Mark Thompson on Calvin@500
Academic Dean of Moore College, and ACL President, Dr Mark Thompson, exhorts you to come to the Calvin@500 Conference, 16-17 September 2009.
Brochure and registration info from Moore College (PDF – direct link).
Back to Church Sunday
While Anglican Churches in Sydney are involved in Connect09 and Jesus. All About Life, other Anglicans are also seeking to reach out. Nineteen Australian diocese are holding Back to Church Sunday next Sunday.
“On September 13th 2009 thousands of people across Australia will be inviting someone special back to church with them. People lose touch with church for all sorts of reasons but millions would come back with an invitation.”
See the Back to Church Sunday website for details. (See also, e.g., Canberra & Goulburn, Melbourne, Newcastle, Grafton.)
Restitution call puts Dr Adam in spotlight
“The Revd Dr Peter Adam exchanged the lecture room for the uncomfortable glare of the media spotlight last month with his suggestions for restitution that ought to be made to indigenous Australians for the wrongs done to them since European settlement, especially that non-Aboriginal people should leave Australia if asked by the original Australians. …
Reaction to Dr Adam’s speech was swift and, in many prominent quarters, negative. Broadcaster Neil Mitchell on 3AW said it was a reason no one should step inside a church again…”
– Anglican Media Melbourne reports on reactions to Dr Peter Adam’s John Saunders Lecture, ‘Australia – whose land?’.
New College Lectures 2009 this week
Bioethics And Future Hope: This year’s New College Lectures offer a Christian perspective on the impact of technology on contemporary medical practices.
John Wyatt, Professor of Ethics and Perinatology, University College London, will consider the bioethical issues faced every day as we make decisions about creating, preserving and protecting life.
“Our understanding of the future changes the way we think about our ethical responsibilities in the present. The lectures will outline three different conceptions of the future and their implications for bioethics. The secular perspective derived from the Enlightenment sees the future as a human construct, an artefact created by human ingenuity. In contrast, the neoplatonic future offers the hope of an escape from the material world into the timeless realm of the spirit. The biblical view of the future provides a third radical perspective. …”
The lectures are set for September 8, 9 and 10 and details are available in this PDF file from the New College website.
Gospel opportunities abound
The ‘viral’ phase of the Bible Society’s Jesus. All About Life campaign begins today (September 7), with the other phases to start soon.
See details of the planned TV advertising from Dan Willis on this YouTube video.
The Connect09 Inspiring People panel discussions begin next week (September 15). See this 60 second video from John Dickson, courtesy SydneyAnglicans.net.
And for resources to help you, see Evangelism Ministries and also others they recommend.
Colossians 4.2-6 is a good reminder of our privilege and responsibility.
UCA statement on Jews and Judaism
A ‘unconfirmed minute’ of a Statement from the Uniting Church of Australia’s 12th Triennial Assembly, held in July, has now been published as a PDF file on the UCA website.
While the statement rightly rejects anti-semitism, it does not call people to place their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, nor give any reason why they should need to.
Related: UCA Working Group on Christian – Jewish Relations – but also see, for example, Romans 10:1-17, Acts 4:1-12, John 14:6.
FCA launched in South Africa
“Seventy Anglican clergy and laity are today (September 3) attending the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (South Africa) at St John’s Church in Port Elizabeth…
– from David MacGregor in Port Elizabeth.
Australian marriage statistics
On Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released a selection of data on marriages and divorces in Australia. While only highlighting a limited range of data, it’s a reminder of some of the ways in which our culture is changing.
See Crikey.com.au. (h/t/ Malcolm Purvis.)
‘God’s Word Heard’ — September free Audiobook
This month’s free audiobook from Christian Audio is the New Testament from ‘God’s Word Heard’ – a translation published by Baker Books.
You can see some PDF samples of the translation here – and download the audio using the code SEP2009 via the link on this page. (Requires free registration.)
Of course, if you prefer the rather more literal English Standard Version, you can hear audio in your browser by going to esv.org – or esvstudybible.org click on ‘Listen’ just next to the book and chapter number.
Related:
Using the Online ESV to Listen.
Choosing a Bible: free download.
Al Mohler: The NIV Announcement — A Statement.
Listening Process a ‘gift’ to church
The Episcopal Church talks up the ‘listening process’.
– Listening Process a ‘gift’ to church.
– Bulletin inserts focus on ‘listening process’. (PDF file)
Related: Listening process or Repentance? and
Money, Sex, Indaba.
Restructuring planned for Sydney Diocese
Archbishop Peter Jensen has announced a number of changes, designed to help keep Sydney Anglicans focussed on sharing the good news of Jesus despite the challenges brought by the global financial crisis –
“As soon as it became apparent that we would have far less money available in the next three years, the Mission Strategy Committee and the Mission Board began to think and pray about our options. They have been working for several months and have now presented their proposals to Standing Committee before advancing them to the Synod. …
Part of the complexity is that it is not only the Synod money which is affected, but also the money from the Endowment of the See. …
Given the magnitude of the change, tinkering is not enough: we have to restructure. The key is to do it in such a way that we are looking to the future and driven by our mission.”
– Read the Archbishop’s message, “Looking Within, Above and Ahead” and related articles in Southern Cross, available at SydneyAnglicans.net.
The Doctrine of the Church
“I suggest what we need is more theology, not less and, in particular, careful thinking about the place preaching has in our doctrine of the church.”
– Mark Thompson blogs about the just-concluded 13th Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference – Part 1, part 2, part 3.
Death or life in Vancouver
The Ecumenical and Multifaith Unit (EMU) of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster, Canada is co-hosting a workshop “Challenges for the church in a post-religious culture”. Bishop Michael Ingham will be one of the panelists.
From the EMU website: “Currently the [EMU] committee is advocating the use of Prayers for Peace from other faith traditions (see Multifaith Prayers for Peace), both in regular services and in personal meditations, as an affirmation of our common spiritual goal for peace on earth.”
By contrast, hear this sermon by Canon (of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney) David Short at St. John’s Shaughnessy in Vancouver, preached back in June –
“The point of the resurrection is that God has made Jesus LORD over everything.”
– from the St. John’s website.
Please continue in prayer for all who labour in the teaching of God’s word, that they always may be faithful.
(Logo: Ecumenical and Multifaith Unit of the Diocese of New Westminster.)
Australian Christian Books of the Year 2009
SPCK Australia has announced its 2009 Australian Christian Literature Awards. Here’s the list – Read more
UK Christian arts festival draws criticism
“Traditional Anglicans have criticised the UK’s major Christian arts festival for inviting a gay American Bishop to speak. Among those addressing the Greenbelt festival this year is the Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson…
Changing Attitude, a leading pro-gay Church movement, will be laying out their ideas at the festival. Its director, the Rev Colin Coward, says he is happy to have a debate on homosexuality, but that it is not appropriate to invite the ‘Ex-Gay’ movement.”
– Report from BBC News on a story which has been building for the last month or so. Another controversial speaker, Rob Bell, has been overlooked in much of the discussion. (Related.)
The Greenbelt Festival is held this weekend. (Photo: TEC.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…