ACL congratulates the Rev Gary Nelson on his election

The Anglican Church League congratulates the Rev Gary Nelson on his election as the seventh bishop of the diocese of North West Australia. Gary has been a godly and effective minister of the gospel in the diocese of Sydney since his ordination in 1983. Having served curacies in Seaforth and Dapto, he was rector of Panania for 17 years before he took on responsibility for the Department of External Studies at Moore College.   Read more

Gary Nelson new Bishop for North West Australia

The Election Synod of the Diocese of North West Australia has elected Gary Nelson as the seventh Bishop of the Diocese. Gary is the Director of External Studies at Moore College in Sydney. Details here.

Prayers for North West election Synod

The Election Synod of the Diocese of North West Australia begins today (Synod is set to run February 10–12). Please uphold in prayer all the Synod members and also the six brothers who have been nominated (and their families). Voting is expected to begin on Saturday morning.

In his pre-Synod letter, Administrator of the Diocese, Dean Jeremy Rice writes:

“At the Election Synod we will need the wisdom of God, to elect a Bishop with the wisdom of God. It is my prayer that we will elect a faithful shepherd who will have his heart and mind firmly fixed on the author and perfector of our faith, Jesus Christ.”

Reform urges C of E General Synod to avoid ‘brinkmanship’ on women bishops

Here’s a Media Statement from Reform:

“Do Synod members wish to see the ministry of those who are opposed to women bishops on theological grounds progressively removed from the Church of England, or can we, even at this late stage, encourage a more generous and inclusive approach?”

Reform chairman Rev’d Rod Thomas today called on fellow General Synod members to take a “generous approach” to those opposed to women bishops or risk seeing the legislation being voted down.

“When we come to vote on the Manchester Diocese Motion on Wednesday 8th, we will each have to choose. Do Synod members wish to see the ministry of those who are opposed to women bishops on theological grounds progressively removed from the Church of England, or can we, even at this late stage, encourage a more generous and inclusive approach?” he said.

“If the draft legislation comes back to General Synod for final approval next July unchanged, then we will have the unsavoury dilemma of either having to vote for a Measure which will lead to disunity and division, or of voting against it and thus prolonging the debate for another five years. Yet there is still an opportunity, through the amendments previously put forward by the Archbishops, to reach an agreed way forward.”

The Manchester Diocese Motion, which will be debated next Wednesday, recognises that the only body which now has legal authority to amend the draft legislation is the House of Bishops. The motion asks the House of Bishops to use their power to amend the draft legislation in line with the amendment put forward by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2010. That amendment provided that where arrangements are made for another bishop to exercise oversight over parishes which cannot accept the ministry of women bishops, such bishops could do so by exercising ‘co-ordinate’ rather than ‘delegated’ jurisdiction.

— Ends. (Also posted here.)

Related: “Anglicans to march in support of women bishops” – BBC News.

‘More new women priests than men for first time’ in C of E

“Official figures show that 290 women were ordained in 2010, the most recent year for which figures are available. By contrast, just 273 men entered the priesthood.

The watershed moment comes less than 20 years since the Church first allowed women to be priests…” – from The Telegraph.

Brian Rosner named as new Principal of Ridley

From Ridley College in Melbourne –

“The Board of Ridley Melbourne is delighted to announce the appointment of New Testament scholar and author, Dr Brian Rosner to the position of Principal. Dr Rosner will take up the role at the beginning of second semester, July 2012. …

Dr Rosner is currently Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Ethics and Faculty Research Coordinator at Moore Theological College.”

– Read it all here.

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Holocaust Memorial Day Message

See the Archbishop’s message here – or read the text.

Church leaders in Wales attack presumed organ donation consent

“Church leaders in Wales have criticised ‘ill-judged’ proposals to introduce presumed consent rules on organ donation. …

They said the principles outlined in their document ‘seek to preserve the dignity and autonomy of every person whilst creating a proper framework in which the gift of human organs after death is precisely that – an act of solidarity, generosity and love.’…

Under the Welsh government proposal, everyone in Wales would automatically become a donor unless they opted out. … The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, has already called for the legislation to be scrapped.”

– Report from BBC News Wales.

Special day rates for Mission Convention

The Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn is offering a special day rate for locals to help them attend the Provincial Mission Convention, January 26-29. Details here.

‘Stop the Loss’ coalition

Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower draws attention to a new pro-pokie-reform website.

“I ask parishes to print out this… to stem this hemorrhaging of life blood from the vulnerable among us. Let’s care for the needy and protect the addicted…” – at Imaginary Diocese.

Archbishop Orombi announces retirement plans

“Archbishop Henry Orombi has called for the election of a successor as primate of the Church of the Province of Uganda.

In an address to a meeting of the Ugandan House of Bishops on 7 Jan 2012, Archbishop Orombi said he would step down by year’s end, just short of year before his mandatory retirement at age 65…”

— story by George Conger at Anglican Ink. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney.)

An open letter on the Anglican Covenant

Canon Chris Sugden responds to an article in the Church of England Newspaper by Andrew Goddard –

“You write that the Covenant has been “consistently supported by the Global South Leadership.”.  Yet on November 24 2010, seven primates [Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda,Tanzania, West Africa, and the Southern Cone of Latin America] representing 40 million Anglicans released a statement that in their view “the covenant was fatally flawed and so support for this initiative is no longer appropriate”…”

– read his full letter at Anglican Mainstream.

Christmas messages from around Australia

Advent / Christmas messages have been published by various bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia. Here are some we’ve spotted so far –

Bishop to the Australian Defence Force – Len Eacott.
Armidale – Bishop Peter Brain.
Newcastle – Bishop Brian Farran.
Rockhampton –Bishop Godfrey Fryar.
Riverina –Bishop Doug Stevens.
Bendigo – Bishop Andrew Curnow (page 2 of PDF).
Canberra & Goulburn – Bishop Stuart Robinson.
Tasmania – Bishop John Harrower.

(Image: Anglican Church of Australia.)

Bishop of Tasmania’s Christmas message

John Harrower, Bishop of Tasmania, climbed the Cathedral tower in Hobart to record his Christmas message. See it on his blog.

New church plant in Newcastle

The Diocese of Newcastle website reports on the new church plant in Newcastle, headed by Archdeacon Arthur Copeman.

The clear goal… is to reach out to people who are outside the present church and to be able to tell them of God’s love for them in the Lord Jesus.

And from Bishop Brian Farran’s Newcastle Synod Charge in October:

“Archdeacon Copeman is establishing a church plant in Newcastle that will reach out to younger families. … Given the broad sweep of Anglicanism, it is appropriate that there be an Anglican Church in Newcastle City that is of the Anglican Evangelical tradition.”

(Arthur is leading a session at the Provincial Mission Convention in Canberra in January. His topic: ‘Starting from Scratch: Church Planting with a Team of One’.)

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