Some Good Friday experiences with Tasmanian media
“After the Good Friday worship service at the Cathedral I spoke to a TV crew on the meaning of Good Friday. They also interviewed worshippers for their comments.
On watching the TV news that evening the overall reporting on the Christian celebration was positive and I was delighted with the comments of the two worshippers. I was appalled, however, when the TV News cut my own comment to, ‘(Easter) is about relationships’. In the actual interview I had completed the idea, ‘(Easter) is about relationships, our relationship with God and our relationship with our neighbour.’…”
– Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower, reflects on how local media reported Easter.
Abp Akinola’s Easter message to Nigeria
“The Resurrection of Jesus the Christ from the dead is a fact of history. The empty tomb, the post resurrection appearances to his disciples, the Ascension, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the total transformation of the apostles, the emergence of the church and its unquenchable faith bear indisputable testimony to this fact. The Resurrection is the manifestation of the power of God for the deliverance and salvation of human kind. It is really worth celebrating. And, on this note, I bid everyone a happy Easter celebration.…”
– Read the full text of Archbishop Peter Akinola’s Easter message at the Church of Nigeria website.
The ministry of reconciliation
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
– 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (ESV)
Proposed Covenant to be overseen by Primates’ Joint Standing Committee
“Provinces, not individual dioceses which violate the terms of a proposed Anglican Covenant, will be subject to a disciplinary process overseen by the Joint Standing Committee of the Primates and the Anglican Consultative Council, according to the third draft of the document released on April 8…”
– Report from The Living Church.
(Context: Who’s on the ‘Joint Standing Committee of the Primates’? Photo from the last JSC meeting in November 2008, courtesy ACNS/Rosenthal.)
‘Alice in Wonderland’ if Jesus didn’t really rise
“If he just rose metaphorically, well, it’s Alice in Wonderland sort of stuff, and is not worth worrying about. I wouldn’t be a Christian if I thought that. Just wouldn’t be worth the trouble.”
– Archbishop Peter Jensen on ABC Radio’s The World Today about a Centre for Public Christianity survey on Australian beliefs.
Transcript. MP3 audio. WMA. Real Audio. (Duration: 4’01”.)
UK launch of Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans planned
“The launch in the UK and Ireland of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), an orthodox Anglican movement for mission at global and local level, is to take place on July 6 in London.
The Fellowship is the outworking of last year’s GAFCON conference in Jerusalem, at which 1200 delegates signed up to the Jerusalem Statement. Those attending Gafcon 2008 represented some 40 million Anglicans world-wide, 70% of the total active membership of 55 million. …”
– Details from Anglican Mainstream.
President of Episcopal Divinity School: ‘Abortion is a Blessing’
“The announcement on Monday, March 30 that The Rev. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale was appointed as the sixth and newest president of Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, MA, has orthodox and pro-life Episcopalians shaking their heads. …”
– Report from Catholic Online. (Photo credit: Jon Chase for the Boston Globe.)
h/t Anglican Mainstream.
Does your pastor believe in God?
A news report from the Netherlands points to a form of theological insanity that is spreading far beyond the Dutch. Ecumenical News International reports that church authorities in the Netherlands have decided not to take action against a Dutch pastor who openly declares himself to be an atheist. …
Such is the world of liberal Protestantism. …
– Al Mohler on the suicide of a church.
(While not exactly the same topic, you might enjoy this item.)
‘Get into the Bible’ — Packer to a new believer
Dr Jim Packer gives sound advice a new Christian.
See the 3 minute video file at Vimeo.
(Recorded by Mike Anderson – h/t Justin Taylor.)
Michael Nazir-Ali to step down
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali has announced his decision to step down as the Bishop of Rochester, one of the most senior positions in the Church of England. …
– Story from The Telegraph. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney, GAFCON.)
The latest from Canada
It’s a little way off, but you might plan to hear Lesley Bentley, spokeswoman for the Anglican Network in Canada (and member of St John’s Shaughnessy) when she visits Sydney in May.
She’ll be speaking on the state of the Anglican Church in Canada, and the story of the Anglican Network in Canada. The meeting is being hosted by St. Andrew’s Roseville, 8:00–9:30pm on Tuesday 12th May.
Download a PDF flier (180kb, direct link).
Tornoto bishop on same sex blessings
Bishop Patrick Yu, Bishop of the York-Scarborough Episcopal Area in the Diocese of Toronto, was interviewed by The Anglican Planet, on his growing support for same-sex blessings.
(h/t The Anglican Essentials Canada blog.) Photo: Diocese of Toronto.
‘Episcopal Church prevails in property dispute’
“An El Paso County district judge ruled March 24 that the property and assets of the landmark Grace and St. Stephen’s Church in downtown Colorado Springs are held in trust for the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Denver-based Diocese of Colorado, and ordered a disaffiliated group to vacate the $17 million property. …”
– As seen by the Episcopal Church.
See also this press release (PDF direct link) from Grace and St. Stephen’s Church.
(Photo: ENS.)
The labourers are few
“The number of men in full-time ordained ministry has now dropped by more than a third since 1991 (the year the Church voted to ordain women). … This means that overall there are 2,000 fewer stipendiary clergy than there were in 1991. For an average Diocese that is approximately 46 fewer clergy.
Even more sobering is the comparison with 1963…”
– Church Society’s David Phillips takes a look at the latest numbers for the Church of England. Download the PDF file (direct link) from Church Society.
News from Oak Hill
Oak Hill College in London reports that Church History and Doctrine Lecturer Garry Williams will become Director of the John Owen Centre at London Theological Seminary in July.
And Carl Trueman (Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia) and Peter O’Brien (Moore College) will be visiting lecturers during the second semester of Oak Hill’s 2009/10 academic year. (Photo: LTS.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…