GAFCON prayer bulletins available
“A series of prayer bulletins is being issued in the weeks leading up to the October conference. This allows provinces, churches, organisations and individuals to read about the preparations and to uphold GAFCON in prayer.”
– Downloadable from the GAFCON website.
Greg Thompson elected Bishop of Newcastle
“Bishop Greg Thompson has been elected by the Anglican Synod as the next Bishop of Newcastle.
The synod gathered under Bishop Administrator Dr Peter Stuart on Saturday to consider electing Bishop Thompson, 56, to serve as the 13th bishop of the city.”
– Report from The Newcastle Herald.
Kidnappers release Archbishop Kattey
“After spending about nine days in the kidnappers den, the Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger Delta, (Anglican Communion), Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey, was finally released by his captors on Saturday. Sources said Archbishop Kattey walked home alone after he regained his freedom from the unknown gunmen who abducted him last week Friday. …”
– Report from The Osun Defender, Nigeria.
Quiz Worx Appeal 2013
Our friends at Quizworx need your help.
Newcastle Synod meets to elect new Bishop
“The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is today meeting to vote on a new bishop, after a previous vote failed to reach consensus. Five candidates, including a woman, nominated for the last vote in March, to replace the retired bishop Brian Farran. This time round the Northern Territory bishop Greg Thompson is the only candidate vying for the role. …”
– Report from ABC News.
Back to basics for Anglican Church
“A Hamilton vicar wants to take the Anglican Church back to basics and get leaders preaching from the same song sheet.
Vicar of West Hamilton Anglican Parish, the Rev Michael Hewat, is ‘concerned’ at the fact some church leaders say they do not believe in the resurrection and the virgin birth. …
‘The fact is that if the church is not preaching the Gospel then people are not going to come along,’ Mr Hewat said. He hopes to take the church back to basics today with a day-long seminar Restoring Confidence in the Gospel.”
– Report from the Waikato Times.
St. Aidan’s Windsor, Ontario loses appeal; request prayer
Canon Tom Carman, rector of St Aidan’s in Windsor, Ontario (an Anglican Network in Canada parish), reports:
“In its decision, the Court of Appeal, upheld the conclusions of the trial court judge, Justice Little, on both the matter of St Aidan’s property and the St Aidan’s bequeathment and finance fund. In addition, the Diocese of Huron was awarded partial costs in the amount of $100,000. …”
– More at Anglican Essentials Canada blog.
New Bishop of Durham announced
“The Diocese of Durham has announced this morning on their website the new Bishop of Durham Designate:
‘The announcement by Downing Street this morning confirms that the Bishop of Durham Designate is The Rt Revd Paul Butler … currently Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham…” – Report from EV News.
‘ECUSA has no rule against Dioceses withdrawing’
“We have a decision from the trial court in Quincy: Adams County Circuit Court Judge Thomas J. Ortbal entered on September 9, 2013 his Findings, Opinion and Order following a bench trial that stretched over three weeks last April and May. The opinion is about as thorough an analysis as we have to date of the ‘hierarchical’ polity of ECUSA when it comes to matters involving its member dioceses.”
– A S Haley (The Anglican Curmudgeon) looks at a decision involving TEC’s legal action against its former Diocese of Quincy.More at Stand Firm.
Photo: Former Bishop of Quincy Keith Ackerman, under whom the diocesan Synod voted to leave TEC and join the Province of the Southern Cone.
Bad news and Good news in the Church of England
“First, the bad news. There are more examples of heresy in the hierarchy…”
– Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream writes for the American Anglican Council’s International Update.
Northwest Network, September 2013
Bishop Gary Nelson writes in the latest Northwest Network (September 2013).
Read Gary’s message below, and download the full issue to use in your prayers for the churches and people of the North West (6.6MB PDF file).
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Our God is so amazing and ‘his compassions never fail. They are are new every morning; great is your faithfulness’ (Lam 3:22f).
So why am I continually surprised by God’s mercies? When I feel the weight of financial burdens, the shortage of resources, the unavailability of people to serve in the North-West, then God provides emails with enquiries about ministry in the diocese; or encouraging phone calls – even if they are the wrong number; or generous gifts from people scattered around Australia. God is worthy of all our praise, just as Revelation 4 and 5 remind us. And at the heart of that reminder is the image of the throne, ‘there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it’ (4:2). The One seated is the sovereign Lord – whose reign controls all things. How reassuring this image would have been to John and his first readers! For they all lived under the shadow of another throne – the imperial might of the Roman Caesar with his arbitrary whims of persecution. And how reassuring to us – to know that in the midst of the topsy-turvy nature of our lives God has it all in hand, so we can confidently trust him in the present and for our futures. The never-ending praise of all heaven emphasises why we can leave it to our gracious Lord (4:8):
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.
Friends, the work of the diocese is God’s work, who incredibly uses frail servants to accomplish his purposes. Please keep supporting us in prayer so we may bring honour to God as we share the gospel of our Lord Jesus with the many different people of the North-West. Come and visit us – or perhaps, move over to the west and stand with us in gospel ministry.
NORTH WEST CONCERNS
Cathedral ministry: with nearly 40% of Geraldton’s population under 25 the parish council decided to seek a youth minister for the team. We have been contacting suitable people to challenge them about joining us. This means Bishop Gary will remain acting dean, so please pray for God’s wisdom and strength to manage these extra responsibilities.
Exmouth parish: we are blessed to have Bill and Jackie France as locum until December. Please pray for a full-time minister in 2014 with sufficient financial resources to make this possible.
Paraburdoo-Tom Price parish: we are thankful for Kees and Cindy Bootsma spending three months serving the people there. Keep praying for someone to see the need and offer to minister in this area which has been without a full-time minister for a number of years.
Registrar: Wayne Sutton will be retiring at the end of the year after two decades in this ministry. The Rev Jonathan Earnshaw has accepted the position for 2014. We will be having a change over period in the last part of this year. We thank God for his provision.
In October we will be holding our fellow workers’ conference – a time for families to get together to be encouraged from God’s word, to share with one another and to be refreshed. We are appreciative to those who supply funds to enable this to occur (such as the Mothers’ Union). David Seccombe will be our Bible teacher for the week and we’re looking forward to his ministry among us. We will also be catching up on child protection training and discussing other issues affecting the life of our diocese.
Canberra & Goulburn Synod 2013
The Synod of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn was held this weekend.
Nigerian Archbishop of Niger Delta Province kidnapped — report
“Most Rev Ignatius Ogboru Kattey, the Dean, ArchBishop and Bishop of Niger Delta North Anglican Communion of Nigeria, was last night kidnapped by yet to be identified gunmen in Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State. …”
Auckland Synod says no to ‘gay marriage’
“Auckland Anglicans have said no to gay marriage – despite church heads being in favour of it. A motion to press the issue has failed at this weekend’s conference, despite both Auckland bishops and a majority of clergy being in favour.”
– Report from FarmingShow (yes, that’s right). Image: Diocese of Auckland.
Diocese of Fort Worth: Living with litigation
Bishop Jack Iker of Fort Worth reflects on the lengthy legal battle imposed on his diocese.
“Living with litigation has become a way of life for us as members of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. For the past 4 ½ years, we have been under the cloud of a lawsuit brought against us by The Episcopal Church and its local supporters, seeking to deprive us of our buildings and assets. Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…