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.

A letter from GAFCON Primates — responding to the ‘Transformation Through Friendship’ communiqué

“A Consultation of GAFCON Primates and Bishops of Africa was held in Nairobi on 3rd & 4th December 2014 to consider a response to the ‘Transformation Through Friendship’ communiqué released from New York on 28th October, signed by five African Primates, including the Chairman of CAPA (the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa), Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi, and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States.

A letter was sent from the Nairobi meeting to Archbishop Ntahoturi, copied to the other African Primates and as no reply has been received, the letter is now being made public in order to avoid misunderstanding.

The New York Communiqué does not speak for the Anglican Provinces of Africa and it is a matter of very great regret that the ‘Continuing Indaba’ strategy has led to the division of African Anglicans.”

From the letter:

“First, the document itself is a manipulation. It is in fact, not principally about “Friendship” but is in fact an attempt to further advance the unbiblical and false teaching of The Episcopal Church.

Second, we reject the characterisation that the communiqué represents “African Primates and Bishops.” Given that there is absolutely no acknowledgement that there are other African Primates and Bishops who do not agree, the document, of which you were a collaborator and signatory, presents itself falsely. It does not represent the faith of the overwhelming majority of African Christians…”

– Read it all here.

The evangelistic strategy of a bishop

“What marks a truly Reformed minister of the gospel? How do you become an impotent waste of a clergyman? Have you got a strategy for ministry or are you merely faffing in the shallow end?

This essay by Andrew Atherstone is simply wonderful and could not be more vital. It will stir the heart and get you really excited about ministry…”

– At Church Society’s blog, Rob Brewis points to a terrific essay on the evangelistic strategy of Bishop J C Ryle.

(We linked to the essay a while back, but it’s certainly worth reading again at the start of a new year.)

Interview with John Yates

David Ould has recorded an interview with Dr John Yates, who has been speaking at the CMS NSW Summer School. It’s a 16MB mp3 file.

“John was good enough to sit down with me and talk about ministry, the evangelical church in Sydney, GAFCON, and plenty more.”

Most encouraging.

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.

Interview with Bishop Gary Nelson, Diocese of North West Australia

David Ould is at the NSW CMS Summer School this week – as is Bishop Gary Nelson of the Diocese of North West Australia.

David recorded this 15 minute interview with Gary.

Bishop Nelson describes ministry in the North West, and the challenges facing churches in small mining towns with transient populations. He also speaks about his diocesan synod’s decision to declare themselves to be in full communion with the Anglican Church in North America and to recognise them as a member of the Anglican Communion.

Have a listen, and be prompted to pray for the ministry of the churches in that far-flung diocese.

To learn more, you can download the December 2014 issue of The North West Network here as a 750kb PDF file. On page 4 of that newsletter, there’s information on how you can support the ministry in the North West through prayer and finances.

Lord Carey ‘wrong to support State-sanctioned suicide’

“Apparently the UK is ‘closer than ever’ to introducing legislation which will permit the terminally ill to end their lives at a time and place of their choosing. Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill simply will not die: it is deemed to be the virtuous and noble solution to the problem of unbearable suffering; the only ethical and justly moral response to a heartless society which insists on sustaining lives which simply no longer wish to be lived. We treat dogs better.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey is amongst the signatories to a letter demanding that the political parties pledge to giving this Bill parliamentary time after the General Election, in order that the issue might be finally resolved. By “resolved”, they mean, of course, that the Bill must be passed, or the issue has not been “resolved” to their liking and will simply need to be revisited until Parliament votes correctly. The only settled conclusion that is acceptable is the one which concludes a settlement in favour of ‘assisted dying’. The argument is teleological; the trajectory is locked…”

– UK Christian blogger ‘Archbishop Cranmer’ weighs in on the hot issue of ‘euthanasia’.

On the elimination of the suffering – Dr Megan Best. (SydneyAnglicans.net.)
Euthanasia lives again – Social Issues Executive of the Diocese of Sydney.

From Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower:
Euthanasia resources.
Depression, disability & ‘safe’ euthanasia.
A Response to Giddings & McKim’s euthanasia proposal.

Archbishop of Canterbury’s ‘ecumenical Christmas greeting’

“The deceit and cruelty of governments and rulers has not changed in the 2000 years since King Herod. 2014 has been a year of desperate suffering for many Christians, unparalleled for centuries. Christian communities have been uprooted from the places that they have dwelt since within living memory of the time of Jesus…”

– Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has released this Christmas message to ‘ecumenical partners and heads of churches around the world’.

(Image: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.)

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.

Reform Statement on the appointment of the first CofE woman bishop

“Members of the Reform network will be praying for the Rev Libby Lane and for the Diocese of Chester in the light of the announcement. Whilst not surprised by this appointment we are very concerned about the strain it will put on local diocesan relationships.

Rod Thomas, Chairman of Reform, said,

“We have known since July that the Church of England would seek to appoint women to the episcopate – against the biblical model of good church leadership. Though it grieves us, it comes as no surprise. We pray that the Bishop of Chester will uphold the promises made in July and enable the many thriving conservative evangelical churches in his Diocese to continue to serve their communities with theological integrity under the oversight of a male bishop.”

This appointment is an outworking of the decision of the majority of General Synod, which also dedicated itself to enabling evangelicals to flourish and we trust that the House of Bishops will uphold that commitment in the coming months as women are appointed to these senior roles.”

– from Reform.

First woman Bishop in the Church of England

“Downing Street have today announced that the new Bishop of Stockport – and the first woman bishop in the Church of England – will be the Revd Libby Lane, currently Vicar of St Peter’s, Hale, and St Elizabeth’s, Ashley.

As Bishop of Stockport she will serve as a suffragan (assistant) bishop in the Diocese of Chester. She will be consecrated as the 8th Bishop of Stockport at a ceremony at York Minster on Monday 26 January 2015…”

– from The Church of England. Video message from the bishop-designate.

Related: Writing as an outsider to Anglicanism, Jeremy Walker at Reformation21 asks if evangelical Anglicans need to make a stand.

Naive?

“The Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent remarks are once again somewhat puzzling. One question that comes to mind is whether he really believes this statement that he made: ‘I could see circumstances in which there could be people moving apart and then coming back together.’ …

The problem with looking at tertiary issues is they are often the result of more basic disagreements which in the final analysis have far more leverage on the Anglican Communion. It is my contention that the authority of Holy Scripture as noted in 2 Timothy 3:16 and the person and work of Jesus Christ are actually the primary points of disagreement, though the so-called progressive wing of the Anglican Communion, and indeed the leadership of much of the Western church will not acknowledge it. …

If Archbishop Justin Welby actually thinks that the tertiary issues ARE the issues and in the fullness of time we can all come back together, forgetting the punishment that the Episcopal Church inflicted on those members who chose to depart, and all drink tea and sing Kumbaya together, he is at best naive.”

– Bishop David C. Anderson, President and Chairman of the American Anglican Council, writes in his weekly commentary.

‘Plan to groom ‘talent’ for high office in CofE’

“A radical overhaul of the Church of England’s leadership is under way.

A key report, still unpublished, sets out a programme of ‘talent management’ in the Church. The report has been signed off by the two Archbishops, and a £2-million budget has been allocated. It was discussed by all the bishops in September, and the House of Bishops on Monday…”

– Story from The Church Times.

‘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…”