A Prayer for the Protection of Unborn Children

Next week, a new bill to make abortion more available in New South Wales will be debated in NSW Parliament.

Archbishop Glenn Davies has urged Christians to pray, and to contact local MPs, who will be in the process of deciding how to vote on the legislation.

Archdeacon Kara Hartley has written a prayer you could use at home, or in church:

Heavenly Father, Lord of life, We thank you and praise you that you are the author and sustainer of life and that every person is created in your image and is precious in your sight.

We pray today knowing that our Parliament is considering significant changes to abortion law in this state.

Father, we pray for those among us for whom this is a very personal issue and a source of deep distress. Strengthen and uphold those who grieve the loss of their child. May the love, forgiveness and hope found through Christ be their comfort. As a Christian community give us compassion and understanding for any among us who have faced this situation.

We pray for our politicians, as they come to vote on this issue next week. May they show courage and commitment to the dignity and sanctity of each human life.

We also pray for ourselves. Help us to speak with grace and sensitivity to one another, among our friends and neighbours and with our local MPs. Help us to be courageous and wise in defending unborn children. Help us not to shy away from our convictions, but boldly stand firm in the truth that all life comes from you and is precious in your sight.

For Christ’s sake and in his name, we pray.

Amen.

Also available as a PDF file. (Photo of Kara Hartley courtesy Sam Law.)

O church of God – rise up and pray

“Pray for our brothers and sisters in NSW who are seeing diabolical legislation being introduced into state parliament this week – legislation that permits abortion, regardless of pregnancy term, with only the most generalised and barest of provisos to be met first.

Our church stands with the unborn child: ‘human life is a gift from God from conception’. That’s what’s being attacked – life in the womb. Hear the wailing voice of the unborn – give them a choice. …”

– Presbyterian Church of Australia Moderator-General, the Rev John P Wilson, urgently calls on Christian people to speak up, in prayer, and in messages to members of NSW Parliament, in behalf of the not-yet-born.

Australian Christian Lobby urges NSW Abortion Rethink

“The Australian Christian Lobby has expressed its concern at today’s announcement that laws to liberalise abortion are likely to be introduced into NSW Parliament this week.

‘Supporters of decriminalisation have expressed support for the Queensland and Victorian model, which is among the most radical in the world. It allows abortion right up to the moment of birth, which is barbaric and extreme.’…”

– from a press release by The Australian Christian Lobby.

Related:

“Abortion bill in NSW set to change laws dating back to 1900” – ABC News.

Proposed Victorian Bill is likely to harm not help women

“The State of Victoria wishes to be at the vanguard of the sexual devolution. Sadly, Victoria is already becoming an unsafe place for vulnerable children who struggle with gender dysphoria.

Just as with the recent passing of euthanasia laws, concerns expressed by the medical fraternity were overlooked in favour of radical political and gender theorists…

In their latest effort, the Victorian Government has decided that transgender women are being discriminated against under current laws.”

– Murray Campbell in Melbourne warns about the proposed Victorian legislation.

‘Controversial’ anti-abortion billboard erected on NSW highway

“An anti-abortion ad that was banned from the side of buses is causing controversy again after it was erected on a billboard next to a highway on the NSW north coast. …

Last month, Transport Minister Andrew Constance said he was ‘appalled’ by the same ad, which shows an image of a pregnant woman’s stomach, alongside the phrase: ‘A heart beats at four weeks’. …”

– Story from MSN news, 24 July 2019.

See also: Ooh dumps Emily’s Voice billboard – Emily’s Voice, 25 July 2019.

“We are disappointed Ooh Media has buckled to pressure, removing the Emily’s Voice heart billboard from the Pacific Highway in Belmont NSW. …

Ooh has fallen into line with NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance who banned our ads from Newcastle buses after a Facebook complaint.

Ooh told the Daily Mail the billboard had been reviewed before posting and did not contravene its guidelines, but after public complaints and media attention, decided the message, ‘A heart beats at four weeks’ alongside the image of a woman making a heart over her pregnant belly, ‘could cause offence to a significant section of the community’ and did contravene its guidelines.

We still don’t understand what’s so offensive about the scientifically accurate statement that an unborn baby has a heartbeat 22 days from conception. There’s no mention of abortion, no gruesome images or condemnation of any kind. …

The Minister is ‘investigating’ how our ads made it on to buses, but remains silent on truly abhorrent messages on hire vehicles.

He is appalled by our message yet didn’t intervene to ban recent bus ads for a Newcastle pregnancy support centre, or ads telling women not to drink while pregnant. What’s the difference?” (Read it all.)

Transgender discrimination law in Australia — uncertainties

“It is not uncommon to find popular assertions, in relation to the legal treatment of transgender persons, that the law requires that a person who asserts they are of a different gender to their biological sex, be allowed to use bathrooms set aside for their chosen gender, or that they have a ‘right’ to be addressed by the pronoun corresponding to that gender.

In this post I want to point out that it seems quite arguable that the law in most of Australia does not have this effect. … it is important to be as clear as possible on what the law actually says.”

– Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Diocese of the Arctic now in “impaired communion” with other Canadian dioceses

“To all people in the Diocese of the Arctic,

Greetings in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who is God Almighty.

General Synod 2019 has just finished. After taking time to meet as bishops, to seek the Lord’s will for our Diocese, to pray, listen and talk, we have prepared this statement for our Diocese and for the Anglican Communion at large. …

We understand that many have walked away from our Anglican Church of Canada’s doctrine, but we have not.”

– Bishop of The Arctic, David W Parsons, and his fellow bishops in that diocese, have released a statement in which they take a stand for the truth.

Read it all, with a clarifying statement, at Anglican Samizdat.

The Eclipse of God, the Subversion of Truth, and the Assault upon Religious Liberty

“Our concern in this gathering is the assault on religious liberty now experienced within the United States and throughout Western Civilization.

The very civilization that paid such an incalculable price through the centuries in order to defend and preserve human rights and human liberty, now grows hostile to the most basic liberty of all. History’s most courageous experiment in self-government, predicated upon unalienable rights, now seeks to alienate the unalienable. The cultural Left in the United States now dares to use the term “religious liberty” only with scare quotes.

How did this happen? …”

– Albert Mohler gave this address in Denver, Colorado, on the weekend.

Open Letter from the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Australia

“Dear friends,

I’m sure you are aware of the current discussion about freedom of religion legislation.

There is a great opportunity at present for us to have a positive influence in the legislative process, and I’m calling on you to consider how you can respond and encourage your congregation to get involved as well.

I’m suggesting three ways in which you can act:

1. I urge you to read the pastoral letter (Download from here) and consider distributing it to your congregation, asking them to contact their federal MP.

2.  I’m inviting you to download and print the petition (Download from here). As you do, please consider collecting signed copies of the petition and arranging for them to be mailed to Senator the Honourable Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, PO Box 886, Wollongong NSW 2520. (Note that only originals of the signed petition may be submitted to the Senate, so copies must be mailed).

3.  I also draw your attention to an excellent briefing paper released this week by Freedom for Faith (Download from here). It will help you understand some of the complexities of the discussions about freedom of religion. It is aimed at ministers and leaders, so please circulate it to anyone you think would be interested. (Note that while Freedom for Faith supports the appointment of a Freedom of Religion Commissioner, while the submission the Presbyterian Church made the Ruddock enquiry was cautious about that proposal).

with warm regards,

Rev John P Wilson BSc, DipEd, BTh, DMin
Clerk of Assembly, PCV
Moderator-General, Presbyterian Church of Australia.”

– Also posted at presbyterian.org.au. Download all files (Zipped archive.)

Seminary Confidential

“Last week, a student at one of the country’s top theological seminaries wrote to me about the institution. The student framed the letter not so much as a complaint about this particular seminary, but rather as a warning about the direction of Christianity via the pastors and theologians trained at prestigious places like this. …

‘ have to walk on eggshells to not out myself as a moral monster – for holding to biblical morality on a Christian campus. I have seen the future in the form of the arguments that the very far “Christian” left is developing. The average believer in the pews does not know what is coming.’…”

– Rod Dreher shares an alarming (though, perhaps, not surprising) letter from an American seminary student.

The Uniting Church of Victoria/Tasmania votes to use Euthanasia

“The Uniting Church has been chasing after the culture ever since its creation in 1977. While there are evangelical churches and ministers within Australia’s 3rd largest Protestant denomination, they are relatively few, and these have been engaging in formal discussions to review their association within the denomination. If the final nail in the coffin hadn’t already been laid, surely it has after today’s proceedings.

Today, the Uniting Church (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania), voted in support of motions to allow euthanasia in their agencies. …

The Uniting Church has already littered the landscape with graves where there were once churches, and now they are giving consent for their health agencies to sanction euthanasia. It is one thing for a Government to legalise euthanasia, but for an association of Christian churches to stand together and vote in favour of their own agencies to allow this practice? And then have the audacity to attach the name of Jesus to this?”

– Murray Campbell shares the distressing news, and has some strong words.

(Image: UCA Vic/Tas.)

Social work student wins appeal against dismissal for views on sexuality

“An important decision of the England and Wales Court of Appeal, The Queen (on the application of Ngole) -v- The University of Sheffield [2019] EWCA Civ 1127 (3 July 2019) has ruled that a social work student, Felix Ngole, should not have been dismissed from his course on the basis of comments he made on social media sharing the Bible’s view on homosexuality…”

– Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Hey Ministers and Theologians: When it comes to the secular workplace, you just don’t get it

“The Israel Folau storm has exposed many things, and this is one of them: many ministry workers have little idea of the pressures people face in the modern workplace. They just don’t get it. Not that it stops them making big statements about it.

If you’re a Christian ministry worker and you’ve had a lot to say about Izzy (either for or against) the last few weeks on social media, then it might be time to get off Facebook and have a listen to the people in your congregation who hold down a job Monday to Friday. …”

– Steve McAlpine’s latest article is published at the Gospel Coalition Australia.

No forgiveness for Folau’s sins

“It is testament to the blinkered arrogance of political correctness, and of those who do its bidding, that these people could not see the profound moral contradiction at the heart of their chilling statement. In the name of preventing ‘vilification based on race, gender, religion or sexuality’, they vilified Folau on the basis of his religion. …”

– Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked, writes this opinion piece in today’s The Australian.

Strong words from the Bishop of the Diocese of The Arctic

The Rt. Rev. David W Parsons, Bishop of the Arctic, has issued an open letter to all Canadian Anglicans regarding the upcoming vote to change the marriage canon. In part, he writes:

“It would not be wise to think that General Synod and the 68.4% of bishops who voted in favour of changing the church’s Marriage Canon are a majority. The Anglican Church of Canada is marginal in size, representing only 0.65% of the Anglican Communion and only 0.025% of the Christian church worldwide. It is spiritually dangerous to follow this marginal segment of the Christian church, those who think they alone have this prophetic message from God–a message that calls us to turn from Scripture and follow them.

As for me, I choose to remain with the Word of God and represent the gospel in the confines of the traditional Biblical doctrines of the Diocese of The Arctic, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Communion, and the Holy Catholic Church and to walk with those who choose likewise. As for those who choose to reject the Word of God and the doctrines of the Anglican Church of Canada in our Book of Common Prayer, and the Doctrines and precepts of the Anglican Communion, and choose instead to develop their own worldly doctrines and humanistic theologies, they must do so on their own. I will treat them with love and respect but as those who have walked away from the doctrines of the Christian faith. I will pray for their repentance, but I will not walk in rebellion with them.“

– Via the diocesan Facebook page. Read the full letter (PDF file) here. Text at Anglican Samizdat.

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