Southern Cross for September 2021

Anglican Media’s Southern Cross magazine for September 2021 is now online.

Much encouragement to pray.

And do see the Archbishop’s column “Putting Coronvirus in its place” on pages 14 and 15.

“Amid the tremendous upheaval we have experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is so good to look to the Lord who is risen, reigning and returning. Nothing takes God by surprise and the ministry he has entrusted to his people remains the same – ‘this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world’. Jesus is not unaware of the suffering of his people in a world of wars, famines and earthquakes.”

Read online (or download the PDF file) at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.

Weddings back on!

“After weeks of lobbying, the NSW Government has announced that restrictions on weddings have been eased.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and the chairman of the Diocese COVID Taskforce, Bishop Gary Koo, have been making the case to the government for a relaxation of restrictions. …”

– Some good news via SydneyAnglicans.net.

COVID Comfort from the Bishop of Bathurst

Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder recorded this brief message of exhortation today.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel on TEN’s The Project

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel was a guest on Network TEN’s The Project this evening, speaking about refugees from Afghanistan.

Watch here (Twitter).

Related:

Christian leaders urge Morrison to take more Afghan refugees – Sydney Morning Herald, 22 August 2021.

Pray with us for Afghanistan

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has called for prayer for the troubled nation of Afghanistan.

In a video issued today, he addressed the situation after the withdrawal of western forces and prayed for the nation, its people, especially the women facing persecution and repression and Christian churches.

He also prayed for Australian defence personnel who had served in that land, saying “for soldiers who returned from there bearing the scars of war, and their families, these have been days of anger, grief and disbelief.”

See the video from the Archbishop, and download the prayer written by the Rev Mark Charleston at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Lockdown brings us to our knees

“Prayer is everywhere, and not just for the pandemic. Extended periods of isolation at home have meant that people, stripped of a busy life of commuting, events and travel, are putting prayer at the forefront of their day. …

Last week the Archbishop and bishops organised regional meetings of leaders of churches across the Diocese to pray for our locked-down communities.

Archbishop Raffel is also joining other church and community leaders in a special prayer event in Wednesday, 18 Aug (click here to register on zoom). The group, organised by Family Voice, includes former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, and former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones. …

On twitter, the Archbishop also called for urgent prayer for the nation of Afghanistan, especially for vulnerable people, after the takeover by the Taliban.”

– Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Should Christians accept the COVID-19 vaccine?

In an updated piece at SydneyAnglicans.net, Dr. Megan Best addresses the question “Should Christians accept the COVID-19 vaccine?”.

Read and share.

Image: Dr Best with Chase Kuhn and Dominic Steele on The Pastor’s Heart in August 2020.

The Swanson diocese

In October 2019, Joshua Bovis, Vicar of St John The Evangelist in Tamworth, wrote this opinion-piece for the Anglican Ink website.

It’s particularly relevant in the light of yesterday’s pastoral letter from the Bishop of Newcastle to clergy in that diocese.

Joshua shares something of his own experiences of the Newcastle Diocese from 2009 to 2013, the time during which he was a postulant, ordinand, deacon, and priest:

“At their recent Synod this weekend, the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle passed two bills to enable clergy to bless what God in His Word deems to be sinful, to bless what the Bible says is an expression of an anti-God state of mind (see Romans 1:18ff), to declare holy what God states keeps people out of the Kingdom of God, and redefined the doctrine of marriage. This move mirrors that of a similar proposal passed by Wangaratta diocese in Victoria. …

I am very saddened by this. For it was was in the Newcastle Diocese that I was ordained to the diaconate and to the priesthood. It was a very moving experience. (I am the man in the chasuble that is is almost all white).

It was very powerful hearing the exhortation to both in my public and private ministry oppose and set aside teaching that is contrary to God’s Word, to be told to encourage and build up the body of Christ, to preach the Word of God, lead God’s people in prayer, declare God’s forgiveness and blessing. Also the reminder to pastor after the pattern of Christ the great Shepherd, to lead the people of God as a servant of Christ; to love and serve the people with whom you work, caring alike for young and old, rich and poor, weak and strong; to studying the Scriptures wholeheartedly, reflecting with God’s people upon their meaning, so that my ministry and life may be shaped by Christ.

I was reminded of how great a treasure has been placed in my care and that I will be called to give an account before Jesus Christ.

It was in the Newcastle Diocese that I openly declared my conviction that the Holy Scriptures contains all doctrine necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and declared by God’s grace determination and intention and desire to instruct from these Scriptures the people committed to my care, teaching nothing as essential to salvation which cannot be demonstrated from the Scriptures. …”

– Read it all at Anglican Ink, and do note the questions asked. How might you answer if they were asked of you?

(As Albert Mohler has warned many times, “Every Christian and every Christian ministry will come to a reckoning – we must all decide here and now where we stand. Will we pivot or will we hold fast to faithfulness and the hope of the gospel?”)

Photos: Joshua Bovis.

Bishop of Newcastle “Lifts Ban on Same-Sex Blessings”

“In a move that can only serve to push the Anglican Church of Australia into much deeper crisis, the Bishop of Newcastle Peter Stuart has written a Pastoral Letter where he signals his approval of clergy conducting a blessing of couples married in a same-sex marriage.

In his familiar style, Stuart does not explicitly state the change of conditions but his meaning has been clearly understood by its recipients …”

– David Ould reports on the Pastoral Letter from Bishop Peter Stuart to the Clergy of the Diocese of Newcastle dated 9 August 2021.

Related:

Gafcon Australia moves ahead — plans for new Australian diocese – 19 July 2021.

Top Centre magazine from the Diocese of the Northern Territory

The latest issue of Top Centre, the magazine of the Diocese of The Northern Territory, is now available on their website. Top Centre 21.1.

It includes a feature on Phil and Leeanne Zamagias, who have completed their time in the NT. They have moved to Echuca, where Phil will lead the team at Christ Church Anglican.

Fuel for your prayers for the Top End.

Sandy Grant to be Dean of Sydney

“The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, has appointed Canon Sandy Grant, of St Michael’s Cathedral Wollongong, to be the new Dean of Sydney.

He will be the 13th Dean of Sydney, a post with a history stretching back to 1858 when William Macquarie Cowper was appointed as the first Dean.

Canon Grant has been the Senior Minister of St Michael’s in Wollongong since 2004 and will take up his ministry at Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral in December. …”

– Read the news from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Southern Cross for August 2021

Once more, it’s not possible to distribute printed copies of Southern Cross magazine (in fact, it wasn’t printed this month) – but Anglican Media Sydney has posted the full issue online.

From Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s column (Sickness, COVID and the hope to come, page 15):

“John’s Gospel records an episode in the life of Jesus that is both deeply personal and powerfully universal.

As far as Scripture records, Jesus never experienced illness himself. He did, however, experience hunger, thirst, the barbarous physical cruelty of flogging and crucifixion. And of course, Jesus experienced death.

Jesus is famously recorded on numerous occasions being swamped by people who were ill or suffering from some mental, physical or demonic affliction. His reputation as a healer was documented even by non-Christian ancient sources.

In John chapter 11 we are given a window into how Jesus was affected by the sickness of others. …”

Thanks to Jane Tooher, there’s also a profile of “A woman who did not give in to fear” – Dorothy Mowll. (page 16).

 

Read online (or download the PDF file) at magazine.sydneyanglicans.net.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s message for churches for Sunday 1st August 2021.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has recorded this message for churches for their online gatherings on Sunday, 01 August, 2021.

We’re sure you’ll find it an encouragement.

Russell Powell has more at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Advance Australia Where?

“The creature we know as the Anglican church has a history replete with knotty problems and gritty solutions. And when it comes to the matter of problems, it is something of an understatement to say that the Anglican Church of Australia has a very serious one on its hands at present: the dioceses of Wangaratta and Newcastle have resolved to pursue the practice of blessing of same-sex marriages. This, of course, has pushed them away from a good swathe of the wider national church and further structural estrangement has the potential to rend the (already weakened) fabric of the national fellowship asunder.

Into the breach the recent Appellate Tribunal has come. Through an unusual definition of ‘doctrine’ and some eccentric exegesis the majority opinions imply that the Australian Anglican family can adopt these changes and keep toiling together in the same constitutional territory. Such opinions have stunned the many onlookers who believe precisely the opposite. Indeed, the vast majority of the submissions to the Appellate Tribunal, the Board of Assessors report, and the guidance of the House of Bishops all said in unison, words to the effect of ‘no!’…”

– At The Australian Church Record, Dr Mark Earngey explains that “the GAFCON movement is precisely what is needed for a time such as this”.

His article, republished from the Autumn 2021 ACR Journal, was written before Archbishop Raffel’s election, and before this week’s announcement from GAFCON Australia.

See also:

Dr Robert Tong on the Appellate Tribunal Opinion – 12 November 2020.

Preliminary thoughts on the Appellate Tribunal ruling – Dr Mark Thompson, 11 November 2020.

Bathurst’s “Ministry is for everyone” Conference to be in new format due to COVID

The Diocese of Bathurst’s “Ministry is for everyone” Diocesan Conference has had to be reconfigured due to the COVID-19 restrictions now in force.

In the video above, Bishop Mark Calder explains that they’ll be running all the elements of the conference online, over seven Monday afternoons and evenings, beginning Monday 2nd August.

And do pray for the churches of Bathurst Diocese, pray that this conference now might be a blessing to even more people.

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