Moore College Lectures 2009

Dr Ashley Null is delivering this year’s Moore College Lectures. His topic?: Renewing the Power to Love: Repentance in Classical Anglicanism.

Two evening lectures at 8:00pm
Tuesday 4 August: Thomas Cranmer
Thursday 6 August: Richard Hooker

Three morning lectures at 10:15am
Friday 7 August: William Perkins
Tuesday 11 August: Lancelot Andrewes
Thursday 13 August: John Donne

Details from the Moore College website.

Alan Kerr

“John Stott has saluted Melbourne Anglican Alan Kerr AM with these words, ‘Faithful husband and father, loyal churchman and champion of the laity. Committed to mission and the gospel.’…”

– Anglican Media Melbourne reports on the death of Melbourne Anglican Alan Kerr.

Open Letter to Anglican Communion

The ACNA’s Archbishop Robert Duncan has written this Open Letter to the Anglican Communion –

“Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There are times in the history of God’s people when the prevailing values and behaviors of those then in control of rival cities symbolizes a choice to be made by all of God’s people. For Anglicans such a moment has certainly arrived. The cities symbolizing the present choice are Bedford, Texas, and Anaheim, California. In the last month, the contrasting behaviors and values of the religious leaders who met in these two small cities made each a symbol of Anglicanism’s inescapable choice. …”

– read it all here on the Diocese of Pittsburgh website (PDF file).

Challenges we face — 2009 AGM

ACL President, Dr Mark Thompson, spoke at last night’s ACL Annual General Meeting —

The clarity which Peter Jensen’s leadership has given us on the priority of evangelism and necessity of directing our resources to this end is something for which we can thank God. As we face the end of his episcopate, the challenge is not only to maintain that priority but to build on the strategies put in place over the last eight years which have given expression to it. We certainly do not want to go back, but we can’t afford to stand still either. We need to press ahead, thinking creatively about how to maximise our opportunities to proclaim Christ in a rapidly changing culture.

Latest Oak Hill Newsbrief

The latest Newsbrief from Oak Hill College in London is available on their website.

It’s a 2.7MB PDF file (direct link).

New Baptist logo

Just in case you wonder where the Cross and open Bible have gone…

Press release: “Australian Baptists today launched a new national name and logo, signalling a renewed commitment to evangelism, mission and ministry around the nation and around the world. Read more

Conservatives prepare to fight for ‘soul of nation’

A “New Reformation” was talked of at the official launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) on Monday. Speakers none the less reiterated their desire to remain part of the Church of Eng land and the Anglican Communion while upholding “orthodox, biblical Anglicanism”. …

– Church Times reports on the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans launch last Monday. (See previous: the text of Peter Jensen’s address.)

Coverage of the TEC General Convention

The American Anglican Council is keeping an eye on the TEC’s 2009 General Convention in California.

Their reports will appear in the GC section of their website. (Photo: Jim DeLa, ENS.)

Introduction to TEC General Convention 2009

It’s all about Ubuntu – as explained by Katherine Jefferts Schori and others – at the TEC website. (h/t Stand Firm)

Peter Jensen: The Jerusalem Declaration – why it matters

An address to the FCA UK launch by Archbishop Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney.

“Many are still angry that the Jerusalem GAFCON was held. Some of the most angry are those who agree with the theology of the GAFCON movement but cannot accept that a moment for decisive action had arrived. To such persons I say, I admire you and honour you as brothers and sisters in the Lord. But it seems to me that every day that has passed since the GAFCON has only vindicated the decision to hold it.”

Jim Packer is one of the giants of the real world-Anglicanism. Amongst the wise of this world he is disdained, but his praises are sung in all the churches. Astonishingly, in the eyes of his institutional church he is no longer one of us. He has chosen to separate himself from what he has called the sanctification of sin.Is he still an Anglican?

When we can seriously ask that question, something is deeply wrong. We are at a watershed, at a parting of the ways. Decisions have to be made. Read more

Britain in battle for its soul, says Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen

“Britain is facing a ‘battle for the soul of the nation’, an archbishop warned yesterday at the inaugural meeting of a group that threatens to split the Church of England. …”

– Ruth Gledhill writes in The Times.

Be Faithful! event begins tonight Australian time

The Be Faithful! event in London to launch the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans begins this evening (Monday July 6 2009), Sydney time. Anglican TV will stream it live.

The main programme begins at 10:30am UK time, which is 7:30pm AEST. We’re told that Archbishop Peter Jensen will be bringing greetings to the assembly at around 9:20pm AEST, though that time may vary a little.

Please pray that Christ will be glorified as men and women stand for him in this gathering and in the days ahead.

This from Canon Chris Sugden (UK times referenced) … Read more

‘Change and repent’, says bishop

“The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has defended traditional biblical teachings on homosexuality and said the Church should not be ‘rolled over by culture’. …

‘We welcome homosexuals, we don’t want to exclude people, but we want them to repent and be changed.’ The bishop added that it is not just homosexuals who need to repent, but all who have strayed from the Bible’s teaching. …”

– The thought of repentance is foreign to many today. See this story from The (London) Telegraph.

Related: Damian Thompson comments – “My colleague Jonathan Wynne-Jones does a grand job of explaining what’s going on, but my basic reaction is: this is so over. The Anglican Communion does not have the structures, the consensus, the money or the guts to police the boundaries of doctrinal diversity. Soon, it will become – at best- a federation of independent Churches. …”