Michael Stead to be next Bishop of South Sydney
“The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has announced he has chosen the Rev Michael Stead to be the next Bishop of South Sydney.
He will replace Bishop Robert Forsyth, who retires in December after 15 years in the position…
The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney confirmed the appointment tonight (Monday 24th August).”
– News from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Phil Wheeler to head Evangelism and New Churches
“The board of Evangelism and New Churches (ENC) has announced that the Rev. Philip Wheeler will be its new Director, to continue its work of evangelism and church planting.
Mr Wheeler replaces the Rev Bruce Hall who has directed the organisation for the past four years.
ENC grew from the well-established Department of Evangelism, run by the late evangelist John Chapman over four decades in the 20th century…”
– News from SydneyAnglicans.net. (Photo from Anglican Deaconess Ministries.)
Two new faculty appointments at Moore
“At its meeting on 18 August, the Governing Board of the College has approved the Principal’s nomination of two new members of the Moore College faculty.”
They are Dr Chase Kuhn and Dr Chris Thomson. Details here.
Archbishop of Sydney backs plebiscite plan
Here’s a media release from the Diocese of Sydney, Friday 14th August 2015:
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement August 14th, 2015The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies, has congratulated the Prime Minister and the Coalition for backing a plebiscite on same-sex marriage.
“I believe that marriage is a foundational concept to our society and indeed to human civilisation as a whole, in accordance with God’s own plan for all people, and it is intrinsic to the continuation of the human race as the bedrock of the family from which succeeding generations are born.”
“Despite the relentless campaign by some sections of the community, it is only now that other views are starting to be heard in the media, not only from the churches. The discussion must include the implications for children and the family unit, not just sloganeering.”
“Mr Abbott has been consistent and forthright on this issue, and it is clear he recognises the national importance of a debate about the definition of marriage as well as the strength of feeling on both sides. Yet the debate has been unhelpfully politicised, which is why it should be decided by the people directly. If the majority of Australians desire a change to the time-honoured understanding of marriage, then so be it. The Prime Minister is graciously offering this option so that we, the people, may have our say on the future of marriage in Australia.”
– Source, SydneyAnglicans.net.
Related: Church and religious leaders send letter on Same-Sex Marriage to Prime Minister Abbott.
Annual Moore College Lectures 2015
Professor Kevin J. Vanhoozer is delivering this year’s Annual Moore College Lectures, starting 7th August. Free and open to the public. Details here.
If you can’t get there in person, the first lecture will be streamed live.
Moore College Sunday 2015
Many churches are focussing on Moore College for their prayers on Sunday August 2nd.
“The MCS theme this year is about partnering with Moore in prayer as we equip students to tell the world the one story worth knowing by heart – the story of Jesus.” – Read all about it.
Mission Awareness Week at Moore College
“Mission Awareness Week 2015 was held last week (20-24 July). MAW is an important event in the Moore College calendar. It is held annually in July and provides the opportunity to see what God is doing in the world, and to be challenged as to how we are going to be involved in God’s mission work…”
Societas 2015 launched
Just in time for Moore College Sunday (being observed in many churches this weekend), the 2015 edition of the Moore College students’ magazine, Societas, has been released.
It’s available online – to view or download using ISSUU – or to download as an 11.2MB PDF file from the college website.
Moore Matters — Winter 2015
The Winter 2015 edition of Moore Matters is now available as a 3.5MB PDF file on the college website.
Check it out, and be encouraged in your prayer (and other) support of the college.
Two Ways Ministries launch (updated with video)
When Phillip Jensen resigned as Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral at the end of 2014, it wasn’t so that he could retire.
His new venture, Two Ways Ministries, was launched at Moore College on Saturday 30th May, with the help of a large group of friends.
The tag line of Two Ways Ministries is “Preaching the gospel by teaching the Bible”. Phillip explains that his aim is to promote the strong connection between faithful exposition of the Bible and preaching the gospel. He, and a few consultants, aim to model evangelistic preaching from the Bible. As well, he plans to continue recruiting and training young preachers, and writing.
Watch or listen:
Richard Chin asks Phillip Jensen about the new ministry. (video)
Two Ways Ministry and book launch – Phil Colgan. (video)
Phillip spoke on 2 Timothy 4:5, “Do the Work of an Evangelist” (video) or audio only.
The ministry was launched with prayer.
As well, a book of 20 essays in honour of Phillip – Let the Word do the Work – was also launched by The Australian Church Record.
The offices of Two Ways Ministries are inside Moore Theological College and can be contacted here.
Please do pray for this new ministry, at the same time giving thanks for tools such as Two Ways to Live – which has been such a blessing to so many over the years.
Don’t miss the ACL Georges River Region Information Night Monday 15th June
Don’t miss our ACL Georges River Information Night –
• What is the Anglican Church League?
• What do we do? Why is this worth your interest and support?
• Why do many consider consider the League to be vital for the life of the Diocese of Sydney?
Please be encouraged to invite others in your church (clergy or lay) who may be interested in the work of the ACL.
Church and religious leaders send letter on Same-Sex Marriage to Prime Minister Abbott
“Archbishop Glenn Davies has joined other church and religious leaders in signing an open letter to the Prime Minister against same-sex marriage.
Parliament could take steps to redefine marriage as early as August.
The letter, signed by Dr Davies and the Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher as well as 36 other religious leaders including the heads of Pentecostal and orthodox churches as well as senior rabbis from the Jewish community and leaders from both the Sunni and Shia Islamic communities, expresses ‘grave concerns’ regarding ‘Bills that have or will be introduced into the Federal Parliament to change the definition of marriage in Australian law’.…
It ends with a request for a meeting with the Prime Minister and MP’s to further discuss the issue.”
– read the full report at SydneyAnglicans.net – and please be encouraged to pray about this matter.
and a Media Release from Catholic Communications.
Sydney Diocese appoints Domestic Violence task force
“The Standing committee of the Diocese of Sydney has voted to appoint a taskforce to develop a diocesan response to domestic violence. …
The taskforce includes a chaplain, a professional counsellor, the Archdeacon for women, Kara Hartley and several other members. …”
– from SydneyAnglicans.net. (Photo of Archdeacon Kara Hartley by Sam Law.)
Bishop Peter Lin consecrated
“The Rev Peter Lin was consecrated as Bishop of the George’s River Region by Archbishop Glenn Davies, at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday 30th May.
Mr Lin is one of the youngest bishops in the history of the Diocese and only the second of Chinese descent in Australia…”
– Russell Powell has the story at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Related:
SBS News reports on the consecration, and also the appointment of Kanishka Raffel as Dean of Sydney. (video expires 06 June 2015.)
Update – Schools, Scripture, Banning of Books and Sexual Orthodoxy
“My previous post mentioned that some books used in Special Religious Education (SRE) in NSW had been summarily banned by the Department of Education and Communities, apparently on the grounds that they conveyed classical Christian teaching about sexual morality.
In that post I said:
It is to be hoped that on review the Department will realise both that the way this was done is entirely unacceptable, and also that the content of the books concerned is not as harmful as it has been alleged to be.
One of those hopes has been realised, but the other has not…”
– at Law and Religion Australia, Associate Professor in Law, Neil Foster revisits the SRE ‘book banning’ in NSW. His comments are well worth reading in full – and be sure to follow the links.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…