Sydney Memorial Service for John Stott

A memorial service will be held for John Stott at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney on Friday, 5th August, at 1:30pm. The Archbishop, Peter Jensen, will be speaking. – from the Cathedral website.

Update: Here’s a media release from the Diocese of Sydney.

(In Canada, Dr J I Packer will be preaching at a memorial service in Vancouver. Services are also planned for Toronto and Ottawa. In Melbourne, Dr Peter Adam will be speaking at a service on August 28th.)

Archbishop Jensen calls for prayer after Norwegian tragedy

On behalf of Sydney Anglicans, Archbishop Dr Peter Jensen has expressed his sympathy to the Norwegian community and church leaders in the aftermath of the bombing in Oslo and shootings on Utoya Island.

Dr Jensen said the sense of shock and outrage was something Australians could understand, having suffered the Port Arthur shootings in 1996.

“But what motivated these evil acts is unfathomable and any twisted ideology which seeks to defend them is totally abhorrent.” the Archbishop said.

“It is in utter contradiction to the biblical message of God’s love and justice which we are called on to exemplify” Dr Jensen continued. “I ask our churches in Sydney, and appeal to Christians everywhere, to pray for Norway. May the God of all mercy comfort the bereaved, heal the injured and give hope amid this tragedy.”

Dr Peter F Jensen,
Archbishop of Sydney
26/7/2011.

(Media release from the Diocese of Sydney.)

Annual Moore College Lectures 2011

Dr Brian Rosner is presenting this year’s Annual Moore College Lectures on the topic of Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God. (August 15–19).

Details at the College website.

Anglican Education Commission statement on ethics classes

“Anglican Diocese of Sydney – Media Statement – 21/7/2011

Ethics classes objections remain but AEC will not seek to overturn legislation

The Sydney Morning Herald of 21st July 2011 reported Sydney diocese as ‘backing’ ethics classes. In a story quoting Anglican Education Commission executive director Bryan Cowling, the paper said the diocese had ‘reversed its position’.

This is incorrect. The Diocese of Sydney, along with the other providers of SRE (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and Moslem) campaigned against the legislation in order to protect the opportunity for parents to choose to have their children participate in SRE.

The substantive diocesan position remains that ethics should not have been placed in direct competition with Special Religious Education. There is concern about the legislation rushed through in the dying days of the previous government. There are other issues that the churches, individually and jointly, have taken up with the education department.

However, in a spirit of co-operation and to minimise disruption to students, the AEC and the diocese will not seek the overturning of the classes midway through the school year. Read more

Place Sensational Headline Here

“Lindsay Tanner’s book “Sideshow” argues how the media has undermined the capacity for proper policy debate in our society. The media’s recent presentation of our Archbishop’s statement on the redefinition of marriage is a classic illustration of the point.

The homosexual community has called society into a debate about the nature of marriage. Through the influence of the Greens, the members of parliament are to inquire of the electorate about changing the law to allow same sex marriage. The Labor party is going to debate its policy on this issue at its national conference.

It would seem right and proper therefore, for any person to present a view on this matter, especially leaders of community groups who have a particular interest or concern to express their views.

As one such community within society, Christians have every right to hold a particular interest in the nature of marriage. We have had a long-term interest in marriage – our ministers are registered by the Government as authorised celebrants and about a third of the community turn to the church for their weddings. Furthermore, rightly or wrongly, we believe that our view is for the good of society as a whole. …’

– Phillip Jensen, Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, writes at PhillipJensen.com. (Also at SydneyAnglicans.net.) Related: Real Marriage, by Archbishop Peter Jensen.

2011 Moore College Library Lecture

“Simplicity and Integrity : the King James Version of the Bible in the church and the world” is the theme of this year’s Moore College Library Lecture. Thursday July 7th 2011, 9.30am – 4:00pm at Moore College in Newtown.