Position vacant at Dongara in DNWA
Bishop David Mulready of North West Australia is still looking for a couple, committed to the Bible, to come to serve in the parish of Dongara (map) and Mingenew (map), south and south-east of Geraldton. Might the Lord be calling you?
See this PDF file for a description of the parish and the ministry there – with contact details for Bishop Mulready.
GAFCON Primates Council statement on Vatican offer
Statement from GAFCON/FCA Primates Council
RESPONSE TO OFFER OF AN APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION TO ANGLICANS
We have received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s letter informing us of the Pope’s offer of an ‘Apostolic Constitution’ for those Anglicans who wish to be received into the Roman Catholic Church. We believe that this offer is a gracious one and reflects the same commitment to the historic apostolic faith, moral teaching and global mission that we proclaimed in the Jerusalem Declaration on the Global Anglican Future and for this we are profoundly grateful.
We are, however, grieved that the current crisis within our beloved Anglican Communion has made necessary such an unprecedented offer. It represents a grave indictment of the Instruments of Communion whose very purpose is to strengthen and protect our unity in obedience to our Lord’s clear command. Their failure to fully address the abandonment of biblical faith and practice by The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada has now brought shame to the name of Christ and seriously impedes the cause of the Gospel. Read more
Response from the Council of Church Society to the plans by the Church of Rome to receive disaffected Anglicans
“…the true doctrine of the Church of England does not embrace any of the teachings or practices which characterise the Church of Rome. For instance, the Church of Rome is fundamentally flawed in its claims about its own nature and authority and in its teaching about the means of salvation.”
– Read the full statement from Church Society.
Create 09 registration closes soon
Registration for next Saturday’s Create Conference (being run by Outreach Media) closes at 17:00 on Wednesday November 11th. Details here.
Mary Shilton 1925-2009
Anglican Media Melbourne has published a tribute to Mary Shilton, remembered by many Sydney Anglicans as a CMS missionary and also the widow of former Dean of Sydney Lance Shilton. She died last month.
(Photo: Anglican Media Melbourne.)
‘A liberal pit that was no earthly use’
“A bestselling author and Anglican priest has launched an outspoken attack on the Church of England and revealed that he is converting to Catholicism.
GP Taylor, whose children’s book Shadowmancer became an international bestseller and is being turned into a film, accused the church of sinking ‘into a liberal pit that was no earthly use and offered no hope, no love and no grace’…”
– Story from The Guardian. See also his article in The Yorkshire Post (h/t Anglican Mainstream). Photo: Tyndale House Publishers.
Get to know the Nigerian Primate-elect
The Vanguard newspaper in Nigeria has run this interesting interview with the Primate-elect of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Nicholas Okoh.
(Photo: Church of Nigeria.)
Graphic Design Tips for Church
Phil Campbell at Mitchelton Presbyterian Church in Brisbane points to a new font resource that some may find to be useful – at his occasional blog Graphic Design Tips for Church.
Related: Don’t forget the Create conference coming up on November 14.
Diocese of Maine to ‘continue the conversation’ on same-gender couples
Bishop Stephen Lane of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine issued a statement on the result of the Marriage Equality referendum in his state –
“Yesterday, Question 1 provided each of us with the opportunity to exercise our franchise, to express our support for the right of same-gender couples to be afforded the full rights and responsibilities of a civil marriage or to disagree. Yesterday, Mainers chose to disagree.
Many faithful Episcopalians are deeply grieved at this decision.
Although the question of same-gender civil marriage may be settled in Maine for now, I would remind all Episcopalians – both here in Maine and across the wider Church – that we will continue the conversation about these issues for years to come.”
– Read his full statement on the Diocese of Maine website.
Free AudioBook for November
This month’s free AudioBook from Christian Audio.
‘Free to Live and Love as we see fit’?
“President Barack Obama signed the ‘Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act” into law on Thursday, fulfilling a campaign promise and handing the gay rights community one of its most sought-after achievements…”
– Albert Mohler draws attention to what the US President said as he signed the bill into US law.
FiF 2009 annual conference
Some of our readers may be interested in the upcoming Forward in Faith (Australia) Annual Conference.
Josiah Fearon, Bishop of the diocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, and Bishop Harry Goodhew are the speakers. The topic: ‘Upholding Christ in a Multi-Faith World’. Details.
(Related: CMS interview with Bishop Josiah Fearon.)
Tackling climate change a ‘moral imperative’
“The Archbishop of Canterbury hosted a meeting of faith leaders and faith-based and community organisations at Lambeth Palace to discuss the response of faith communities to the environmental crisis. With 40 days to go before the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit the participants have pledged to work together to raise awareness about the effects of ‘catastrophic climate change’ on the world’s poor…
In the first statement of its kind, signed by leaders from every faith community (including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Baha’i, Jain and Zoastrian) the signatories recognise ‘unequivocally that there is a moral imperative to tackle the causes of global warming’…”
– Press release from the Anglican Communion Office.
(For a summary of contrary views on global warming, see this article from The Telegraph. Here’s a greater imperative. Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.)
The latest from the national capital
Stuart Robinson, Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, has released his latest ‘StuTube’ video.
He speaks of the encouragement of Back to Church Sunday and exhorts the churches of his diocese to continue to be ‘missional, engaging, and loving’.
He also commends the book “Facing the Future: Bishops Imagine a Different Church”, edited by Bishops Stephen Hale and Andrew Curnow, and reads an extract. (Related.)
See also “Starting Mission-Shaped Churches” by Stuart Robinson. (Moore Books, Gospel Outreach Ministries, Ridley Bookshop.)
The video runs for 8:38 at YouTube.
Sydney welcomes ACNA
“On the final night of the 2009 Synod, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has passed a resolution embracing the new Anglican province, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
In the words of the resolution, ‘Synod welcomes the creation of the Province of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under the leadership of Archbishop Bob Duncan and notes the GAFCON Primates’ Council recognition of the ACNA as genuinely Anglican and its recommendation that Anglican Provinces affirm full communion with the ACNA. Synod therefore expresses its desire to be in full communion with the ACNA.’…”
– Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.
The Resolution reads –
Synod –
(1) welcomes the creation of the Province of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) under the leadership of Archbishop Bob Duncan and notes the GAFCON Primates’ Council recognition of the ACNA as genuinely Anglican and its recommendation that Anglican Provinces affirm full communion with the ACNA and –
(a) therefore expresses its desire to be in full communion with the ACNA, and
(b) furthermore, requests that Standing Committee seek to have a motion brought to the General Synod affirming that the Anglican Church of Australia be in full communion with the ACNA,
(2) welcomes Archbishop Duncan’s assessment that the recent Vatican offer of a Personal Ordinariate ‘will not be utilised by the great majority of the Anglican Church in North America’s bishops, priests, dioceses and congregations’ and urges all Anglicans to reject the Vatican’s proposal, and
(3) asks the General Synod Standing Committee to –
(a) bring the Anglican Covenant to the September 2010 General Synod in such a manner as to enable each diocesan synod to consider the document, and
(b) bring a motion to the General Synod noting the publication of the Jerusalem Declaration and to encourage its study as a means to Anglican identity and cohesion.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…