Call to pray for Moore College

In the July edition of Southern Cross newspaper, Archbishop Peter Jensen writes to encourage prayer for the appointment of the next Principal of Moore College. Applications close July 31st.

“There is no more important task for a denomination than to provide theological education for its pastors and decisions made now will affect virtually every parish for years to come. As Moore has increased its global significance, the decision will have even more impact than ever before…”

– The Archbishop’s full article has now been posted at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Sydney Anglicans V: A commitment to world mission

Mark Thompson turns to the gospel’s global concern in part five of his series on Sydney Anglicans –

“A concern to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus, whether they be down the road or across the globe, will transform how we live as Christians in a myriad of ways. Not least it will keep us from elevating to prime importance things of little consequence.”

Read it all here –

“Sydney Anglicanism is a product of the evangelical missionary movement. The same people who were vitally involved in the early days of the Church Missionary Society were involved in ensuring evangelical chaplains were sent to the young colony to preach the gospel to the convicts, settlers and indigenous people of the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit. Mission and ministry were intertwined from these early days and have remained so ever since. To this day one of the most significant annual events in the Diocese of Sydney is the week-long CMS Summer School, held in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba.  Read more

Sydney Anglicans IV: The Primacy of the Word

Mark Thompson writes about the primacy of the word in part four of his series on Sydney Anglicans –

“Unsurprisingly, confidence in the Bible as the written word of God, the supreme authority in all matters of faith and life, would soon become an enduring characteristic of the church in Sydney.”

Read it all here –

“The churches of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney are sometimes caricatured as Bible-centred rather than Christ-centred or God-centred. The truth behind the caricature is the attention we give to the proclamation of the word in public and private gatherings. While elsewhere Anglican churches might give more prominence to the sacraments or to an experience of the Spirit, Sydney Anglican churches typically place great store on the reading and exposition of Scripture. Expository preaching is the staple diet of most congregations. Fellowship groups routinely involve Bible study. Read more

Moore College Principal

Here’s the official advertisement from Moore College (PDF file).

Applications close 31 July 2012.

Sydney Anglicans III. Complementarian ministry

Mark Thompson writes about complementarian ministry in part three of his series on Sydney Anglicans –

“It is the Bible which teaches us to celebrate the differences between men and women and the way attention to those differences enhances our unity rather than undermines it, not least as together we seek to serve Christ and his gospel.”

Read it all here –

“Some of the most insistent critics of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney are those who oppose its complementarian approach to the ministry of men and women. A number of those critics feel personally injured by the repeated decisions of the diocesan synod to reject measures authorising the ordination of women to the presbyterate. Others go further and insist these decisions arise from a deep-seated misogyny, perhaps related to the peculiar conditions of the early colony, but in any case fuelled by a way of reading the Bible which is authoritarian and androcentric. Yet men and women in Sydney respond that they are seeking above all else to be faithful to the word which God has given us. It is the Bible which teaches us to celebrate the differences between men and women and the way attention to those differences enhances our unity rather than undermines it, not least as together we seek to serve Christ and his gospel. This is not an authoritarian reading but a submissive one.  Read more

Position Vacant (soon): Moore College Principal

Moore College has begun the search for a new Principal. This would be a good thing to pray about. Applications close 31 July 2012.

Sydney Anglicans II. The congregation as the centre

Mark Thompson writes about ecclesiology in the second post of his series on Sydney Anglicans –

“One of the most celebrated, most ridiculed and most misunderstood theological commitments shared by most Sydney Anglicans is the priority of the local congregation.”

Read it all here –

“One of the most celebrated, most ridiculed and most misunderstood theological commitments shared by most Sydney Anglicans is the priority of the local congregation. No doubt historical, cultural and sociological factors have contributed to what some see as a ‘distinctively Sydney’ approach to ‘church’.

The colony of New South Wales began in 1788 with a chaplain rather than a bishop (though notionally under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta). The Australian psyche has a large strain of anti-authoritarianism and individualism running through it. In addition, federalism (as opposed to centralism) has been an organising principle at a number of levels in Australian society (e.g. national-state government relations and the concern in the Australian Anglican constitution to shy away from a large central bureaucracy and rather to protect the integrity of each of the constituent dioceses). However, influential as these larger cultural factors have been, first and foremost this is a theological commitment arising from convictions about what the Bible teaches on the subject.  Read more

Does Moore matter?

Cam Capel, Chief Executive of Moore College, writes in the Winter 2012 issue of Moore Matters of the strategic gospel significance of the College:

“With the likes of D Broughton Knox, Graeme Goldsworthy, Donald Robinson and TC Hammond, the College has had a massive impact on the biblical theology of the Australian church across denominations.”

“Does Moore matter?

This question has become a critical one for the future of the church in Sydney, Australia and the world. We as a College community have been considering this question as we review our structures, education programs and delivery channels—to ensure we continue to serve individual Christians and the churches effectively. To answer this question we have to understand what Moore is, what it does and where it has come from in history. Read more

Sydney Standing Committee motion on Gippsland ‘breach of trust’

“The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Sydney has expressed ‘dismay’ at what it calls ‘a breach of fellowship and trust’ with the Bishop of Gippsland who has appointed a partnered gay man to a ministry position in his diocese.

The appointment was announced earlier this year in the Gippsland diocesan newspaper. The resulting controversy led to the adoption of an Australian bishops’ protocol on sexuality.

Now, Bishop John McIntyre has announced his intention to continue such appointments, saying to his Synod “I will appoint to office in our diocese those whom I believe God is calling to minister among us…….. I am willing to live with any consequences that may arise from remaining true to that commitment.”

The Standing Committee resolution ‘notes its dismay’ at the Bishop’s comments from which, it says, “it is reasonable to infer his intention to appoint, amongst others, practising homosexuals to ministry roles in his Diocese and support same-sex marriages.”

The resolution continued “Standing Committee considers that Bishop McIntyre’s earlier appointment of a practising homosexual to a ministry office and his May 18, 2012 statement represent –   Read more

Rick Lewers consecrated Bishop

On Friday night Rick Lewers was consecrated as Bishop of Armidale. Russell Powell has the story at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Appreciating the ministry of Graeme Goldsworthy

“On Wednesday night Moore College held the Graeme Goldsworthy’s celebration at which the Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen launched Graeme’s latest book Christ-centred Biblical Theology…”

— from the Moore College website.
Related: The ‘must read’ Christian book of the year?

Moore Matters — Winter 2012

The latest issue of Moore Matters (Winter 2012) is available from the Moore College website.

It’s a 4MB PDF file. Well worth downloading – and passing on to your friends. Grab your copy here.

Queen’s Birthday Convention 2012

Coming up at St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Monday June 11. Early bird before June 01.

Details here.

John Woodhouse to retire from Moore College in 2013

Diocese of Sydney media release, 16 May 2012:

The Archbishop of Sydney, who is the President of the Moore Theological College Governing Board, has announced that the principal, Dr John Woodhouse, will retire from the position early next year.

Dr Woodhouse would have reached retirement age at the start of 2014, but has told the Board that after careful deliberation, he believed the time had come for him to plan to step aside from the role.   Read more

Moore College Open Nights and Open Weeks

Moore Theological College in Newtown is holding an Open Week 21-25 May, and an Open Night on Monday 28 May, with others later in the year.

Info here.

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