Is this the man the church needs to stay relevant?

From The Australian:

“The new Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane is wearing black jeans and desert boots, a harbinger of the informal style he plans to bring to the role. Jeremy Greaves may be just the man the churches need to stay relevant in an increasingly challenging world.

Or he could be an agent of their destruction …

Greaves is the personification of a progressive church leader. If asked, he will allow Anglican priests in the sprawling Brisbane Diocese to perform same-sex marriage blessings and he’s in favour of ordaining gay priests.”

– Read here (subscription).

Alternatives:

Churches of the Diocese of the Southern Cross.

Same-sex couples receive blessings for first time in Church of England

“Same-sex couples began receiving blessings in the Church of England on Dec. 17 …

Among the first couples to receive the blessings were the Rev. Catherine Bond and the Rev. Jane Pearce, both associate priests, during Holy Eucharist on Dec. 17 at St. John the Baptist Church in Suffolk. …

A day later, on Dec. 18, Pope Francis broke similar ground in the Roman Catholic Church by allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced…”

– Story from The Episcopal News Service.

As might be expected, the media were on hand at St John the Baptist, Felixstowe.

Update on the Vatican component of the story – from NotThe Bee, explaining that what was said was a little more nuanced:

“The Vatican is saying that this is not a blessing of the sin they are living in, but a blessing for those who ‘recognize themselves to be destitute and in need of his help’ that will pray before the throne of God for ‘all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and in their relationships’ to be healed and guided by the Spirit.”

Image from the February 2023 Church of England’s General Synod.

Vicar Faces Official Rebuke From Church of England For Saying Trans Archdeacon is “Biologically a Bloke”

“The Revd Brett Murphy faces an official rebuke from the CofE over ‘intentionally derogatory and disrespectful’ remarks he made about the Revd Canon Dr. Rachel Mann shortly after his appointment in June.

LGBT+ campaigners had hailed his appointment as a ‘beacon of light and hope’.

The Revd Murphy, in a 32-minute-long YouTube video, criticised the CofE for putting ‘a radical rainbow activist’ in a ‘position of high authority in a diocese’. …”

– Anglican Mainstream has this excerpt from and link to a report in The Telegraph.

Since the Rev Brett Murphy has left the Church of England, he might not care very much what is said about him.

Canada is not only euthanizing Persons but Personhood itself

“In 2016, Canada legalized euthanasia for adults suffering severely and incurably near the end of life.

Four years later, it legalized euthanasia for adults even if death is not “reasonably foreseeable.”

Next year, euthanasia is set to become legal also for adults whose sole medical condition and source of suffering is mental illness. Recommendations have been made to legalize euthanasia for minors whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.”

The organization that regulates physicians in the province of Quebec has suggested that euthanasia should be available for infants with severe disabilities or illnesses that render them unlikely to survive. …”

– Since euthanasia has just been introduced in New South Wales, this is a very relevant article by Brian Bird at Public Discourse.

Link via Anglican Mainstream.

The Desecration of Man

“This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the lectures that became C. S. Lewis’s book The Abolition of Man.

Speaking to an audience at the height of the Second World War, Lewis identified the central problem of the modern age: The world was losing its sense of what it meant to be human. As man’s technological achievements were once again being used to destroy human life on an industrial scale, Lewis pointed to the dehumanization that was occurring all around. And as the war continued, the Final Solution and the atomic bomb served to reinforce his claims.

Yet modern warfare was not the only problem. As Lewis argued, the intellectual and cultural currents of modernity were also culpable. The war was as much a symptom of the problem as a cause. Modernity was abolishing man. It represented nothing less than a crisis of anthropology. …”

– There’s a great deal to contemplate in this essay from Carl Trueman at First Things.

This essay was originally delivered as the 36th Erasmus Lecture at Grove City College on 31st October 2023.

Photo: Carl Trueman, courtesy Grove City College.

Voluntary assisted dying laws partly invalid

“An important decision handed down recently in the Federal Court of Australia rules that part of Victoria’s euthanasia law (the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic)(‘VADA 2017’)) is invalid, as it authorises assistance with suicide, which is prohibited by Federal law.

The decision, of Abrahams J as a single judge in the Federal Court, is Carr v Attorney-General (Cth) [2023] FCA 1500 (30 November 2023). The implication is that similar provisions of other State and Territory laws are also invalid. The relevant federal law, sections 474.29A and 474.29B of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), in broad terms, makes it an offence to assist or encourage someone to commit suicide through use of a ‘carriage service’, most commonly by use of a telephone (either a voice call or a text message), email, or some internet service. …”

– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster looks at the implications of a recent decision.

Image from a Diocese of Sydney training day.

Ian Paul – Church of England is “trying to square a circle”

“Rev Dr Ian Paul offers crucial insights following November’s Synod, reaffirming the Church of England’s doctrine that marriage remains defined as a union between one man and one woman. For a nuanced understanding of what took place, the half-hour interview is accessible on our YouTube channel here.

Ian asks, ‘Do we have confidence in the teaching of Jesus?’ and firmly states the impossibility of detaching doctrinal adherence from pastoral care. He critiques efforts to align the Church’s timeless doctrine with contemporary views as ‘trying to square a circle’. …”

– From The Coalition for Marriage in the UK. Watch here.

Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali became a Christian

“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim and now a former atheist, recently declared that she has converted to Christianity. This is a cause for great rejoicing.

It is also a fascinating sign of the times. Her published account of why she is a Christian is somewhat odd, given that it mentions Jesus only once. It is, however, unreasonable to expect a new convert to offer an elaborate account of the hypostatic union in the first days of faith. This is why churches catechize disciples: Conversion does not involve an infusion of comprehensive doctrinal knowledge. And whatever the lacunae in her statement, the genuineness of her profession is a matter for the pastor of whatever congregation of Christ’s church to which she attaches herself.

Here is what makes her public testimony a sign of the times …”

– Carl Trueman writes at First Things.

Related:

Why I am now a Christian – Ayyan Hirsi Ali at Unherd.

Image: Crossway. Link via Anglican.ink.

Truth Be Told — Lionel Windsor on God’s Story Podcast

With current world events, there’s a great need for truth, and plenty of propaganda to mislead.

Moore College lecturer (and ACL Council member) Lionel Windsor speaks with the God’s Story Podcast about his forthcoming book Truth Be Told: Living Truthfully in a Post-Truth World.

“How do we live truthfully in a post truth world? Why are we in a post truth world and what is a post truth world anyway?”

Among other things, Lionel explains why the printing of his book has been delayed. It illustrates the theme of the book!

– Listen here. 30 minutes.

A personal ‘Barmen Declaration’ in the light the Church of England’s current direction

“The following is a personal statement by the Revd Tom Parsons who is a member of the Rochester Diocesan Evangelical Fellowship. I am posting it on this site because I think it is an important theological response to the vote by General Synod a fortnight ago to give a green light to the blessing of same-sex couples in Church of England churches.

On Wednesday 15th November this year, the Church of England’s General Synod voted to give the House of Bishops a green light to develop liturgy of blessing for sexually active same-sex couples. …”

– Martin Davie has posted this personal statement from the Rev Tom Parsons, Vicar of Christ Church, Sidcup, in Kent. In it, he outlines a Biblical and theological response to the General Synod’s vote.

Archbishop of Perth set to push on with controversial Ordination

From David Ould:

“The Archbishop of Perth, Kay Goldsworthy, will proceed with the ordination to the priesthood of a man who is openly living in a relationship with another man on Thursday evening despite a large growing protest in the Diocese.

I understand that more than 700 signatories have been received on a letter of protest. These 700 signatories represent close to 15% of regular church attendance in the Diocese and do not include members from one large church, St Matthew’s Shenton Park, which is organising its own response and will effectively double the number protesting. This leaves easily one quarter of regular church goers in the Diocese now protesting against an ordination. …”

– Read here.

Photo: Diocese of Perth.

Church Society’s St Antholin Lecture 2023: Same-Sex Love in the Puritan World

From Church Society:

“This year’s St Antholin Lecture on Puritan Divinity will be delivered live on the Church Society Facebook page by Dr Christy Wang, a church historian from Singapore Bible College.

Dr Wang is also a Post-Award Visitor affiliated with the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, where she was a tutor and earned her DPhil on ‘Puritan Conformity, Church Polity, and Anglican Identity, 1628–88’, having previously also studied at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and National Taiwan University.

The title of the lecture will be ‘By Love to Them I Cease Loving of Thee’: Journaling Same-Sex Love in the Puritan World.’…”

– Details here.

The lecture is on Wednesday 6th December at 6pm (UK time), 5:00am the next morning Sydney time.

Should I go or should I stay in the Church of England?

“It is with a high degree of anxiety, and increasing doubts about my sanity, that I am wading unwisely into the debate on whether to remain in or leave the Church of England.

I readily confess that I am, by every measure, several levels below the spiritual and theological authority of those who have already spoken or written on the matter. Nonetheless even the minion on the congregational ‘shopfloor’ deserves a hearing. …”

– Dr. Chik Kaw Tan, former member of General Synod and a trustee of Anglican Mainstream, shares his thoughts, and acknowledges that “remaining or leaving can both be difficult options”. Very helpful.

It’s also a good reminder to keep praying for all our brothers and sisters who are wrestling with these questions.

Activists blessed by the Anglican Dean of Newcastle

“The Anglican Dean of Newcastle has blessed a group of activists who plan to block the city’s harbour for 30 hours this weekend.

The group say they want to send a message about climate change…”

– Report from NBN News Newcastle.

Photo: Newcastle Cathedral.

No crumb of comfort in a tragic and disastrous Church of England decision — with Vaughan Roberts

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“The Church of England has abandoned the teaching of Jesus with prayers for same sex blessings potentially to start before Christmas.

‘Tragic’ says Gafcon.

‘Disastrous’ says the Global South.

‘Deeply Troubled’ says the Church of England Evangelical Council.

‘First order difference requires first order differentiation’ says Vaughan Roberts.

‘It is hard not to dissolve into a flood of tears’ says Mark Thompson the Principal of Sydney’s Moore College.

‘The Archbishop of Canterbury should resign’ says the Church Society’s Lee Gatiss.

The English General Synod has crossed a line that evangelicals across the world had been praying and hoping would not happen.

The General Synod expressed its support by a tiny majority of just a few votes for the continued implementation of the House of Bishops proposals to change the position and practice of the Church of England with regards to sexual ethics and marriage.

We now expect the English bishops to commend prayers of blessing for same sex couples by mid-December (and provide dedicated services soon after), to prepare guidance which will make it possible for clergy to marry their same sex partners, and that future ordinands will not to be asked to indicate whether their lifestyle and personal relationships are in keeping with the doctrine of the Church of England.

Vaughan Roberts is one of the UK’s leading evangelical ministers within the church of England.  Vaughan is senior pastor of St Ebbes in Oxford.”

– Watch or listen here. (Links added to the text above.)

Image: Vaughan Roberts speaks in the Church of England’s General Synod on Wednesday morning 15th November 2023.

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