Melbourne election synod: Board members step down
“On 12 March the Board of Nominators sent a communication to synod members. The update, from the Chair of the Board Dr Jenny George, addressed five matters. …
What was very clear in the three-page update was that this task of selecting potential candidates to bring to the election synod was onerous and time consuming. Dr George wrote that a number of board members had stepped down ‘for a variety of personal reasons’. The board initially consisted of 18 members. As of 12 March, there are 14 members, who are listed in the update. …”
– Report from Penny Mulvey at The Melbourne Anglican.
Anglican Aid report — 3,000 dead in Goma
“Tim Swan CEO of Anglican Aid issues an urgent update.
We have just heard from Bishop Martin Gordon in Goma. He said that at least 3,000 people have been killed in his city. Many thousands have been injured, and hospitals are overwhelmed. UNICEF estimates 330,000 additional children are missing out on school as a result of the recent fighting, as 2,500 schools are closed. There is widespread sexual violence, theft, and looting.
Local clergy told Bishop Martin of the fear they felt as they hid in their homes, listening to gunfire as the city was taken over. …”
– John Sandeman at The Other Cheek shares this troubling news via Canon Tim Swan. And there’s a link to Anglican Aid’s appeal page.
Pray for Central Western NSW – BCA March 2025 Prayer Video
The Bush Church Aid Society’s Greg Harris shares prayer points for the Central West of NSW.
See the BCA website.
A Canary in the Anglican Coalmine
“At a recent meeting in Germany, religious freedom experts from around the world warned of a climate of ‘increasing intolerance’ towards people of faith in Western nations. Anja Hoffmann, Executive Director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, who was one of the organisers of the event, said:
It is very worrying that the peaceful expression of personal religious beliefs on matters relating to marriage and family has become the potential end of a political career or employment, or even the beginning of a court case … This is a serious threat to religious freedom and leads to widespread self-censorship among traditional believers in the West.
Australia is not immune from this slide into intolerance. …”
– Mark Durie, Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Theology, has republished this important essay on his website.
Written for Quadrant, and first published in the March 2025 issue, it’s a wakeup call for Christians and churches across the country. Essential reading.
Hope for Sydney
“The Buddhist faith in which I was raised as a child teaches rebirth. The Christian faith into which, by God’s grace, I was rescued, teaches that you must be born again. So, it could sound like these two faiths have something in common. But in fact, this is not so.
The ‘rebirth’ taught by the Buddhist faith says that, after death, you are born into another lifetime. It’s called rebirth because the life into which you are reborn depends on the life you have lived – what you sow in one life you reap in your next life. …”
– Archbishop Kanishka Raffel shares the hope everyone needs.
At SydneyAnglicans.net.
Top Centre News — Issue 1 for 2025
The first issue of Top Centre magazine from the Diocese of the Northern Territory was published online a few weeks ago.
It includes one article, “Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Cyclone Tracy”, and another on the centenary of Oenpelli mission.
– Click on ‘Download latest issue’.
Much food for prayer.
Related:
Letter from Principal of Nungalinya College, Darwin, Dr. Keith Cole – written 1st January 1975, just after Cyclone Tracy.
A short reflection on the significance of Lent
On the Bathurst Diocese Facebook page, Bishop Mark Calder has a short reflection on the significance of Lent (which began on Wednesday).
– Watch here. (May require a login to Facebook.)
Exploring and Celebrating the Nicene Creed
“This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which is an important part of our liturgy for a number of our services, in particular for the Eucharist. We encourage you to mark this year by devoting some time to focussing on the creed, both personally and as a congregation. …”
– The Ministry Development Committee of the Diocese of Ballarat is seeking to help church members think about what they mean when they say the Nicene Creed on Sundays.
Related:
Credo Magazine feature: 1700 Years after Nicaea. – January 2025.
Word in Song Conference Sydney 2025 — 22 March
From Emu Music:
“Are you passionate about singing that is deeply rooted in Scripture? The Word in Song Conference is a place where worship leaders, musicians, and church members come together to be equipped, inspired, and encouraged – helping you and your church grow in a gospel-centred approach to music and ministry.”
– Details here.
Sydney’s link to Chilean ‘blockbuster’ event
“Supporters from across the globe have travelled to the Chilean capital Santiago for a threefold ceremony that Anglican Aid CEO and former missionary to Chile, the Rev Canon Tim Swan, calls an ‘Anglican blockbuster event’.
The occasion was the retirement of Héctor (Tito) Zavala as Primate of Chile, the consecration of Juan Esteban Saravia as Bishop of Santiago, and the installation of Bishop Enrique Lago as Primate of Chile. …”
– Russell Powell reports at SydneyAnglicans.net.
How does an election for a new Archbishop of Melbourne work?
“Current lay and clergy members of the Diocese of Melbourne’s synod will gather at St Paul’s Cathedral on 23 and 24 May to elect a new archbishop. The meeting will be closed to the public.
The last time the two houses of synod (the House of Laity and the House of Clergy) came together to elect an archbishop was in 2006. It was a protracted and rancorous process requiring two separate meetings.
The diocese is currently without an archbishop, with Archbishop Freier retiring on his 70th birthday, as per the synod regulations, earlier this month. …”
– At The Melbourne Anglican, Penny Mulvey provides an outline for the election process.
It’d be good to uphold in prayer Melbourne Anglicans as they work through this process.
Bathurst Diocese – updated list of Ministry Opportunities
The Diocese of Bathurst has updated its profiles of Parishes without Rectors.
See the profiles to inform your prayers – and there’s a link to use if you are interested in serving in Bathurst Diocese.
27 Ordained and Director of Indigenous Ministry Commissioned in Sydney
Russell Powell writes at SydneyAnglicans.net –
“With more than 1000 people in the congregation and 27 servant-hearted men and women, St Andrew’s Cathedral echoed with the sound of singing, fulfilling Charles Wesley’s hope for ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise’.
Newly ordained, the deacons then made their way through the crowds for a group photo on the steps of the cathedral and then celebrated with family and church members from across Sydney, Wollongong and beyond. …”
Pray for Congo as atrocities echo those of the Rwandan genocide
“Horrific reports are emerging from the Democratic Republic of Congo as the nation is being torn apart by fighting which has echoes of the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s…
In the isolated city of Goma, rebels have conducted a campaign of looting, rape and indiscriminate killing.
The Archbishop of Sydney’s Anglican Aid has launched an emergency appeal to provide food, clothing, and medicine to those in extreme need. …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell shares something of what is happening in Congo, and what you can do to help those suffering (including by praying).
Related:
Back in 1997, ACL News spoke with Bishop Peter Dawson, then recently returned from DR Congo (then Zaire). He called for prayer for the churches of Congo. It would be good to pray such prayers now. (See the prayer included in today’s Sydney Anglicans report.)
Bringing Hope to the Illawarra
“March 2025 will see one of the largest evangelistic campaigns for many years in the Illawarra region.
‘Hope For The Illawarra’, a partnership between the US broadcast ministry Leading The Way and churches in the Illawarra, will culminate in outreach events. …”
– Russell Powell has news of good news for the people of the Illawarra.
At SydneyAnglicans.net.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…