Justin Welby: a professional obituary
“Monday 6 January marked the last working day of Justin Welby as Archbishop Canterbury.
His resignation was forced on him after his failure to act competently in the oversight of a devastating sexual abuse scandal. But it would be unfair to take that single act of incompetence and use it as a lens to judge his entire performance as Archbishop. Tragic though the end of his tenure was, we need to look at the other elements of the way he held office in order to assess it fairly. …”
– Gavin Ashenden – former Anglo-Catholic bishop and now member of the Roman Catholic Church – shares his personal evaluation of Justin Welby’s tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury. At Christian Today.
Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
GSFA New Year 2025 Devotional
“In 2025, we are reminded to focus on Jesus the Truth and life. Hebrews 12:2.
Each year comes with its own challenges, but once we trust God these challenges turn into opportunities for the gospel of Christ. My prayer to you all is that; Emmanuel God with us will challenge every challenges that may encounter us as a GSFA family, particularly preaching and teaching biblical truth. …”
– Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba, Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Uganda, shares a New Year devotional from the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches.
The new Federal privacy tort and religious freedom
Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia alerts churches to a possible legal complication:
“In the closing Parliamentary days of 2024, the Australian Federal Parliament created a new statutory privacy tort action, which may have a significant impact on churches and other religious groups. In the context of a possible disciplinary action against someone who has behaved contrary to the principles of a religious group to which they belong, it may be necessary to inform other members of the group about the person’s behaviour. In doing so the group will be in danger of breaching a right of privacy set up by the new law. The tort action (which will probably come into operation on 11 June 2025) seems to cut across important rights of religious freedom, and the exemptions under the law do not take this into account.
In this post I aim to outline some aspects of the operation of the new law, and recommend that before it commences Parliament provide specific recognition of religious freedom as an exemption to the availability of the action. …”
Image: Associate Professor Neil Foster speaking at a Diocese of Sydney Safe Ministry conference.
Former Archbishop and his Driver freed in Nigeria
“Nigerian media report that former Archbishop Godwin Okpala and his driver have been released from captivity. The two men had disappeared December 6 as Okpala, former Archbishop of the Niger Province, was en route to a funeral.
No report made clear whether the church paid a ransom for the two men, or who had kidnapped them, though there are frequent tensions between Anglicans and radical Islamists in Nigeria. …”
– There have been many reports of kidnappings in Nigeria in recent weeks – The Living Church has this report on the highest profile example.
GSFA Chairman’s Christmas Message and Year-end Review
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
Isaiah 9:6-7a.
My dear brothers and sisters,
At Christmas we celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promise. The long-awaited Messiah has come and where he is present the curse of sin is broken and the reign of God breaks in. Isaiah prophecies that ‘the government shall be upon his shoulder’ and while we shall not see its fulness until he returns in glory, wherever Christ is proclaimed faithfully we see the blessings of his kingdom. Men, women and children of every nation are born again to a living hope, sin and evil lose their power, and relationships are restored. …”
– Archbishop Dr Justin Badi, Chairman of the GSFA Steering Committee, shares this message and review.
O Come, All Ye Wokeful! Now CAROLS are censored by Church of England so they don’t upset other faiths
“Priests have been told to edit popular carols this Christmas to avoid upsetting other religions.
The Church of England has been accused of ‘losing the plot’ after it urged clergy to alter Advent hymns so that congregations can celebrate the festive season ‘without causing unnecessary offence’.
Christian hymns such as O Come, O Come, Emmanuel have been singled out for depicting other faiths as being ‘outside of God’s grace’. …”
– Story from The Daily Mail.
Image from the Diocese of Birmingham website.
Province of the Indian Ocean Elects Gilbert Rateloson Rakotondravelo as Seventh Archbishop
“The Rt. Rev. Gilbert Rateloson Rakotondravelo, Bishop of Fianarantsoa, was elected as the Province of the Indian Ocean’s seventh primate and archbishop by the provincial synod on December 14.
He succeeds Archbishop James Wong, who has led the province of eight dioceses in Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion, and the Comoros, since 2017. The province, also known as the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean, has about 505,000 members. …”
– Report from The Living Church. (Photo: Berthier Lainirina, via The Living Church.)
William Taylor: What to do when the denomination around you is imploding?
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“It is difficult times in the Church of England.
Having previously publicly betrayed his ordination and consecration vows – the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby – has now resigned over his handling of a safeguarding matter, following the release of the Makin report.
The Church of England is tearing itself apart over sexuality.
There are more apostate bishops than faithful bishops in the English House of Bishops.
And there is now a massive group within the Church of England called The Alliance, representing 42% of the denomination’s attendance, basically pleading to the house of bishops to repent.
William Taylor has served since 1998 as the senior pastor of St Helen’s London. Taylor is paralleling the difficult times faced by Evangelicals today to those faced by the Apostle Paul at the time of writing the Pastorals.”
Related:
Antisemitic attacks — Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney
Here is a Media release from the Diocese of Sydney:
Anglican Diocese of Sydney
Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney
Antisemitic attacks
The latest attack on the Jewish community in Sydney is egregious, cowardly and despicable.
All people of good will, faith or none, will condemn this outrage. It follows the terrorist attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, and more than a year of increasing hostility and intimidation of the Australian Jewish community in multiple, grotesque ways.
This is totally unacceptable.
The Jewish community in Sydney is resilient and peace-loving, contributing to the welfare and harmony of our city in myriad ways. Jewish people arrived in Sydney with the First Fleet. Sydney is the home we all share.
I urge all political, community and religious leaders to unite and I offer the support of Sydney Anglicans as together we stand against hate.
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel
11 December 2024.
Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.
Sydney and Tanzania Celebrate Over a Century of Mission Work
“This year Synod celebrated 130 years of partnership between the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the Anglican Church of Tanzania, a fellowship that dates back to 1893. ‘We have sent about 400 missionaries to Tanzania,’ said the Rev Canon Peter Sholl, international director of the Church Missionary Society Australia, adding: ‘About 250 of those have been from NSW.’ …”
– A cause for thanksgiving – story from Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Rico Tice comments on the Makin Report
“My heart aches for all the victims of John Smyth, some of whom I know personally. I remember them as people who were enormously kind to me as a schoolboy, at a difficult time in my life. It’s devastating to discover that people who showed me such compassion were victims of Smyth’s cruel abuse.
These victims have a right to the truth about what happened. I also know that media attention on this issue will be intensely painful to some, and that in speaking about it I have a responsibility to consider both of these things. I hope that in sharing what I know with The Times earlier this week, and again here, I am honouring them. That is certainly my intention. …”
– Rico Tice writes at Honest Evangelism.
See also:
‘I didn’t leave the Church of England. It left me’ – Premier Christianity.
(Thanks to Anglican Mainstream for the links.)
150 at meeting in Oxford Diocese to consider Alliance Agenda
“Contrary to the views of some, there are far more than a minority of clergy and congregations in Oxford Diocese who hold to a clearly biblical view of the Christian doctrine of marriage and the limitations of sexual relations to a man and woman in lifelong marriage. The attendance bore out the editorial in this week’s Church of England Newspaper that ‘the episcopate is liberal, the flock is not’.
Over 150 clergy and senior lay people gathered at St Andrew’s Church Oxford to hear Rev Dr Andrew Goddard give a masterly and detailed narrative of the current state of the debate on sexuality in the Church of England and why we are where we are at the moment. The slides of his talk are attached.
Rev John Dunnett spoke on behalf of ‘the Alliance’ of orthodox Anglicans who are firmly requesting a parallel province, a de facto structure, not a formal one, for those who adhere to the classical Church of England doctrine. When he is asked about a ‘third province’ he responds ‘you mean for those with liberal views’.…”
– Report at Anglican Mainstream.
Statement from Lambeth Palace about the Archbishop of Canterbury
“Today (November 20), Lambeth Palace have issued a statement that following his resignation announcement, the Archbishop of Canterbury intends to complete his official duties by the upcoming Feast of Epiphany (6th January).
It reads: ‘Following the announcement last week of his resignation as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin intends to complete his official duties by the upcoming Feast of Epiphany (6th January). Archbishop Justin intends very little public-facing activity between now and Epiphany, but plans to honour a small number of remaining commitments. At Epiphany, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s official functions will be delegated to the Archbishop of York – more details will be provided on this in due course. The date on which Archbishop Justin formally ceases to hold office will be set in agreement with the Privy Council.’ ”
– From The Anglican Communion News Service.
Commitment to Christ
Bishop Keith Sinclair opened Church Society’s 2024 Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference in August. His topic? “Commitment to Christ”.
– Listen here. Most encouraging.
What is the JAEC?
“Established by John Richardson in 2011, Church Society has hosted this conference since 2014. It is specifically for those who are ‘junior’, that is anyone considering ministry in the Church of England, lay or ordained, through training, curacy and the first few years of incumbency or the equivalent. The conference aims to help anyone in that category be more effective as an Anglican Evangelical, making the most of every opportunity to reach the lost for Jesus, build up the church through his word, and send workers into God’s harvest field.”
Photo: Church Society.
Gafcon responds to the resignation of Archbishop Welby
A Statement from Gafcon:
“We were saddened by the news of the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the reasons for his decision. While the Gafcon Primates have been critical of the Archbishop’s leadership, the circumstances of his resignation is not an occasion for rejoicing, but for grief and self-reflection.
The presence of child sexual abuse in the church of God is a pernicious evil, which has brought devastating, long-term effects upon survivors and their families. Yet their trauma is only exacerbated by negligence or inaction in pursuing and prosecuting perpetrators for their crimes. Such failures to act also grieve the heart of God and bring shame upon his church.
We appreciate Archbishop Justin’s willingness to resign from his office, as it shows evidence of his desire to take responsibility for his own lack of action in investigating the allegations against John Smyth, which came to light in 2013. While his own admission of regret and remorse is welcome, the past cannot be undone.
Leadership in any sphere of life is challenging, and no less so in the church of God. Christian leaders are called to be shepherds of the flock. Yet, none of us is perfect, as we all make mistakes, but owning our failures is also the mark of good leadership. While some errors of judgment have greater consequences than others, the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, knows our frailty and forgives all who are truly penitent. He also cares for the downcast and broken, as he cares for those who have been abused.
We pray for Archbishop Justin, his wife Caroline, and his family as the days ahead will not be without difficulty. We also pray for all those who have experienced sexual abuse by false shepherds in the church of God. May they know the peace of God that passes understanding and that heals all our infirmities.
The Most Revd. Dr. Laurent Mbanda
Chairman of the Gafcon Primates Council
Archbishop & Primate of Rwanda (EAR)
Bishop of Gasabo.”
– Source: Gafcon.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…