Women, families and same-sex marriage on the agenda for General Synod

“Gender balance and family violence will be key issues on the agenda at the 18th Anglican General Synod in May, according to agenda documents.

The solemnisation of same sex marriage is also set to be debated by delegates. …

The issue of the blessing of same-sex marriage will also be revisited by delegates at the General Synod.

Two statements with respect to the topic of human sexuality and same-sex marriages were submitted by the Sydney Diocese for discussion on the synod’s first day.”

– Report from The Melbourne Anglican.

General Synod meets from Sunday 8 May to Friday 13 May on the Gold Coast.

Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham — May 2022

From the Diocese of Tasmania –

“The Tasmania Celebration with Will Graham is coming up in Hobart on 21 May and in Launceston from 27-29 May 2022.

Since 1950, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has held Crusades all across the globe for one purpose: to proclaim God’s love to people who need Jesus Christ. Today, Will Graham Celebrations continue this life-changing mission. …”

Hope amid Hardship

“… after a 634-day delay, God willing, by the time you read these words we will have arrived in New Zealand to partner with the saints in Hamilton in sharing the hope of Jesus.

So, what have we learned about hope in our time of hardship that will serve us well in Hamilton, and how does it connect to the hope of Easter?…”

– The Rev Mike Turner and his family have been waiting to travel to New Zealand to serve in Hamilton.

Mike reflects on the Easter hope in the April 2022 Ministry Matters from the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand.

Livestream for General Synod — for members who are isolating

“The Australian General Synod will be livestreamed for the first time to minimise disruption from COVID-19, allowing delegates to participate in the conference virtually if they are isolating.

Organisers say the decision was a response to the COVID-19 situation, which meant synod delegates might have to isolate at the last minute, possibly even going into isolation during the conference.

A seminar-style livestream will also be available to some people who would normally view the conference but not participate. …

General Synod will run from Sunday 8 May to Friday 13 May.”

– Story from The Melbourne Anglican.

“Easter in a minute” – from the Bishop of Bathurst

Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder has released this one-minute Easter message for 2022.

Watch and share widely.

Also, Bishop Calder has posted several Easter service and sermon videos. If you’re unable to get to church this Easter, you’ll find them a great encouragement.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s Easter Message 2022

Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel has released this Easter Message for 2022.

Watch and share widely.

It’s ideal to download and play in church, or to post on church websites!

Thanks to Russell Powell at Anglican Media Sydney for the video and the transcript.

Image: Anglican Media Sydney.

Allowah Presbyterian Children’s Hospital needs help to keep the doors open

Back in November 2021 we reported that Presbyterian Social Services in NSW are seeking help in gaining vital funding for the Allowah Presbyterian Children’s Hospital in Dundas, “the only hospital dedicated to the health of children with disabilities in NSW”.

Now CEO Liz McClean writes,

“As you know, Allowah has had a rough couple of years financially due to COVID-19.

We have been working on obtaining government funding for the past 12 months, however it’s now looking like that won’t be an option, at least in the short term.

Unfortunately, that means that we will come to the end of our internal resources before we are able to get services and admissions back to a sustainable level.”

As a result, Allowah has started an appeal, and perhaps you can help them keep the doors open.

The latest “TOP CENTRE” from the Northern Territory

The Diocese of the Northern Territory has published the first Top Centre magazine for 2021.

It includes news of several new faces in the diocese.

Bishop Greg Anderson explains why they produce Top Centre:

“This is the fourth edition of Top Centre with Anne Lim as our editor. It seems a good time to say something about Top Centre and its place in the Diocese of the NT, to draw attention to why we commit time, energy and money to producing it, and what value it has. …

Having a diocesan magazine reminds me of the importance of stories. Our Christian faith is based on a story – real, not made-up – comprising events that unfold the work of God in rescuing the world he made and loves, and that reaches its high point in the arrival, death and resurrection of Jesus. At the heart of the work of the diocese is sharing about this rescuing work that the Bible’s narrative recounts.”

– Read it all on page 3 of this edition.

The latest Armidale “Link”

Admittedly we’re a bit late in posting this link to The Link, the magazine of the Diocese of Armidale.

The March 2022 issue is now up on their website.

Fuel for your prayers.

North West Network March 2022

The latest issue of North West Network, the newsletter of the Diocese of Northwest Australia, is now available.

Download your copy and use it as fuel for your prayers for the churches and people of the North West.

An unwanted gift

“Have you ever received a gift that you did not want? A number of years ago I asked my father to buy me a cast-iron griddle pan, but he decided to give it to my wife Pearl instead. I was delighted. She was less than impressed. Not every gift is something we want.

I received a gift I didn’t want recently. Despite abundant caution and double vaccination I received a bad case of COVID-19. And it really was bad. I cannot remember feeling so ill in my life. Even a month later I’m still in the process of recovery. Yet, despite all that, and amid recognition of all the pain and loss it has caused so many, I still consider it a gift. …”

– Bishop of Western Sydney Gary Koo shares what he has learned through COVID – at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Image: Bishop Gary Koo / Anglican Media Sydney.

National Bishops meeting in Adelaide

The Bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia are meeting in Adelaide Friday 18 – Tuesday 22 March. Due to COVID the last two years, this is their first in-person meeting since 2019.

Please uphold in prayer all who are meeting.

Pray for good and godly discussion as relationships in some quarters have been strained by recent actions relating to the blessing of same sex marriages.

Pray for wisdom for all and that the Lord will be honoured in what is said and done.

(Diocesan crests via the Anglican Church of Australia website.)

How ‘voluntary assisted dying’ would change our culture and values

“The introduction, last year, of Independent MP Alex Greenwich’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill (2021) (the ‘Bill’) is a momentous shift in medical practice and community expectation. It marks the final abandonment of one of the cornerstones of Western civilisation: the sanctity of life. The idea that all human life is inherently precious was not generally affirmed in the world into which Jesus Christ was born. It spread with the growth of early Christianity and finds expression today in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Advocates of Voluntary Assisted Dying (a deeply misleading cluster of words) have emphasised not the sanctity of life, but quality of life as subjectively experienced, and the primacy of autonomous choice.  Recently, a man said to me, ‘Archbishop, if you don’t want to choose assisted suicide you don’t have to, but don’t get in the way of those of us who want the right to choose’. I understand the depth of feeling and the logic.

But this way of arguing – ‘if you don’t choose it, it won’t affect you’ – is naïve.…”

– Archbishop Kanishka Raffel writes at SydneyAnglicans.net.

See also:

The Archbishop joined The Hon Damien Tudehope MLC (Leader of the Govt in the Legislative Council Professor), Professor Margaret Sommerville AM FRSC (Bioethicist) and Dr Frank Brennan MBBS, DCH, Dip Obs, FRACP, FAChPM, LLB (Lawyer and Palliative Care Specialist) in a special event at St. John’s Parramatta last night.

Watch the full video – and share with friends.

Likewise, please see and share: ePetition: “Please unanimously reject the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021”.

New start at Parkes

“The Anglican Parish of Parkes and Peak Hill has welcomed and embraced the Reverend Ben Mackay and his family who moved to Parkes in early January.

Ben’s formal welcome and commissioning will be held at St George’s Parkes tomorrow, 12th March, at 10am. The Bishop of the Diocese of Bathurst, Mark Calder will conduct the service …”

– News from The Parkes Phoenix.

Bathurst Anglican e-News — March 2022

The Diocese of Bathurst’s e-News for March 2022 is now up on their website.

It’s a “newsletter for the Anglican Church in Central & Western NSW”, but will be of interest to many who are praying for the eternal good of men and women across that diocese.

In this issue Bishop Mark Calder writes –

Encouraging signs of growth

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same mind towards each other that Christ Jesus had; a humility of servanthood and of sacrifice, so that with one voice and one mind we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

I’ve been sharing those verses with you since before I began here and I think that under God we are slowly seeing our prayers answered in that regard. …

Read it all on page 2 – and download the whole issue here. (3.7MB PDF file.)

In an e-mail to newsletter recipients Bishop Calder writes:

“Please give thanks with us for the grace of God at work among us and pray that the Lord will raise up more gospel workers for our 16/29 parishes without clergy.”

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