How others see us: What’s up Down Under?
“The recent decision of the Diocesan Synod of Sydney, in the Anglican Church of Australia, to allow the administration of Holy Communion—i.e., the celebration of the Eucharist—by deacons and eventually laity seems outlandish to many overseas Anglicans. It makes considerably more sense within the context of Australian Anglicanism, which has a very different history than The Episcopal Church (TEC) and its various offshoots (I will get to that later). Australian Anglicanism is exceptionally diverse as a result of that history, and its diversity has led the Anglican Church of Australia to adopt a unique pattern of organization.
Just as some Episcopalians are frustrated when other Anglicans cannot understand TEC’s particular form of synodical governance, so I expect Australians feel when outsiders try to apply their own context to matters Down Under. I write the following as an American outsider, but one who has long been fascinated enough by the local variations on the common Anglican theme to make a study of them. (I hope that any Australians who read this will take the trouble to correct my inevitable mistakes by commenting below.)…”
– A thoughtful piece by Dale Rye in Covenant. (Photo: Covenant.)
Hat tip: Anglican Mainstream.
The Badder the Bad…
Over the weekend I read Michael Horton’s new book Christless Christianity. I greatly enjoyed reading it (despite chapters that were slightly longer than my attention span) and found that it gave me a lot to think about. A few days earlier I had read a new book by Rick Warren, The Purpose of Christmas. What a contrast there was between the two of them…
– Tim Challies writes at Challies.com.
Voting for generations of children and their right to live
“What would you think if a politician said ‘I’m not pro-rape, I’m simply prochoice about rape. And though I would not choose to rape a woman, I believe that every man should be free to rape a woman if that is his personal choice.’ And what would you do if that politician promised the rape lobby that if he is elected president, the ‘first thing I would do’ is to sign legislation that would invalidate all the state laws that restrict rape in any way?…”
– Randy Alcorn writes persuasively about choices facing voters in the US election.
Our aim is one hundred percent
This week’s Synod was focused on our Diocesan Mission.
There is much to praise God for in the work of the last six years. But there is still a long way to go. There is no sign yet that multitudes of Sydneysiders are beating a path to our door. Nobody promised they would.
A mid-point review gives an opportunity to understand where we are up to in the Mission process, and to make any necessary adjustments to our plans. Two issues are coming to the fore: “the population” and the “ten years”. These are critical issues that we keep trying to ignore but lie at the heart of the Mission.
Most people hearing of the Mission have focused on the wrong part of the aims and goals. The critics and the supporters alike have emphasised the ten percent that we are aiming to reach. Not understanding what it is about.
They tend to think that success or failure will be measured by this ten percent. They fail to notice that the aim is actually one hundred percent…
– Read the whole article from Phillip Jensen, published in the Cathedral newsletter.
A New Anglican Province in a Culture of Death
“I freely admit my intention to describe the abortion industry found on this continent as I believe it really is: an enterprise that is as bad as, and perhaps worse than, the Third Reich’s T4 system of extermination.
While I fully appreciate the gravity of the Episcopal Church’s decision to certify Gene Robinson’s election as a bishop in the Church, I am far more disturbed by the fact that for too many years, the majority of us who cut our teeth on Episcopal Church altar rails failed to speak out against a far more insidious evil, the sin of pre-partum homicide…”
– Dr Briane Turley writes at VirtueOnline. (Photo: West Virginia University)
The Abortion Question and the Future
In a recent essay, Professor Robert P. George of Princeton University makes the case that Sen. Obama is “the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States.” Further: “He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress”…
Without doubt, we are faced with many urgent and important issues. Nevertheless, every voter must come to terms with what issues matter most in the electoral decision. This is the case with the sanctity of human life. I can understand the fatigue. …
Yet, there is the reality that we face a choice. This is a limited choice. And we cannot evade responsibility for the question of abortion. Our vote will determine whether millions of unborn babies live or die.
– Al Mohler paints a sobering picture of the choice presenting American voters.
He also provides this link to the Freedom of Choice Act which Senator Obama said he will sign as his first priority. On his radio programme, he interviews Professor Robert P. George of Princeton. The segment starts 11 minutes 25 seconds into the programme.
How we define ‘Crisis’
“There is a crisis in the land! And what qualifies as a crisis? The fact that increasing numbers of children grow up in America without fathers? The savage exploitation of women and corrupting of men through legalized pornography? The systematic corruption that is our moneyed political system? The fact that a mother’s womb is the place where the great majority of violent deaths take place in our communities?
Of course not. The crisis is a threat to our money.…”
– Rick Phillips seeks some perspective on the global financial crisis – at Reformation 21.
Time for lay administration
“When I first attended our diocesan Synod (= denominational ‘parliament’) 10 years ago as a new Anglican Parish Rector (= Senior Pastor), I expected to sit quietly and get a feel for how things worked, reading the business papers and listening to speeches from ‘old hands’ to shape how I’d vote on the various motions and ordinances (= denominational laws).
Somewhat to my surprise, I found myself on my feet, seeking the chance to enter a debate.…”
– Sandy Grant, Rector of St. Michael’s Cathedral Wollongong, writes at the Sola Panel.
Farewell to Tearfund (UK)?
“My family has supported a little girl through Tearfund for a decade or so and I have flown Tearfund’s flag and donated to it in various ways over the years. No more, however. I redirected our sponsorship from Tearfund to another Christian group which, I am told, will be able to continue to support our child in South America.…”
– Dr Lisa Severine Nolland writes about Tearfund in the UK and the importance of theology – at Anglican Mainstream. (Photo: Tearfund UK.)
Why Anglican? – Phillip Jensen
It is a strange phenomenon when your friends and enemies agree about you. But Sydney Anglicans enjoy this peculiarity. Neither friends nor enemies think we believe in Anglicanism. …
Anglican Christians have never believed in the sociological Anglicanism. We have always been Confessional Anglicans. We are Anglicans because we profess the Anglican beliefs of the Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles of Religion. These include the great creeds of the ancient worldwide church (the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds). …
– Phillip Jensen, Dean of Sydney, writes in this weekend’s Cathedral newsletter.
Why it’s a great day to be a traditional Anglican
“Barely two months after lots of indabaing with 617 fellow Anglican Communion bishops… Katherine Jefferts Schori and her advisors had two choices. They could violate the canons flagrantly and hang ’em high now, further shattering TEC’s global reputation… or they could attempt to follow the canons scrupulously. They chose the former…”
– Sarah Hey writes at Stand Firm. (Photo: ENS.)
The historical fiction of The Episcopal Church
It is troubling to note the shift of TEC from an institution centered around a long religious tradition to one centered around rules, regulations, and real estate. Even more troubling is watching the leadership of the Episcopal Church act more and more like this is the way it ought to be – the way it has always been – and to watch them feign indignation at those who cling to an historic faith as the proper object of Christian loyalty. …
It is sobering to watch the bishops and clergy of TEC pretend a new history into existence and then equate conformity to this fabrication with faithfulness to the gospel.
– Canon Gary L’Hommedieu comments at VirtueOnline.
Apologise to Charles Darwin?
A senior cleric of the Church of England wants his church to apologize to Charles Darwin in time for the observance of the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth next year. …
Dr. Brown’s apology, offered on the official Web site of the Church of England, and in his role as Director of Mission and Public Affairs, may be ‘pointless,’ but it certainly makes a point about the Church of England. As a matter of fact, it might go a long way toward explaining how a church that once formed the backbone of British life now holds the attention of less than five percent of British citizens on any given Sunday.
People come to church hungry for the Gospel and in order to fear God, not for an apology offered to a self-described enemy of the faith – who believed that faith in God is akin to a monkey’s fear of a snake.…
– Al Mohler on the proposed apology to Charles Darwin.
‘Not to Destruction, but to Salvation’
The most senior California bishops of the Episcopal Church came out in favour of same-sex marriage in the state on Wednesday. The bishops then called on voters to defeat Proposition 8 – the constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. …
Those beautiful words [in the Prayer Book Consecration service], “not to destruction, but to salvation,” take on a deadly significance in the case of these bishops. They are leading their own church to destruction, and encouraging in the larger society what the Bible condemns as sin. These are shepherds who are leading their own flocks right off a cliff.
– Al Mohler writes on the Diocese of California’s stand in favour of same-sex marriage.
(Photo of Bishop Marc Andrus: Diocese of California.)
Tearfund and Archbishop Tutu
“Some of us may be wondering what exactly is happening here. According to Tearfund’s site, AB Desmond Tutu (with Tearfund Director, Matthew Frost, left) gave a stirring speech which encouraged radical Christian commitment and care for the poor, the suffering, the dispossessed, those close to God’s heart. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it?
That is not all the good bishop said, however. According to BBC’s account, Desmond Tutu reiterated what has become one of his classic lectures on the evils of homophobia in the church and how issues of human sexuality are not that important in the Big Picture…”
– Dr Lisa Severine Nolland writes at Anglican Mainstream.
See the BBC’s report: Church obsessed with gays – Tutu. (Photo: Tearfund.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…