A family to keep in your prayers

“Life was beautiful. There was a wobbly toddler and a baby on the way. The kids were to grow up as little buddies, just 17 months apart. Richard Burnet, their proud dad, had landed a dream job. A Bombers fan since childhood, he was the new chief commercial officer for the Essendon Football Club…”

– Ruth Lamperd of Melbourne’s Herald-Sun shares the story of a family you could keep in your prayers. (Photo: Herald-Sun.)

Lutherans follow Anglicans down rocky road of dissent

“Hundreds of congregations have held votes on leaving the denomination. Others have cut off funding to the national church. Bishops in Africa have condemned the actions taken by their North American counterparts. And this week  disaffected members are gathering to found a new breakaway denomination. …

… as of August 3, 504 congregations have already held first votes on leaving, with 384 passing.”

– A report from Canada’s National Post on the disintegration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

‘African bishops say Anglicans in West strayed from God’

“The Anglican church in the West no longer adheres to the word of God, African bishops said Tuesday at a continental conference [at Entebbe] attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury. …

‘Today, the West is lacking obedience to the word of God,’ Reverend Ian Ernest of Mauritius, the head of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, told journalists…” – Report from The Nation, Kenya.

See also ‘Archbishop Duncan Joins Leaders at All Africa Bishops Conference’.

Scottish Episcopal Church goes for inclusive language

“The Scottish Episcopal Church’s College of Bishops has approved inclusive language prayers, authorising optional changes that remove ‘Lord’, ‘He’, ‘his’, ‘him’, and ‘us men’ from its 1982 Eucharistic Liturgy…”

– George Conger reports for The Church of England Newspaper.

(Photo: Scottish Episcopal Church College of Bishops celebrate the Eucharist at this year’s Synod.)

Tasmanian Anglican August 2010

The latest edition of Tasmanian Anglican (August 2010) is now available from  the Diocese of Tasmania. Use it as a reminder to pray for Christ’s church in Tasmania.

The Castle on King

Need to lighten up after the election? Enjoy this video from the recent Moore College Review. It’s a parody of the Australian film The Castle.

Anglican Church is broken, says Orombi

“The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, yesterday said the Anglican Church today faces many challenges which have made it dysfunctional.

‘What I can tell you is that the Anglican Church is very broken,’ Bishop Orombi said. ‘It… has been torn at its deepest level, and it is a very dysfunctional family of the provincial churches.…’

Speaking at the opening of a three-day provincial Assembly in Mukono, the head of the Church of Uganda noted that the church has lost credibility…”

– from a brief report in Uganda’s Daily Monitor. (Photo Stephen Otage.)

Vancouver churches ordered to pay court costs

“St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in Abbotsford and three Vancouver parishes have been ordered to pay about $120,000 in court costs to the Diocese of New Westminster.

Justice Stephen Kelleher issued the ruling in the Supreme Court of B.C., as part of an ongoing case involving a battle over same-sex blessings. … In addition to ruling that the churches pay costs to the diocese, Kelleher directed St. Matthew’s Church to permit one service a week by a priest chosen by diocese Bishop Michael Ingham. …

Also included in the legal battle are St. John’s Shaugnessy, the Church of the Good Shepherd, and St. Matthias and St. Luke’s – all based in Vancouver.”

– Story from the Abbotsford News via Anglican Essentials Canada.

Global Impact conference

The 2010 Equipping Your Church For Global Impact conference will be held at SMBC on Saturday 18th September.

“We live in a world where vast numbers of people still wait to hear the good news of Jesus. God has given to his church the responsibility to make him known throughout the world. … More than ever, we need well informed, fully resourced global mission enthusiasts in every local church. This conference will provide ideas, resources and opportunity for discussion with other mission enthusiasts.”

– Read the details at the SMBC website.

Embattled Episcopal Bishop, seeks allies overseas

“Jefferts Schori recently wrapped up a whirlwind tour of six Anglican provinces–all of them English-speaking–where she defended her church’s acceptance of gay bishops and same-sex unions, and its commitment to maintaining ties with other provinces.

In June and July, Jefferts Schori traveled to Canada, Scotland, England, Australia, New Zealand and Wales, addressing synods, preaching at cathedrals, sitting on panels, talking with parishioners, and meeting with powerful archbishops.

At almost every stop, the presiding bishop’s message was subtle but clear…”

– This story about the not-so-subtle meetings with ‘powerful’ archbishops from The Huffington Post. (Image from a July 28 webcast from ECUSA HQ in New York City)

New website for Defence Anglicans

A new website to raise awareness of Anglican Chaplaincy in the Defence Forces was launched last month at RMC Duntroon in Canberra.

The new site includes resources and contact information – and also is a good reminder to pray for those serving as Chaplains, and those to whom they minister.

(Photo of Director Chaplaincy Air Command Kevin Russell at the website launch, by Sgt Dave Morley.)

Tribunal disagrees with diaconal administration

Anglican Media Sydney has posted this story on the latest opinion from the Appellate Tribunal –

‘The tribunal was not asked to consider the theological merits of persons other than a presbyter administering the Lord’s Supper, given a previous opinion which endorsed its doctrinal validity.’

“An Anglican judicial panel has disagreed with Sydney’s Synod on the introduction of diaconal administration of the Lord’s Supper.

The Diocese of Sydney Synod in 2008 overwhelmingly agreed there was no impediment to persons other than a presbyter administering Holy Communion.  Read more

Australian Christian Book of the Year 2010

Losing My Religion by Bishop Tom Frame has been announced as the 2010 Australian Christian Book of the Year by SPCKA.

And The Trellis and the Vine was awarded second place.

Related: Dr Stuart Barton Babbage reviewed Losing My Religion in a recent issue of CASE Magazine (320kb PDF download from CASE).

The Wages of Spin

“…I think that the attitude of the reformers to tradition was very different to that which we have today.

Today we have, I would say, culturally a suspicious attitude to tradition. … But the reformers’ attitude towards theological traditions was different. I think if you look at how Calvin and Luther connected to the tradition of the church—which to an extent as young men they inherited, and then they reformed, or critiqued and interacted with it—they have what I say to the students is a “hermeneutic of trust.”  Today we have a “hermeneutic of suspicion,” we are naturally suspicious, if you like, of traditional things, of anything that comes from the past…”

– Carl Trueman was recently interviewed on US radio about his book The Wages of Spin – and Westminster  Seminary has the transcript.

‘Religious agencies seek gay adoption bill exemption’

“The New South Wales Cabinet will consider exempting two adoption agencies from a plan to allow gay couples to adopt.

Independent MP Clover Moore introduced a bill in June that seeks to legalise adoption for gay couples.

But Anglicare has written to MPs urging them to vote against the bill and is threatening to withdraw its adoption services if the laws are introduced. … Its chief executive Peter Kell wrote to MPs outlining 11 reasons why the bill should be rejected, including that children need the opportunity to have both a mother and a father. …”

– Report from ABC News. (Photo of Peter Kell: Anglicare.)

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