Thanksgiving for Ridley Smith
There will be a Thanksgiving service for Ridley Smith at St. Andrew’s Cathedral at 10:30am on Friday 3rd January 2014.
Ridley, who died just before Christmas, is best known to many as the Architect who designed St. Andrew’s House and Sydney Square.
We also have Ridley Smith to thank for perpetuating the “Eternity” symbol chalked around Sydney by Arthur Stace for so many years.
In 1977, he had Eternity, in cast aluminium letters eight inches high, set in pebbles at the bottom of the Sydney Square waterfall.
(Photo of Ridley Smith with thanks to Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos – taken at the opening of additions to Gymea Baptist Church, 29th November, 2009.)
Chapter ends for Bathurst’s Anglican News
“After 34 years of publishing, the Anglican News has been printed for the last time. As the Bathurst Diocese of the Anglican Church struggles financially, the 2014 budget adopted by the Synod makes no provision for the production of a diocesan newspaper.”
– from The Western Advocate. (Anglican News Archives.)
Archbishop Glenn Davies’ Christmas message 2013
The first Christmas message from Dr Glenn Davies as Archbishop of Sydney.
Read it below – or download the text as a PDF file (2 x A5 format suitable for copying) here.
What is it about our society that ‘selfie’ is the landmark word for 2013?
Many of us cringe at the self-centredness of these self-portraits, as much as the bad photography, but many ‘selfies’ will be taken over the Christmas period and inflicted upon others, along with the usual array of awkward family photos.
But at Christmas time we should remember that there is an ultimate self-image, the image of God, which far outweighs the supercilious picture of a face filling our screen. We are all stamped with the image of God and it is this image that makes us precious in his sight.
Incarnation is the theological word which describes God’s coming to earth as a human being, with all the vulnerabilities associated with being born as a baby in that Bethlehem crib.
But so often we tend to leave Jesus as a baby in a stall, cute and inoffensive, and forget that he grew up as a fully developed adult, so that he might live the life we could not live and die the death that we deserve.
Christmas without Easter is not the full story. We fail to appreciate Christmas if we fail to appreciate the reason why he came – to suffer death upon a cross on Good Friday, rise again on Easter Day so that the bonds of death may be broken and new life become a reality for all who put their trust in him.
As you look at the pictures you take this Christmas, some will be joyful and some scenes may be sad, but you will look at faces that have the self-image of God – those for whom Jesus came to offer new life.
What shall we give him in return?
We can give him nothing, but we owe him everything.
Happy Christmas.
Dr Glenn N Davies
Archbishop of Sydney
Christmas 2013
Source: SydneyAnglicans.net
Vale Ron Patfield
“We note with sadness the death of Ron Patfield on Friday December 20, 2013. Ron graduated from the College in 1948. He then was used by the Lord in a succession of ministries at Wahroonga, Normanhurst, Annandale, Wentworthville, Seaforth and too many positions as locum to mention.”
– from Moore Theological College.
Live stream on Christmas Eve from Sydney Cathedral
St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, will live stream this year’s Christmas Eve service so friends in Australia and around the world can watch.
From 8:00pm AEDT on Christmas Eve. The theme is “The Romance and the Reality of Christmas”. The video stream should start around 7:50pm.
Watch it at new.livestream.com/audioadvice/christmas. (The time shown on the Livestream page is US East Coast time.)
Christmas messages 2013
As we spot Christmas messages, we’ll post them here. So far…
From around Australia —
John Harrower, Bishop of Tasmania.
Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne.
John Parkes, Bishop of Wangaratta.
Ian Lambert, Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force.
Stuart Robinson, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
Peter Stuart, Bishop Administrator of Newcastle.
Bill Ray, Bishop of North Queensland.
And from further afield –
Hundreds of talks from St Matthias and University Ministries
From the Administrator of Phillip Jensen’s website –
“Phillip has been preaching God’s word for over forty years. It has been his aim to preach the gospel by prayerfully expounding the Bible to the people God has given him to love.
As talks given prior to 2003 are currently being added to the website it is hoped that listeners will be enriched, refreshed and challenged by these talks.”
– An amazing resource. Thank you! (Photo: Matthias Press 1996.)
Jars of Clay
“Clay speaks the truth that we who are made in the image of God are also made of the dust of the ground. Clay speaks of being in the hands of the master potter who is shaping us to His own ends. It speaks – as it does here – of the homely and ordinary; of the everyday domestic vessels whose myriad shards are scattered across every field in the Middle East.
Why has God made His servants of this clay? The reason is clear: to show that the all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
– Dean of Armidale, Stephen Williams, delivered this address at the funeral of Bishop Peter Chiswell last week, and Peter’s son Graeme gave the Eulogy.
Northwest Network — December 2013
The latest edition of The Northwest Network is now available – grab a copy to help in praying for the people of the North West (660kb PDF, hosted with permission).
Bishop Peter Chiswell 1934–2013
Bishop Peter Chiswell – Bishop of Armidale from 1976 to 1999 – died in Armidale on Friday.
His funeral is to be held at St. Peter’s Cathedral Armidale tomorrow, Thursday 12th December 2013, at 11.00am.
Current Bishop, Rick Lewers, has written this tribute:
“The year I was born, 1958, Peter Chiswell graduated from Moore Theological College in Sydney and was ordained by the Bishop of Armidale, John S. Moyes. Peter’s ministry included appointments in Narrabri, Quirindi, Bingara, and Gunnedah before he was consecrated in Sydney by Archbishop Marcus Loane, then taking his place in Armidale’s St Peter’s Cathedral as Bishop in November, 1976.”
Two (more) reasons to give thanks for Moore College
Two (more) reasons to give thanks for – and to pray for – Moore College:
1. Now is the moment of opportunity for Moore graduates.
2. Moore College distance education goes viral.
Australian Church Record December 2013
The latest issue of The Australian Church Record is now online.
This issue kicks off by interviewing Bishop-elect of North Sydney, Chris Edwards, “The Bishop from Belgium”.
Grafton appointment exposes massive differences in the Anglican Church in Australia
“I wrote last week about the appointment of Rev Dr Sarah Macneil as the new Bishop of Grafton diocese in NSW, Australia. Not only is she due to be Australia’s first female diocesan, but far more troubling she is on the record as holding what many consider to be heterodox views on human sexuality and the atonement. …”
– At his blog, David Ould continues to explore the implications of the election of a new Bishop of the Diocese of Grafton. (Related posts.)
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement November 28, 2013
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
The Steering Committee for the Sydney Diocesan response to the Royal Commission on Child Sexual Abuse says a file review of material relating to child abuse complaints stretching back to the 1930’s is almost complete.
“The Committee has commissioned a thorough review of all complaints, notifications and files which are relevant to the Royal Commission. This has been done carefully and has involved reviewing a significant amount of material” said Steering Committee spokesman Dr Robert Tong.
“Some media reports have misrepresented evidence given to the Royal Commission by equating the number of files with complaints or current investigations. Some outlets reported that there were 600 current investigations of complaints. This is not correct.” he said. Read more
Jesus Brings video promo
Worth taking two minutes 30 seconds to watch.
Click the image to play the video.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…