Kidnapped Nigerian Bishop’s car found
“The car that was being used by Bishop Moses Tabwaye when he was kidnapped…” was found on Friday evening.
“The Bishop of Gwagwalada in the Province of Nigeria has been kidnapped and is being held for ransom, according to news reports.”
– Report from the Anglican Communion News Service.
‘Syrian migrant crisis: Christians to get priority as Abbott faces pressure to take in more refugees’
“The Abbott Government wants to restrict any intake of Syrian refugees to minorities which are largely Christian, as passions run high in the Coalition over the way Australia should handle the crisis in Syria…
Government ministers, like Malcolm Turnbull, have argued for accepting more Syrian Christians, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has nominated minorities like the Yazidis.”
– Report from ABC News.
Related:
Operation rescue: the Christians of the Middle East face extinction – Paul Sheehan, Sydney Morning Herald, 7th September 2015.
“For the past 20 years Christians have been ethnically cleansed across much of the Middle East as part of the rise of Muslim militancy.
In Syria, before the civil war, more than 1 million Syrian Christians lived in security and were better educated than the general population. That number has been decimated. …
Would it be in breach of our discrimination laws to prioritise Christians as refugees? No. I’ve checked.”
Church of England appoints third female bishop
“No 10 Downing Street has announced this morning that Her Majesty The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Christine Hardman … for election as Bishop of Newcastle…”
– Diocese of Newcastle (C of E). (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
‘NSW Education Minister bans school from screening gay film’
“Public pressure appears to have forced a Sydney girls’ high school to screen a documentary on gay parenting after school hours, instead of during scheduled lesson time…” – Report from The Sydney Morning Herald. (School flier here. PDF.)
Bishops call for ‘climate justice’
“Several bishops around the Anglican Communion have made short videos describing the impact and implications of climate change in their dioceses and calling for prayer and action…”
– Bishops call for ‘climate justice’.
(Photo: Bp Tom Wilmot, Diocese of Perth.)
Related:
“The Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, has called on Anglicans everywhere to join Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and other Christians in a World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September…” – The Anglican Communion News Service.
‘Religious instruction scrapped from [Victorian] curriculum’
“Victorian schools will scrap special religious instruction from class time, with changes to the state’s curriculum throwing the future of the controversial program in doubt.
The Andrews government has ordered that the weekly 30 minute program move to lunchtime and before and after school in 2016 to make way for new content on world histories, cultures, faiths and ethics…”
– Report from The Age. More from Bible Society Australia.
GAFCON primates lead in corruption fight
“GAFCON’s most senior leaders are taking a prominent role in the fight against corruption in Africa.
The Chairman of the Primate’s Council, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, was appointed late last year to chair Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Steering Committee.
Among other measures, the committee will run nationwide public education campaign aimed at changing Kenyans’ attitude towards corruption.…”
– from GAFCON.
When ‘discernment’ leads to disaster
“The historic First Baptist Church of Greenville, South Carolina, announced in May that it would declare itself be ‘open and welcoming’ to all people and that it would allow same-sex marriage and ordain openly homosexual ministers.
The move came after the church had undergone a ‘discernment’ process under the leadership of a ‘LGBT Discernment Team.’ That team brought a report to the church’s deacons, who then forwarded it to the congregation. The church then approved the statement by standing vote…
The lesson – once a church or denomination is untethered from the inerrancy of the Bible, there is no brake on the relativizing effects of cultural pressure.”
– Albert Mohler writes an important essay on the slide into liberalism of a historic US church.
Bible Society Australia ‘acquires’ Koorong
Here’s an interesting development:
“Bible Society Australia – whose core cross denominational mission is to translate, distribute and engage people with the Bible – has acquired leading Christian retailer Koorong…”
– Real the media release (PDF), or watch the announcement video from Bible Society Australia CEO, Greg Clarke and Koorong Managing Director Paul Bootes.
And some more info here from Bible Society Australia.
How did we get to Now? — NSW Presbyterians challenged to remember
“Before I belonged to the Presbyterian Church I was a member of another Australian denomination that has now completely lost its way theologically.
I used to attend the Katoomba Convention and the CMS Summer School for my annual Bible teaching. I know what it’s like to go to church week after week and hear minister after minister have nothing to say from the Bible. Some of you can’t imagine a situation like that. Some of you have lived through it. We can’t afford to forget those days. We must make sure that we don’t become complacent.
That’s one reason why we need to play our part in meetings like Assembly and Presbytery. Where does theological liberalism begin to take its hold? It’s often in the decisions of Assemblies and Presbyteries. Carl Truman says that liberalism enters a church when evangelicals don’t bother turning up to the decision making meetings while the moderates and liberals slowly change the theological temperature. We must each play our part in making sure that we are a denomination that sticks to the Bible…”
– In his address to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in NSW recently, Moderator Kevin Murray challenged his hearers against complacency.
Read it on pages 8 and 9 of the August–September 2015 edition of The Pulse (PDF).
The illustration given above is also why the ACL is committed to its task. If you share our commitment, consider joining. Photo credit: Peter Merrick.
Archbishop of Sydney backs plebiscite plan
Here’s a media release from the Diocese of Sydney, Friday 14th August 2015:
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement August 14th, 2015The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has congratulated the Prime Minister and the Coalition for backing a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
“I believe that marriage is a foundational concept to our society and indeed to human civilisation as a whole, in accordance with God’s own plan for all people, and it is intrinsic to the continuation of the human race as the bedrock of the family from which succeeding generations are born.”
“Despite the relentless campaign by some sections of the community, it is only now that other views are starting to be heard in the media, not only from the churches. The discussion must include the implications for children and the family unit, not just sloganeering.”
“Mr Abbott has been consistent and forthright on this issue, and it is clear he recognises the national importance of a debate about the definition of marriage as well as the strength of feeling on both sides. Yet the debate has been unhelpfully politicised, which is why it should be decided by the people directly. If the majority of Australians desire a change to the time-honoured understanding of marriage, then so be it. The Prime Minister is graciously offering this option so that we, the people, may have our say on the future of marriage in Australia.”
– Source, SydneyAnglicans.net.
Related: Church and religious leaders send letter on Same-Sex Marriage to Prime Minister Abbott.
‘Parents push back against religion in public schools’
“Parents concerned about religious evangelism in public schools will launch a campaign urging families to opt out of scripture classes…”
– Read the full story from The Sydney Morning Herald.
See also: Why Christians don’t need to hate the new anti-scripture billboard – from Bible Society Australia.
“A billboard purchased by an anti-religion in schools group has been unveiled in south west Sydney today. Some Christian leaders think that it’s an opportunity to talk more about the gospel.
‘God says you are stuck in your sin and need to be rescued from his judgement,’ the ad from FIRIS group (which stands for Fairness in Religion in Schools) reads…” (emphasis added)
Image: Youthworks.
Anglican Communion ‘Secretary-General’ affirms Lambeth 1.10
Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, the new Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion, affirms his commitment to Lambeth 1.10 in an interview on the BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Programme and speaks against criminalisation of homosexual behaviour.
“Any resolution from any province that does not take Resolution 1.10 seriously is against the agreement within this church….. As Secretary General my job is to present and execute the decisions of the four instruments of unity we have…. I stand by Resolution 1.10…. This Communion has a position.”
BBC 4 Sunday Programme August 9, 2015. The segment begins 11:50 into the programme, with the interview starting at 18 minutes. (via Anglican Mainstream.)
TV networks ‘refuse to show ad’ asking for more debate on same-sex marriage
“A television ad suggesting there’s more to same sex marriage than has been considered so far in public debates has been denied airings on Channel 10, Channel 7 and some radio stations this week.
The ad campaign, titled “There’s more to it than you think,” was created by newly formed group the Marriage Alliance and launched this week in Sydney. The ads depict same-sex marriage arguments around equality as just the “tip of the iceberg” of issues that haven’t yet had a proper public airing…”
– Report from The Bible Society.
GAFCON Chairman’s July — August 2015 Pastoral Letter
“I am writing to you on the day when the Church has traditionally celebrated the Transfiguration. The veil that covered Jesus’ glory in his earthly ministry is briefly drawn aside before he begins his journey to Jerusalem and death upon the cross. While Jesus prayed, Peter, James and John slept, but we must not judge them harshly. Climbing mountains is hard work! In fact, they were so deeply asleep that the reality being revealed was not immediately clear to them, yet the impact was lasting.
Years later, Peter recalls this moment on the mountain as he writes to spiritually sleepy Christians who are in danger of forgetting the truth of the gospel and have become complacent about false teachers…
The problem TEC in particular continues to pose for the rest of the Communion was highlighted by another but less reported resolution from its 2015 General Convention, A051, ‘Support LGBT African Advocacy’ which mandates that Church to spread its ideas to Africa…”
– GAFCON Primates’ Council Chairman, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, sends his latest Pastoral Letter.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…