Essendon — Thorburn resignation: Press Release from Presbyterian Church Leaders
PRESS RELEASE
ESSENDON – THORBURN RESIGNATION
STATEMENT FROM PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH LEADERS
7th October, 2022
The Presbyterian Church of Australia is deeply concerned at recent events surrounding the resignation of Andrew Thorburn as chief executive of the AFL’s Essendon Football Club. We believe that this marks a watershed moment in Australian history – the day we have departed from some well-established common law principles, where there was freedom of conscience and religion, to being a society where only certain views are permitted in public life.
While Israel Folau was discriminated against for his own beliefs, we note that Mr Thorburn was forced to resign from his post merely because of the particular church he belongs to. There is apparently now a religious test for significant employment posts in Australia.
We note that the ethical position Mr Thorburn’s church—City on a Hill—takes on the subjects of abortion and sexuality, are the same as that of the mainline Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths.
Will the Essendon Football Club now no longer welcome people who have sincere religious convictions from being involved with the club, at either an administrative, coaching or playing level? GWS player Haneen Zreika has announced she will be opting out of the upcoming AFLW pride round. Will she be hounded out because of her faith?
Essendon Football Club says it supports “wholeheartedly the work of the AFL in continuing to stamp out any discrimination based on race, sex, ‘religion’, gender, sexual identity or orientation, or physical or mental disability”, whilst at the same time forcing Mr Thorburn to resign because of his religion. This looks rather like speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth.
We are in a dangerous place as a nation when a premier can seek to impose his own personal ideologies on everyone else. Such behaviour is itself “appalling, hateful, bigoted, unkind and exclusive”.
The Presbyterian Church of Australia will continue to uphold the Bible’s teaching, that marriage should only ever be between a man and a woman, and that the lives of unborn babies must always be protected. This is for both the flourishing of families and all of human life. There is nothing loving about killing unborn children and promoting an anti-life view of marriage.
We pray for our political leaders and remind them that they, like us all, will one day have to give account before Almighty God. We also urge our people to pray, stand firm for the faith, and not give into the opposition from those who reject our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Finally, we ask those whom God has placed in authority over us in this world, for the freedom to live out our faith, without intolerant bullying.
Signed:
Rev Dr Peter Barnes
Moderator-General
Presbyterian Church of Australia
Rev David Maher
Moderator, Presbyterian Church NSW
Rev Peter Phillips
Moderator, Presbyterian Church Victoria
Download the Press Release PDF file.
Rod Thomas retires as Bishop of Maidstone
Bishop Rod Thomas, set apart as a ‘flying bishop’ in the Church of England, has retired.
“Bishop Rod’s retirement on 2nd October 2022 was marked by a service of thanksgiving held at Oak Hill College on 1st October.”
Earlier:
Reform’s Chairman Rod Thomas to be Bishop of Maidstone – 05 May 2015.
At the time, Church Society’s Lee Gatiss responded–
“Rod is the only complementarian evangelical to be made a bishop since Wallace Benn in 1997. This appointment is part of the package of compromises agreed recently by General Synod, through which women bishops have been introduced into the Church. It is a great pity that despite Synod’s overwhelming approval of the first Pilling Report, Talent & Calling, in 2007, which called for more conservative evangelicals to be considered for such roles, there has been no such appointment until today. …
It may be asked whether a single isolated new bishop is mere tokenism. Surely ‘flourishing’ implies rather more than the reluctant toleration of one among more than a hundred bishops?”
And other related posts.
Sydney diocese declares ‘breach of fellowship’ with Australian Church
“The synod of the diocese of Sydney has carried several motions urging changes to the way in which the diocese interacts with the Anglican Church of Australia. …
One motion carried at the Sydney diocesan synod noted ‘with godly grief the deep breach of fellowship in the Anglican Church of Australia exposed at the eighteenth session of General Synod on matters of doctrine and human sexuality’. It requested the synod’s Standing Committee ‘to consider our future approach as a Diocese to meetings of the General Synod’…
Speaking at a pre-synod dinner, Dr Davies, who is the first bishop of the diocese of the Southern Cross, said that, if Sydney diocese really cared for Australia, the ‘best clergy’ and lay people should be sent to dioceses where there were ‘welcoming bishops’. It also needed to support, through the Gafcon diocese, ‘hurting Anglicans’ in dioceses led by ‘revisionist bishops’.”
– Muriel Porter writes in The Church Times – also at Virtueonline.
Photo: Sydney Synod 2022.
Related:
Bathurst Diocese Service for Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II
A memorial service for the late Her Majesty the Queen was held in Bathurst on Thursday 22 September.
See Bishop Mark Calder’s address above.
Download the Order of Service here.
Post-Truth Post-Lambeth
“In August 2022, Archbishop Justin Welby told the assembled bishops of the Anglican Communion at the Lambeth Conference that,
‘I neither have, nor do I seek, the authority to discipline or exclude a church of the Anglican Communion. I will not do so. I may comment in public on occasions, but that is all.’
I was astonished by this. Because it is simply not true. …”
Church Society Director Dr Lee Gatiss spoke at their AGM on 31st August 2022.
Bishop Glenn Davies’ Address at the ACL Synod Dinner 2022
The Rt Rev Dr Glenn Davies spoke tonight, 12 September 2022, at a packed ACL Synod Dinner.
His topic? “Where to from now? The place of Sydney Anglicans in Australia”.
Dr Davies, former Archbishop of Sydney, is Deputy Chair of Gafcon Australia and also Bishop of the newly formed Diocese of the Southern Cross.
Speaking of the Anglican Church of Australia, he said there is a fracture in unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity – a tear in the fabric.
Take the time to hear his very informative address:
or download the 11.5MB / 23 minute mp3 file. (right click on the link to Save As.)
Assembly of Confessing Congregations — UCA situation is ‘untenable’
The Assembly of Confessing Congregations National Assembly has been meeting on the Gold Coast this weekend. Chief among their discussions was their position within the Uniting Church when that organisation’s Assembly holds to two contradictory doctrines on marriage.
This statement has been posted today on the Assembly of Confessing Congregations Facebook page:
“The ACC National Council has come to the conclusion that the situation we are in is ‘untenable’. We cannot continue to live within the illusion of so called ‘two integrities’. The position of the UCA Assembly on the one hand, and that held by orthodox Christian members, congregations, networks and Presbyteries on the other, represent two contradictory and mutually exclusive understandings of truth, salvation, and therefore also of mission. This situation raises an essential impossibility of pursuing a common mission between these two respective positions.
This weekend, the ACC National Assembly has now put in place a mechanism of action towards navigating its way to a process of a collection of action items to be decided in an upcoming decision in March 2023.”
– Source of the text and photo.
Earlier:
A message to Uniting Church members about the decision on marriage from Uniting Church President Dr Deidre Palmer – 20 July 2018.
Archbishop Foley Beach’s tribute to Queen Elizabeth II
As Chairman of the Global Anglican Future Conference Primates Council (Gafcon) and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, I join with Anglicans across the world in praying for the royal family at this most difficult time.? …
Read it all at the GAFCON website.
Queen Elizabeth II — A model of compassion, faith and selflessness
Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, on the Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
The death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is a profound sadness, the depth of which is difficult to express.
Anglicans in NSW join with all Australians in mourning her passing. For most people, her reign and her godly example is all we have known.
We have delighted in her visits to this nation and to our churches. She has been for many a tower of strength in times of adversity, and a model of compassion, faith and selflessness in the service of humanity.
But we do not grieve as those without hope (1 Thess 4:13). We give heartfelt thanks to God for her long reign marked by dignity, grace and unstinting humble service motivated by enduring Christian faith.
We offer our condolences and prayers for the Royal Family.
Details of services of commemoration will be made in accordance with requests from Buckingham Palace in due course. Flowers may be left in tribute at the George St door of St Andrew’s Cathedral. A condolence book will be available at the Cathedral.
– Source: SydneyAnglicnas.net.
Also from SydneyAnglicans.net:
We will pause to offer prayers at noon today, Friday 9th September, and there will be a special Service of Choral Evensong at St Andrew’s Cathedral, this evening at 5:15pm which will include prayers for the Royal Family.
Related:
June 5, 2022 – A celebration of uncommon leadership — Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s sermon for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
An Anglican “lifeboat” for Australia
“We have recently seen the announcement of the activation of a new ‘extra-provincial’ Anglican diocese in Australia.
The ‘Diocese of the Southern Cross’ (‘DSC’) is not a part of the official ‘Anglican Church of Australia’ (‘ACA’). It has been set up to provide an ecclesiastical home for congregations who are Anglican by theology and conviction but find themselves unable to accept the authority of bishops of the ACA who do not accept the teachings of the Bible, especially on the subject of the Biblical views of marriage. …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster gives some legal background to the new Diocese of the Southern Cross.
GAFCON Chairman reminds Justin Welby why the Diocese of the Southern Cross is needed
After the creation of the Diocese of the Southern Cross last month, Archbishop Foley Beach wrote to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to clarify what was happening.
His letter has now been published by the Anglican Church in North America (PDF file):
“Your Grace,
Greetings in the Name of Christ Jesus our Lord!
I assume that you have heard by now of the creation of the Gafcon extra-provincial diocese in Australia called the Diocese of the Southern Cross, and Archbishop Glenn Davies’ appointment as the bishop. I am writing to remind you that this action is not done because of rebellion or defiance, but out of a genuine pastoral concern and care for the clergy and congregations whose consciences will not allow them to go along with the unbiblical and immoral practices allowed and encouraged by bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia. As Archbishop Rowan Williams encouraged a structure in North America so “we can keep these fellow Anglicans in the fold,” we will continue to offer safe harbor for those in Provinces whose leaders walk away from the moral teaching of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, and our Anglican heritage.
Some may unfairly slander us as schismatics, but you know that in reality it is those who depart from the established teaching of the Church who are causing the division (Epistle of Jude 18, 19). I implore you to call us all to repentance and to return to the Apostles’ Teaching of the Bible.
In Christ Jesus,
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
Chair, Gafcon Primates Council.”
Traditional Anglicans are Going by The Book
“A group of clergymen has broken away from the established Anglican church in Australia to form the ‘Diocese of the Southern Cross.’ Former Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies is its first Bishop. The announcement was made at the recent Gafcon Australasia Conference held in Canberra.
What’s it all about? Well, to be clear, I’m not an authority on doings within the Anglican church. I’m just a parishioner. But I have enough understanding to have a view on the issue at stake. …”
– Writing in Quadrant, Peter Smith looks at the reasons for the formation of the Diocese of the Southern Cross.
Sydney’s One Special Evangelist — Book launch Wednesday 14 September 2022
The Australian College of Theology invites you to a Book Launch for our newest book in the ACT Monograph Series, Sydney’s One Special Evangelist: John C. Chapman and the Shaping of Anglican Evangelicalism and Australian Religious Life 1968-2001, by the Rev Dr Baden Stace.
When and Where:
Wednesday 14 September 2022. Start: 1:00 for 1:15 pm End: 2:15 pm Read more
Presbyterians extend hand of fellowship to Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross
Dr Peter Barnes, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, has written a letter to Dr Glenn Davies, Bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross.
The Clerk of the General Assembly of Australia has sent a copy to all Ministers and Session Clerks, adding,
“The Moderator-General has requested that this letter be forwarded to you with the request that it be circulated amongst the members of your congregation.”
Here’s the letter:
22 August 2022
Dear Glenn,
Your many Presbyterian friends have watched recent developments in the Anglican Church in Australia and are delighted at your appointment as the Bishop of the Southern Cross Diocese. This is a strong stand for biblical truth, and we trust the Lord preserves and keeps you, and uses you greatly.
We are most appreciative of the kindness shown to us, especially concerning theological education in NSW in the 1970s, and also the use of Anglican church buildings for worship and would be more than happy if we could help out in any way by facilitating the use of our properties and making them available to you and your flock.
In the meantime, be assured of our prayerful good will and eager interest in what the Lord is doing through you.
Kind regards in Christ
Rev. Dr Peter Barnes
Moderator-General,
Presbyterian Church of AustraliaEndorsed heartily by previous Moderators-General: Rev. Dr John Wilson, Rev. David Cook, Rev. David Jones, Rev. Professor Allan Harman, Rev. Bruce Christian, Rev. Robert Benn, and Rev. Bob Thomas; and Rev. David Burke (Moderator-General Designate).
– PDF file.
A Pastoral Letter from the Archbishop of Sydney — 25 August 2022
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has today issued this Pastoral Letter (PDF file) with the full text of last week’s statement about the establishment of the Diocese of the Southern Cross.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…