‘O’Farrell comes out for same-sex marriage’
“Barry O’Farrell has declared his strong support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia…”
– Sydney Morning Herald report. Photo: NSW Government.
The Salamanca Declaration
“Yesterday I signed the The Salamanca Declaration and joined with other Christian leaders in presenting the Declaration to Michael Polley the Speaker of the House who then gave it to Rene Hidding MP to table in the Legislative Assembly. From the Media Release …
A document representing Tasmania’s Christian community will be tabled in parliament as a unified response to the social issues currently dividing public opinion. Every major head of church in Tasmania has come on board to sign The Salamanca Declaration…
The Salamanca Declaration is an affirmation of classical Christian values and the need to uphold them despite unprecedented attack. Seeking the common good of all Tasmanians, it puts forward three points of agreement summed up in the words life, liberty and legacy.
– Bishop John Harrower shares the latest on action by Christians in Tasmania.
Media report: Churches blast reform ‘tsunami’ – The Mercury. (h/t SydneyAnglicans.net)
New Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force
Bishop Ian Lambert from Canberra & Goulburn will be the new Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force – from July 1 2013.
A hole in History the shape of an empty tomb
We missed seeing this earlier – but Ian Palmer, the new Bishop of Bathurst, has written this Easter message in the April edition of 3D, the newspaper of the dioceses of Canberra & Goulburn, Bathurst, and Riverina. (Page 14 in this PDF file.)
It’s also a good reminder to pray for him and for Christian ministry in rural areas —
“Almost 40 years ago, in July 1973, Liz and I were in a bank in London when four armed men burst in.
We found ourselves lying on the floor fearfully eyeing the man standing over us with a shotgun, while his companions smashed their way into the tellers’ area and stole money from behind the desk and the safes.
It was a terrifying experience and although we eventually got out unharmed, all these years later the details remain vivid and the emotions powerful. Read more
Rushed policy making is poor policy making — Abortion Tasmania
Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower writes:
“Today we submitted the Anglican Church of Tasmania’s Submission to the Draft Bill and Consultation Paper proposed by the Tasmanian Government’s Health Minister as a private member’s bill. …
With others, we protested the initial 2 weeks response time given by the Tasmanian Health Minister and it was extended to 4 weeks! However, this time frame overlapped with the time we had been given by the Government to lodge our submission on the Euthanasia legislation. Well may we say: rushed policy making is poor policy making! Moreover, rushed policy is not only a dis-service to Tasmanians in governance but dismissive and divisive of our community.
This Tasmanian Government has made it very hard for us to engage effectively because of bringing out proposal after proposal for major social change. This rushed and turbulent process has been unnecessary and it has added distress to our community when life is already very challenging for many Tasmanians.
Some excerpts from the Anglican Church of Tasmania’s Submission…”
– Read it all here. The Anglican submission (PDF) highlights a range of significant issues of interest to all Australians.
We care for the mother and the unborn child
“In my distress at the draconian draft Tasmanian Abortion legislation, I cannot help but come back to basic statements of our wider communities’ commitments to humanity in all its seasons…”
– Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower is appalled by proposed changes to Tasmanian legislation which, he says, eliminate “any concept of legal protections for an unborn child, even in situations irrelevant to termination, such as acts of negligence or assault that result in prenatal death”.
He is urging Tasmanian Christians to make submissions by 5:00pm tomorrow (Friday 5 April 2013).
Bishop of NWA’s Easter Message
Bishop of North West Australia, Gary Nelson, writes in the March 2013 Northwest Network (PDF – grab a copy for your prayers) –
As I write there is a cyclone brewing off the coast near Port Hedland – just another aspect of life and ministry in the North West. I managed to fly out of Karratha before the alert turned from blue to yellow, but as the airport doors opened for boarding the winds blew in with menacing intent. I can only imagine how fear could easily grip you when caught in the destructive winds and torrential rain of a cyclone. Please pray for those who live and serve in these regions.
Easter is rapidly approaching and I look forward to sharing with the people of Geraldton the good news of what Jesus has done in his death and resurrection. Read more
Abortion Tasmania: Hospital Chaplain’s perspective
Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower writes:
“Hospital Chaplain, Reverend Alan Bulmer, has written to Health Minister for Tasmania, The Hon. Michelle O’Byrne, in response to her draft Abortion Legislation for Tasmania.
As I read his sensitive letter, I was reminded again that the pastoral consequences of the life and death of the unborn are a very real part of a hospital chaplain’s ministry. His letter brings the personal aspect of the death of the unborn to the Minister’s attention and asks for the reconsideration and withdrawal of this draft legislation…”
– Read extracts of the letter at Bishop Harrower’s blog, or the full thing here (PDF).
Easter messages 2013 from around Australia
Here are some of the Easter messages we’ve seen so far from Anglican leaders around Australia –
Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower writes of Jesus as the Good Shepherd,
“He is not some hireling who will run away when the surprises hit, and the going gets tough. Rather, he is ‘the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.’…”
Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn Stuart Robinson’s Easter message. He also has a video message and shares this invitation for Good Friday,
“Do please consider joining me (or praying for) – this Friday at 11.00am, Belmore Park, Goulburn. It will be an ‘open-air’ Easter Service where I will explain the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection and invite people to respond.
I’ll be walking with the cross I’ve been carrying around the diocese from our Cathedral at around 10.30am to the park.”
In his video message, Archbishop of Melbourne Philip Freier, says,
“The victory of death over his life was not as it seemed. Christians know that Jesus’ death on the cross was a victory over sin and death. Even more his victory is for all time – his light overcoming the darkness of sin and despair in every age. He has made the impossible possible.”
Defence Anglicans Administrator (until a new Bishop is appointed) Eric Burton has an Easter message entitled, “A kick in the guts”.
Please pray for all who speak in Christ’s name this Easter, whatever their churchmanship, that they will speak faithfully and clearly the words of eternal life. (And maybe a word of thanks to those who do would be appropriate.)
Bishop of Tasmania calls for submissions against ‘draconian’ bill
Bishop John Harrower encourages submissions against a ‘draconian’ Abortion bill proposed for Tasmania.
Related:
Pastoral Letter.
When murder looks like abortion.
Rural ministry in Canberra & Goulburn
“…Director of St Mark’s National Theological Centre Professor Tom Frame has been appointed to a ‘tent-making’ unpaid position overseeing the new Mulwaree Mission District…”
– from the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn.
Diocese of Tasmania submission on “Voluntary Assisted Dying”
Bishop John Harrower has posted some details on his diocese’s submission concerning “Voluntary Assisted Dying” in Tasmania – and he has also written a Pastoral Letter on proposed Abortion legislation for that state.
Good news for Braidwood
The Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn’s Bishop Stuart Robinson is continuing his ‘150th birthday [of the diocese] pilgrimage’ – and is using every opportunity to preach evangelistically.
This morning he and his wife Jane, with members of the local church, entered Braidwood and Stuart preached evangelistically in the park. He reports that more than 20 people made commitments or recommitments to Christ.
Bishop Robinson would appreciate continued prayer support (next “Bungendore, then Goulburn (Good Friday) then on Easter Saturday, Reid in Canberra and on Easter Day around Parliament House to the lawns of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture for a sunrise evangelistic service at 7.15am.”)
Photo courtesy Alex Rea at The Braidwood Times.
In a little while – thanking God for Chappo
“My generation missed Chappo. I think I heard him preach once, maybe twice. By the time I went through Moore Theological College he was no longer the one giving sermon feedback. Others were the regular evangelists up at the Katoomba conventions when I attended them.
I heard a number of his jokes — even I knew of his encouragement of younger Christians with words along the lines of ‘Don’t worry, the first 40 years are the hardest’ — but I heard most of these stories from others who knew him better, or had heard him more often.”
– Coinciding with the day of a special Thanksgiving service in London, Sam Freeney explains why The Briefing (March/April 2013) will carry some special appreciations of our dear brother John Chapman.
My Brittle Bones
“I belong to a very ordinary Australian family, albeit with two obvious differences. First, compared with the stereotypical sports-loving, tough Aussie, some of us are quite weak and physically frail, thanks to a mutant gene. Second, my family has resisted the secularism that is a dominant feature of modern Australian life.…”
– a disturbing article relating to eugenics. Worth your time to read. (h/t SydneyAnglicans.net)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…