Anglican Diocese of Sydney Media Statement — Manus Island

“Most Australians recognise the evil of unscrupulous people taking advantage of vulnerable people by offering to smuggle them into neighbouring countries. We now have a bipartisan policy on this issue. Yet for the vulnerable, dislocated victims of people smugglers, especially the hundreds of men who continue in limbo at the decommissioned Manus Island Centre, our hearts cry out. They have now been threatened with heavy-handed action if they do not leave. This is not the approach that should be taken for such defenceless people. We call upon our Government to act humanely in this situation and with the Government of PNG to find ways whereby these asylum seekers might find refuge and safety.”

Archbishop Glenn Davies,

13 November 2017.

Source, SydneyAnglicans.net.

Newcastle election synod set for Saturday November 25

“Over the weekend the Bishop Nomination Board advised parishes of progress leading up to the Bishop Election Synod, including indicating that they will be nominating three people to the Synod for consideration. …

This year’s Synod will open with a Synod Eucharist at St Peter’s, East Maitland, 7pm on Friday 24 November. All are welcome to attend this service of worship. The Election Synod will then gather the following day at Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College, with Synod commencing at 9.00am. Our ordinances direct that Election Synods are held in camera.”

– News from the Diocese of Newcastle for your prayers.
(Nomination Board pictured.)

Sarah Macneil to resign as Bishop of Grafton

“The Anglican Bishop of Grafton, the Right Reverend Dr Sarah Macneil, has resigned, effective from March 3 next year. She announced her decision in a pastoral letter to her diocese, saying she had hoped to remain until 2020, when she turned 65, but questions of health had forced an early departure. …”

– News via Archbishop Philip Freier’s website.

Remaining faithful to the gospel in New Zealand

“Since 2013 civil same-sex marriage has been legal in New Zealand, and as has been the case elsewhere in the Communion, the New Zealand Anglican Church is committed to the blessing of same-sex relationships.

The journey towards this has involved both formal decisions of Synods, and the independent actions of bishops and clergy. Individual bishops have ordained people in homosexual relationships to the priesthood, and in recent months the Bishop of the Diocese of Waiapu has installed as Dean a man civilly married to another man. …

Should the Provincial church … continue on its stated course of blessing same-sex marriages, many associated with FCANZ will be left with no alternative than to seek new ways of being Anglican.“

– At the GAFCON website, Dave Clancey, Vicar of St. Saviour’s and St. Nicholas’ in Christchurch, brings us up to speed on thinking among members of The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans – New Zealand.

Latest news from the Top End, November 2017

Top Centre, the newsletter of the Diocese of the Northern Territory, for November 2017 is now up on their website.

Download the 4.7MB PDF file and use it as fuel for your prayers for the churches and people of the Top End.

(You could also pray for Nungalinya College in Darwin.)

Purposefully porn-free

“The Archbishop’s Taskforce for Resisting Pornography is preparing an information website for those in the Diocese and further afield who need tools to help support the rejection of porn.

“Many Christian leaders today are declaring that pornography is the single greatest issue confronting the church,” the Rev Marshall Ballantine-Jones (pictured) told members of Synod. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Archbishop Davies on Q@A tonight, 23 October

Archbishop Glenn Davies will be on the panel of Q&A tonight on ABC television –

“Joining Tony Jones for the Q&A Same-Sex Marriage debate: actress and author Magda Szubanski; Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies; Jesuit priest and law professor Frank Brennan; ‘No campaign’ spokesperson Karina Okotel.

Monday 23 Oct 2017, 9:34pm.”

Sydney Synod support for Archbishop Davies in the Consecration of Bishop Andy Lines

Last night, the closing night of Sydney Synod for 2017, strong support was shown for Archbishop of Sydney Dr Glenn Davies, Bishop of Tasmania Richard Condie and Bishop of North West Australia Gary Nelson, who travelled to Wheaton in June to participate in the consecration of Bishop Andy Lines.

This motion was passed, and was followed by a standing ovation for Archbishop Davies, who had left the Synod chamber while the motion was debated and put.

“Synod gives thanks to God for the leadership of our Archbishop in representing our Diocese and participating in the consecration of Bishop Andy Lines as the Anglican Church in North America (“ACNC”) Missionary Bishop to Europe in Chicago on 30 June 2017.

The announcement of Bishop Lines’ consecration, within hours of the Scottish Episcopal Church announcing its amendment of canon law on marriage in order to allow same sex marriages on 8 June, was a message of hope to Scottish Episcopalians and others who have been left without faithful episcopal oversight for these stranded Christians and we rejoice that three Australian bishops (Archbishop Davies, Bishop Richard Condie and Bishop Gary Nelson) were among the consecrators.

We note with gratitude that the Archbishop took this step with the unanimous support of the Standing Committee.

We commit to continuing in prayer for Bishop Lines and all faithful Anglicans who stand for biblical truth and faithful Christian discipleship.”

Sydney Synod on the Scottish Episcopal Church decision

At the last night of Sydney Synod this motion, proposed by the Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, was passed with strong support. It is the same motion he brought to the General Synod. It was passed there with some amendments.

Here is the text passed by Sydney Synod on 17 October 2017:

Synod –

a. notes with regret that the Scottish Episcopal Church has amended their Canon on Marriage to change the definition that marriage is between a man and a woman by adding a new section that allows clergy to solemnise marriage between same-sex couples as well as couples of the opposite sex,

b. declares that this step is contrary to the doctrine of Christ and the doctrine of our Church, and therefore inconsistent with the Fundamental Declarations of our Churches,

c. notes with sadness that the Scottish Episcopal Church has thereby put itself out of fellowship with the wider Anglican Communion,

d. expresses our support for those Anglicans who have left or will need to leave the Scottish Episcopal Church because of its redefinition of marriage, or who struggle to remain in good conscience, and

e. prays that the Scottish Episcopal Church will return to the doctrine of Christ in this matter and be restored to communion with faithful Anglicans around the world.

Sydney Synod 2017

Resources and news relating to Sydney Synod 2017:

‘Anglican Bishop of North West Australia threatens to ditch registering marriages if Yes prevails in SSM survey’

“The conservative Anglican bishop of north-west WA is threatening to abandon registering marriages if the Yes vote prevails in the same-sex marriage survey and religious protections are weak.

Criticising the Federal Government’s handling of the postal survey, Bishop of North West Australia Gary Nelson said details of the legislation should have been released before the vote began. …”

– Story from The West Australian.

Archbishop of Sydney’s Letter to churches

The Diocese of Sydney has published the text of the letter (dated Wednesday October 11, 2017) from Archbishop Glenn Davies to Sydney Anglican Churches. It was also read at Synod.

We reproduce it here for your convenience. It is also available from SydneyAnglicans.net, and as a PDF download.   Read more

Policy on responding to Domestic abuse passed by Sydney Synod

“A policy on responding to domestic abuse in churches has been passed overwhelmingly by Synod, following years of work by a Diocesan task force.

However, the chair of the taskforce, Canon Sandy Grant, has asked that it be passed provisionally, to allow for feedback on the policy, guidelines and resources from churches and abuse victims. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

(Photo: Archdeacon Kara Hartley, Deputy Chair of the Task Force.)

Sydney diocese donates $1m to no campaign

“The Sydney Anglican diocese has made a $1m donation to the no campaign in Australia’s postal survey on same-sex marriage.

Archbishop Glenn Davies announced the donation on Monday in his address to the 51st synod of the diocese of Sydney, telling the church that ‘removing gender from the marriage construct’ would have ‘irreparable consequences’ for society.

‘Brothers and sisters, the stakes are high and the cost is high,’ Davies said. …”

– Story from The Guardian.

(Archbishop Davies’ Presidential Address can be read via this link – PDF file.)

ACL Synod Dinner 2017 report

Each year the ACL hosts a dinner for Synod members on the first night of Synod.

This year the speaker was Paul Harrington, Rector at Trinity City, Adelaide. He spoke to a full house on the topic: ‘Being hated for the right reasons’. Speaking from his perspective of being an evangelical in the Adelaide Diocese, and being hated, by some, for his gospel conviction, he challenged us not to seek the approval of men.

He encouraged us from the words of Paul in Philippians 1: “The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I will rejoice.”

–  ACL Council member Kate Haggar reports on last night’s ACL Synod Dinner at the Chapter House of St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

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