Richard Johnson — the background
“In the summer of 1784, the Newtons took their orphaned niece Eliza to bathe at the seaside for her health.
John Thornton had invited Newton to accompany him to Lymington and the Isle of Wight. A stranger, Charles Etty, invited Newton to stay at his home near Lymington en route.
In December 1783, Richard Johnson had been licenced as curate to St John’s, Boldre, a village in the New Forest only 3 miles from Etty’s home.
It is conceivable that Newton and Johnson may have met there in the late summer of 1784. Certainly they subsequently knew the same group of friends in the Lymington area.
And it was only a few months later, on 25 March 1785, that Newton reported to William Bull:
“Yesterday I put Mr. Johnson in my pulpit,
(who I think gives us an earnest of a judicious good preacher).’…”
– Marylynn Rouse at The John Newton Project has been researching how John Newton came to know Richard Johnson and came to recommend him to be Chaplain on the First Fleet.
It’s a fascinating work-in-progress with more to come – read it here.
Related: St John’s Boldre is having “Australia Day Matins” on Sunday 1st February.
Photo courtesy Google Maps.
Thanksgiving Service for former SMBC Principal Arthur Deane
The Rev. Arthur Deane, former Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College 1965-1974, went to be with the Lord on Friday 2nd January 2015.
There’ll be a Thanksgiving Service at 2:30pm on Sunday 11th January at the college.
It’s not Rocket Science
Steven Kryger at Communicate Jesus makes a disturbing discovery…
“Over the last week, I’ve reviewed the websites of 100 Australian churches. These churches are located in every state and territory of Australia, and across denominations.
As I reviewed each website, I put myself in the place of someone who is thinking about going to church this Christmas. And the one question every visitor wants to know is this: “What time is the service?”
I was staggered to find that most churches don’t provide this information. In fact:
58% of these websites have no information about Christmas services…”
– Read the rest of his post here.
‘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.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…