General Synod July 2017: Five steps away from Biblical Christianity

“In the space of four days, the General Synod of the Church of England have, in effect, rejected the doctrines of creation, the fall, the incarnation, and our need for conversion and sanctification.”

– Susie Leafe, Director of Reform, sums up the rolling tragedy of the Church of England General Synod. At The American Anglican Council.

The Eternity waterfall after 40 years

Forty years ago, the Eternity plaque at the waterfall in Sydney Square was unveilled.

On Tuesday, 12th July 1977, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Column 8 wrote:

“TRUE to his words of last November, Ridley Smith, the Sydney Square architect, has immortalised the late Arthur Stace, ‘Mr Eternity’. You may recall that Column 8 campaigned unashamedly for a suitable memorial to Mr Stace, Sydney’s footpath evangelist for 20 years until 1967. Ridley Smith promised it without strings.

TODAY, the memorial above will be officially unveilled (a small explanatory plaque is yet to come). Yesterday Column 8 had an informal peek. Mr Stace would be proud. There, set in aggregate near the Sydney Square waterfall, in letters almost 21cm (8 in) high, is the famous copperplate message. ‘Eternity’. The one-word sermon gleams in wrought aluminium. There’s no undue prominence. No garish presentation. Merely the simple ‘Eternity’ on the pebbles, as Arthur Stace would have wanted it.”

In 1994, journalist Alan Gill wrote, “The waterfall adjoins a modest cafeteria. [The Architect of St. Andrew’s House and Sydney Square, Ridley] Smith once told me that he hoped visitors would say ‘Meet you at Eternity’ as well as ‘Meet you in Eternity’.” (1)

Ridley Smith (pictured) was named for evangelist John G. Ridley, who was a friend of his father. In November 1932, Arthur Stace had been in the congregation at the Burton Street Tabernacle in Darlinghurst when John Ridley preached on the need to be ready for eternity. It was this sermon which inspired Stace to begin his 34 year campaign of writing that word on the streets of Sydney.

Arthur Stace died on 30 July 1967, fifty years ago this month.

Did the ‘small explanatory plaque’ mentioned by Column 8 ever appear? In 1994, Alan Gill wrote that some complained “the present inscription is ‘out of the way’ and doesn’t explain who Arthur Stace was. Other admirers of Arthur disagree. They believe the ‘odd’ location of the present tribute and the absence of an explanation are part of that blend of mystery and surprise that ‘Mr Eternity’ himself would appreciate.”

(Top photo showing the waterfall on the day of the unveilling, and the photo of Architect Ridley Smith in 2009, courtesy Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos. Ramon adds, “Ridley Smith sprinkled water around the ‘Eternity’ replica so as to help photograph it.” While the pavement around the memorial has been replaced, “Eternity” on the pebbles remains, as seen in this 2014 photo.)

(1) Alan Gill, “Sydney’s Phantom Preacher”, The Catholic Weekly, 31 August 1994.

Blessed be the egoistic individuals

“In the litany of words about the census the core issue has been avoided — the almost certain link between the generational decline in the Christian faith as guide to the common good and the collapsing relationship between the people and the political system.

The reality is staring us in the face. Yet it cannot be spoken, cannot be entertained, cannot be discussed because there is no greater heresy and no more offensive ­notion than that the loss of Christian faith might have a downside. …”

– In today’s edition of The Weekend Australian, Editor-at-Large Paul Kelly has a thoughtful piece on what has happened, and is happening, to western culture. (Paywalled or in the print edition.)

Kevin DeYoung, The Necessary Doctrine of Sin — Preaching Matters

“Why is the preaching of the doctrine of sin so central to the mission of the church?

Is the lack of sin-preaching in churches a new problem? Where might this emphasis begin to slip in our ministry? What can we do to keep sin front and centre in our preaching?”

In the latest Preaching Matters from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate, Kevin DeYoung addresses the doctrine of sin in our preaching and teaching.

Why the Reformation still matters

Coming up this month: Graham Cole (former member of the Moore College faculty, now Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago) is giving a public lecture at Moore College on Wednesday 19th July,  7:00pm – 9:00pm.

His topic: The legacy of the Reformation through the eyes of J.C. Ryle.

Interview with William Taylor: Impressions of Sydney & Australian Evangelicalism

“Sometimes the best lessons are learned from someone on the outside looking in. We chat to William Taylor of St Helen’s Bishopsgate London regarding his impressions of evangelicalism in Sydney and Australia, drawing on his recent visit in late 2016-early 2017.”

– Read the interview at The Australian Church Record.

How the Reformation rediscovered Happiness

“Imagine facing judgment day every week.

Near to where I grew up, in the Oxfordshire village of South Leigh, is the parish church of St. James the Great. Over the chancel arch is a medieval wall painting depicting the final judgment. …”

– At Desiring God, Tim Chester shares one way in which the Reformation was revolutionary.

Reformation 500 resources from Church Society

Check out these free resources from Church Society –

1.) Reformation 500 Resources –

“Church introductions, Sunday school material, school assemblies, youth groups and Light parties – we’ve got you covered! This comprehensive set of resources introduces key themes of the Reformation through three central figures:

Martin Luther: How can we be right with God?
William Tyndale: Why the Bible matters so much?
Thomas Cranmer: How can everyone hear the true gospel?

Experienced children’s and youth workers, Robin Barfield and Nathan Phillingham, have provided teaching material, introductions, games and crafts suitable for different ages and groups. There are also activity sheets by Chris Joyce. Leaders’ notes provide some background to the series and suggest further reading.

Church introductions give ways of introducing the key people and ideas of the Reformation to your whole congregation.

The Light Party materials include teaching, games and craft activities for a family party, suitable for either church or non-church families. These resources do not overlap with the Sunday school or other sets of resources, using different Reformers to tell other aspects of the story.”

Downloadable here.

2.) Reformation 500 Magazine –

“In place of our usual summer edition of Crossway, Church Society are pleased to publish this special Reformation 500 magazine.

Containing articles by two Church Society Council members, Dr Andrea Ruddick and Dr Kirsty Birkett, the magazine provides a thorough introduction to the Reformation.

Andrea’s article explores the medieval background to the events of the 16th century, while Kirsty identifies key figures of the Reformation era and explains their contribution to its revolutionary events and teaching.”

Downloadable PDF file at this link.

Birth certificate alteration for a married person?

“A recent decision of the United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled that the Australian government is in breach of its human rights obligations, by not providing for a person who has “transitioned” from male to female, to have their birth certificate amended. The reason that this request has been refused is that the person, “G”, was married to a woman, and NSW law does not allow the birth certificate of a married person to be amended.

In my view this provision of NSW law is perfectly sensible (given that Australia does not recognise same sex marriage), and I have to say that I think the UNHRC has got this wrong. …”

– Read why at Law & Religion Australia.

Six of the earliest known tunes for Amazing Grace

“People often wonder what tune Amazing Grace was first sung to.

It was not written to any particular tune, but being in the Common Metre there would have been a wide choice of suitable tunes in use at the time.

Today the most familiar tune for the hymn is New Britain, which wasn’t matched to Amazing Grace until 1829, twenty-two years after John Newton’s death.

Amazing Grace was first published in 1779 in a hymnbook by Newton and Cowper called the Olney Hymns. It also appeared soon afterwards in a A Select Collection of Hymns compiled by the Countess of Huntingdon. Then in 1787, exactly 10 years after its first publication, and while Newton was the rector of St Mary Woolnoth in the heart of the city of London, Amazing Grace appeared in a Moravian hymn book called A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren. Above the hymn is the code ‘T14’, which stands for ‘Tune 14’. So what was Tune 14?…”

– Marylynn Rouse at The John Newton Project shares some resources:

“Following our recent event in Blackfriars, London, we’re delighted to be able to share a recording of 6 of the earliest tunes for Amazing Grace, sung by the English Chamber Choir, together with the musical score from their director Guy Protheroe and background notes to the tunes and the verses from the JNP. This will make a short concert, or can be spread over several Sundays or lunch-hours.”

‘Pyne’s boast: The plan revealed’

“Christopher Pyne bragged to his Left-wing faction that we might get same-sex marriage ‘sooner than everyone thinks’.

As he said on Friday:

One of those we’ve got to deliver before too long is marriage equality in this country… We’re going to get it. I think it might even be sooner than everyone thinks. And your friends in Canberra are working on that outcome.

Sure enough:

Two Liberal MPs have been secretly working on a plan to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia as soon as August, with a draft copy of the laws well advanced and consultation with advocates under way. …”

– from The Herald Sun. (Photo: pyneonline.com.au.)

Meet the new ‘twicer’: The irregular regular

“I came across an interesting expression recently: the twicer. From what I understand, ‘the twicer’ used to refer to the person who went to church twice a day (think of the days of morning and evening prayer). It then began to refer to the nominal churchgoer who would attend twice a year, the ‘Christmas and Easter’ Christian.

When I heard the phrase recently, it was used to refer to the committed churchgoer. That is, to describe a regular churchgoer—who attends church just twice a month on average. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Mike Leite points to Biblical encouragement to meet more often then every-so-often.

Bishop of Los Angeles ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’

“The Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, has landed himself in a difficult spot. As detailed in this earlier post, he entered into a contract in 2015 to sell the property of St. James the Great in Newport Beach to a developer for a price of $15 million, without bothering to inform its parishioners beforehand. When the congregation and its vicar protested, he changed the locks and kicked them out. …”

– A S Haley, ‘The Anglican Curmudgeon” comments on the latest in the saga of the Bishop of Los Angeles and his desire to sell the property of a resistant parish.

(Photo: Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles.)

This is the day — Presbyterians remember with thanksgiving

“10.00am, forty years ago, the words of Psalm 118 rang out in Scots’ Church Sydney: ‘This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’

Today, Friday 23rd June 2017 – it’s forty years to the day when the Presbyterian Church of Australia was refreshed. And, it’s fair to ask: What became of that bold decision to remain as a Presbyterian church? What distinctives of the Christian faith do we offer? What does PCA stand for?

Permit this man’s reminiscing …”

– Presbyterian Moderator-General John Wilson considers the Presbyterian Church of Australia’s ‘refreshing’, over the last forty years.

Thomas Cranmer: Evangelising the Nation

“At the 2017 Church Society Conference, Revd Dr Peter Adam outlined Thomas Cranmer’s strategy for evangelising the nation, which could be summed up in one word: Bible.”

– from Church Society, which has posted the audio files from its 2017 Conference, held last month.

Dr. Adam’s very enlightening and highly encouraging talks can be heard here –

Thomas Cranmer: Evangelising the Nation – Part 1.

Thomas Cranmer: Evangelising the Nation – Part 2.

Also from the Conference:

Reformation Epistemology – Dr Kirsty Birkett.

Martin Luther and the Freedom of the Christian – Dr Lee Gatiss.

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