Global Encouragement for Wales

In this media release from the Anglican Convocation in Europe, Bishop Stuart Bell writes about last week’s visit of Archbishop Ben Kwashi to Wales –

“Archbishop Ben was the guest of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Church in Wales meeting with Anglican leaders for 24 hours (28-29 September) at the Hookses, the retreat of the late John Stott in Dale, Pembrokeshire.  In one session he spoke of what God is doing more widely in the Anglican communion and in another he gave encouragement from the Scriptures and from his own experience that we should stand firm.  ‘We have nothing in Nigeria’, he said, ‘so if we give up Christ then we would have less than nothing; whereas if you in the west were to give up Christ you still would have your comfortable lifestyle.’

‘The church has delegated the care of persecuted Christians to other organisations.’ It seems so wrong that the church should pass motions about climate change and human sexuality but at the same time seem to ignore the suffering of fellow Christians who are being persecuted around the world.

During the following 24 hours (29-30 September) he spoke at the Wales Leadership forum.  On the Friday evening he was interviewed about his own Christian experience and then he responded to questions from the floor.  On the Saturday morning he spoke on the theme of hope in a bruised and broken world.  He based his address on the concluding words of Habakkuk inviting us to rejoice however difficult our circumstances might be.  Those comments come from a man who has lived through the killings of more than 50,000 Christians in Nigeria and the burnings of hundreds of churches in his own diocese.  ‘If we embrace homosexuality,’ he said, ‘then that would give the Muslims one more reason to kill us’.

Not only has Archbishop Ben faced death by the hands of murderous opponents, but more recently he has faced death from stage four cancer on two separate occasions.  He retired from his ministry in Jos on 30th September whilst he was with us, only to continue his ministry as General Secretary of Gafcon but now moving to a new compound where his wife will be caring for 400 orphans.  That’s fruitful living!”

– Received via e-mail.

What’s wrong with the Church of England? — Church Society podcast

From Church Society:

“The second in the mini series looking at the Church of England featuring Charlie Skrine, James Cary, George Crowder, Lee Gatiss and Ros Clarke.”

Includes clips from the recent Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference.

– Listen here.

Bishops in Communion and Prayers in Love and Faith

“To say that the House of Bishops Occasional Paper Bishops in Communion, published in 2000, is not well known is an understatement. Twenty-three years after its publication very few people in the Church of England even know of its existence. However, despite this fact, Bishops in Communion remains an important document because the understanding of how bishops are meant to conduct their ministry which it puts forward continues to shape the way in which bishops operate in the Church of England today.

To put it another way, the actions that the bishops of the Church of England have taken, and continue to take, during the Prayers of Love and Faith process directly reflect the thinking about the role of bishops which is found in the pages of Bishops in Communion. …

The model of episcopal ministry set out in [the paper] sees bishops as facilitators. The job of the bishops, it says, is to ensure that dialogue between those of different views continues until a consensus emerges about the mind of Christ for his Church. This understanding of the bishops’ role is what shaped the Living in Love and Faith Process. The whole point of that process was to encourage an open process of discernment across the Church of England between those with different views about human sexuality.

If this is indeed the model that is shaping the way that the bishops are acting, it follows that the existence of the Prayers of Love and Faith proposals following on from Living and Love and Faith must mean that the bishops collectively believe that a new consensus has been reached. …”

– At his Reflections of an Anglican Theologian, Martin Davie looks at the self-understanding apparent in the Church of England’s House of Bishops – and why that is a huge problem.

Related:

Churches backing traditional marriage are cut loose by their bishops –

“Paul’s suffering supported his apostolic authority to appeal to these baptised Christians in virulently pagan Ephesus to stand together for the truth of the biblical gospel centred on Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God the Father almighty. Such unity based on a shared understanding of the essentials of Christian truth is vital if the Church is to be effective in proclaiming the gospel and defending it in a hostile culture.

Sadly, the deep doctrinal divisions in the Church of England undermined a united response to a recent attack on orthodox Oxford churches by the university’s powerful 3,000-member LGBTQ+ Society. …”

– Julian Mann asks how can bishops who support novel doctrines be a support for those churches which stick to the Bible.

New Presiding Bishop of REACH-SA

Today’s GAFCON prayer request –

“We prayed for the synod of REACH-SA last month. Three new area bishops were elected. Also, The Rev. Dr. Siegfried Ngubane has been elected as the eighth Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa. Pray for each of these bishops to know the Lord’s help and guidance as they prepare to take up their roles.

(Photo: Presiding Bishop Elect, Siegfried Ngubane, meeting with Bishop Glenn Lyons).”

At Sydney Synod earlier this month, Bishop Malcolm Richards moved –

‘Synod, noting –
(i)  the long partnership between the Diocese of Sydney and the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA), and
(ii)  that the Synod of that Church met from 11 to 13 September 2023,

(a)  gives thanks to God for –

(i)  the election of the Rev Dr Siegfried Ngubane as the eighth Presiding Bishop of the REACH-SA,
(ii)  the faithful service of the current Presiding Bishop, the Rt Rev Glenn Lyons who will hand over leadership at a date to be announced, and
(iii)  the election of three new Area Bishops for the largest regions (dioceses) in REACH-SA, and

(b)  requests that the Archbishop’s office write to Dr Siegfried and Mrs Maureen Ngubane and to Bishop Glenn and Mrs Sandra Lyons assuring them of the prayers of our people, expressing the congratulations of this Synod and the commitment of this Diocese to continued gospel partnership.’

from the draft Synod minutes.

National Police Remembrance Day 2023

Friday 29 September 2023 is National Police Remembrance Day.

It’s a good reminder to pray for all who serve in the police services, and also Christian chaplains to the Police.

in 2018, Archbishop Glenn Davies wrote a prayer for the occasion.

Image: NSW Police Legacy.

Will there be a place for me in the Church of England?

“In August, the Church of England announced that a series of meetings were to be held in September ahead of the bishops presenting to November’s General Synod ‘proposals t o enable same-sex couples to come to church following a civil marriage or civil partnership for prayers of dedication, thanksgiving and for God’s blessing’. …

Where does this leave those of us who wish to uphold the faith ‘as we have received it’? Having been an ordained minister in the Church of England for more than 35 years, I wonder if there will be a doctrinal place for me in my later years?…”

– The CEEC’s John Dunnett asks the question and looks at what would be required – in Evangelicals Now, this copy with thanks to Anglican Mainstream.

Related:

The Church that needs you — Charlie Skrine at JAEC 2023.

The Church of England Evangelical Council.

New book on the Peter Cameron Presbyterian “Heresy trial”

Many Sydney Anglicans will remember the so-called ‘heresy trial’ of Presbyterian minister Dr Peter Cameron.

It began in 1992 when Dr Cameron, the Principal of St Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney, spoke at a centenary women’s event at Ashfield where he referred to the Bible as ‘sub-Christian’. In response to the apostle Paul teaching about women, he replied, ‘So what?’.

The disciplinary proceedings came about not because Dr Cameron was in favour of women’s ordination (even though most media reports claimed that was the case), but because he dismissed the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture (not just in that sermon, but on other occasions).

The Presbyterian Church had to make a crucial decision. Would they accommodate theological liberalism as did the Uniting Church which they had declined to join fifteen years earlier?

Now, thirty years on, Paul Cooper and David Burke have edited a series of essays exploring what happened and why –

From the back cover of the book:

“In 1992, the Presbyterian Church of Australia through its disciplinary procedures convicted one of its ministers, the Rev Dr Peter Cameron, Principal of St Andrew’s College, of what the newspapers of the time called ‘heresy’. The secular media and commentary were strongly supportive of Cameron and highly critical of the Church.

Cameron, in 1994, published ‘Heretic’ which told the story from his point of view.

This book, Principle & Principal, invites the reader to consider the other side of the Cameron Case. It reflects a different bias to that propagated by Cameron and his supporters. It tells why the Presbyterian Church took this action knowing that it would result in an avalanche of criticism. While over thirty years have passed since the finalisation of the Cameron Case, and the ranks of those involved have thinned, many of the chapters in this book are written by people who participated in these events.”

Campbell Markham at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Hobart has written this review for AP.

– Details and ordering information from Eider Books.

Related:

The Crisis of ’77 – personal reflections by the Rev Bob Thomas on the decision of Presbyterians to ‘continue Presbyterian’.

Ben Kwashi retires as Archbishop of Jos

GAFCON General Secretary Archbishop Ben Kwashi is retiring from his position as Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, after 31 years as Bishop.

Prayer request from GAFCON.

Brief news stories from The Guardian (Nigeria) and This Day Live (Nigeria).

Give thanks for his service to the Lord Jesus Christ – particularly in the Diocese of Jos, and also globally through GAFCON.

Photo: Archbishop Kwashi with Archbishop Peter Jensen in Jerusalem in 2018, courtesy GAFCON.

The Church that needs you — Charlie Skrine at JAEC 2023

At Church Society’s JAEC (Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference) two weeks ago, Charlie Skrine, Rector of All Souls Langham Place, spoke on the topic “The Church that needs you”.

While he says that he expects the next ten years will be very difficult, he calls his hearers to stand with him in the Church of England. He reminds us, “You only live twice”, and outlines several scenarios where evangelical ordinands are absolutely needed. Sobering and a cause for much prayer.

Before his talk, Dr Ros Clarke asks him a few questions about his background.

Also at the conference,

Ros Clarke speaks on “The Church that England has”,

James Cary addresses the topic “The Church that England needs”, and

Lee Gatiss gives a Pastoral Charge from 1 Timothy 5.

Photo: Church Society.

The Presbyterian Church of Australia: Highlights from the 2023 Federal Assembly


“Every three years the General Assembly of Australia (GAA) meets for a week-long conference to discuss business relating to the federal church. Whereas the various state assemblies focus on governance and state based responsibilities, the federal assembly has supreme oversight and focuses on oversight of matters of worship, doctrine and discipline…”

– While the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney is meeting this week and next, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia met at Hurstville earlier this month.

The national journal of the Presbyterian Church has this summary of the GAA’s proceedings, including a link to their “Statement on Sex, Gender and Marriage”.

Senate committee rejects call for inquiry into hospital takeover

“A Senate bill to force the ACT Legislative Assembly to conduct an inquiry into the takeover of the former Calvary Public Hospital Bruce should not pass, a committee has concluded. Source: Canberra Times.

The Labor-led legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee has said the bill “would undermine the independence” of the territory’s legislature.

But opposition members have dissented from the committee’s recommendations and have recommended the bill should pass. …

The opposition members accused the committee of not adequately engaging with concerns raised in 65 submissions and 7000 letters received by the committee in regard to the bill.”

– Report from CathNews with links to other news stories.

Photo: Calvary Hospital, Bruce, in Canberra’s north via Calvary Hospital website.

GSFA Chairman’s Letter September 2023

“The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) is a covenantal fellowship of orthodox Anglican provinces, dioceses and network of churches. We praise God for our history since Limuru, Kenya in 1994 which led to our re-formation under a new Covenantal Structure in October 2019. To date, eleven provinces have already joined GSFA as full members, with others considering to do so. Our Fellowship is world-wide in composition while remaining rooted in the traditional Global South provinces.

GSFA is committed to guarding , living out and propagating the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we are deeply saddened by the growing revisionism in our Communion …”

– The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama, Chairman of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches Steering Committee, has released this letter for September 2023.

The Bishop of Bathurst on the Referendum

From Bishop Mark Calder on the referendum:

“I do not think it is the role of bishops or church bodies to encourage people to vote one way or the other, either in general elections or the upcoming referendum.

However, it is appropriate for me to urge us all to engage in the process carefully and prayerfully, seek out accurate and helpful information and then trust our wise sovereign Lord for the outcome.

To this end, I distribute a reflection from the Rev’d Neville Naden who many of you will know. And I share again, a statement arising from the national Anglican bishops’ meeting in March. I trust both these brief pieces are helpful and I commend the coming weeks and the outcome to your prayers.”

– Bishop Calder’s statement, and the two documents he mentions, can be found on the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page.

For ease of reading, the Rev Neville Naden’s short reflection is reproduced below –

A short reflection on ‘The Voice’, by the Rev’d Neville Naden 

Not long after the last election the Prime Minister of our country announced that he would commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. 

This statement involved a three-pronged approach to addressing the issues of First Nations People in our country. The first being a voice, then treaty and finally truth.

It was not long after this that I received an email asking the question, ‘Is a voice to parliament a part of God’s will for this country?’ to which I replied, ‘nothing happens outside of God’s will!’

Friends, as a follower of Jesus, and as I reflect on my Christian response to the proposed voice to parliament, two things are vitally important as I reflect in this space. 

Firstly, I need a healthy understanding of the sovereignty of God. That is to say that nothing in all of history happens outside His will. God either ordains things to happen or he allows it. (More on this a little latter)

Secondly, the very thing that underpins ‘The Voice to Parliament’ is a desire that people living in this country would reconcile with First Nations People.

Reconciliation 

As I reflect in this space, I too want to see reconciliation. Reconciliation is a good thing. However, is such a thing ever possible? If conciliation never existed between Fist Nations people and the wider community, how can we have reconciliation? 

Many of my people have asked the question, ‘How can we have reconciliation when unity has never existed in the first place?’ To have reconciliation there needs to be some kind of conciliation to start with. This then beckons the question, ‘Is reconciliation possible where unity never existed?’ The obvious answer is no. Certainly not outside the church at least.

God is the only source of a reconciliation that works. This reconciliation is possible because God has initiated it. 

In 2 Cor 5:17, we have that well known verse that says, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here’ Note the very next verse, ‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation’. 

True reconciliation is only possible because God makes it possible. He makes it possible by sending his Son into the world to give his life a ransom for many. 

It is this reconciliation that says, it is not what you do for me or what I do for you that brings about oneness unity. It is what Christ has done for both of us. It removes the human element.

The reconciliation that this country is trying to achieve will never be realised outside the church. Conciliation is the only possible outcome. The reconciliation that this country is working towards says, ‘If you do something for me and I do something for you, we can have a relationship.’ However, this is not biblical reconciliation.

Friends, we are called to a biblical model of reconciliation. The model that says, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. A reconciliation that says, its not what you do for me or what I do for you, it’s what Christ has done for both of us.

Sovereignty 

But what about sovereignty? Why is a healthy understanding of the sovereignty of God important in this space? 

The Bible declares that God is the only sovereign and he never gives His sovereignty to anyone. He only gives stewardship and custodianship of His creation to His created humanity. 

Someone once asked the question, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ Friends there are no good people. The only one (Jesus) who was good was crucified, buried, and risen. We are all deserving of God’s wrath. However, He chooses to have mercy on some and not others. 

When we read the Old Testament, we find in the narrative section many events whereby God is exercising his sovereignty. 

For example, Joshua 1:1-5, God says to Joshua, to get ready to go in and occupy the land that he promised to Moses. Note what He says, verse three I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.’ Here the Creator is exercising his sovereignty over his creation. The promises that he made to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3; Isaac, Genesis 26:1-5; and Jacob, Genesis 28:10- 22, are continuing to be rolled out. Here we see God causing people to be displaced from their lands because of His plan for his created humanity. 

As we look back on the events in the Old Testament, we can see God’s footprint and handiwork all over the narrative. Once we get to the New Testament and we get to the end of the book of Acts we tend to think that God is finished with his creation. My friends, this is not the case. God is still rolling out his plan for his creation. We might not see it as clearly looking forward as we do looking back, but he is continuing to roll out His plan even when we cannot see it, nor understand it. 

Did God ordain Australia to be colonised by the British? Absolutely! If He didn’t, it would not have happened. This is not a popular thought, and I will probably get push back on this from many who cannot see God would ever allow that to happen nevertheless ordain it to happen. 

As was mentioned earlier, nothing, and I mean nothing, happens outside of God’s will. For if it did, God would not be in control nor sovereign. 

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming referendum, we can be assured that God’s will, will be done and regardless of which side of the debate we sit, we need to be OK with that. 

It is my prayer that we, the church, will not become embroiled in such activities. We need to stay the course when it comes to our core business, that of proclaiming Christ and a reconciliation that works.

The Rev’d Neville Naden,
Bishop’s nominated representative for Bathurst Diocese on NATSAIC
Indigenous Ministry Officer, BCA

02 September 2023

______

New City of London Deanery Chapter commissions gospel worker

“On Wednesday 30 August the New City Deanery Chapter held a commissioning service for George Diwakar. George has now completed his training at Oakhill. His new role at St Helen’s will involve training associates and serving in gospel ministry across the congregations.”

As William Taylor suggests, unless the House of Bishops changes direction, there will be many others seeking to be commissioned outside the authority of heterodox bishops.

– Watch a five minute summary of the service here – and the full Commissioning Service here.

What do Anglican clergy think about ‘Christian’ Britain, sexuality, and clergy morale?

“At the end of July, Kaya Burgess, the Religious Affairs correspondent of The Times, sent out an email to 5,000 Church of England clergy, inviting them to complete a questionnaire giving their views on a whole range of issues, including whether Britain is a ‘Christian’ country any more, the Church’s teaching on sexuality, their own morale, and the leadership of the Church. …”

– At Psephizo, Dr Ian Paul provides some much-needed context and balance to the survey of Church of England clergy.

“This really is the worst way to conduct an opinion poll or survey. …

I completed the survey in August, but with just about every section I wanted to say ‘But that is a false dichotomy!’ or ‘Yes, but not for the reason you think’.”

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