‘A chaplain at the centre of a national tragedy’
“As chaplain to Cricket NSW, Simon Flinders first met Phil Hughes as a bright young recruit who began playing for the NSW Blues in 2007. Simon has been a constant presence at training sessions and matches over his 10 years as chaplain, getting to know the boys from the sideline, and ministering from the bench. He’s ‘part of the furniture’ — not in the inner circle, but a regular fixture — someone to be called upon if tragedy were to strike…”
– Story from Bible Society Australia. Photo: St. Mark’s Northbridge.
Gideons switching to the ESV
“Gideons have distributed almost 16 million Bibles in Australia since they were established here in 1956. There are Gideons Bibles in hotels and motels, prisons, and hospitals. But this year, they’ve changed translations, switching from the NKJV to the ESV.
– Story and photo from Bible Society Australia.
Victorian state election: threat to religious freedom
Melbourne pastor Mark Durie speaks out on the implications for religious freedom of an Opposition win in the Victorian elections – at the Australian Christian Lobby.
Senator encourages involvement in Solidarity Sunday
Senator David Fawcett spoke yesterday about the persecution of religious minorities, particularly Christians, under ISIL, and informed the Senate of Solidarity Sunday. (YouTube.)
“Bill Shorten’s description of Christians ‘wide of the mark’.”
“The Australian Christian Lobby’s Lyle Shelton has said Bill Shorten’s speech backing same sex marriage at their conference was “wide of the mark” because of his characterisation of Christians as people who invoke God and Bible to attack blended families and demonise people for who they love. …”
– report from The Australian.
See also:
- Why we invited Bill Shorten to our National Conference – Lyle Shelton, Australian Christian Lobby (including video of the Q&A session).
“I’m grateful to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for speaking at our national conference at the weekend. Enormous pressure was put on him to stay away….” - Text of Bill Shorten’s Speech to the Australian Christian Lobby National Conference.
Bill Shorten speaks at Australian Christian Lobby national conference
“Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has told a Christian conference he supports same-sex marriage.
Mr Shorten made the comments in a speech to the Australian Christian Lobby national conference in Canberra this morning.
‘When I see people hiding behind the bible to insult and demonise people on the basis of who they love, I cannot stay silent, I do not agree,’ he said…”
– Story from ABC News. (Photo: BillShorten.com.au)
Related: Australian Christian Lobby media release.
Archbishop Davies welcomes new Roman Catholic leader
“The Archbishop of Sydney issued a statement of welcome to Bishop Anthony Fisher, named as the successor to Cardinal George Pell as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney.”
– read Archbishop Davies’ statement here.
(Photo credit.)
‘Government should back Nationals’ urgency motion to help Islamic State victims’
Here’s a media release from The Australian Christian Lobby:
“The Australian Christian Lobby has renewed its call for the Federal Government to urgently lift the humanitarian refugee intake to assist refugees fleeing Islamic State brutality in Iraq and Syria.
This follows unanimous support for such a move at this weekend’s Nationals Federal Council meeting in Canberra. Read more
Online comments cause SU Tasmania Chaplain to be sacked
“It wasn’t his Facebook post that caused Scripture Union (SU) Tasmania chaplain Troy Williams to be sacked. It was his follow up comment on a conservative Christian site. …”
– Story from John Sandeman at Eternity Newspaper.
A life dedicated to serving mission and community
“Owen Shelley, who died on Saturday, August 2, lived to serve Jesus Christ and to share the good news of salvation to thousands of children…”
– Story from The St. George & Sutherland Shire Leader.
Veteran children’s evangelist dies
“Owen Shelley, who spent more than 30 years as children’s missioner with Scripture Union, has died.
Mr Shelley was well known to generations of Christians in Sydney and NSW for his talks and story telling at church services, outreach events and beach missions.”
– SydneyAnglicans.net has this story on Owen Shelley, including a tribute from Scripture Union.
With thanksgiving for Owen Shelley
Many thousands of people will be giving thanks to the Lord Jesus for his servant Owen Shelley, who died on Saturday at the age of 87.
“Owen Shelley left us on Saturday 2nd August to be with his Lord and Saviour. He lived to serve Jesus and to share the good news of salvation to thousands of children.”
There will be a memorial service at 2:00pm on Tuesday 12th August at Narwee Baptist Church (33-39 Baumans Road, Peakhurst). The Dean of Sydney, Phillip Jensen, will preach.
– Read more at Shelley and Son.
Sydney church member killed on flight MH17
“A western Sydney church is coming to terms with the loss of one of their own, Victor Oreshkin, one of the 298 passengers on MH17. Victor, aged 29, was a core member of the small Slavic Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Lidcombe…
Victor had been studying a Certificate of Theology part-time with Morling College in Sydney and was due to start his next subject — Old Testament — on Tuesday night this week.”
The Christian origins of NAIDOC week
“This week is NAIDOC week across Australia, celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. What many don’t realise is that it was Aboriginal Christians that started NAIDOC week. Specifically, it was the initiative of an Aboriginal Christian, William Cooper, who asked the churches to start praying for aborigines on what would become known as ‘Aboriginies Sunday.’…”
– Dominic Steele writes at The Briefing.
Gospel Coalition Australia announced
“Following the broad pattern of the original TGC, we have formed a Council drawn from across Australia. Building on existing relational networks, we have drawn together a group of 13 men committed to the TGC Foundation Documents and to one another.
Whilst we haven’t tried to ensure that every possible constituency is represented, we have ended up with a real mixture of denominations, backgrounds, geographical locations, and experience. The founding Council Members are listed for your information below.”
– from The Gospel Coalition website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…