Notice of The Anglican Church League’s 2024 Annual General Meeting

The ACL gives notice of, and warmly invites all members to attend, the 2024 Annual General Meeting.

Date: 6:00 pm, Thursday 13th June, 2024.

Location: T.C. Hammond Room, Moore Theological College, 1 King Street, Newtown NSW (enter via Carillon Avenue).

We will hear from God’s word, conduct elections, and pray for the League’s future work.

We will also hear an initial report from our President on the recent strategic planning conducted by the Council –

Roger Cunningham: A Strategic Review, with a View to the Future

Download the Agenda (PDF file) here.

The list of current council members can be found here.

Yours sincerely,
The ACL Council.

ACL 2023 Annual General Meeting reminder

For ACL members, a reminder:

The 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League, previously advised, is on Thursday 8th June, 6:00pm – 7:30pm.

Venue: St Andrew’s Cathedral School, 474 Kent Street, Sydney 2000 (enter via Foyer located on Sydney Square), Level 4, The Community Hub.

Speakers:

The agenda for the meeting, including positions to be filled by election, is available here (PDF).

If you need to renew your membership, you can do so at this link.

Bathurst Diocese Service for Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II

A memorial service for the late Her Majesty the Queen was held in Bathurst on Thursday 22 September.

See Bishop Mark Calder’s address above.

Download the Order of Service here.

Queen Elizabeth II — A model of compassion, faith and selflessness

Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, on the Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is a profound sadness, the depth of which is difficult to express.

Anglicans in NSW join with all Australians in mourning her passing. For most people, her reign and her godly example is all we have known.

We have delighted in her visits to this nation and to our churches. She has been for many a tower of strength in times of adversity, and a model of compassion, faith and selflessness in the service of humanity.

But we do not grieve as those without hope (1 Thess 4:13). We give heartfelt thanks to God for her long reign marked by dignity, grace and unstinting humble service motivated by enduring Christian faith.

We offer our condolences and prayers for the Royal Family.

Details of services of commemoration will be made in accordance with requests from Buckingham Palace in due course. Flowers may be left in tribute at the George St door of St Andrew’s Cathedral.  A condolence book will be available at the Cathedral.

– Source: SydneyAnglicnas.net.

Also from SydneyAnglicans.net:

We will pause to offer prayers at noon today, Friday 9th September, and there will be a special Service of Choral Evensong at St Andrew’s Cathedral, this evening at 5:15pm which will include prayers for the Royal Family.

Related:

June 5, 2022 – A celebration of uncommon leadership  — Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s sermon for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Sydney’s One Special Evangelist — Book launch Wednesday 14 September 2022

The Australian College of Theology invites you to a Book Launch for our newest book in the ACT Monograph Series, Sydney’s One Special Evangelist: John C. Chapman and the Shaping of Anglican Evangelicalism and Australian Religious Life 1968-2001, by the Rev Dr Baden Stace.

When and Where:

Wednesday 14 September 2022. Start: 1:00 for 1:15 pm End: 2:15 pm Read more

Annual General Meeting 2022

The Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League will be held on Thursday 16th June 2022 from 6:00pm at St Andrew’s Cathedral School, 474 Kent Street, Sydney.

Financial members may vote. (Renew here.)

Agenda here.

Entry & room arrangements:

Annual General Meeting 2021

The ACL gives notice of, and warmly invites our members to attend, the 2021 Annual General Meeting.

Date: 6.00 pm, Thursday 10th June, 2021.
Location: T.C. Hammond Room, Moore Theological College, 1 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042.

Hear from ACL President Andrew Bruce, as he speaks to us from God’s word. Hear what the League has achieved, under God, over the last year, pray for the League’s future work, and take part in making decisions.

In order to vote, current members should renew by 10th June.

The Anglican Church League welcomes the election of Kanishka Raffel

The Anglican Church League expresses its congratulations to Dean Kanishka Raffel on his election to become the new Archbishop of Sydney. We look forward to his installation at St Andrew’s Cathedral on 28 May 2021.

We give thanks for the prayerful and diligent way the members of Synod chose our new Archbishop from among four godly nominees. We also wish to express our appreciation to all the nominees and their families for allowing themselves to be considered for such an important role, and we commit to praying for their ongoing ministry within the Diocese of Sydney.

Over his entire ministry life, both within and outside the Diocese, we have seen Kanishka demonstrate a heartfelt love of Jesus and a commitment to following him as Lord, whether it be through the gracious proclamation of the Gospel to the lost, or in the courageous contention for Evangelical truth with the wider Anglican Communion. We are confident he will continue to bring these same traits to the new ministry role of the Archbishop of Sydney.

The ACL encourages its members to continue to uphold Kanishka, Cailey and their family in prayer as Kanishka seeks to lead our Diocese in mission to the lost and lead the wider church in faithfulness to the Scriptures. We give thanks for his willingness to serve.

Kanishka has been a member of the Anglican Church League for more than 25 years.

Rev. Andrew Bruce
President

Dr. Robert Tong AM
Chairman

Notice of ACL Annual General Meeting 2020

The Anglican Church League hereby gives notice to its members of the 2020 Annual General Meeting.

Date/time: Thursday 13th August, 6:00pm.

Location: St Peters Anglican Church, 187 Princes Highway, St. Peters.  Read more

Primate admonishes Archbishop Glenn Davies and Bishop Richard Condie — Anglican Church League statement

Anglican Church League statement.

In an earlier post (29 June) I wrote that the Council of the Anglican Church League wholeheartedly supported the consecration of Canon Andy Lines, by GAFCON Bishops and our own Archbishop, Dr Glenn Davies, the Bishop of Tasmania, Dr Richard Condie and the Bishop of North West Australia, Gary Nelson, to ‘provide biblical faithful oversight for those European parishes that have been abandoned at this time’.

Now, in response to the letters sent to Australian bishops by Davies and Condie (see the links below for the full texts), the Primate, Archbishop Philip Freier has issued his own letter of 1 July admonishing Davies and Condie. A link to the Primate’s letter follows this post.

The Primate builds his case on constraints in the Australian Anglican constitutional arrangements and the ‘close fellowship, co-operation and collegiality of the Communion’.

As to constraints in the constitution, the Primate ‘advised both bishops against this course of action’. While an Australian Primate is always free to give advice within the bonds of Christian fellowship, there is no constitutional provision for formal advice, nor is there any sense of hierarchy in the position of the Australian primate in relation to the other 22 diocesan bishops. No Australian diocesan bishop is obligated to follow the ‘advice’ of a primate.

The Primate appeals to the Fundamental Declarations which are the bedrock statements of belief in the Anglican Church of Australia. The Scriptures are the ultimate rule and standard of faith; the commands of Christ are to be obeyed and his doctrine taught, but no conclusion is drawn by the Primate from this reference. The obvious conclusion to draw is that the Scottish Episcopal Church, by virtue of its recent decision to amend the definition of marriage and allow same-sex couples to be married in its churches, has moved away from the commands of Christ and his doctrine and the Scriptures as the ultimate rule and standard of faith.

The Primate also appeals to ‘the plenary authority of General Synod in this matter. Section 26 of the Constitution provides… Synod may make canons rules and resolutions relating to the order and good government of this Church including canons in respect of ritual, ceremonial and discipline’. However, quoting this section only gives one side of the picture. The other side of the picture is the restricting qualification to this power. Section 30(a) provides that canons ‘in respect of ritual, ceremonial and discipline’ only take effect in a diocese when adopted by ordinance of that diocese. This is the clear and plain constitutional arrangement in the Australian Church.  Each diocese has the final say, not the General Synod. So, ‘plenary authority’ is not so plenary. Further, a diocese has power to exclude canons adopted previously.

As to ‘close fellowship, co-operation and collegiality of the Communion’ this was on magnificent display at the consecration of Andy Lines. The Gafcon Primates and other diocesan bishops at the consecration represent some 75% of Anglicans world-wide. More than 50 bishops took part in the consecration. That three Australian diocesan bishops participated is a wonderful expression of the ‘collegiality of the Communion’.

But why does the Primate’s letter not include any rebuke to the ‘Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church, a member of the Anglican Communion’ for voting for same sex marriage? Abandoning the teaching of Scripture on the issue is surely sufficient grounds for such a rebuke. The Primate chose instead to suggest ‘Each Church makes its own decisions in its own ways, guided by recommendations from the Lambeth Conference…’ However, even just on these terms a rebuke was warranted since, plainly, the Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church has rejected the guidance of the Lambeth Resolution 1.10 of 1998. In part that resolution says:

(b) in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage;

(e) cannot advise the legitimising or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions.

Even if Lambeth too is put to one side, our own General Synod in 2004 resolved (62/04 and 63/04) that it did not condone the liturgical blessing of same sex relations or the ordination of people in open same sex relationships. This should have been enough to ground some criticism of the Scottish Episcopal Church decision.

The Primate says, ‘I do not think that it is for us individually, acting independently, to determine with whom we are in communion or to act unilaterally to that end’. Whether or not there is such a principle, the ordination of women in the Australian Church means there now exists a state of impaired communion between diocesans bishops and dioceses on recognition of the orders of some priests and bishops. Bishops have acted independently on this issue. The resulting impaired communion will become even more stark if an Australian diocesan synod decides to approve same sex relationships.

The Primate’s letter raises more questions than it answers, in particular, concerning the bonds that bind us as fellow Anglicans.

For and on behalf of the Anglican Church League Council.

Andrew Bruce
President
Anglican Church League
5 July 2017

 

Links mentioned:

Photo courtesy Anglican Church in North America.

Anglican Church League statement in support of the consecration of Andy Lines

The Anglican Church League has noted with disappointment the novel developments that have occurred within the Scottish Episcopal Church. Their departure from the faith stands in direct opposition to the clear teaching of the Scriptures and prescribed Church order, so as to have a detrimental effect upon the wider Anglican Communion.

In light of this, we wholeheartedly support the consecration to Bishop of Canon Andy Lines, by GAFCON Bishops, including our own Archbishop the Rt Rev Dr Glenn Davies, the Bishop of Tasmania Dr Richard Condie and the Bishop of North West Australia Gary Nelson, to provide biblical faithful oversight for those European parishes that have been abandoned at this time.

We encourage our members to continue to pray for the consecration and the ongoing ministry of Andy Lines and GAFCON in the face of these significant challenges.

Andrew Bruce

President – Anglican Church League, 29 June 2017.

(Photo: Canon Andy Lines, courtesy GAFCON.)

‘There is no biblical justification, in any circumstance, for domestic violence.’

Archbishop Glenn DaviesAnglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement March 13th, 2015

Domestic violence and churches
(response to SMH and ABC)

“There is no biblical justification, in any circumstance, for domestic violence. The classic Christian understanding of a husband’s loving, sacrificial, servant-like leadership leaves absolutely no room for violence or fear.

We would be very open to participating in a cross-denominational survey of domestic violence issues, benchmarked with society in general. Whether or not such a survey is conducted, we will continue to speak out against domestic violence through education, training and advocacy.

I also encourage our ministers to explore this issue further with their congregations, making them more aware of the problem and the necessity of properly dealing with specific cases where-ever they may be found.

Archbishop Glenn N Davies,

March 13, 2015.”

First published at SydneyAnglicans.net.

A Statement Concerning the Consecration of Rev Dr Sarah Macneil in the Anglican Diocese of Grafton

Anglican Church LeagueHere’s a Statement from ACL President, The Rev. Gavin Poole:

“On 1 March 2014 the Anglican diocese of Grafton will consecrate its new Bishop. The consecration will be hailed as ‘historic’ as she will be the first female diocesan Bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia.

The fact that the diocesan Bishop will be a woman is of concern, especially considering there has been no publicly available provision by the Grafton diocese for those who cannot in good conscience accept her episcopal ministry. The matters raised in this document however are of more grave concern. …”

Read the full text – or download it – below –   Read more

2013 Annual General Meeting reminder

ACL AGM 2013The ACL invites ACL Members to attend

The 2013 Annual General Meeting
6.00 pm, Thursday 15th August, 2013
St. Andrew’s Cathedral Chapter House.

Read more

Gav Poole elected President of the Anglican Church League

Media release, 9th August 2012

At its Annual General Meeting on 9 August, the Anglican Church League elected the Rev Gavin Poole, Rector of Cherrybrook Anglican Church, as its new President. Mr Poole succeeds the Rev Dr Mark Thompson who had been the President of the League since 2005.

Dr Thompson spoke enthusiastically about the new president.

‘Gavin brings to this role his wealth of experience as a Rector in the diocese, as part of a ministry team in the United States for several years, and helped organise the FCA Leaders’ conference in London this year’, he said.

‘He is deeply committed to the evangelical character of our diocese and the importance of the work of the League in guarding and growing that critical inheritance. He is an excellent choice to lead the League into the next period of its life.’

Gavin commented,

‘I have a strong appreciation for this diocese and its evangelical heritage. We must work hard to maintain and build upon that which has been left to us by our evangelical forefathers. I am also thankful for the way Mark has served the ACL over the past 7 years. I look forward to serving in this capacity.’

The ACL Council encourages prayer for Gavin as he takes up his new responsibilities.

(Photo: The four most recent Presidents, left to right: The Rev. Gav Poole, Outgoing President Dr. Mark Thompson, Previous Presidents Rev. Zac Veron and Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones.)

Next Page →