The Mothers’ Union & the ministry of lay women
Coming up at Moore College on Wednesday 16th November –
“Women have been key workers in the church since the time of the Apostles, and continue to be so in Australia. Alongside deaconesses and ordained women undertaking professional ministry, lay women have made extensive and invaluable voluntary contributions to church work and evangelism.
From its beginnings in the late 19th century, the Mothers’ Union has provided a framework for supporting Christian women through the parish network, as well as wider ministry in hospitals and the family courts. Other lay women including clergy wives have crafted their own unique spheres of ministry.
This event and accompanying exhibition will highlight the different ways in which lay women have influenced Australian Christianity.”
Jane Tooher is speaking. Details and booking from the College.
Related:
Synod marks ministry of women – SydneyAnglicans.net.
The Class of Chappo — A night to mark the 10th anniversary of Chappo’s departure to be with Christ
Tuesday 22 November 2022. 7:30pm
A night to mark the 10th anniversary of Chappo’s departure to be with Christ.
The evening will include:
- Philip Jensen on Evangelism in Tough Times
- Kanishka Raffel on Evangelism and the Local Church
- The launch of The Class of Chappo, edited and contributed to by David Mansfield, along with 27 other contributors.
- The launch of About Love, written and published by David Mansfield on the second half of John’s Gospel and a kind of sequel to About Life which David wrote more than 20 years ago.
- Baden Stace on his recently launched book, Sydney’s One Special Evangelist: John C. Chapman and the Shaping of Anglican Evangelicalism and Australian Religious Life, 1968-2001.
Details and booking from Moore College.
Illustration from a Department of Evangelism videocassette cover, 1986.
Reformation Sunday & Slogans
“Friends in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate Reformation Sunday (including Bach’s cantata 79, written for the occasion, as part of the 10:30am service).
The Reformation began as a series of protests (hence ‘Protestant’) against abuses of the mediaeval Roman Catholic Church, perhaps most notably the sale of indulgences. By the way, in this context, an indulgence is not something to do with giving into luxury, one too many chocolates or wines. Nor is it the collective noun for grandparents, as in an ‘indulgence of grandparents’!
The word had and still has a special meaning for Roman Catholics. That Church taught that God forgives believers the eternal punishment for our sins. But we must also purify ourselves from the ‘temporal punishment’ due to every sin, either in this life, or after death in Purgatory. Purification takes place through prayer, acts of charity, patiently bearing suffering, and so on – or via gaining an indulgence. …”
– At the Cathedral website, Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant explains why Reformation Sunday is worth celebrating.
A visit to Grace Presbyterian Assembly in NZ
“As Moderator during the covid pandemic, I visited a few places in person – notably Hurstville for the ordination of two elders and New Dunesk for its opening as the centre of the work of the Presbyterian Inland Mission. Then there were the Zoom meetings.
But from 3-7 October 2022 I was able to visit the Grace Presbyterian Assembly in Auckland. …”
– We are so thankful for the formation of the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand (CCAANZ) in response to the liberal trajectory of the Anglican Church in NZ.
Peter Barnes, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Australia briefly reports on another response to liberal theology in NZ – this one by faithful Presbyterians.
The Plateau Problem and a deeper issue
“It’s a moment of honesty for Sydney Christians as we face up to an ‘elephant in the room.’ Despite rises in giving, clergy numbers and population the number of Christians in Sydney Anglican Churches is in plateau or decline. …”
Dominic Steele speaks with Dr Raj Gupta. Plenty to think about and to pray about.
– Watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.
Reports from Melbourne Synod 2022
From The Melbourne Anglican:
“14 October 2022
Hello! Welcome to Friday. Tonight will be the final evening session of the 2022 Melbourne Synod, before delegates meet at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday. Melbourne Anglican editor Elspeth Kernebone here with a summary of proceedings so far. …”
– Summary and links to updates here.
Perth Synod: Archbishop’s “breach of trust and failure of integrity” disappoint conservatives
“This past Saturday and Sunday has seen the annual synod of the Diocese of Perth on Australia’s west coast.
Over that weekend and since then many delegates who were present have contacted me to let me know of what happened. …”
– David Ould shares reports from last weekend’s Perth Synod.
Photo: Diocese of Perth.
Reconciliation and the Rugged Cross
“The Sydney leg of a whistlestop tour of Australia by the Archbishop of Canterbury began with a meeting with Indigenous leaders around a campfire in the centre of Glebe. …”
– Russell Powell at SydheyAnglicans.net has this report on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s visit to Sydney this week.
Introducing City on a Hill
Guy Mason, Pastor of City on a Hill, and also an Archdeacon in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, introduces the church after they have had quite a bit of media coverage in the last few days. Also a good reminder to uphold them in prayer.
Societas 2022 from Moore College now available
The 2022 edition of Societas, the Moore College students’ magazine, is now available, including in electronic format for download.
It’s a great way to learn about – and to be informed to pray for – the students and faculty of Moore College.
The past, present and future — Southern Cross October-November 2022
From Russell Powell at Anglican Media Sydney:
“Southern Cross should be in your churches by this weekend [or next], seeking to encourage Sydney Anglicans about the past, present, and future.
The past is the great impact of John Chapman, through a new book on his ministry and influence from Dr Baden Stace.
The present includes stories on what happened at Synod and the new Album by Sydney’s own City Alight, with great new music for our churches.
The future is the new ministry areas in the Greenfields (as well as the changing face of Brownfields).”
You can download your PDF copy now at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.
Sydney diocese declares ‘breach of fellowship’ with Australian Church
“The synod of the diocese of Sydney has carried several motions urging changes to the way in which the diocese interacts with the Anglican Church of Australia. …
One motion carried at the Sydney diocesan synod noted ‘with godly grief the deep breach of fellowship in the Anglican Church of Australia exposed at the eighteenth session of General Synod on matters of doctrine and human sexuality’. It requested the synod’s Standing Committee ‘to consider our future approach as a Diocese to meetings of the General Synod’…
Speaking at a pre-synod dinner, Dr Davies, who is the first bishop of the diocese of the Southern Cross, said that, if Sydney diocese really cared for Australia, the ‘best clergy’ and lay people should be sent to dioceses where there were ‘welcoming bishops’. It also needed to support, through the Gafcon diocese, ‘hurting Anglicans’ in dioceses led by ‘revisionist bishops’.”
– Muriel Porter writes in The Church Times – also at Virtueonline.
Photo: Sydney Synod 2022.
Related:
Bathurst Diocese Service for Thanksgiving for Queen Elizabeth II
A memorial service for the late Her Majesty the Queen was held in Bathurst on Thursday 22 September.
See Bishop Mark Calder’s address above.
Download the Order of Service here.
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s sermon at the Provincial Memorial Service
SydneyAnglicans.net has published Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s sermon at the Provincial Memorial Service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Wednesday (21 September 2022).
“On the day the news broke of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I was surprised but not alone in finding myself overcome with emotion. Prime Ministers and policemen and countless visitors to this cathedral, throughout the day and days since, were in tears. Perhaps it was that we did not know how much we loved her. Grief is the price we pay for love, the late Queen once said. …”
The service can be seen here, and the Order of Service can also be downloaded.
Thanks to Anglican Media Sydney for the image.
Armidale Synod meeting this weekend
For your prayers:
Armidale Synod is meeting Friday September 23 to Sunday September 25 at Calrossy Anglican School in Tamworth.
It will their the first in-person full synod since 2019.
Do pray for the churches of this large area of NSW as they hold out the words of eternal life. And pray for Bishop Rod Chiswell and his leadership team.
Image: The Diocese of Armidale stretches from Boggabilla to Lightning Ridge and Walgett, to Quirindi to Tenterfield.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…