Church would defy loss of exemptions
The Presbyterian Church in Victoria will defy the law and take the consequences if Parliament removes religious exemptions to the Equal Opportunity Act, a spokesman said yesterday.
The Reverend David Palmer, head of the church’s ethics committee, warned a parliamentary inquiry into the exemptions that changes would create significant conflict between church and state. …
– from Thursday’s The Age. See also Jeremy Halcrow’s post at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Societas 2009
The Moore College students’ magazine, Societas, is now available for 2009.
More of the same from TEC
As reported by The Los Angeles Times, six candidates have been nominated for the upcoming election of two bishops suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Of these, two are in same-sex relationships.
At Stand Firm, Greg Griffith wonders what happened to an online posting from one of the candidates. (Picture: Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno.)
Cuts at Anglican Media
At SydneyAnglicans.net, Jeremy Halcrow reports on the changes at Anglican Media Sydney –
“Anglican Media has been forced to retrench Mr Hadley and two other senior staff, while three full-time positions will be made part-time, in the latest round of job cuts caused by the Diocese’s financial losses.”
– and Mark Hadley reflects on the personal implications of “seeking first the kingdom”.
Please continue to pray for all affected by the global financial crisis.
God’s place in the Dreaming
“The Uniting Church recently became the first major Christian denomination in Australia to commence processes to formally acknowledge, in the Preamble to its Constitution, Australia’s traditional owners and their pre-existing relationship with the Creator God. …”
– from The Uniting Church website – emphasis added.
(Romans 1:16-23 also speaks about everyone’s pre-existing relationship with God.)
See also:
In addition to recognising Aborigines as the first people to settle in Australia, the preamble also acknowledges that the church did not bring God to Australia’s indigenous people.
“They’re saying it’s not Europeans who brought God to this land on a boat,” Reverend Murray Muirhead, from the Aboriginal wing of the Uniting Church in Alice Springs, told ABC radio.
“God had already been here for millennia.”
– report from The Brisbane Times, July 21, 2009.
Communion, Covenant and our Anglican Future – the Archbishop of Canterbury
Reflections on the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention from the Archbishop of Canterbury –
“the question is not a simple one of human rights or human dignity. It is that a certain choice of lifestyle has certain consequences. So long as the Church Catholic, or even the Communion as a whole does not bless same-sex unions, a person living in such a union cannot without serious incongruity have a representative function in a Church whose public teaching is at odds with their lifestyle. …”
– Read the Archbishop’s full comments at the Anglican Communion News Service.
(Photo of Abp Rowan Williams at ACC-14: ACNS.)
Church of Uganda seeks famine-relief
The Archbishop of Uganda’s secretary for International Relations writes:
“Uganda is experiencing serious drought and famine in northeastern, northern, and northwestern Uganda. People have now started to die. …”
– Read the full report at Anglican Mainstream.
Judge: Property is Episcopalians’
“The Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin has prevailed in its initial lawsuit against Anglican Bishop John-David Schofield, who was the first in the nation to lead his diocese away from the Episcopal Church over the interpretation of Scripture and the 2004 ordination of an openly gay bishop.
Thursday, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Adolfo Corona ruled that Bishop Jerry Lamb, not Schofield, is the one true Episcopal bishop of the diocese. …”
– from the Modesto Bee in California.
(Photo: Bishop Jerry Lamb greets TEC Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori – Episcopal Life Online.)
Archbishop Rowan and TEC
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has responded to The Episcopal Church’s statements on gay consecrations and same-sex blessings. He doesn’t see what happened at GenCon09 as schism, or the end of the Communion, but as pointing the way to a two-tier communion of covenanted and non-covenanted provinces.…”
– On her blog, Ruth Gledhill of Times Online writes about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s reaction to the TEC General Convention.
(Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.)
Moore College Lectures 2009
Dr Ashley Null is delivering this year’s Moore College Lectures. His topic?: Renewing the Power to Love: Repentance in Classical Anglicanism.
Two evening lectures at 8:00pm
Tuesday 4 August: Thomas Cranmer
Thursday 6 August: Richard HookerThree morning lectures at 10:15am
Friday 7 August: William Perkins
Tuesday 11 August: Lancelot Andrewes
Thursday 13 August: John Donne
Details from the Moore College website.
Alan Kerr
“John Stott has saluted Melbourne Anglican Alan Kerr AM with these words, ‘Faithful husband and father, loyal churchman and champion of the laity. Committed to mission and the gospel.’…”
– Anglican Media Melbourne reports on the death of Melbourne Anglican Alan Kerr.
Open Letter to Anglican Communion
The ACNA’s Archbishop Robert Duncan has written this Open Letter to the Anglican Communion –
“Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
There are times in the history of God’s people when the prevailing values and behaviors of those then in control of rival cities symbolizes a choice to be made by all of God’s people. For Anglicans such a moment has certainly arrived. The cities symbolizing the present choice are Bedford, Texas, and Anaheim, California. In the last month, the contrasting behaviors and values of the religious leaders who met in these two small cities made each a symbol of Anglicanism’s inescapable choice. …”
– read it all here on the Diocese of Pittsburgh website (PDF file).
Challenges we face — 2009 AGM
ACL President, Dr Mark Thompson, spoke at last night’s ACL Annual General Meeting —
The clarity which Peter Jensen’s leadership has given us on the priority of evangelism and necessity of directing our resources to this end is something for which we can thank God. As we face the end of his episcopate, the challenge is not only to maintain that priority but to build on the strategies put in place over the last eight years which have given expression to it. We certainly do not want to go back, but we can’t afford to stand still either. We need to press ahead, thinking creatively about how to maximise our opportunities to proclaim Christ in a rapidly changing culture.
Latest Oak Hill Newsbrief
The latest Newsbrief from Oak Hill College in London is available on their website.
It’s a 2.7MB PDF file (direct link).
New Baptist logo
Just in case you wonder where the Cross and open Bible have gone…
Press release: “Australian Baptists today launched a new national name and logo, signalling a renewed commitment to evangelism, mission and ministry around the nation and around the world. Read more
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…