The North Australian Lectionary

With Advent Sunday kicking off the church year this weekend, the Diocese of the Northern Territory has unveiled a new lectionary designed especially for the Top End.

The North Australian Lectionary tells the Bible story as the weather seasons change.

“During Wet season, from Christmas to Easter time, we read the Gospel story of Jesus Christ.

During Dry season, we read about God’s people in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

During Build-Up season, we read God’s word to encourage us, to help us to keep going in hot weather time.

This lectionary helps us to think about God’s story as the country we live in changes.

We also tell the Bible story every year using the church seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. These church seasons help us to remember the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. Christians have been using church seasons for a long time to help them grow in Jesus.” (emphasis added)

The lectionary includes readings in several languages. A wonderful resource.

 

General Synod to consider legal opinions on same-sex blessings

Archbishop Glenn Davies:

“In my opinion the effect of the majority opinion’s legal interpretation undermines the clear teaching of Scripture and thereby dishonours God.”

From SydneyAnglicans.net:

“Next year’s General Synod will consider a ruling from an Anglican tribunal saying services of blessing for same-sex marriage are constitutional, under a narrow opinion of what constitutes ‘doctrine’ of the Anglican Church.

The Appellate Tribunal expressed their opinion, by a 5 to 1 majority that the blessing of same-sex marriages was not inconsistent with the doctrine of the church, as expressed in the Fundamental Declarations of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia.

Archbishop Glenn Davies has written to clergy, saying he finds the opinion ‘hard to fathom, as it is contrary to the teaching of the Bible’.

Dr Davies says, the effect of the Appellate Tribunal’s opinion is that “it has declared that a service purporting to bless a same-sex marriage, as the Diocese of Wangaratta had developed, is consistent with the doctrine of our Church, because they narrowly define doctrine as that teaching which is necessary for salvation. Since marriage is not necessary to salvation, the majority of the Tribunal opined, then blessing a lawful marriage under the Marriage Act 1961, would not be a breach of doctrine – that is, with respect to what is necessary for salvation. …’”

– Read the full article at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Documents mentioned:

Archbishop Glenn Davies’ letter to incumbents, 20 November 2020.

Bishop Michael Stead’s explanation of the legal opinion.

(Both are PDF files. Depending on your equipment, they may download to your device instead of opening in a browser.)

 

Archbishop Davies’ full letter of 20 November 2020 is available at the link above. Below is the relevant section of his letter:

The Appellate Tribunal’s Opinion

While the above matters are good news, I am afraid I have more sober news regarding the Opinion of the Appellate Tribunal with respect to same-sex blessings that was published last week. There were two Opinions which may be found here. They are lengthy reading, but Bishop Michael Stead has provided a helpful summary of the Tribunal’s findings which I have attached.

The Appellate Tribunal expressed their Opinion, by a 5 to 1 majority that the blessing of same- sex marriages was not inconsistent with the doctrine of our Church, as expressed in the Fundamental Declarations of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia.

Under the Constitution, the members of the Appellate Tribunal are in certain circumstances required to consult the House of Bishops and the Board of Assessors (seven clergy elected by the General Synod for this purpose). In answer to questions addressed to these bodies by the Tribunal, unanimous reports from both the Diocesan Bishops and the Board of Assessors made it abundantly clear that the teaching of the Bible, and therefore of the Anglican Church, was that the sexual union of two persons of the same sex was sin. That is why clergy are forbidden to solemnise same-sex marriages, for to bless such a union would amount to the blessing of sin.

The Appellate Tribunal chose not to heed this clear advice.

Personally, I find this hard to fathom, as it is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, which clearly identifies marriage between a man and a woman as the only place where a sexual union is sanctioned by God (Hebrews 13:4). Sexual intercourse outside of marriage, whether it be adultery or fornication is widely condemned as immorality and attracts the harshest of condemnations in Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Jude 7; Revelation 22:15). While the world may deride our commitment to the standard of morality that God has established for his people, we have been called to holy and righteous living. In the 6th century BC Daniel warned his readers:

Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. (Daniel 12:10; cf Revelation 22:11)

In my opinion the effect of the majority opinion’s legal interpretation undermines the clear teaching of Scripture and thereby dishonours God.

The Anglican Church in the Diocese of Sydney welcomes all people, regardless of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, or even their past behaviour and beliefs, since the message of the gospel is that those who belong to Christ are equal members of the Body of Christ. However, Christ has set us free to serve him in holiness and righteousness of life, which entails changed behaviour. Consider Paul’s exhortation concerning unchristian behaviour and every kind of impurity.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:20-24

For those who struggle with sexual temptations, our Church must be a safe haven, offering both the strength to resist temptation and the joy of Christian fellowship, because the grace of God covers a multitude of sins, just as the Spirit of God empowers us to repent of our sins and walk in newness of life.

The Canon Concerning Services

The Canon Concerning Services 1992 has served our Diocese well for nearly thirty years. It provides flexibility for clergy, who have made solemn promises to conduct only authorised services of the Church in this Diocese (namely, BCP and AAPB), by allowing the minister to ‘make or use variations which are not of substantial importance in any form of [authorised] service.’ The Canon also allows the minister to conduct a service, for which no provision is made in the Diocese, considered suitable by the minister for those occasions.’

This Canon was adopted in our Diocese because it clearly stated that variations to authorised services must be ‘reverent and edifying and must not be contrary to or a departure from the doctrine of this Church.’ However, the effect of the Appellate Tribunal’s Opinion is that it has declared that a service purporting to bless a same-sex marriage, as the Diocese of Wangaratta had developed, is consistent with the doctrine of our Church, because they narrowly define doctrine as that teaching which is necessary for salvation. Since marriage is not necessary to salvation, the majority of the Tribunal opined, then blessing a lawful marriage under the Marriage Act 1961, would not be a breach of doctrine – that is, with respect to what is necessary for salvation.

This interpretation is contrary to the reports of the House of Bishops and the Board of Assessors who considered there is no such constraint upon the use of the word ’doctrine’ either in the Thirty– nine Articles or the Bible. Moreover, both reports were explicit and emphatic as to whether sexual immorality precluded a person from salvation in Christ Jesus, supporting this contention with references to Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:3-5; 1 Timothy 1:8-11; Revelation 21:27; 22:11) .

Under the Canon Concerning Services 1992, it is the Diocesan Bishop who determines whether or not a proposed service fits the conditions of the Canon, so that already one Bishop has confidently declared that same-sex blessings are now legal in his diocese. Yet that is not the case in the Diocese of Sydney, as I do not consider such services to be either edifying or reverent, let alone in accordance with the doctrine of our Church.

I was pleased to see the Provincial Standing Committee of the Synod of NSW passed the following resolution this week and it asked each Diocesan Bishop to inform his clergy accordingly.

The Standing Committee of the Synod of the Province of NSW noted the two Opinions of the Appellate Tribunal concerning the matters of:
a. the Wangaratta Blessing Service; and
b. the Clergy Discipline Ordinance 2019 Amending Ordinance 2019 (Diocese of Newcastle).
In order to prioritise good fellowship, this Standing Committee requested the ministers of the Province to wait and not to act upon these matters until they are debated at the next General Synod.

These are difficult days for our Church. Next year the General Synod will have opportunity to reflect upon both the Majority and the Minority Reports of the Tribunal’s Opinion as to whether which one truly reflects the Constitution’s declaration that ‘the canonical scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as being the ultimate rule and standard of faith given by inspiration of God and containing all things necessary to salvation.’

This is a crisis for our National Church and should lead us to prayer as we reflect upon both the teaching of Scripture and the demands of discipleship. I recognise that some will find this confronting and for differing reasons. When your congregations hear of this, they may be disturbed as to how a judicial panel could arrive at such conclusions, yet the teaching of Scripture has not changed. So, we should continue to pray, to trust God and to love our neighbour as ourselves as we navigate this territory over the next eight months until the meeting of General Synod.

As Advent approaches, the Collect from the Second Sunday in Advent is a wise guide for our prayers.

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

With every good wish

Grace and peace

Glenn N Davies
Archbishop

New contemporary service planned for Bathurst Cathedal

Phil Howes, minister at Narromine Anglican Church, has been asked to move to Bathurst to help start a contemporary service to complement the work already being done there.

In his online service for Sunday 15th November, Bishop Mark Calder asked Phil about the planned move, and how people could pray for him, and for the team at the Cathedral.

The interview begins 12 minutes 30 seconds into the video.

Fuel for your prayers.

Appellate Tribunal Matters November 2020 — Statement from the Board of Gafcon Australia

“Gafcon Australia exists to promote the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through the Anglican Church of Australia. We are convinced that the fullness of life that only Jesus gives is experienced through hearing, trusting and obeying his word of grace and life, in the power of his Spirit and the fellowship of his people.

For this reason, the Board of Gafcon Australia expresses its deep regret that the recent majority opinion of the Appellate Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia relies upon a disputed definition of the meaning of ‘doctrine’ rather than on a whole-hearted and glad embrace of the life-giving Word of God. In doing so, they have seriously undermined the basis of national unity in our church.

We regard their conclusions as erroneous and unconvincing. …”

– Read the full statement released today by the Board of GAFCON Australia.

Landmark Family Violence study underway

“A national study is underway into family violence, with Anglicans across the country being asked to participate. This is the first national research into family violence within faith communities.

Announced last year, the research has just begun utilising NCLS Research, which has established a confidential survey site for those who have current or previous connections with Anglican churches. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Wangaratta and Newcastle Bishops issue first responses to Appellate Tribunal

“The two bishops of the Dioceses at the centre of this week’s Appellate Tribunal opinions have issued their first responses. Bishop Peter Stuart of Newcastle sent his clergy a letter on Friday …

Bishop Clarence Bester of Wangaratta issued a statement on Thursday. …

– David Ould has a report, and the text of the statements.

Dr Robert Tong on the Appellate Tribunal Opinion

Dr Robert Tong AM, Chairman of the Anglican Church League, has written this response to the Opinion given by the Appellate Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia.

It’s very helpful in giving us context for what is happening, and is well worth reading in full.

_________________

 

The Appellate Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia

This afternoon the Primate (Archbishop Geoff Smith), released on the General Synod website the Opinions of the Appellate Tribunal on references made by him to the Tribunal for their Opinion on the validity or otherwise of legislation made by two dioceses of the Australian Church.

The Diocese of Wangaratta passed legislation to authorise a service to bless marriages which have been conducted in accordance with the Commonwealth Marriage Act.  However, there are some marriages, validly contracted under the law, which are not recognised by the church. These marriages could be blessed by use of the Wangaratta service.

The Diocese of Newcastle passed legislation in similar terms to the Wangaratta Diocese authorising the use of a blessing service. However, the Bishop did not provide his assent to the legislation within the required 30 days and, accordingly, the legislation lapsed.  There is nothing to prevent the legislation being reintroduced at a subsequent synod and, if assented to by the Bishop it will form part of the law of the diocese of Newcastle.  Secondly, that Newcastle Synod amended the jurisdiction of its diocesan tribunal.  The amendment removed from the jurisdiction of the diocesan tribunal, power to entertain complaints about clergy who had used the blessing service.

The Appellate Tribunal is created by the General Synod Constitution.  The Tribunal is the final forum in Australia for discipline appeals from a diocese.  The constitution also gives the Tribunal a function to provide advisory opinions on questions referred to it. Its membership consists of three diocesan bishops and four lawyers. Thus, it is a mixed body with training and skills in law and theology. Members of General Synod elect the members of the Tribunal and once elected they remain until retirement at 70.

On these references, the Tribunal invited written submissions from interested parties and then conducted their deliberations in private.  Under section 58 of the Constitution, where the Tribunal is not agreed on a question of doctrine, they can seek the opinion of the House of Bishops and the Board of Assessors. The Assessors are a panel of seven clergy elected by the General Synod. On the three questions asked, the House of Bishops provided a unanimous reply. The same questions to the Board of Assessors also resulted in a unanimous response. The theological thrust of the reports from the bishops and assessors was that the underlying theology in the blessing service was contrary to the Fundamental Declarations and Ruling Principles of the Anglican Church of Australia.

So much by way of background. The President of the Tribunal, the Hon Keith Mason AO QC was joined by the Hon Richard Refshauge, the Most Rev’d Dr Phillip Aspinall, Professor the Hon Clyde Croft AM SC and the Rt Rev’d Garry Weatherill, who formed the majority and gave one joint opinion.

There is a profound sense of disappointment in reading the lengthy majority opinion. In essence, the majority held that the meaning of ‘doctrine’ in the constitution is narrow. That is, in the constitution, doctrine is the teaching on the faith which is necessary to salvation. Thus, at paragraph 180:

In our view, the matters in the present reference do not involve issues of faith or doctrine properly so called any more than the dispute over female ordination. The contending views about “blessing” same-sex marriages are strongly held. But, with respect to some of the recent rhetoric, and the actions taken abroad by some bishops of this Church, the blessing of same-sex marriages does not [necessarily] involve denial of God or repudiation of the Creeds or rejection of the authority of Holy Scripture or apostasy on the part of bishops or synods prepared to support such measures.

Given that questions of doctrine were in play as well as answers from the House of Bishops and the Board of Assessors, it is disappointing that the majority have formulated an opinion which skirts around the theological position set out in the reports from the bishops and assessors.  And it is particularly curious that the two bishops on the Tribunal (who are also members of the House of Bishops) did not provide their own ‘theological’ addendum to the majority opinion. Especially so, when the majority opinion, of which they are part, opens the door for the blessing of behaviour which the Bible clearly says will exclude people from inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:10).

The minority opinion of Ms Gillian Davidson asserts that ‘doctrine’ should be given the meaning intended by the framers of the Constitution, as a standard of our unity and our coherence as a distinctly Anglican body of believers.   She accepts the theological position in the unanimous opinions of the House of Bishops and Board of Assessors, that same sex practice is contrary to the faith and practice of the Church; persistent, unrepentant sin precludes a person from God’s kingdom; and God cannot bless that which is named as sin. For my part, it is inconceivable that the leading synod members of the 1955 General Synod, some known to me, who adopted the Constitution, would in any way support the narrow interpretation of ‘doctrine’ as expressed by the majority Opinion.

On the Newcastle reference, the curtailing of the jurisdiction of the diocesan tribunal was the point at issue. The change is to preclude categories of conduct by clergy in that diocese from being the subject of a charge in the diocesan tribunal. The majority held that the amending legislation was a valid exercise of the constitutional power of the diocesan synod. Ms Davidson took the view that the synod’s power may only be exercised ‘for the order and good governance of this Church within the diocese’ and that the proposed ordinance of the synod harms good order and governance and therefore is inconsistent with the Constitution.

The Opinions on both references require considered reflection on the legal reasoning and the treatment of Scripture by Tribunal members. While that may take some time, the conclusion is clear and disturbing. A presenting question is: who can articulate ‘doctrine’ in the Anglican Church of Australia? A contest between General Synod and the Appellate Tribunal is inevitable.

What might flow from these Opinions? Anybody familiar with the long and tortured gestation of the Constitution, will recognise that the hard-won unity of the Church, as expressed in the opening sections of the Constitution is under threat. The ordination of women created a state of impaired communion putting pressure on unity. If same sex liturgical blessings become part of the life of a diocese the unity of the Anglican Church of Australia will be on paper only.

Participation in the Holy Communion is seen by many as the visible expression of unity. When some Primates, at a Primates Meeting, declined to join in Communion with Primates from provinces which did not uphold biblical sexual morality, that was the ultimate breach of unity. Could that happen at an Australian Bishops Conference or at General Synod?    

At ground level, some congregations in dioceses which adopt the innovation, may want episcopal oversight from another bishop. Others may see that diocese as ripe for church planting.

Looking more widely, do these Opinions mark the line in the sand which was crossed in New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom?

Robert Tong

Remembrance Day 2020.

See also:

Preliminary thoughts on the Appellate Tribunal ruling – Dr. Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney.

Preliminary thoughts on the Appellate Tribunal ruling — Dr Mark Thompson warns of devastating consequences

“It is with great sadness that I note the opinion of the Appellate Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia on the matter of proposed services to bless same-sex unions. Setting aside the unanimous advice of the House of Bishops and the unanimous advice of the Board of Assessors, the majority of the Tribunal has decided that there is no impediment to such services of blessing going ahead.

This opinion, if acted upon, may indeed have devastating consequences for the Anglican Church of Australia, as similar decisions have done elsewhere in the world, but it cannot change the revealed will of God. …”

– Read all of Canon Dr. Mark Thompson’s preliminary thoughts at the Moore College website.

See also:

Appellate Tribunal Issues Majority Opinion Backing Same-Sex Blessing Liturgy – David Ould, 11 November 2020.

“Attention now moves to the House of Bishops who meet tomorrow and the Standing Committee of the General Synod who begin to meet on Friday.”

Earlier:

‘Newcastle Anglicans support gay marriage’ – 27 October 2019.
Wangaratta Blessing “Delayed” – 10 September 2019.

Lucknow’s St John the Evangelist Anglican Church sells for $430,000

“Lucknow’s 147-year-old bluestone church was tipped to draw a crowd on auction day, and even with COVID-19 restrictions, that’s exactly what it did. …”

– from The Central Western Daily. (subscription)

Seasonal Thanksgiving

“The road from Moree to Collarenebri was unusually busy.

As the miners’ dusty dreams are carried from the beneath the ground, harvester dust was in the air as their GPS’s plotted the gathering of a wealth unseen through the previous 6 years of drought. The tourists seem to vanish with the heat but our western towns seemed busy as the diesel pumps worked overtime to keep the grain moving…”

– Bishop of Armidale, Rick Lewers, gives thanks.

Bishop Gary Nelson: “The furthest church from me is a 6000-kilometre return drive.”

“The Diocese of North West Australia is so large it could easily fit in the whole UK three times over – reaching from Geraldton on the coast to Kununurra on the border of the Northern Territory.

A population of 150,000 is scattered across 2 million square kilometres, and Bishop Gary Nelson and his team work hard to share the gospel with each person who passes through the world’s largest land-based Anglican diocese.“

– Encouragement to pray, from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Anglican Church of Tasmania finalises $3.65 million of compensation to survivors of sexual abuse

“The Anglican Church of Tasmania has confirmed it will pay $3.65 million in compensation to 24 survivors of sexual abuse, but will look at selling more assets after its liability estimates more than doubled. …”

– Report from ABC News.

New Dean of Christ Church Cathedral Darwin Commissioned

The Rev. Rob Llewellyn was commissioned as the new Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Darwin last weekend.

The service can be seen at the Cathedral’s Facebook page.

Bishop Greg Anderson preached. Most encouraging.

Bathurst Synod – Presidential address 2020

Here is Bishop Mark Calder’s first synod charge, as presented to an extraordinary session of the 49th Synod of the Diocese of Bathurst, 19th September 2020.

A powerful and challenging address. Fuel for prayer.

Update: The full text is now available.

North West Network, September 2020

The latest issue of North West Network, the newsletter of the Diocese of North West Australia, is now available.

Great to not only learn what is happening in the north west, but also as fuel for prayer.

It’s a 1MB PDF file here.

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