GAFCON Chairman’s Pastoral Letter July 2021
“Every day we are challenged with troubling news from around the world. Of late, there is a further complication from the global pandemic. There is a mutation to COVID-19 called “Variation D.” In addition, some regions are having a much higher mortality rate than others.
Archbishop Laurent Mbanda has shared that a rise in cases has led to a new lockdown in Rwanda. Western Kenya and parts of Uganda are also being hit very hard. Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba reports that Uganda is in the midst of a 42-day total lockdown. …”
– GAFCON Primates Council Chairman Archbishop Foley Beach shares his pastoral letter to members of the GAFCON family for July 2021.
Methodist Church and the way of the world
“Following prayerful consideration by the whole Church, the Methodist Conference has voted to confirm provisional resolutions on the principles or qualities of good relating, understanding of cohabitation and same sex marriages conducted on Methodist premises or by Methodist office-holders.
A report on marriage and relationships, ‘God in Love Unites Us’, was received by the Conference in 2019 and the local District Synods were asked to consider the provisional resolutions and report back to this year’s Conference which is being held this week in Birmingham. The Conference received a report on the results of the local conferring which showed that 29 out of the 30 Synods confirmed support for the provisional resolutions.
The Revd Sonia Hicks, President of the Conference, prayed ahead of the main debate on Wednesday morning in Birmingham, asking that the Conference’s ‘words may be imbibed with your grace, with tenderness from on high.’
A range of views were expressed on the resolutions, in particular on cohabitation and same sex marriages. The Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler, spoke to the Conference acknowledging the ‘depth of feeling, pain and anxiety that there is’ with a commitment to work across the Connexion with District Chairs to heal divisions. …”
– from this news release from the Methodist Conference in the UK.
The discussions can be seen here – scroll down to “Wednesday 30 June 2021 – Session 3 14:15 – 16:15”.
Anglican Church Quenching Community Thirst In Marsabit
“In one of the remote parts of Marsabit County, Nairibi Sub-location in Laisamis Constituency, the Anglican Church is transforming lives of a community that has experienced water crisis for many years, by availing the precious commodity to them. …
According to the Co-ordinator, a study by the organization established that most residents of Marsabit have to trek long distances in search of the precious commodity which is not only tiring but also a drain on their useful time.
He told KNA that the high levels of illiteracy among women in the region, is linked to the water shortage problem as girls spend their valuable time fetching water and end up dropping out of school.
The boy child is also not safe as he has to undertake the chore of taking livestock to watering points which are situated far away from where they attend school.”
And similar work to which you can contribute:
Marsabit Water and Income Generation – Anglican Aid.
Living in Love and Faith — a Quick Guide
At Church Society’s website George Crowder gives a brief introduction to the Living in Love and Faith process. He encourages everyone to be involved – but will the Bible’s message be heeded by those evaluating the responses?
Related:
The Church of England’s guide to hearing God’s voice through the Bible, according to LLF – Andrew Symes at Anglican Mainstream.
Handling the Bible in Love and Faith – Kirsten Birkett, Church Society.
St Helen’s Bishopsgate announces “Broken Partnership” with House of Bishops – ACL.
Should the church ‘let the world set the agenda’ on ethics and doctrine?
“Paul Bayes, currently the Church of England’s bishop in Liverpool, has made his clearest call yet for the Church to change its understanding of marriage and sexuality, in his address to the MoSAIC group …
He does not disguise the reasons for his views, where he thinks the Church should go, and what that would mean. Along the way, he makes some extraordinary comments for any Christian, let alone for someone appointed as a bishop…”
– Ian Paul at Psephizo takes a look at an address by Bishop Paul Bayes given to the National MOSAIC (Movement of Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church) Conference on the weekend.
See also:
Albert Mohler speaks with Carl Trueman on ‘The Triumph of the Modern Self’
A conversation with Dr. Carl Trueman on the modern self and the sexual revolution.
‘The Marriage Madness in Methodism’
“The annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is meeting in Birmingham this week and next, other things it will debate a report entitled ‘God in Love Unites Us’.
The report will be endorsed, unless something spectacular (or miraculous?) happens, as it has already been approved by 29 of the 30 Methodist synods.The report recommends that the Methodist Church approve of cohabitation and extend its understanding of marriage to ‘two people’ rather than ‘a man and a woman’. …
Rather than regard Scripture as authoritative, the report tells us that it relies for ‘authoritative commentary’ on sexuality from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which it naively describes as ‘independent’. And among other things, the report commends ‘queer theology’; tell us that sex is assigned at birth, based on ‘perceptions’ of biology; and that sexual desire is a part of the wider desire for just and loving relationships. …”
– David Robertson writes about the Methodist Conference in the UK.
Related:
Albert Mohler speaks with Carl Trueman on ‘The Triumph of the Modern Self’
A conversation with Dr. Carl Trueman on the modern self and the sexual revolution.
GAFCON Sunday 2021 coming up
GAFCON has posted a number of resources for GAFCON Sunday, 27 June 2021.
Bishop of North Kigezi Diocese, Uganda, ‘succumbs to Covid-19’
“The North Kigezi diocese Bishop Rt Rev Benon Magezi has died a week after he tested positive for Covid-19 before he was admitted at Mbarara regional referral hospital. …”
– News report from NTV, Uganda.
See also this statement from the Church of Uganda.
“Bishop Benon Magezi grew up in a Christian home and attended church regularly with his family. During a Mission Sunday at his local church in 1981, he received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour and was born again. The following year he left teaching and began full-time ministry as a parish youth worker. …”
Prayer for Uganda
“From June 7 Uganda has returned to a full lockdown for 42 days.
These are very challenging times for the nation and Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba has issued a statement encouraging Anglicans to make every effort to keep meeting using radio, local TV stations, Zoom, social media, etc.
He also calls ‘on all husbands and fathers to step up and take responsibility for leading your families in daily home prayers and in Sunday worship.
The Family is the smallest church, and every home needs its Family Altar.’ ”
– Matters for prayer – from GAFCON.
The religious freedom crisis – with Freedom for Faith’s Patrick Parkinson
“Religious Freedom is being increasingly marginalised in Australia and across the western world.
There’s freedom for worship, freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience.
Australia’s Morrison government was moving to protect religious freedoms. But all this was put on hold by last year’s pandemic.
Freedom for Faith’s Chair Professor Patrick Parkinson talks with Dominic Steele about his hopes for bipartisan legislation.
Plus there’s a call for all Christians to be involved in this weekend’s Religious Freedom Weekend.”
– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.
Silver and Gold have I None
“Those who know the Scriptures – or Scripture in Song – will recognise the heading as coming from Peter’s words to the lame man who had been lying by the Beautiful Gate, as part of the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3:6). Not possessing any money, the apostle could not help him in the way the lame man was hoping for, but, being an apostle, Paul was used to perform a Messianic miracle whereby the man was sent on his way, walking and leaping and praising God. The episode is certainly a reminder that the New Testament Church was not driven by finances and high-powered administration…”
– Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, Dr. Peter Barnes, writes this pastoral letter responding to the financial challenges facing the Presbyterian Church of Queensland.
The Way Forward for the Southern Baptist Convention
“Southern Baptists will soon be gathering in Nashville, and the one big question looming over the Convention will be this — how do we move forward?
This meeting comes as several issues have been building in intensity for years, while others have erupted more recently. Some of the intensity is because the issues are genuinely important. But the fact is that many Southern Baptists left the Convention meeting in Birmingham in 2019 with real concerns about the future. …”
– Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, explain why he has allowed himself to be nominated for the position of President of the Southern Baptist Convention.
He lays out the steps he would plan to take if elected.
Five Key Distinctives of Anglican Worship
“That’s not really very Anglican.
I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard someone talk in this way about a particular church service.
What do they mean by not very Anglican?
Usually, they mean that it isn’t liturgically formal. Perhaps there are no clerical vestments on display, or the service does not have a particular form to it. Perhaps there are no responsorial prayers. Perhaps the church building does not look like a classic church, or maybe it is plainly rather than ornately decorated…”
– Dr Michael Jensen shares the heart of Anglicanism – at Crossway, who have also published his book Reformation Anglican Worship.
And another quote:
“…Anglican worship is distinct not because of its form, but because of its content. The genius of the Book of Common Prayer is not in dictating a particular style of worship but in the way it does two things: first, it makes Scripture the centerpiece of the Christian gathering, and secondly, it enfolds the worshiping community in the theology of grace.”
Archbishop of Canterbury issues ‘personal apology’ over charity abuse
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued a ‘full personal apology’ to the survivors of abuse by former barrister John Smyth QC in the 1970s and 80s.
Smyth, who died aged 77 in 2018, violently beat boys who attended Christian summer camps.
Justin Welby said: ‘I am sorry this was done in the name of Jesus Christ by a perverted version of spirituality and evangelicalism.’…”
– Report from BBC News.
Here is the full text of Archbishop Welby’s Statement.
How to reach Australia + The Queensland Presbyterian crisis
On the latest edition of The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic Steele speaks with Queensland Theological College Principal Gary Millar at the Reach Australia conference on the NSW Central Coast.
As well as sharing from his keynote addresses on Holiness and Hope, Gary is asked about the problems facing Queensland Presbyterians and the College he leads.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…