Religious discrimination bill so flawed it cannot be supported, Anglicans say

“The flaws in the Coalition’s religious discrimination bill are ‘so serious’ it cannot be supported in its current form, the Sydney Anglican diocese has warned. …

In a separate submission, the Freedom for Faith group has claimed the bill fails a commitment by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, ‘that the law would not take faith groups backwards in terms of protection of religious freedom’. …”

– Story from The Guardian.

The passing of new abortion laws — Statement from Archbishop Glenn Davies

Anglican Diocese of Sydney

Media Statement

Abortion laws pass the NSW Parliament

I want to thank the people of NSW who have petitioned, rallied and written to their parliamentary representatives during the recent debate on abortion.

Much has been achieved through these efforts so that the Bill that was finally passed by the Parliament is a far better Bill than what was introduced eight weeks ago.

We said at the time that it was unconscionable to attempt to rush this through the Lower House in the originally proposed timeframe, without any public consultation. We are grateful for the time that both Houses gave to the Bill and for the amendments made in both Houses.

Yet we are deeply saddened by the passing of these laws and the abortion-on-demand regime they introduce. The life of both a mother and her child in the womb are precious to God. We must love them both and protect them both.

May God have mercy on us.

Dr Glenn N Davies, Archbishop of Sydney, 26 September 2019

– Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

‘A virus in the Australian national church’ – Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies calls out revisionist mavericks

Archbishop Glenn Davies was today’s guest on The Pastor’s Heart.

Well worth watching.

Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies shares openly about –

On the sexuality crisis in the Australian Anglican Church, Dr Davies –

Finally Dr Davies reflects on his own time as Archbishop in the lead up to his final Synod. Dr Davies says he’s been inspired by the boldness of Paul, and is so thankful for those many people who have prayed for him.

ACL Synod Dinner 2019 Bookings Open

The Anglican Church League invites you to the 2019 ACL Synod Dinner.

Monday 14th October, 5:30pm (or when Synod rises), at the Bishop Barry Centre, 51 Druitt Street, Sydney.

Hear the Rev Jay Behan speak on “Gospel decisions in a compromised age – the NZ situation”.

Jay Behan is the Bishop-elect of the Diocese of the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa/New Zealand.

(Click here for an interview with Jay Behan on The Pastor’s Heart. He discusses leaving the Anglican Church in New Zealand and the formation of the new Diocese. He will be consecrated a few days after the dinner.)

Dinner bookings are essential.

To come, please book by Wednesday October 9 by pre-paying $25 via PayPal, Mastercard or Visa online at this link.

Peter Jensen interviewed on Living through the Word podcast

Archbishop Peter Jensen was interviewed earlier this month on the Living through the Word podcast of Bishop Julian Dobbs (Anglican Diocese of the Living Word in the USA).

Peter speaks about Sydney, GAFCON, and his own background.

Battery hens given more thought than babies

“With just days to go before New South Wales Upper House MP’s vote on the Bill which would allow abortion right up until birth, a rally has been told Legislation to outlaw cruelty to chickens was given more consideration.

Thousands of Christians and other opponents of the legislation gathered at Hyde Park  on Sunday afternoon, 15th September, under the banner ‘Stand for life, Love them both’…

There was well over eight thousand people at the rally including Sydney Anglicans, Catholic church groups, Greek Orthodox churches and Armenian community members as well as other faiths.”

– Story and image from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Watch Archbishop Davies’ address (admittedly, the video and audio quality is not wonderful) –

Also, you can use the Australian Christian Lobby’s portal to e-mail all members of the NSW Upper House – or you can contact them individually.

“Send a strong message to our Parliament” — Stand for Life Rally, Hyde Park, Sunday 15 September

Archbishop Glenn Davies has written to all clergy in the Diocese of Sydney concerning the “misleadingly entitled” Reproductive Health Reform Bill 2019, which he says, “in its current form [will] do great damage to our society in the legalisation of the death of innocent lives in the womb”.  Read more

Cathedral Conversations — Choices — the video

The video from tonight’s Cathedral Conversations on “Choices: The conversation about abortion we need to have”, at St. John’s Cathedral Parramatta, is now available to watch at David Ould’s website.

The introduction starts about 6 minutes in. Archbishop Glenn Davies speaks from 87 minutes. He makes it clear that the issue is a matter of life and death.

Watch here.

Draft Religious Discrimination Bill — Diocese of Sydney Public Statement

Here’s a Pubic Statement from the Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney, 30th August 2019:

Draft Religious Discrimination Bill released

The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s draft Religious Discrimination Bill but cautions more work is needed on the detail of the Bill.

“We welcome the Attorney-General’s clear statement that greater protections are needed for people of faith, or of none, concerning freedom of speech, conscience and belief. Other attributes such as sex and race are protected, it is only logical that faith be among those.”

Although there has been a media concentration on the case of Israel Folau, Dr Davies said the issues are much wider.

“We want MPs of all parties to understand the framework of faith by which religious organisations operate in all areas of society from care ministries to health and education.”

“We are disappointed that there doesn’t yet seem to be a comprehensive approach which includes both the draft legislation just released and the work of the ALRC examining the patchwork of existing legislation. There needs to be deep consultation on both areas as soon as possible.”

Dr Davies said the Anglican Diocese of Sydney was committed to engaging in the consultation process which Mr Porter has set in place.

“I hope the Federal Opposition will support, in the spirit of bipartisanship, an outcome which strengthens social cohesion and freedom of speech, conscience and belief in Australia.”

– From the Diocese of Sydney.

Cathedral Conversation – NSW Abortion Legislation

St John’s Anglican Cathedral Parramatta is hosting a Cathedral Conversation on “Choices: The conversation about abortion we need to have”.

On Monday, 2nd September 2019 from 7:30pm. Read more

Moore College Open Week 2nd — 6th September

It’s Moore College Open Week 2nd — 6th September 2019.

Details at the link.

Simon Manchester made Honorary Clerical Canon

“The rector of North Sydney, the Rev Simon Manchester, has been given a rare honour as he prepares to step down from his parish ministry at the end of this year.

Archbishop Glenn Davies has announced that Mr Manchester will join a select list of leaders who have been made honorary clerical Canons of St Andrew’s Cathedral. …”

– Good news from SydneyAnglicans.net.

(Simon is speaking at the 2020 CMS Summer School at Katoomba.)

MPs urged to ‘Care for the most vulnerable’

“Archbishop Glenn Davies has told a State Parliamentary inquiry that the catchcry of new legislation has been ‘decriminalisation’ but skates over the details that it radically extends abortion in New South Wales.

Abortion is not unlawful in New South Wales under certain circumstances because of a precedent set by the ruling of a District Court Judge in 1971.

The new legislation, which allows for abortions up to birth without effective safeguards, has had minor amendments in the state’s Legislative Assembly and now goes to the Upper House for scrutiny and then a vote.

After two weeks of media appearances and joint appeals with other religious leaders, Dr Davies was able to speak directly to the Upper House MPs who form the Social Issues Committee of the Legislative Council. …

The Archbishop also lodged a submission by the Social Issues Committee of the Diocese, which argued against the legislation on several grounds, including its impact on women.”

– Read the full report from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Donald Robinson on the Origins of the Anglican Church League

by Lionel Windsor

History matters. It makes us question things we take for granted, it helps us to understand who we are, and it gives us a broader perspective on the issues we face today. One example – relevant for evangelical Anglicans, especially in Sydney – is an essay in Donald Robinson Selected Works, volume 4 (recently published by the Australian Church Record and Moore College).

The essay is called “The Origins of the Anglican Church League” (pp. 125–52). It’s a republication of a paper given in 1976 by Donald Robinson (1922–2018), former Moore College Vice-Principal and later Archbishop of Sydney. In the paper, Robinson traces some of the currents and issues that led to the formation of the Anglican Church League in the early twentieth century. The essay is classic Donald Robinson: full of surprises, yet definitely still worth reading today to help us gain perspective on issues for evangelical Anglicans past and present.

One surprise in the essay is that Robinson doesn’t say very much about the Anglican Church League itself! That’s because he’s not too sure about how it started. About two thirds of the way through the paper, after describing in some detail several predecessors to the ACL, he notes:

You will be wondering what has happened to my subject, the Origins of the Anglican Church League. To tell the truth, I am at a loss to give a clear explanation of its origins, or to trace the steps by which it was organised. (144)

So if you’re looking for a detailed history of the ACL over the twentieth century, this essay is probably not for you.[1] But if you’re looking for some key insights into issues that evangelical Anglicans faced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and some helpful perspectives on where we’re at today, this essay is certainly worth delving into!

1. Issues leading to the ACL’s Formation

At the turn of the twentieth century, evangelical Anglicans were deeply concerned by two issues: an alarming increase in “ritualism”, and a (related) alarming increase in the authority of bishops. This might seem surprising to us today. When we look around at worldwide Anglicanism, we can take for granted that there is a lot of ritual, and that bishops have quite a lot of power. But it wasn’t always so – and in the nineteenth century, these things weren’t a “given”. Nevertheless, they were on the rise, and evangelicals were trying to stop them. Robinson mentions, for example, the Churchman’s Alliance, which was formed in 1893 as a response to increasing “ritualism” and as a counterpoint to societies that had formed to promote Anglo-Catholicism (133–35). The purpose of the Church Alliance was “To maintain and diffuse abroad the principles Catholic and Protestant of our holy religion” (134).

Robinson devotes much of his paper to a group called the Protestant Church of England Union (PCEU), which owed much to the efforts of Canon Mervyn Archdall (135–39). Significant for the PCEU was promotion of Reformation preaching, and regular prayer meetings were a core of their work (139, 142). The key issues the PCEU faced and sought to address were (140):

As I mentioned above, we might feel these things are a “given” for today’s Anglican Communion. But at the time, Lambeth and the power of Canterbury weren’t so central for Anglicanism. And evangelicals saw the increasing power of Lambeth and Canterbury as a real problem. The object of the new PCEU (1898) was:

to maintain and extend the efficiency of the Church of England as the original representative of evangelical truth and apostolic order in our country, and as a witness to the principles of the Reformation. (141–42)

So the PCEU promoted constitutional government over against the authority of bishops (144).

2. The ACL’s Formation

What of the ACL itself? According to Robinson, it was founded at some point between 1909–1912, around the election of Archbishop Wright, though the exact circumstances weren’t easy for Robinson to discern (145).  Constitutionally, the ACL was affiliated with the English National Church League (NCL), who saw prayer book revision and ritualism as key issues that needed to be addressed (146). It appears that the ACL started as a group that was a little more “centrist” than the PCEU. Robinson writes:

In 1914 we find Canon Gerard D’Arcy Irvine saying that the ACL “stood for central churchmanship, which implied spiritual, strong, and scholarly churchmanship, and fought for the principles of the Reformation upon which the character of future generations depended”… His use of the term “central churchmanship”… reflected the view of the evangelicals that their position was not a partisan position, but was true to the central and authentic character of the Church of England as “catholic, apostolic, protestant, and reformed”. (148)

However, as time went on, conservative evangelicals realised the need for the ACL to be even stronger on Reformation principles against a growing trend of liberalism. Thus, by 1933 the ACL had come to a place where it was opposing not only ritualism, but also liberalism (149).

Even though the ACL was (and still is) constituted as a national body, Robinson notes that the ACL’s main influence has always been within Sydney:

It does not seem to have succeeded to any extent as a national body, though it promoted consultation and offered advice in connection with some elections of country bishops in NSW. Without doubt it consolidated the strength of evangelicals in Sydney, and almost all diocesan leaders have been associated with it at some time or other. (151)

3. What can we learn?

Robinson’s paper is not a comprehensive historical treatise, but it is a fascinating historical reflection. What can we learn from this history?

Firstly, we can gain some worthwhile historical perspective. Ritualism, the authority of bishops, and liberalism are not simply “givens” for Anglicanism! They do not define historic Anglicanism; in fact, not too long ago, they were innovations that needed to be protected against. This perspective can give us renewed courage to continue to defend, promote, and maintain historic, evangelical, reformed Anglicanism.

Secondly, this history reminds us that constitutional, rather than episcopal, government, is definitely worth maintaining and promoting. In our own situation in Sydney, where historically the bishops have by and large been friendly to the evangelical faith, we could feel we can relax and hand more power over to the bishops for the sake of efficiency. But bishops, like all of us, are fallible human beings. Increasing episcopal power is something to continue to watch, and we should be alert to the need to maintain constitutional government.

How do we do that? By all of us (clergy and laity) getting in there, doing the work of governance, finding people for committees to help make decisions for the good of the gospel in the Diocese, and not leaving it all up to the bishops. Robinson’s paper reminds us that the work of the ACL continues to be a significant one for the cause of the gospel and the salvation of men and women, in our own city and diocese, and beyond.

The Rev Dr Lionel Windsor
ACL Council Member and Moore College Lecturer.

Endnotes:

[1] Some further research on these matters has been done by others. For a general history of the ACL, see Ed Loane’s talk at the ACL Centenary dinner in 2009. See also Judd & Cable, Sydney Anglicans, Sydney: AIO, 2000 (Stephen Judd’s PhD was on the ACL).

Abortion bill to be introduced into NSW State Parliament this week — Public Statement from Archbishop Glenn Davies

Anglican Diocese of Sydney

Public Statement

I appeal for a respectful debate concerning abortion and I urge MPs to use their conscience vote to reject this bill. It is not appropriate to rush this bill without widespread community consultation.

Abortion is available in New South Wales and the criminal code provisions have not prevented women from seeking abortions. Rather, the law strengthens the protection of women from pressure, medical malpractice and safeguards the consciences of doctors. In the rare cases that criminal sanctions have been applied, it was clear the circumstances warranted prosecution.

Further, the laws are being proposed at a time when those who wish to speak against abortion, including many women, are being denied that opportunity.

In particular, signs sponsored by the Emily’s Voice group were recently ordered off buses for simply stating a medical fact – that an unborn child’s heart is beating at four weeks.

When has a democratic society prevented the publication of facts?

A respectful debate needs to hear all sides of the issue, including those who wish to speak on behalf of those yet to be born.

Dr Glenn N Davies, Archbishop of Sydney, 29 July AD 2019.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

See also: ‘Speak on behalf of those yet to be born’ – SydneyAnglicans.net.

Related:

Controversy surrounding Emily’s Voice billboard.

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