Glebe board sorry for losses
“The 2009 Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has accepted an apology from the board which administers more than one hundred million dollars in church funds, for large losses associated with the Global Financial Crisis…”
– Russell Powell wrote this report for SydneyAnglicans.net.
Reform initial response to ‘Apostolic Constitution’ announcement
MEDIA STATEMENT 20th October 2009
Revd Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, makes four points as an initial response to today’s announcement from the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster:
“Anglicans concerned about protecting the basic Christian faith need not go to Rome, because we now have the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA (UK)) which holds together those who want to stop the orthodox faith being eroded. We can remain Anglican. Furthermore, the FCA Primates have recognised that problems with episcopal oversight are arising here in the UK. They have expressed the hope that these will be solved locally, but if not, they are willing to step in.”
“This development highlights the need for robust legislative provision to cater for those who cannot agree to women bishops, such as that recently suggested by the Revision Committee.”
“If priests really are out of sympathy with the C of E’s doctrine (as opposed to the battles we are having over women’s ministry and sexuality), then perhaps it is better they make a clean break and go to Rome. However, when they do, they will have to accommodate themselves to Rome’s top-down approach to church life, whereas the C of E has always stressed the importance of decision making at the level of the local church.”
“It is illusory to pretend that this development is an outcome of ecumenical dialogue. It illustrates the difficulties the C of E faces and the need for stronger leadership, rather than the ‘softly softly’ approach so far taken to those holding liberal views who are splitting the church.”
— from Reform.
Rome welcomes unhappy Anglicans
The Vatican has announced a structure to ‘bring home’ Anglicans dissatisfied with the liberalism rampant in many parts of the Anglican Communion –
“With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion.
In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”
– Full statement from the Vatican website.
The Archbishop of Canterbury approves. So does Forward in Faith UK.
Update: And Bishop Bob Duncan of ACNA.
Compass on Sydney Anglicans
Sunday night’s Compass from ABC TV is now online – watch on the website or download the 100MB MPEG4 or WMV file.
Also on the website is an extended version (16 minutes) of the interview with Archbishop Peter Jensen.
2009 Sydney Synod Presidential Address
See a 9.5 minute video excerpt of Archbishop Peter Jensen’s 2009 Synod Presidential Address.
Full audio (18MB mp3 file) here.
PDF file here. (All courtesy of SydneyAnglicans.net)
‘Jesus saves, but shattered Anglicans regret not having that luxury’
“The shaken Anglican Archbishop of Sydney admits he has wondered whether God had decided to punish his diocese.
Peter Jensen confessed yesterday to being grief-stricken by the size of the diocese’s $160 million financial loss and called on his faithful not be panicked or paralysed by the money crisis but to turn to God in ‘active faith’…”
– Linda Morris reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.
To see just what the Archbishop said, and how he said it, stay tuned for the audio and video of his Presidential Address to Sydney Synod. The text of his address is available here as a PDF file and includes a great deal of encouragement about Connect09.
And see also Archbishop gets personal by Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Diocese of North West Australia prayer notes
Keeping the people of North West Australia in your prayers? These prayer notes and letter from Bishop David Mulready will help – 630kb PDF file.
Missionary Diocese
“In Tasmania in 2000, the question was asked, ‘Bishop, what would you like from the diocese as you commence your episcopate?’ – The answer, ‘A website for the diocese.’ The diocese obliged. A new openness to change was evident. However, the much deeper challenge came when the bishop shared the vision of ‘Every Tasmanian committed to Jesus Christ’, declared that the diocese be known as ‘The Missionary Diocese of Tasmania’, and challenged every Anglican to live as a ‘missionary disciple’.
Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower has made available a chapter he wrote (PDF, Word) for the book “Facing the Future: Bishops Imagine a Different Church”, edited by Stephen Hale and Andrew Curnow.
“In Tasmania in 2000, the question was asked, ‘Bishop, what would you like from the diocese as you commence your episcopate?’ – The answer, ‘A website for the diocese.’ The diocese obliged. A new openness to change was evident. However, the much deeper challenge came when the bishop shared the vision of ‘Every Tasmanian committed to Jesus Christ’, declared that the diocese be known as ‘The Missionary Diocese of Tasmania’, and challenged every Anglican to live as a ‘missionary disciple’.
These strong statements of missional intent highlighted the commencement of intentional deep change in the Anglican Church in Tasmania…”
(h/t and photo: Diocese of Tasmania.)
Anglicans: Sydney Style
With Sydney’s Synod starting on Monday, ABC TV’s Compass is looking at the diocese on Sunday night at 9:55pm. Might be worth checking out.
“Sydney is home to a third of Australia’s Anglicans. The Diocese is well known for being staunchly evangelical, for opposing the ordination of women and for its emphasis on the Biblical and personal conversion. This programs looks at the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, its spiritual battle against modernising trends and the evangelical ministry at the heart of its identity.”
Newcastle Synod this weekend
The Synod of the Diocese of Newcastle meets this weekend and will discuss the first ever Strategic Plan for the diocese –
Bishop Brian Farran said, “With more than 500 people across the Diocese involved in the development of the Diocesan Strategic Plan it is worthy of celebration. The consultation process has been broad and judicious. The Diocesan Strategic Plan provides us with a language with which to express our hopes and dreams to be a missional church.”
– from the Diocese of Newcastle website. PDF file. Doubtless, members of the Synod would appreciate prayer for their meeting.
Oct 2009 Australian Church Record online
The latest edition of The Australian Church Record is now online and is available as a free PDF download, thanks to the people at ACR.
What does it mean to be Anglican?
Mark Thompson, ACL President, has been writing about this question at his blog –
“To many, perhaps too many, the answer to this question is probably ‘Who cares?’ In a post-denominational age, Anglican identity might be an interesting historical question but it hardly has relevance for contemporary Christian living. What is more, fearing denominationalism, some would prefer to abandon all talk of Anglicanism. Denominations can become idols, can’t they?…”
What does it mean to be Anglican? I
What does it mean to be Anglican? II
See also Mark’s recent talk on The 39 Articles and Global Anglicanism from the Confess or Die Conference.
Melbourne Diocese Synod Charge 2009
“My charge to you tonight is a call to a deeper relationship with Christ, a call to faithful Christian ministry both as clergy and lay Christians, a call to Christian witness in our daily lives, a call to prayer, a call to love one another and a call to share in the creation of a vision for the Diocese of Melbourne for the next five years and beyond.”
– from Archbishop Philip Freier’s address to the Melbourne Synod on Thursday night (PDF file).
Related: Press release from Anglican Media Melbourne.
Conservative worshippers prepare for their exodus
“The people of St. Luke’s Anglican Church have called their La Crescenta parish home for 85 years. Generations of families have grown up within its historic stone walls.
On Sunday, the Rev. Rob Holman will deliver his final sermon there, an epitaph to a bruising legal fight the congregation waged and lost to practice its conservative brand of Christian theology and hold on to the church.
On Monday, St. Luke’s leaders will hand over its keys to the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. …”
– Story from The Los Angeles Times. (Graphic: St. Luke’s Crescenta Valley.)
Plan for women C of E bishops put on hold
“Plans to consecrate women bishops in the Church of England have been delayed by at least four years in an attempt to avoid mass defections by opponents of women’s ordination. Church legislators have backtracked on a decision made by the General Synod, the Church’s governing body, last year to consecrate women bishops with minimal concessions to opponents.”
– report from Times Online.
(Photo: Australian women bishops Barbara Darling and Kay Goldsworthy – by Janine Eastlake / Anglican Media Melbourne.).
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…