Bathurst Diocese newsletter Pentecost 2024

Here’s the Bathurst Diocese newsletter for Pentecost 2024 – Download the PDF file from their website.

Please continue to pray for the churches and towns of the diocese – and for Bishop Mark Calder, as he seeks to faithfully preach Christ, encourage the churches, and listen to the concerns of all.

Update on the Worldwide Anglican Communion from Bp Jay Behan

“The upcoming Global South Fellowship of Anglicans (GSFA) meeting in Cairo is being held from 11-15 June, and I will attend.

Its purpose is to gather orthodox Anglican leaders from around the world who are committed to a new covenantal structure to unite Anglicans worldwide in mission and ministry. …”

– In a recent e-mail update from the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa NZ, Bishop Jay Behan commends Archbishop Laurent Mbanda’s GAFCON Response to the Primates meeting in Rome, and explains why he will attend the GSFA meeting in Cairo.

Hope25 Launch Video Pentecost 2024

Here’s a video to introduce Hope25.

You can learn more at the Hope25 website:

“Hope 25 is an opportunity for us to share the hope that we have in Jesus.

It is an intentional season of sharing hope in Jesus for every parish and community in the Australian Anglican Church.

We are asking each parish to commit to doing (at least) one thing to help share the hope that we have in Jesus during this season.

We aren’t going to tell you what to do, but we will provide resources and support so that each parish can act locally and contextually, sharing the hope we have in Jesus in a way that best fits your context. It may be that you have multiple different groups within your parish and a number of different events are needed to engage with those group. Or, you may choose to band together on one event, it is entirely up to each parish or community to choose.

Dates: Easter Day (April 20, 2025) to Pentecost Sunday (June 8, 2025)”

Armidale Preaching Conference Review

From The Expository Preaching Trust:

“On 6-7 May we held a fully subscribed Preaching Conference in St Peter’s Cathedral, Armidale.

The conference was sponsored by the Trust and co chaired by Rod Chiswell, the Bishop of Armidale, and David Cook of the Trust. …”

– Read here.

Showing Christ’s love to children in need

“Are you constantly amazed by the depths of God’s love described in these verses like we are?

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (John 4:9-10)

God loved us by sending his son Jesus into the world, who laid down his life for us. And as the Apostle John writes, this truth gives us a powerful reason to love others.

We love because he first loved us! (John 4:19)

All around the world, Anglican Aid’s partners are taking these verses to heart. …”

– At Anglican Aid’s website, Anna Grummitt shares some encourgement and also a way you can help.

Evangelism in Bathurst Diocese – Sharing Jesus for life

A very encouraging editorial from The Australian Church Record:

“Through the goodness of God, combined with the kindness and service of his people, the Anglican Diocese of Bathurst has experienced renewal in recent years. Fresh vision, boldness, and a firm grip upon biblical preaching and teaching has spread through its churches. Evangelism has been at the forefront of the minds of its leaders and very much within the hearts of its people.

Ultimately, there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to evangelism. It is simply sharing Jesus for life. Therefore, Bathurst Diocese has no new fancy technique to report. This diocese has modelled its evangelism from Scripture and has ‘just got on with it’.

The determination and drive of Bishop Mark Calder at the helm, consecrated and installed in late 2019, has given a very clear path forward which is bearing fruit in lives won for the kingdom, and the church of God is flourishing. Bishop Calder came to bring gospel change, has maintained this objective, and by the grace of God, many have joined with him in sharing Jesus for life. As I pause with others to reflect upon our evangelism, some key principles have emerged as being very significant for us. …”

– Read it all here. Food for Prayer.

Save the date for Anglican Aid’s 2024 Conference

From Anglican Aid in Sydney:

“We are thrilled to announce that Anglican Aid’s 2024 one-day conference will take place on Saturday 31 August at Moore College.

After the success of last year’s ‘Social Justice Reframed’ event, we will once again gather with 200 thoughtful Christians to consider the intersection of Christian aid, development, and the gospel.

This year’s international guest speaker is Bishop Mwita Akiri, Anglican Aid’s partner in the Diocese of Tarime, Tanzania and Chairman of GAFCON Tanzania. …”

– Read more here.

May – June 2024 Southern Cross now available

Anglican Media Sydney has published the May – June 2024 issue of Southern Cross magazine.

Copies will be available in churches shortly, but you can download a PDF version, or read it online, now.

This issue includes a tribute (page 30) to the Rev. Stephen Gabbott who was called home last month.

Bathurst Bishop Mark Calder thanks Sydney church for Kids Club partnership

From the Diocese of Bathurst Facebook page yesterday:

“Bishop Mark was up in Blayney early yesterday to thank the team of 40 people (!) who have come from Norwest Anglican to help run a holiday kids club with Blayney churches.

Pictured here with Pete the minister, Tom the leader and the Rev’d Bec Choi, local convenor. Please pray for their last day today with over 70 local children! Sharing Jesus for LIFE!”

Sydney in shock and grief — Cathedral prayers

“ ‘We have been rocked in a way that we have not experienced for many years,’ Archbishop Kanishka Raffel told a prayer service at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Tuesday night, 16 April, drawing together clergy and members of churches surrounding Bondi Junction as well as members of the public. …”

– A report on last night’s Cathedral prayer service for Bondi – at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Archbishop of Sydney’s statement on Sydney church stabbing

Here’s a statement issued this afternoon by Archbishop Kanishka Raffel –

“Anglican Diocese of Sydney

Archbishop’s statement on Sydney church attack

All of Sydney will be shocked by the attack on Assyrian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and members of his congregation at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Wakeley, Western Sydney. We deplore all acts of violence wherever they take place and whatever their motivation.

I have written to the church community to assure them of our prayers for the recovery of the Bishop and others who were injured, as well as our prayers for the man who committed the attack.

At the same time, we also deplore the violent acts of those who took to the streets and endangered members of the Police and Ambulance services who were seeking to bring relief and safety to those in need. This is unacceptable.

The NSW Police have declared last night’s attack as religiously motivated. Jesus urges his followers to ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’, nor should a whole community be blamed for the acts of a young individual about whom we know very little at this time.

I call on all people of faith and goodwill to maintain respect for our Police and other services, as well as to prayerfully uphold the harmonious, good relations between different communities which has been carefully nurtured in our city over many years.

Archbishop Kanishka Raffel,

April 16, 2024.”

– Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Prayer for Bondi


“A service of solemn prayer for those affected by the tragedy at Bondi Junction will be held at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney on Tuesday, April 16 at 6pm.

The Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, will attend. …”

— Read more at SydneyAnglicans.net.

A prayer for victims of violence

After this afternoon’s tragic and distressing scenes at Bondi, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has published this prayer at SydneyAnglicans.net.

It’s a prayer you may choose to use yourself – and it would be appropriate to use in church tomorrow.

The post also notes:

Praying for the victims and their families at Bondi Church, Sunday April 14th, 2024.

Explainer: NSW Conversion Practices Ban

Anglican Media Sydney has published a helpful explanatory post on the newly passed NSW “Conversion Practices Ban Act”.

See it out for an outline of what the law means, and how church leaders have responded.

Responses to a new book about the recent history of the Diocese of Armidale

Today saw the launch of a new book – Darkness: The Conversion of Anglican Armidale, 1960-2019 by Thomas A. Fudge, Professor of History at the University of New England.

You can get a feel for the likely tone of the book from a report by John Sandeman in July 2023 (link via our website). And the University of New England website has an interview with Professor Fudge.

Today the Diocese of Armdale has published two responses to the new book –

One by Bishop of Armidale Rod Chiswell –

“‘Darkness – the conversion of Anglican Armidale 1960-2019’ is a book that seeks to bring to light hitherto unheard voices responding to the transition of the Anglican Diocese of Armidale from a middle church diocese to a lower church evangelical diocese. …”

However Bishop Chiswell challenges two of Professor Fudge’s key presuppositions as well as his conclusions.

The other is a Review of the book by Dr. Mark Earngey, Head of Church History and Lecturer in Christian Thought at Moore College –

“Professor Fudge has produced a weighty tome on some of the recent history of the Anglican diocese of Armidale. … While conversion is normally associated with light (e.g. 1 Peter 2:9: ‘that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light’), Fudge interprets the growth of evangelical Anglicanism in the Armidale diocese in terms of darkness.”

In his Review, Dr Earngey provides very helpful historical and theological perspective.

Read both responses at the Diocese of Armidale website.

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