Peter Grice consecrated as Bishop for Rockhampton
Peter Grice, until recently the Dean of Geraldton Cathedral in the Diocese of North West Australia, was consecrated in St John’s Cathedral Brisbane this evening.
He will be installed as the 13th Bishop of Rockhampton at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Rockhampton on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 11:00am (AEST, Noon AEDT). That service will be streamed live.
(The consecration service was streamed live, and a recording may be viewed here.)
Please uphold Peter and Virginia in prayer in this new phase of their service of the Lord Jesus.
Top image: Bishop Grice (back to camera) is greeting by Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies as Brisbane Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, seated, looks on.
Rod Chiswell’s Consecration and Installation as Bishop of Armidale this Saturday
From the Diocese of Armidale:
“Our new Bishop, the Reverend Rod Chiswell, will have his consecration and installation service at St Peter’s Cathedral Armidale on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 10 am, followed by a reception at the Armidale Ex Services Club.
The Metropolitan of NSW, the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, will be presiding.
Unfortunately COVID-19 restrictions mean that numbers at the service and reception will be limited, and so attendance will have to be by invitation only. However there are plans to make a live stream of the service available.”
Update: The livestream will be available here.
Photo: Rod and Jenni Chiswell.
Second group of Deacons ordained in Sydney
“The second group of new Deacons was ordained at St Andrew’s Cathedral, in a smaller service because of COVID restrictions, but with the same scriptural charge to follow their Lord’s example.
The Making of Deacons service is held annually in February following the completion of the ordinands’ theological studies the year prior. Due to COVID and subsequent reduced capacity in the cathedral, an additional service was held last November for half of the ordinands, who had already been working in parish ministry. This decision allowed the Cathedral to enable more family and friends to attend in support of the ordinands and encourage them as they commence their ministry. …”
– Full story at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Nominations open for Archbishop’s election
“Names are being put forward as nominees for the Synod that will elect the next Archbishop of Sydney.
The Archbishop’s summons was issued on January 25 laying out the times, dates and venue for a one-day ‘ordinary’ session of Synod, followed by the Election Synod. Due to changing COVID restrictions in the past few months, the summons differs from what was originally foreshadowed last year.
The message, sent to all eligible Synod members, calls them to an ordinary session of Synod on Monday, May 3. … The sessions from May 4-7 have been set aside for the Election Synod, as needed. …
Archbishop Glenn Davies will retire on Friday, March 26. His term was extended from his original retirement date of July 2020.”
– Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net reports on the plans for the Election Synod. And please be encouraged to heed Archbishop Davies’ call to prayer.
“A rare opportunity to show God’s love… in very special and practical ways”
“His Christian faith and a family experience of dementia first drew Dr Stephen Judd to the field of dementia care. He has now been made a Member in the General Division of the Order Of Australia (AM) in recognition of his work. …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell reports on Sydney Anglicans who were honoured this Australia Day.
The future of the Australian Anglican Church – with Kanishka Raffel, Richard Condie and Jennifer Hercott
“The unity of the Australian Anglican Church is hanging by a thread.
Bishop of Tasmania Richard Condie, Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, and Jennifer Hercott from St Luke’s Church in Emerald in Queensland all serve on the Board of GAFCON Australia, a group within the Anglican denomination who are committed to upholding biblical and historic Christian faith, within Anglicanism.
In 2019 the Wangaratta Diocese in Victoria voted to go ahead with blessing same sex unions. That decision was followed by a vote in the Diocese of Newcastle in New South Wales.
The issue was expected to come to a head at the Australian General Synod in June 2020. But COVID put everything on hold, delaying the gathering till June this year…”
– A very sobering and important edition of The Pastor’s Heart.
Plans for Bishop of Armidale’s Consecration and Installation
From the Diocese of Armidale:
“Our new Bishop, the Reverend Rod Chiswell, will have his consecration and installation service at St Peter’s Cathedral Armidale on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 10 am, followed by a reception at the Armidale Ex Services Club.
The Metropolitan of NSW, the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, will be presiding.
Unfortunately COVID-19 restrictions mean that numbers at the service and reception will be limited, and so attendance will have to be by invitation only. However there are plans to make a live stream of the service available.”
Photo: Rod and Jenni Chiswell.
Blayney’s new Anglican minister
“Reverend Wally Cox is the iteration of Bishop Calder’s plans to bring new life and energy into the Bathurst diocese parishes, and Reverend Cox is under no delusions as to the difficulty of the task in front of him as he begins his life as Blayney’s new Anglican minister…”
– Report and photo Mark Logan, The Blayney Chronicle.
Moore College Library Day 2021 – H.W.K. and Dorothy Mowll
From Moore College:
“H.W.K. Mowll (Archbishop of Sydney) and his wife Dorothy are two of the most significant figures in 20th century Australian church history, and had a lasting and godly influence on Moore College, the Diocese of Sydney and beyond.
Our Library Day for 2021 features Moore College faculty and guest speakers who will explore important aspects of the Mowlls’ life and ministry, onsite and via livestream.”
Challenges and opportunities in rural NSW
In the Summer 2020 edition of Moore College’s Moore Matters, Mark Calder, Bishop of Bathurst, shares:
“… I am surprised and delighted and sometimes terrified to find myself in a new role in the Diocese of Bathurst. It is an extraordinary privilege. Having been here a year (on 23rd November) – and a very unique and challenging year at that – I know that I am only just beginning.
My oft repeated line, when asked how things are going, has been ‘the challenges are great, but so too are the opportunities’. So let me tell you a little about both. …”
– Read, be encouraged, pray – and – perhaps – go!
Mandatory masks in latest COVID changes
“New restrictions have been announced for indoor venues, including churches, as a result of COVID-19 transmission on the Northern Beaches and across Greater Sydney.
The measures take effect from Sunday, 3rd January, for Greater Sydney including Wollongong, Central Coast and the Blue Mountains.
Face masks are mandatory for shopping, indoor entertainment, public transport and places of worship…”
– Story from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
See also the Diocesan COVID-19 FAQ page for church workers.
Amazing Place: The place of ‘Place’ – with Matthew Sleeman
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“What is a biblical theology of place?
Matthew Sleeman is a lecturer in New Testament at Oak Hill Theological College in London. …
Matthew says place is more than point on a map. Place contributes to making us who we are. And we contribute to making the place what it is. We are shaped by our places and we paint ourselves onto places.
Places are locations for ministries, discipleship and living for Jesus.”
Also from The Pastor’s Heart this week, a very sobering topic:
Processing the Ravi Zacharias sexual abuse scandal – with Dan Paterson.
Christmas is not cancelled, just different
“The latest outbreak of COVID-19, centred on the Northern Beaches, has wrought havoc with Christmas plans but churches have been working frantically to adapt. …”
– Here’s the very latest from SydneyAnglicans.net.
COVID shows us something deeper — the great unmasking of God
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has released his Christmas message for 2020. Read more
Bishop Mark Calder’s Christmas message for 2020
The Bishop of Bathurst, Mark Calder, has released a brief Christmas message.
Click this link to watch the video – and the text is below.
Can you imagine the conversation Mary had to have with Joseph?
“Joseph – we need to talk”. (Long pause while she gathers the courage.) “I’m pregnant”.
What a shock! Mary knew she hadn’t slept with anyone. Joseph knew it wasn’t him!
Joseph was a good guy and decided not to make a fuss but simply walk away.
But God had other plans.
“What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”, an angel told Joseph in a dream. What a dream!! There would have been comfort in that dream – Mary had not been sleeping around. But confusion too – whatever does “conceived by the Holy Spirit” mean?
Put simply, it means that in this baby, God was stepping into our world. He had an earthly mother, but a heavenly Father. God turned up – not in a majestic palace – but as a small, vulnerable baby, laid in a food trough and needing his nappy changed. Astonishing!
The two names given to this boy help us understand something of the significance of his birth.
The first: ‘Jesus’. It means ‘God saves’. Saves from what? The angel explained to Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”. “Sins” is not a word we use today. Ultimately it means shutting God out and living as if he doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. That attitude breaks our relationship with God. Jesus’ whole mission was to mend that relationship. By his life, death and resurrection, he makes it possible for anyone, should they want to, to be forgiven and come back into relationship with him, now and forever. That is pretty wonderful and overwhelmingly generous.
The second name: ‘Immanuel’. It means ‘God with us’. “What if God was one of us?”, Joan Osborne mused in her hit song. Christmas reminds us that God did in fact turn up as one of us. That means he gets us. He knows life! And he’s still with us – by his Spirit. In all our joys and laughter. In all our pain and grief. God is with us! This too is pretty wonderful.
COVID may dent our plans and indeed may have caused us grief this year.
But it is not so powerful that it can change the meaning of Christmas.
God saves. God with us. Revel and enjoy. (Even if your plans have had to change.)
Watch our traditional Christmas service here: https://tinyurl.com/trad-service
Watch our more contemporary service here: https://tinyurl.com/mod-service
And do pray for the churches right across Bathurst Diocese as they seek to share the saving news this Christmas.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…