Cling to God, care for each other

“We were hoping COVID lockdown wouldn’t happen again in NSW but, once the cases kept coming, it was not surprising when the Premier extended the stay-at-home order yesterday for Greater Sydney.

Just like 2020, our work and life patterns have been mucked up. And, just like 2020, anxiety and depression have reasserted themselves in the lives of many people – if they ever went away.

‘For people who have still not recovered from last year, this has pushed all sorts of buttons,’ says the Rev Dr Keith Condie, co-director of the Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute and Mary Andrews College. …”

– Encouragement amidst COVID restrictions from Judy Adamson at SydneyAnglicans.net.

The Election of Archbishop Mowll: A Decision with Consequence

“The Conservative Evangelicalism which permeates the diocese of Sydney today has not always characterised the diocesan leadership. Although Sydney may always have had an Evangelical flavour, in the early 20th century the leadership of the diocese represented a more liberal emphasis.

The election of H.W.K. Mowll as Archbishop (1933-1958) changed the trajectory of the diocese toward a more conservative theological position. The significance of Mowll’s leadership was not merely a result of his duration in office, but rather the growth, innovation and theological consolidation which he instigated. …”

– Dr. Ed Loane, Warden of St. Paul’s College, University of Sydney, reflects on a turning point for the Diocese of Sydney.

Moore College recognised as a University College

“Moore Theological College has today (01/07/21) been registered in the new University College category by the Australian government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). In the TEQSA media release, TEQSA Chief Commissioner Professor Peter Coaldrake explained the significance of the University College category:

‘[T]he new University College category […] recognises high-quality institutions and provides them with new opportunities to develop course offerings that meet the future needs of students, employers, industry and communities. The updated standards also include augmented research requirements for universities.’

‘TEQSA […] congratulates NIDA, AFTRS and Moore Theological College for being the first three providers to be registered in the new University College category.”

“Each of these providers demonstrated to TEQSA that they offer high-quality higher education and meet the standards for registration as University Colleges.’…”

– Good news from Moore College.

Can’t get to church to pick up Southern Cross?

Even if you can’t get to church to pick up the latest edition of Southern Cross magazine from Anglican Media Sydney, you can still download your copy – or read it online.

It includes Archbishop Kanishka Raffel’s column.

In part, he writes, reflecting on Prayer in Partnership and the Letter to the Philippians:

“God has committed himself to the salvation of his people, including their preservation until ‘the day of Christ’. What God began, he will complete.

No wonder Paul says, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ (4:6).

In troubling and anxiety-inducing circumstances, prayer to a God who hears us, and is committed to our perseverance until the last day, results in ‘the peace of God, which transcends all understanding’ (4:7).”

Now, it’s a total lockdown

“With just hours before Sunday church services, Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong and the Central Coast have been thrown into a lockdown.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced that Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Central Coast will enter a two-week lockdown as of 6:00pm on the 26th June. …”

– The latest from SydneyAnglicans.net, including links to find churches with online services.

ACL Annual General Meeting 2021 — Report

The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Anglican Church League took place on Thursday 10th June at Moore Theological College, Newtown.

ACL President the Reverend Andrew Bruce (pictured) spoke on Acts 1:1-14. He encouraged the meeting with the reminder that Jesus is the ascended Lord, that his gospel will go to the ends of the Earth, and that this will happen through the testimony of his disciples, in the power of the Holy Spirit. He pointed out that the apostolic mission began with earnest, dedicated and united prayer.

Reverend Bruce exhorted all present to wait on the Lord and engage in devoted prayer as we continue this significant task of gospel proclamation. Humanly speaking, the “odds” of being able to proclaim Jesus to the ends of the earth seem impossible. Yet this impossibility is the normal situation for God’s people. In the end, the risen and ascended Lord will see his gospel go out. Thus, we can only engage in this mission through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Andrew then moved on to provide some thoughts on some of the aspects of Sydney Diocesan life. He emphasised the need to be reinvigorated in our lives and our churches with gospel confidence. As a Diocese, we are in constant danger of focusing on the “urgent” matters that our world sees as priorities, rather than the truly important things of gospel ministry: prayer, godliness, evangelism, and recruiting and training.

Reverend Bruce exhorted us to ensure that the “urgent” does not take up all of our resources so that we neglect the important. We do not have unlimited resources – indeed we are quite stretched – and so we need to be wise, courageous and sacrificial in saying “no” to things that seem urgent but are not central to what we do.

He also exhorted us to reinvigorate our evangelism. All ministry today is cross-cultural, because of the vast difference between our aggressive secular culture and our gospel culture. So evangelism must be relational and person-to-person. This means we need to engage deeply with the laity, since one-to-one mission is primarily lay-led. This requires gospel courage and endurance.

We must also reinvigorate our recruiting and training. We need to ensure there are strong numbers of Anglican candidates in training at Moore College, that they sign up in good time for us to evaluate them, that we recruit Rectors, and that we retain those we have trained.

The ACL can play a key role in advocating for Diocesan structures to make courageous and bold decisions to seek always to value the important over the “urgent”.

The President closed his address with a reading from Romans 12:1-2 and prayer for our Diocese.

The meeting received the Treasurer’s Report, approved positions for Elections Secretary, Recruitment Secretary, Membership Secretary and Communication Secretary, and elected office holders. Office holders for 2021-2022 are listed here.

Update on restrictions as of 18th June 2021

SydneyAnglicans.net’s COVID page has the latest recommendations as of 18th June 2021.

Moore Matters Winter 2021

The Moore Matters for Winter 2021 is now being distributed to churches.

It’s packed with encouraging articles, and has plenty of fuel for prayer.

You can read online or download your own copy at this link.

Response to National abuse study

“All Anglicans should be deeply grieved by the study released this week by the Anglican Church of Australia on domestic and family violence.

‘Like my predecessor, I want to state clearly that all forms of domestic abuse are incompatible with Scripture and Christian faith,’ said the new Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel. ‘Nothing justifies violence or coercion. Christian relationships are to be marked by love, gentleness and respect.’…”

– This Media Release was published last week by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney.

This Mortal Coil: Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel

On ABC Radio’s This Mortal Coil, 13 June 2021, new Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, is invited to tell his story.

“We don’t have anything else to offer apart from Jesus.”

Listen here, 40 minutes – and be encouraged to share widely.

(Thanks to SydneyAnglicans.net for the link. Image: The Pastor’s Heart.)

The Gospel Coalition Australia interviews Archbishop Kanishka Raffel

Akos Balogh from The Gospel Coalition Australia recently spoke with Kanishka Raffel about his new role – and asks the new Archbishop how we can pray for him.

Dr Colin Bale made Emeritus member of Moore College Faculty

“At the end of this semester, Dr Colin Bale will retire from the Moore College faculty. Dr Bale was appointed to the faculty in 1999 and has served as head of the Church History department, Academic Dean, and Vice Principal. During some of that time he worked on his PhD at Sydney University in the area of Australian history, and more particularly the lessons to be learned from the gravestone inscriptions of those who fell in the First World War.

Dr Bale has made a remarkable contribution to the life and health of Moore College. In recognition of this, the Governing Board of the College has unanimously agreed to appoint him as an Emeritus Faculty member upon his retirement. With this appointment, he will join the likes of Dr Paul Barnett, Dr Peter Jensen, Dr Peter O’Brien, Dr David Peterson, and Dr Barry Webb. …”

– Read it all at the Moore College website.

Southern Cross — June 2021

The latest Southern Cross magazine (June 2021) from Anglican Media Sydney is now available.

While printed copies will be distributed in churches, it also can be read and downloaded online.

Plenty of encouraging reading,

Moore College: certainly worth supporting — Peter Jensen

Former Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen, explains why Moore College is certainly worth supporting.

Oh, and they have an End-of-Year financial appeal.

No higher title than ‘child of God’

“There was a knock at the cathedral door just moments after the afternoon rehearsal for the consecration and inauguration of Kanishka Raffel.

The door was opened by the Archbishop-elect himself. ‘Would you like a cup of coffee?’ he said to person at the door, one of the many people in difficulties who take shelter around the Cathedral.

‘Do you take sugar?’ the about-to-be Archbishop said as he went off to make the coffee himself.

It seemed fitting that only four hours later, before the Governor-General, politicians and leaders of other religious denominations, he was giving a sermon urging humility before the cross of Jesus. …”

– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell has this story on last night’s service of Consecration and Inauguration.

You can watch the entire service here – or click this link to go straight to the Bible reading by Mrs Cailey Raffel and then Archbishop Raffel’s sermon.

Photos by Russell Powell (click for full images):