hall. More than 60 churches in New York meet in public schools for their Sunday services. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their appeal this week, the churches learned they will need to find a new location before February 12. …

“It’s ironic,” one Brooklyn city official commented at Thursday’s press conference, “that the Klu Klux Klan can meet freely in public schools, but churches, who were the backbone of the civil rights movement, are not allowed.”

– John Starke, the new pastor of All Souls Christian Church in the Upper West Side of New York, asks for prayer for his church and more than five dozen others. (h/t Carl Trueman.)

Love, marriage and the homosexual agenda

“As I write this, the Australian Labor Party has decided to amend its political platform to include a commitment to change the legal definition of marriage.

Under intense pressure from the Greens, with whom they formed a coalition after the last election delivered a hung parliament, from its own left faction, and from a bold and confident gay lobby which has mounted a very sophisticated publicity campaign, the Labor Party has endorsed a right of same sex unions to style themselves ‘marriages’. In a largely successful attempt to claim the moral high ground (an astonishing thought in itself)  this world-wide campaign has adopted the slogan ‘marriage equality’.

It should be abundantly clear that this is not about providing financial and legal security for homosexual relationships…”

– ACL President Mark Thompson writes at Theological Theology to explain why opposing changes to marriage is an act of love.

‘No more bets at the Glasgow bookies’

More from Carl Trueman – this time on the ongoing train-wreck of the Church of Scotland –

“The official line in the C of S is that the matter of homosexuality has not yet been decided but it is very clear from the above quotation, especially given the context, which way the matter has already practically concluded. It may take a year or two before the procedural shouting dies down but I would assume that the Glasgow bookies are no longer offering odds on the outcome.

That is why men such as Peter Dickson, James Torrens and others are now putting everything they have on the line and leaving…”

– Read it all – including some very sobering matters for prayer – at Reformation21.

A Tale of two colleges

“Shorter University and Mercer University are institutions of higher education in Georgia, and both have been historically related to the Georgia Baptist Convention — the state’s largest Baptist group. Both schools have been in the news in recent days over the issue of homosexuality. Seen together, the actions taken by the schools point backwards to critical decisions made in the past, forward to issues that will be faced by every college, and directly to the present, where the future is taking shape before our eyes.…”

– A cautionary tale from Georgia – by Albert Mohler.

Endemic Anhedonia — Bishop Peter Brain

Wise words from Bishop Peter Brain – published on the Diocese of Armidale website:

In recent trips around the Diocese we have been taken by the blossoms of trees flowering randomly along the main roads and standing alone in the paddocks. The colours have been stunning – pinks, purples, whites abound, and in some trees colours are combined and blended. It has been a fascinating exercise to ponder how they got there. Are they the result of discarded seeds thrown from cars? or dropped by opportunistic birds? or planted near houses that no longer exist? Whatever their origin, one thing is for sure: seeds continue to grow, shoots continue to bloom and God displays His unmistakeably splendid handiwork yet again. Read more

An ecclesiastical coup d’état?

Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, writes further in his weekly newsletter about TEC’s expected moves against South Carolina –

“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

I want to continue my comments on the dire state of affairs in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and draw upon some expert legal and procedural analysis by the “Anglican Curmudgeon,” which we have included in this Update.

I would like for you to stop here at this point, and read the Curmudgeon article titled “Bishop Henderson: It’s ‘business as usual’ in the church.” When you are finished, come back to this analysis of what happens next. Read more

A curious document from Charleston

In his weekly e-mail update, Bishop David Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, wonders about the allegations against South Carolina Bishop Mark Lawrence –

“When one sees the incredibly detailed and ridiculous document comprising the list of charges that was supposedly submitted by a group of loyal (to the Revisionists) people in South Carolina, it certainly doesn’t look like something a group of casual Charlestonians threw together while preparing shrimp and grits on the side.”

Read more

Christians know what the world does not

“I am writing this essay on an Apple laptop computer. I am listening to the strains of Bach playing from my iPad via an AirPort Express. My iPhone sits on my desk, downloading a new App from iTunes. Steve Jobs has invaded my life, my house, my office, my car, and my desktop — and I am thankful for all of these technologies.

But unerring taste, aesthetic achievement, and technological genius will not save the world…”

– Albert Mohler gives thanks for Steve Jobs – in perspective.

A world without Jobs — the gospel of a secular age

We posted this link back in January 2011. This might be a good time to revisit it:

“As remarkable as Steve Jobs is in countless ways—as a designer, an innovator, a (ruthless and demanding) leader—his most singular quality has been his ability to articulate a perfectly secular form of hope.

Nothing exemplifies that ability more than Apple’s early logo, which slapped a rainbow on the very archetype of human fallenness and failure—the bitten fruit—and made it a sign of promise and progress.…”

– Plenty of fuel for a gospel conversation in this article by Andy Crouch.
(Photo: Apple. Thanks to Justin Taylor for the reminder.)

The value of a theological education

John Richardson wonders about the future of theological education for ordination candidates in the UK. It seems some are suggesting that ‘on the job’ learning instead is the way to go.

“For a lot of what passes for ministry is not a ‘theological’ ministry at all. ‘Pastoral’ ministry in the Church of England is ‘helping people with their problems’, not bringing people to the knowledge of God in Christ.”

In reflecting on this, he draws attention to a booklet he wrote in 1993, after a year at Moore College:

“What I found at Moore was a Christian community committed to the pursuit of intellectual excellence by every student, where it was assumed that the ordinary parish clergyman both should and could be conversant with the most ‘academic’ of theological thinking. I soon realized that in this country we have been setting our sights far too low.”

Read his post here, and then the booklet, A Little Knowledge (PDF).

We have all your stuff now, but we think you owe us more!

“I’d like to share with you a letter from the Bishop and Diocesan Council of The Episcopal Church’s (TEC) Diocese of the Rio Grande. But first, a little background so that you can appreciate the letter in all its fullness.

This time two years ago, approximately 80% of the parishioners of St. Mark’s on-the-Mesa (TEC) left the parish and formed Christ the King Anglican, Albuquerque, NM (Anglican Church in North America). When those parishioners left the parish, the Diocese of the Rio Grande, and the Episcopal Church, they left everything… they walked away and began a new life together as Anglican followers of Jesus Christ at Christ the King Anglican Church. …

Fast forward two years to August 31, 2011 (about three weeks ago). The congregation’s rector, the Rev. Roger Weber, former priest at St. Mark’s, received this letter from TEC Bishop Michael Vono of the Diocese of the Rio Grande…”

– Canon Phil Ashey of the American Anglican Council shares the tale of this extraordinary request made to a congregation which had left the TEC.

John Richardson reviews ‘Sydney Anglicans and the Threat to World Anglicanism’

John Richardson has posted on his blog an article he wrote for New Directions. It’s another review of Muriel Porter’s book ‘Sydney Anglicans and the Threat to World Anglicanism’.

Use of Social Media during meetings

“I enjoy social media. I have recently commenced using Twitter (@tasbishopjohn). I have had this blog for some time. I am also on facebook, and I am a major user of the diocesan website.

I guess I am a fairly outgoing, social being and my experiences with social media have been enriching. I intend to continue in conversation through using them.

I believe that the essential principle in the use of social media is that we are to be Christlike…”

– Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, has some helpful thoughts on using social media. (And worth keeping in mind at our upcoming Synod!)

Are Sydney Anglicans actually Anglicans?

Last week Michael Jensen wrote for the ABC’s Religion and Ethics, responding to suggestions that Sydney Anglicans are something other than ‘Anglican’.

Read it here.

A question for PCUSA Conservatives: Why now?

In his column at Reformation21, William Evans asks if something more obvious than the current issue of homsexuality has been overlooked…

“Even as PCUSA liberals were busy dismantling the confessional heritage of the church, evangelicals were repeatedly stepping back and stepping back and stepping back from decisive confrontation…”

Read it all at Reformation21. (We earlier incorrectly attributed this to Carl Trueman – oops! our sincere apologies!)

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