Abp Welby and Orthodox Coptic Bishop host meeting on Iraq and Syria
“In an unprecedented ecumenical gathering at Lambeth Palace hosted by The Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and initiated by His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, a joint statement was agreed by leaders and representatives of the Churches of the Middle East and the wider Christian Church in Britain…”
– Press release and photo from the Coptic Orthodox Church.
(h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
David Platt new President of SBC International Mission Board
“Our IMB president must be one who can drive our missions focus in a new way for a new era. It’s not enough that Southern Baptists’ global missions leader motivates us all to give and to go (although he must do that). He must be someone who can connect from the Scriptures how the Great Commission, and especially our global Great Commission responsibilities, are the urgent concern of all of us.”
– Russell Moore gives thanks that David Platt has been elected as President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board.
Sadness as Mark Driscoll steps aside for a period
Mark Driscoll made this statement (video) at Mars Hill in Seattle yesterday.
Please especially uphold in prayer Mark and his family and the Mars Hill church in this time. (1 Corinthians 12:26.)
Presbyterians Church (USA) to allow gay marriage ceremonies
“At their gathering in Detroit, the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States voted to allow their clergy to perform same-sex marriages…”
– Report from USA Today.
And for something quite different, the June edition of The Pulse, magazine of the Presbyterian Church in NSW is well worth a look.
More congregations leave the Church of Scotland
“Two of the wealthiest Church of Scotland congregations are quitting the Kirk just weeks before the General Assembly over the issue of gay ordination. The move is a new cash blow with the two congregations contributing £315,000 between them to the Church…”
– Report from The Herald Scotland.
Other labourers in The Lord’s Vineyard
Sometimes we may forget we have brothers and sisters labouring in other parts of the Lord’s Vineyard. Here’s the latest from The Presbyterian Inland Mission (PDF) and Australian Presbyterian World Mission (PDF).
An Extraordinary Life
“Friends of our ministry in East Timor will be saddened to learn of the sudden death of Pastor Manuel Rodriquez. He was in many ways an ‘ordinary’ pastor but God used him in extraordinary ways. He never wrote a book or appeared on a platform as a speaker at a conference but God used him to spread the glory of His name in East Timor. This man is a tremendous example to us of someone who was determined to see the Kingdom of God grow in East Timor.”
– Australian Presbyterian World Mission gives thanks for this man of Christ in Timor Leste.
‘Swedish Archbishop prefers Allah’
“…the Church of Sweden’s new archbishop is Antje Jackelén. … Like kings, all bishops have their own motto and Jackelén chose ”God is greater” … ”Allahu akbar”. …
Many have been taken aback by the theological opinions Jackelén revealed during a questioning in Uppsala on October 1. The candidates for the highest position in the Swedish church were asked if they thought Jesus presented a truer picture of God than Muhammed. …”
– News from a little earlier in the week, from Dispatch International.
Related: Belief in the Virgin Birth an optional extra, new Swedish archbishop declares (Anglican Ink)
Photo: Jan Nordén/Church of Sweden.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…