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.
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.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…