Funeral of Bishop John Reid — 14th January

The funeral of Bishop John Reid, who died on Saturday, will be held at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, at 10:00am on Thursday 14th January 2016. Burial at St. Jude’s Randwick, at 2:00pm.

Details at The Sydney Morning Herald.

1977 photo of Bishop Reid courtesy Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos.

With thanksgiving for Bishop John Reid

It has been announced that Bishop John Reid, Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Sydney, 1972–1993, has fallen asleep in Christ at the age of 87.

In a tribute posted at SydneyAnglicans.net, Archbishop Glenn Davies said that Bishop Reid,

“will be remembered for being an accomplished Bible teacher, an able administrator and a passionate evangelist. His abilities were internationally recognised through his involvement with the Lausanne Movement as chairman, as well as the missionary organisation Interserve.”

John Reid was ordained in Sydney in 1955, served as Curate at St. Matthew’s Manly (1955-56) and as Rector of Christ Church Gladesville (1956–1969). He was collated as Archdeacon of Cumberland in 1969, and in 1972 was consecrated as Assistant Bishop of Sydney. He was responsible for the South Sydney area of the diocese until his retirement in 1993.

Bishop Reid was passionately concerned to see men and women come to faith in Christ. Many will be unaware, for example, of his behind-the-scenes work to support pastors in Communist Eastern Europe, before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Bishop Reid is survived by his wife Alison. We will post funeral details here when they become available.

(Top photo: Bishop John Reid visiting St. George’s Hurstville in 1986.

Second photo: Bishop Reid in 1981, courtesy Ramon Williams, Worldwide Photos.)

Ministry on the Air on Norfolk Island

“Ministry on Norfolk Island is forging ahead with its eye on the long term, according to the island’s current Anglican chaplain…”

– SydneyAnglicans.net has this story on ministry on Norfolk Island. (And a good reminder to pray for David Fell and the congregation there.)

Archbishop Glenn Davies’ Christmas message 2015

Archbishop Glenn Davies has released his Christmas message for 2015.
Watch it on Vimeo.

As Australians, we love to celebrate Christmas with lights. On Christmas trees, in shopping centres and in suburban houses, we see lights everywhere—nativity scenes aglow and twinkling lights in rhythmic patterns. Even though we are in the height of summer, lights are very much a part of Christmas. It is a wonderful time.

But this year, the world we live in has been overshadowed by darkness. We are appalled at the dark acts committed in Paris, Beirut, San Bernardino and elsewhere. We long for light to dispel the darkness. Yet that is exactly the message of Christmas, when God’s light shone into the world and the darkness did not overcome it.

Just as the Creator declared “Let there be light” and there was light, so God sent Jesus to shine into our darkness. Nothing can compare to the brightness of his star nor outshine his brilliance, no matter how many lights we might create.

Though we see these dark acts and cry out to God, remember this – he has answered with the words of Jesus – “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Download it as a PDF file from SydneyAnglicans.net (will download to your computer).

Larger image. Audio file here.

Moore College — New Building rising

The new building at Moore College (on the old Master Builders’ site) is continuing to rise.

This 30 second clip, posted on the College’s Vimeo account, shows progress as at November 23.

From the College: “Our fundraising is well on track to our target, but we still have a way to go.”

Sydney’s Bishopscourt sold

“The neo-gothic residence ‘Bishopscourt’ in Darling Point has been sold.

‘Bishopscourt’ (formerly Greenoaks) was built in the mid 1840s by prominent colonial businessman Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. It was not the original Archiepiscopal residence, but has housed Archbishops of Sydney since 1911. …

The buyer has requested anonymity, but it is known he is intending to live at Bishopscourt and refurbish the property and gardens to their former glory.”

– Report by Russell Powell. Read it all here.

And from Domain: “A local buyer exchanged on $18 million on Wednesday for the official residence of Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies.”

Bishop Robert Forsyth farewelled on his retirement in Sydney

“In the same place he was consecrated Bishop of South Sydney fifteen years ago, Robert Forsyth has been farewelled to retirement.

Friends, family and clergy colleagues gathered in St Andrew’s Cathedral on Thursday, 10th December, to give thanks for Bishop Forsyth’s 40 years in ministry…”

– Russell Powell has a report at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Dr Michael Stead consecrated in Sydney

Dr Michael Stead has been consecrated in Sydney as the new Bishop of the Southern region. All ACL members will wish Michael well as he takes on this demanding new role.

Russell Powell has a report at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Report on the Good Governance Workshop

Read our report here.

Good Governance Workshop — Report

The Anglican Church League takes a special interest in finding gospel-minded Christians to serve on the many councils and committees of the Sydney Diocese, and in assisting those elected to serve well.

To support our brothers and sisters, the ACL organised and ran a Good Governance Workshop on Thursday evening, 26th November.

attendees-arrive

The evening was open to all, and its purpose was to help members of boards and councils – especially newly elected members – to think about how the gospel shapes the way we practice governance. It was well attended, with more than forty people coming to increase their skills in governance and to share their wisdom and insights with others.

The basic concepts of evangelical governance established on the evening could easily serve as the basis for future workshops of this sort exploring these matters further for boards and committees, and even parish councils.

For more detail and our summaries of insights from each of our excellent speakers, read on! Read more

From the Vault: What’s really important

Need Ministers be Theologians?

At Church Society’s blog, Kirsty Birkett (who now teaches Pastoral Counselling and Youth and Children’s Ministry at Oak Hill College) reminds readers of a 1994 Churchman article by the much-missed John Richardson.

In his article, John draws some important conclusions for evangelicals in the Church of England, reflecting on his year of study at Moore College.

(Readers can also rightly give thanks to Almighty God for the growth of Oak Hill College in London in the years since John wrote that article.)

Thinking of going to Moore next year?

“Thinking of coming to Moore next year but haven’t applied yet? The application due date is Monday November 30 2015. Any applications received after this date will attract an admin fee of $250…”