The Arrogance of the Immoral

From Phillip Jensen –

“Because of sin, immorality is universal. Sometimes it is so blatant that everybody can see it. But what happens if everybody can see it except for the church?

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is dealing not only with immorality, but also with arrogance.”

– Hear Peter and Phillip Jensen discuss at Two Ways News.

Easter Message from Bishop Mark Short

Mark Short, Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, has released his 2026 Easter message for the churches of his diocese –

The Bible tells us that the Roman Governor Pilate ordered Jesus to be executed with a sign that read “This is the King of the Jews”. The message was written in Hebrew, the language of the locals, Latin, the language of their conquerors and in Greek, the language of global commerce and culture. Pilate meant it as a mockery directed both at Jesus and his fellow Jews. But it disclosed a profound truth. Jesus died both in solidarity with His own people and for the sake of all the peoples of the world.

Last year I visited the suburban church where I first came to trust in Christ as a teenager. A lot has changed in those forty or so years. Red-tiled houses on quarter-acre blocks have been replaced by townhouses and multi-storey developments. What was once a working-class Anglo and southern European community is now home to many people from the Asian sub-continent. The Chinese and Australian meals of memory have given way to desi food and culture.

My childhood church is still part of that rich local life. A little smaller but much more culturally diverse than I remember it and more representative of its community. Some individuals and couples who mentored me in my younger years continue to live and worship there, because they love their neighbours and their neighbourhood and are convinced that the Risen Lord Jesus does as well. I continue to thank God for their witness. Grounded in the knowledge that through Jesus, God has forgiven them and gifted them new life they are free to engage the changing world around them with hope and with hospitality.

At a time when change can feel rapid and unsettling and social cohesion is under pressure there is no word more worthy of our attention and trust than the message of the cross.

with prayers and blessings,

Bishop Mark.

Published in Anglican News, March 2026, page 2.

There’s also news of the induction of Joshua Kuswadi as the eighth Rector of St. Matthew’s Wanniassa (page 8).

The richness of Sydney’s global engagement

“The Anglican Communion, unlike the Roman Catholic Church, is not a global hierarchical administrative structure emanating from the pastoral, doctrinal and legal authority of one man – the Pope – but rather, a voluntary fellowship based on mutual recognition of shared life in Christ and a common heritage of biblical convictions, liturgical forms, a missional and pastoral church life, as well as synodical government and episcopal leadership.

Sydney’s fellowship with Anglicans around the world has long been expressed in partnerships with many of our Anglican organisations, including CMS, Moore College, Youthworks, the Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid and since 2008, Gafcon.

These partnerships are based on a shared commitment to the authority of the Scriptures, and the reformed understanding of the faith as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty Nine Articles. …”

–Written in January, and before G26 in Abuja, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel reminds us of the many and wide gospel links between Sydney and partners around the world.

Photo thanks to SydneyAnglicans.net: Archbishop Raffel at a tree-planting ceremony in rural Tanzania in 2023.

Southern Cross March-April 2026

Anglican Media Sydney has published Southern Cross magazine for March-April 2026.

Grab a copy at your local church – or download/read online here.

The Link – from Armidale Diocese – Autumn 2026

The Link magazine from the Diocese of Armidale for Autumn 2026 is now up on their website.

Download a copy (direct link to PDF file) for your edification and as fuel for your prayers.

Explainer: Anglican re-ordering and Gafcon in Abuja

From SydneyAnglicans.net, a very helpful article to read and share –

“In early March 2026, headlines lit up around the world about the re-ordering of what’s known as the Anglican Communion – the grouping of Anglican churches around the world which emerged from the English missionary efforts of the 18th and 19th centuries and later.

The Global Anglican Future Conference, which has drawn together the majority of the largest churches in the communion, held a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.

Here are the answers to some key questions …”

These are the questions asked and answered –

What happened in Abuja?

What are the issues?

What does this mean for my local parish?

I’m concerned about talk of schism and division – why can’t we all just get along?

What happens to the Archbishop of Canterbury?

What does this mean for Sydney Anglicans and the Archbishop of Canterbury?

What does this mean for Sydney Anglicans and the Anglican Church of Australia?

– Read it all here.

The Global Anglican Communion, Abuja and the Australian Anglican Church — with Archbishop Kanishka Raffel

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“What does the reordering of the Anglican Communion actually mean for Christians in the Australian Church?

Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel on what it means for Anglican churches, clergy and church members in Australia.

We explore what ‘principled disengagement’ from the Canterbury Instruments will mean for Australian leaders and other Global Anglican Communion leaders.

Plus an update on implementing the Sydney Diocean goal of seeing five percent saved through conversion growth each year.

And Archbishop Raffel responds to criticism over his comments on Pauline Hanson, ‘We must reject hateful words and threats of violence.’”

– Watch or listen here.

Public Lecture on Padre Hugh Gough

Mark Earngey, Head of Church History at Moore College, is giving a free online public lecture for the Evangelical History Association –

“In the 1950s, Hugh Gough emerged as a rising star among British evangelicals. His involvement with the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) and his courage in publicly supporting Billy Graham at a time of ecclesiastical controversy won him admiration across the evangelical world. Nowhere was this more evident than in Sydney, where he was elected Archbishop and served from 1959 to 1965. Yet Gough’s relatively brief episcopate, combined with the scarcity of accessible primary sources, has meant that he remains less well known than his predecessor Howard Mowll and his successor Marcus Loane.

Recent archival discoveries, however, have begun to illuminate neglected dimensions of Gough’s life and ministry. Among the most significant is a substantial body of material from his service as an army chaplain during the Second World War, including battlefield photographs from North Africa and personal correspondence written from the front. These sources open a crucial window onto Gough’s formative years as a padre.

This paper traces his wartime ministry from Jerusalem to El Alamein and into Italy, revealing how these experiences shaped the convictions and character of one of twentieth-century evangelicalism’s most significant yet understudied leaders.”

– On Wednesday, 18 March 2026 at 8:00pm AEDT. Free registration to watch online.

Photo: Padre Hugh Gough in North Africa – thanks to Mark Earngey.

Castle Hill’s historic Lober House celebrates a century

An interesting bit of history –

“An historic house in Sydney’s north-west, which went on to become Australia’s first retirement home, is celebrating 100 years.

Lober House, now the social heart of Anglicare’s Castle Hill villages, was built in the 1920s as a private residence by Robert and Eva Dixson and originally known as Elwatan.

Purchased by the Anglican Church in 1958 and opened the following year, it was the launchpad for a new model of retirement living shaped by two influential women — Dorothy Mowll and Dame Pattie Menzies — who pushed for aged care that supported retirees to live independently. …”

– This article at Australian Seniors News has some background on the key building at Anglicare’s retirement villages – otherwise known as Mowll Village – at Castle Hill.

Image: Paintings of Dorothy Mowll (artist unknown), Archbishop Howard Mowll (by Alfred G Reynolds, 1958) – both at one time on display in Lober House – and the plaque commemorating their vision – also at Lober House.

The plaque reads –

“THIS VILLAGE IS ESTABLISHED AS A
DIOCESAN TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND WORK
OF
HOWARD WEST KILVINTON MOWLL
C.M.G., DD.

BORN 2nd FEBRUARY, 1890       DIED 24th OCTOBER, 1958

ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
METROPOLITAN OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW SOUTH WALES
1933-1958

PRIMATE OF AUSTRALIA
1947-1958

AND OF HIS WIFE
DOROTHY ANNE MOWLL
O.B.E., F.R.G.S.

BORN 18th JUNE, 1890       DIED 23rd DECEMBER, 1957

“Workers together with Him”
2 Cor. 6:1

THE MAIN HOUSE WAS OPENED AND DEDICATED
BY

THE MOST REV. HUGH ROWLANDS GOUGH
O.B.E., D.D
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
ON
24th OCTOBER, 1959.”

Archbishop of Sydney’s Statement on The Abuja Affirmation, Nigeria, 2026

Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel has released this statement –

Archbishop’s Statement on The Abuja Affirmation, Nigeria, 2026

I have been enormously encouraged by the breadth and vitality of global Anglicanism displayed at the ‘G26’ meeting in Abuja Nigeria and I wholeheartedly welcome the shared commitment of majority-world Anglican provinces to accept the stewardship of the Anglican Communion.

The Abuja Affirmation charts a path forward for global Anglicans faithful to the Lord and his mission and committed to the primacy, sufficiency and trustworthiness of God’s word.

Recognising that our existing structures have failed to uphold Anglican doctrine and discipline, the task of re-ordering the Communion around the Scriptures, begun in Jerusalem in 2008, continues with the formation of the Global Anglican Council.

True to our history, the Council brings together every part of the Church – clergy and laity alongside bishops and senior advisors. We share this stewardship, and we go forward together in prayerful dependence on the Lord.

The Global Anglican Communion is determined to focus on the building of Christ’s church, rather than managing cultural capitulation or accommodating unbiblical beliefs.

I invite all Anglicans, in our own diocese and across the world, to reflect on the landmark Abuja Affirmation, produced by delegates through the collaborative process that has long characterised Gafcon gatherings.

As the statement declares: “At Abuja, we rejoiced in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ – the good news that God, in his great love for sinners, gave his Son so that, through his death and resurrection, sinners might be forgiven and adopted through the Spirit and live as God’s beloved children forever. Without this gospel, the Church dies.”

This gospel is our precious and powerful message, our task for the future, and our one hope.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel
8 March 2026.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net. (PDF file.)

Image: Archbishop Kanishka Raffel interviewed in Abuja by The Pastor’s Heart.

Listening in Lent — in the Diocese of Melbourne

Newly installed Archbishop of Melbourne Ric Thorpe invites members of his diocese to “listen, reflect, and respond together”.

“During Lent, you are invited to be part of Listening in Lent – an opportunity to pause, reflect, and share what you notice and hope for as part of the Diocese of Melbourne today, and as we look to the future together.”

It’d be good to pray for Archbishop Thorpe and all involved in this, in their desire to see churches strengthened and for the people of Melbourne to come to trust in the Lord Jesus.

Canberra & Goulburn’s Anglican News for Feb 2026

The February 2026 issue of Anglican News, the magazine of the Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn, has been posted on their website.

– A good way to get a feel for – and to pray for – what’s happening in the diocese.

No such thing as an ordinary ordination!

Tara Sing reports on this morning’s ordinations at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

“In some ways, this year’s ordination was delightfully routine. It was another very warm February morning, there were a bunch of eager (and slightly nervous) ordinands preparing to make lifelong promises to the Lord, and the pews were, once again, filled to the brim with family, friends and church communities ready to pray with them and cheer them on.

However, there is nothing ordinary or mundane about an ordination ceremony! …

This year’s ordination also saw the Rev Robert Nichols ordained for ministry into a diocese outside of Sydney. The Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, also stood alongside Sydney’s Archbishop and bishops to lay hands and pray for the new deacon.

‘He will be serving in the parish of Cudal-Molong,’ said Mr Calder. …”

– See the full post at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Photos thanks to the Diocese of Bathurst.

Archbishop of Sydney: “We must reject hateful words and threats of violence”

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has today issued this Public Statement:

“Public Statement
“We must reject hateful words and threats of violence”

Recent remarks by Senator Pauline Hanson that there are ‘no good Muslims’ are foolish and dangerously divisive. They have been roundly and rightly rejected by leaders across the political spectrum.

Moreover, threats of violence against the Lakemba mosque are grotesque and must be rejected by all Australians of good will.

Christians believe that all people fall short of God’s good standard. The Bible says:

‘There is no one righteous, not even one; … there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away…there is no one who does good, not even one.’ (Romans 3:10-12)

It is a devastating diagnosis of the desperate state of all humankind apart from the merciful intervention of God to rescue and redeem us. Christians believe that God’s rescue comes through Jesus Christ, the unique and only Saviour of the world.

Christians, Muslims and Jews disagree about the nature of God, the person of Jesus and the way of salvation. We disagree about things that we think of as being of first importance.

But Christians will reject hateful words about entire communities of Australians on the basis of their religion or culture.

As Sydney Anglicans, we champion the freedom of all communities to practice their faith (or lack of faith) free from threat and intimidation – even when as Christians, we conscientiously differ in our beliefs.

‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23), so Christians gratefully rejoice in the ‘free gift of God’ and will offer hope in Jesus to all people, ‘with gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel

20 February 2026”

– Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

North Qld Anglican diocese given green light to sell properties to pay compensation

Report from ABC News:

“The Anglican Diocese of North Queensland has been given the green light to sell church properties to help meet its payment commitments to victims of historical child sexual abuse.

The church diocese, which covers a third of the state, entered receivership in August in order to meet its financial obligations under the National Redress Scheme, which receivers estimate will reach up to $11 million by 2028. …”

– Read the story here.

Image derived from the North Queensland Diocese website.

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