AnglicanTV Interviews Bishop Mark Lawrence

45 minutes, here. And a good reminder to pray for the people of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Twitter Christmas sermons for Anglican bishops

“Britain’s senior Anglican bishops will be tweeting their Christmas Day sermons for the first time this year. …

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams, his soon-to-be successor the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Justin Welby, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu will be tweeting. …”

– BBC News.

Understanding Sydney Diocese

What is it that makes Sydney Diocese what it is?

Between March and August 2012, Dr Mark Thompson, then President of the ACL, penned a series of articles on the topic.

We’ve also added them to our Resources page.

“Here I want to look at some of those things which, while not by any means unique to Sydney Anglicans, nevertheless are important characteristics of the diocesan ethos.”

Sydney Anglicans I. Biblically confessional
Sydney Anglicans II. The congregation as the centre
Sydney Anglicans III. Complementarian ministry
Sydney Anglicans IV: The Primacy of the Word
Sydney Anglicans V: A commitment to mission
Sydney Anglicans VI: An evangelical episcopate
Sydney Anglicans VII: The value of theological education

Queensland’s first woman bishop

“…a Melbourne priest has been selected to lead the Southern Region of the Diocese of Brisbane as Queensland’s first woman bishop.

The Venerable Alison Taylor, Melbourne’s Archdeacon for International Partnerships and Vicar of St John’s Anglican Church Camberwell…”

– Story from the Diocese of Melbourne.

Digital Advent Calendar

In this 2 minute video Greg Clarke at The Bible Society introduces 25 days. 25 people. 25 words. for Christmas.

Sounds like a great idea – and ideal to pass on to your friends.

‘Sadness and shock’ re Women Bishops vote

Statement on the Conclusion of the Meeting of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England:

“In its discussions the Council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013.”

“The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England met on November 27-28th to consider a wide ranging agenda. A substantial amount of time was given over to the discussion of the recent vote by General Synod on Women in the Episcopate.

“As part of their reflections, many council members commented on the deep degree of sadness and shock that they had felt as a result of the vote and also of the need to affirm all women serving the church – both lay and ordained – in their ministries.

“In its discussions the Council decided that a process to admit women to the episcopate needed to be restarted at the next meeting of the General Synod in July 2013. There was agreement that the Church of England had to resolve this matter through its own processes as a matter of urgency. The Council therefore recommended that the House of Bishops, during its meeting in a fortnight’s time, put in place a clear process for discussions in the New Year with a view to bringing legislative proposals before the Synod in July.”

– From the Anglican Communion News Service.

Related: Joint Press Statement from The Chairmen of The Catholic Group And Reform.

“It has never been our intention to prevent the consecration of women as bishops; our concern has always been for legislation which also made clear and fair provision for the substantial minority,” the Chairmen concluded.

Open Letter to the Bishops of TEC

“To the Bishops of the Episcopal Church:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is a painful letter. It is painful because it concerns un-canonical (and perhaps even unlawful) actions on the part of our Presiding Bishop and her associates. These actions, detailed in the attached appendix and summarized in the bullet points below, have already undermined the good order and spiritual health of our church. We write to you our Bishops because of your responsibility for that good order. …”

– An Open Letter from the Anglican Communion Institute. Also in PDF format.

 

Northwest Network December 2012

The latest issue of Northwest Network (December 2012 – PDF), the newsletter of the Diocese of North West Australia, is now out. Good to download to help in praying for the people of NWA.

Dysfunction Everywhere

“So ECUSA, through its hopelessly conflicted Disciplinary Board for Bishops, blames the Bishop for the actions of the Diocese — even though he had no vote on them to begin with, and no Constitutional power to set aside the acts of the diocesan convention. …”

– AS Haley, The Anglican Curmudgeon, weighs in on the latest from The Episcopal Church of the USA. (Photo: ENS.)

‘Liberals in disguise’

“A lot of people seem to be confused after the decision by the Church of England’s General Synod not to approve the consecration of women as bishops. Let us begin by establishing the facts.”

– Gerald Bray gives is take on the background to, and the fallout from, the Women Bishops vote in the Church of England, at Anglican Ink.

Did no-one ask or care?

After one Sydney diocese ordination candidate met with the Archbishop’s Examining Chaplains, John Chapman asked him, “Brother, did they ask you if you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? Did they ask you if you are a Christian?”

This video, from the UK’s Channel 4 demonstrates why that is an important question to ask.

‘A speech that sealed the vote’ in C of E General Synod

“It became clear… that many were not interested in such a fundamental debate but wished to initiate a process for the appointment of women bishops in the church as soon as possible. This process takes for granted secular assumptions about justice and equality rather than asking what the Bible means by such terms.”

– described by Anglican Mainstream as “A speech that sealed the vote”, Vicar of St Nicholas’ Sevenoaks, Angus Macleay sought to bring the issue back to the text of the Bible. Read his speech here.

Now keep calm and carry on

“The reaction of the British media to the result in the ‘women bishops vote’ (I hesitate to call it ‘bishopsgate’ for fear of offending William Taylor) is as predictable as the vote itself was surprising. The essence of most of the commentary I have read is: the church has voted for oppression of women and has made itself irrelevant…”

– Insightful comment from Carl Trueman at Reformation21.

The women bishops vote in the Church of England

Dr Mark Thompson writes on last night’s defeat of the Consecration and Ordination of Women Measure in the Church of England’s General Synod:

“If it had been passed, the dissenters would be excluded even further from the life of the Church of England over the next ten years and before long, as in many parts of The Episcopal Church, acceptance of women in the episcopate would be the litmus test for ordination.”

Full text below. Read more

C of E General Synod: Women Bishops measure narrowly lost

“Following 12 years of legislative progress and several hours of debate during the 20 Nov 2012 afternoon session of synod, the Consecration and Ordination of Women Measure failed to pass in all three houses of the Church of England’s legislative body.” – Anglican Ink.

See also: Reform statement. Church of England. BBC. The Telegraph (1). The Telegraph (2).  Comment from Reformation21. EVNews. CEEC statement.

Also on ABC Radio’s The World Today. (Note that the while the transcript of ACL President Gavin Poole’s remarks says,

“I don’t think we should be surprised when those who halt the biblical teachings in the church appear out of step with the community.”

should be

“I don’t think we should be surprised when those who hold to the biblical teachings in the church appear out of step with the community.” It does change the meaning a little. ;-)

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