‘Labor MPs should be forced to support gay marriage’ — report
“Australian Workers Union chief Paul Howes has called for Labor MPs to be required to support marriage equality, saying it is ‘nonsensical’ that the party allows a conscience vote on the issue.”
– Report from ABC News. Photo: AWU.
And here’s a media release from The Australian Christian Lobby on the topic.
GAFCON Chairman’s Pastoral Letter
“I know … that, like me, you will have been very distressed by the callous and violent attack on the Westgate shopping centre here in Nairobi last week. … We have seen a manifestation of evil in this city, but my prayer for our conference is that it will be a manifestation of the presence of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
– Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, Primate of Kenya and Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council writes in his latest Pastoral Letter as GAFCON approaches.
Christians now suffering mass martyrdom, says Archbishop of Canterbury
“The Most Rev Justin Welby said that there had been more than 80 Christian “martyrs” in the last few days alone.
He was speaking about the bombing of All Saints Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 85 were killed and more than 200 injured. But he said that Christians were also being singled out for violence in a string of other countries.”
– from The Telegraph.
Related: As Lambs in the Midst of Wolves – six godly reactions to persecution, drawn from 1 Peter.
First woman bishop of Church of Sth India
“The Church of South India has today appointed its first woman bishop.
The Revd Eggoni Pushpalalitha was ordained in 1983 and has most recently been a priest in the Diocese of Nadyal in Andhra Pradesh. …—
– from the Anglican Communion News Service.
Potentially hundreds dead in Peshawar church bombing
“Potentially hundreds of people have been killed in a suicide bombing attack against an Anglican church in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar. …
The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid has sent emergency aid to the congregation and Archbishop Davies has written to the Bishop of Peshawar, the Rt Rev Humphrey Peters, expressing shock…”
– SydneyAnglicans has a comprehensive report on the bombing,
See also the Anglican Aid page to send a donation to help (select “Pakistan Emergency All Saints Church” from the drop down list).
Anglican Aid seeks help for three urgent causes
The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid is seeking donations for three key causes:
1. Emergency Appeal for Anglicans in Peshawar
2. Helping Tanzanian Bishops and Leaders go to GAFCON2
3. Emergency Appeal for Syrian Refugees being cared for in Egypt
See the Anglican Aid website and donation page for more.
Reform Ireland statement on the appointment of the new Bishop of Meath
“The Church of Ireland, in common with the Anglican Communion worldwide, has always prized doing things ‘decently and in order’ (1Corinthians 14:40).
With the appointment of the first woman bishop in Britain and Ireland, it has furthered the disorder in God’s church that it originally initiated with the decision to appoint women as presbyters and bishops by an act of Synod in 1990. …”
– full statement here.
More details emerge from Peshawar attack
“More details on the deadly attack on a Pakistani church over the weekend – the worst attack on Christians in the country’s history – are surfacing today as Christians around the world mourn the tragedy.”
– News and prayer requests via Eternity Newspaper.
Barnabas Fund pledges to do what it can to help.
Suicide bombers kill dozens at Anglican church in Peshawar
“A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old Anglican church in Pakistan after the Sunday service, killing at least 78 people in the deadliest attack in recent history on Christians in the predominantly Muslim country. …”
Canada: Anglican Church faces falling membership, deeper divisions
“More than 15,000 packed Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. Crowds thronged the lobby of the Royal York Hotel. Two hundred reporters scrambled for news and The Globe and Mail splashed the story on its front page.
Not for the Beatles or Muhammad Ali, but a congress of the Anglican Church. It was late summer, 1963, and the Anglican Church, bastion of the old order, was at its demographic peak in Canada. …”
– The Globe and Mail in Toronto reports on the Back to the Anglican Future conference held last week.
School Chaplains challenged again in High Court
“Scripture Union Queensland (SU QLD) will again defend national school chaplaincy in the High Court of Australia this month, with the first directions hearing to be held in Sydney on 20 September.
Ron Williams, the man behind the High Court Challenge, announced on his Facebook page in August that a Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim had been issued to the Commonwealth of Australia (First Defendant), the Minister for Education (Second Defendant) and SU QLD (Third Defendant). …”
– Report from Bible Society Australia.
And now SU Queensland is seeking support, and you can request an Advocacy kit.
“SU QLD is again being forced to attend the High Court of Australia to defend the vital program of school chaplaincy. This second challenge has the potential to impact the funding of thousands of chaplains across the nation who support and encourage our students every day. Read more
Anglicans appoint first female bishop in UK and Ireland
“Anglicans have appointed the UK and Ireland’s first female bishop. The Rev Pat Storey, rector of St Augustine’s in Derry, has been elected by the Church of Ireland as the new bishop of Meath and Kildare. …”
– from The Guardian. Photo: Church of Ireland.
New Armidale website
The Diocese of Armidale has updated its website – and The Link, the diocesan newspaper, has gone digital.
An Overview of the Anglican Communion Today – From Communion to Coalition
A presentation by Vinay Samuel, last Monday 16th September, at St. Mark’s Battersea Rise in London, to a pre-GAFCON 2 meeting –
“The Anglican Communion as it exists today is not a single communion – it is more a collection of coalitions.
The centre (Lambeth) has no meaning in defining the Communion. Archbishop Justin Welby has inherited a broken communion he cannot heal. The role of Lambeth has enormously diminished. The instruments of communion as the governing centre are irrelevant for dealing with communion matters. People will not accept a communion that promotes things that are heretical. Instead of Lambeth legitimation we need mutual legitimation. This leads to coalitions. …”
– Read it all at Anglican Mainstream. More on the meeting from Andrew Symes.
To boldly go… with the troops
This story by Southern Cross journalist David McIntyre won the ARPA Silver Award for ‘Best Feature Single Author’. It gives a good picture of the life of Australian military chaplains –
“Navy Chaplain Andrew Lewis washes dishes in the scullery on board the transport ship HMAS Success – not because he has to, but because it gives him ‘permission to sit down with the cooking staff at morning tea’.
He then goes up to the bridge to chat to the officers on duty before heading off to a meeting with the commander of the ship. …”
– Read it all at Defence Anglicans.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…