Churches recommit to prayer on Moore College Sunday
Today around Sydney, churches are taking the time to pray for Moore Theological College.
See the MCS website – and watch the video.
Pastoral Letter to Clergy, Parishioners and Friends of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn from Bishop Stuart Robinson
“Beloved in Christ,
I am writing, with a heavy heart, in response to concerns expressed by parishioners and people in our wider communities around the reports of sexual abuse in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle. Like me, you will be appalled at what has been alleged and what has taken place…”
– Stuart Robinson, Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn, has published this pastoral letter.
Newcastle Bishop shares a message on the eve of the Royal Commission
From the Diocese of Newcastle:
“The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is holding a public hearing into the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle at Newcastle from Tuesday, 2 August 2016.
Bishop Greg Thompson shares a message with the Diocesan community about working together through what will be a confronting time as we face the past to help build a healthy future.”
Watch Bishop Thompson’s message here. And please pray for all concerned.
Moore College events coming up
The team at Moore College have posted a summary of events coming up in August.
Sydney church planters meet
“Church planters for the first three projects of the Archbishop’s New Churches for New Communities program have met to discuss the vision for Sydney’s fastest growing new suburbs.
The edges of the Sydney basin are expected to become home to an extra 750,000 to 1 million people in coming years and the State Government is already gearing up infrastructure such as rail links…”
– Encouraging news from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Moore’s treasures unveiled
“A campaign has begun to preserve a major collection of Australian Christian history at the library of Moore College, including two of the first books ever printed by press, the first book distributed in Australia, an ancient Hebrew parchment, a first edition of the King James Bible and rare photos of the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The historic, and eclectic, group of ‘treasures’ is to be housed and exhibited in the college’s new library, due for completion in 2017, and the college is raising funds to display and preserve the irreplaceable collection.
‘Some of Australia’s priceless national heritage is found in the Moore College library – not surprising, since the college is one of the oldest tertiary educational institutions in the country and it became the repository of special books and artefacts from the earliest days,’ said Moore’s former principal Dr Peter Jensen, who is backing the effort to conserve the treasures.
One of the most historic items of Australiana is ‘Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies’ by the chaplain of the First Fleet, the Rev Richard Johnson. It was printed in England in 1794 with editing by the slave trader-turned evangelist John Newton. Johnson used it in his work in Sydney, making it the first book conceived and distributed in Australia…”
– Read the full story by Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Richard Johnson’s ‘Address to the Inhabitants of the Colonies Established in New South Wales and Norfolk Island’ (with some editorial input from John Newton) was republished in PDF format for the ACL website several years ago. It is a wonderfully direct gospel tract.
Photo credit: Moore College.
Merged group named Anglicare
“The newly merged group formed from Anglicare Sydney and Anglican Retirement Villages has officially begun, using the name Anglicare.
The merger took effect on July 1st, and although its legal name will be ‘Anglican Community Services’, it will use the trading names ‘Anglicare’ and ‘Anglicare Sydney’…”
– News from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Two new members of the Moore College faculty in 2017
“Last Thursday evening, the Governing Board of the College approved the Principal’s nomination of two new members of the Moore College faculty to begin in January 2017.
Rev Paul Grimmond has been serving as Senior Assistant Minister at Unichurch (UNSW) since 2010, having previously been an editor for Matthias Media (2008–2009) and Rector of Unichurch (2003–2008). …
Rev Peter Tong is Assistant Minister at St Andrews Wahroonga. Prior to 2015 he was an Assistant Minister for five years at Naremburn-Cammeray Anglican Church (2009–2014)…”
– Good news from Moore College. Read the details here.
Built on Prayer: Moore College Sunday 2016
Churches will have received information packs for this year’s Moore College Sunday, set for August 7th.
Enjoy a sneak peak at the video that’s been produced to encourage you to uphold the College in prayer.
Or course, you don’t need to wait until August to pray for the College. Please don’t!
From the College:
“How wonderful to know that our College is, and continues to be, built on prayerful dependence and trust in the Almighty Creator of all.
Every year, one Sunday is carved out as an especially focussed day of uniting in prayer for our College. Moore College Sunday will happen across Sydney and beyond on August 7. Supporters, students, faculty and past College members will be joined in their asking for God’s sustained goodness towards Moore College.
To help you and your church family pray powerfully, the Moore College Sunday site is full of information and resources. You can send through prayer requests, sign up for our prayer bulletins or download sample prayers to share with your congregation.”
In the video, College Principal Mark Thompson is leafing through A Centenary History of Moore Theological College by Marcus Loane.
Diocese of the Northern Territory position vacant
The Anglican Diocese of the Northern Territory is seeking a full time Executive Assistant for the Diocesan Office located in Darwin.
Interested? Know someone who might be?
Details from the NT Anglican website.
Andrew Bruce elected President of the Anglican Church League 2016-17
The Rev. Andrew Bruce has been elected the President of the Anglican Church League, at the ACL’s Annual General Meeting held tonight at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney.
Andrew has been the Rector of St. Peter’s Cooks River since 2011, and has previously served on the ACL Council as the Secretary and in several other capacities.
Above: Outgoing President Gav Poole congratulates Andrew (on the left) after his election.
In the photo below, he is seen with previous ACL Presidents – The Rev Gav Poole, The Rev Dr. Mark Thompson (Principal of Moore Theological College) and the Rev Zac Veron (CEO of Anglican Youthworks).
ACL President’s Address 2016
Outgoing President of the Anglican Church League, Gav Poole, gave this address at the Annual General Meeting on 16th June 2016.
ANGLICAN CHURCH LEAGUE AGM
PRESIDENT’S REPORT Read more
PM, Premier attend Orlando commemoration service
“Leaders have attended what the Prime Minister called a ‘loving’ commemoration service for victims of the Orlando massacre.
Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy took time out from the election trail while Premier Baird, the NSW Governor David Hurley and the American Consul General, Hugo Llorens sat in the front row during the service led by the Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. Opposition leader Bill Shorten was represented by Senator Doug Cameron…”
– SydneyAnglicans.net has a report on last night’s service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
From Archbishop Glenn Davies’ address:
“As the leader of the Anglican Church in Sydney I want to affirm my stance against all such outbreaks of violence, and if any members of our churches have participated in such acts of violence against women, against young people, against ethnic minorities, against religious minorities or against those from the LGBTI community I offer my heartfelt apology.
Yet we must all search own hearts, as evil resides in each one of us. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are without fault. Words of derision, mockery and exclusion so frequently fall from our lips when directed against persons who are different from us.”
– Read it all here (PDF may download to your computer).
Photos courtesy SydneyAnglicans.net.
PM attends Sydney service for Orlando
“As hymns filled St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull bowed his head in memory of those killed during the Orlando massacre…”
– Report from Nine News.
Sydney Service of commemoration for Orlando victims
A special public Christian service of commemoration for those who lost their lives in Orlando will be held in Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral on Wednesday 15th June, at 6 pm.
Premier Mike Baird will attend the service, along with the Governor, General David Hurley and the US Consul-General, Hugo Llorens.
“This service is an opportunity for people to gather together to express sympathy and compassion for those who have been affected by the terrible events in Orlando.” said the Dean of Sydney, the Very Rev. Kanishka Raffel.
“It is a time to acknowledge our common humanity, to pray that all people will be able to live in peace and safety, to affirm the dignity of all people as made in God’s image, and to reject utterly violence against people because of their sexuality.” Dean Raffel said.
The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, will preach at the service, with Bible readings to be given by the Premier and the Governor.
At least 49 people were killed and 53 wounded in a massacre early on Sunday by a gunman, believed to have been inspired to terrorism by ISIS, who targeted a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
– From SydneyAnglicans.net.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…