Bathurst Diocese news — Appointment for the Parish of Blayney

The latest good news from the Diocese of Bathurst serves as a reminder to continue in prayer for gospel ministry across that large area of NSW.

From Archdeacon Andrew Thornhill, Diocesan Administrator –

“It is with gratitude to God that I advise that today in the parish of Blayney it is being announced that the Rev’d Julian Yin is to commence as their Deacon in Charge in late January / early February 2027. …

Julian first approached the diocese back in August, aware of the needs in our diocese including the opportunity in Blayney, to faithfully proclaim the Gospel to encourage God’s church and bring more people to Christ.

Our existing partnership with The Bridge Church (Rector Paul Dale has regularly provided Bible teaching for us including at this year’s diocesan camp; and we’ve been blessed by ministry workers sent to coordinate children and youth programs at a number of our diocesan camps) helped facilitate the parish’s discernment of Julian, and we’re so grateful to the continued Gospel partnership with The Bridge Church who are generously supporting the Yins’s ministry. …”

– Read the full announcement here.

Anglican Heroes: Handley Moule — Church Society podcast

From Church Society:

“Rob Brewis tells Ros Clarke about the life, work and ongoing influence of Anglican pastor and theologian, Handley Moule.”

– Listen here.

Funeral Service for Bruce Baird AM at St Andrew’s Cathedral

The  Funeral Service for the Hon. Bruce Baird AM was held at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney this afternoon (Monday 12th October 2026).

The service was introduced by Archbishop Kanishka Raffel and led by Bruce Clarke, the Rector of St. Matthew’s Manly, where Bruce Baird was a long time member.

Simon Smart, family friend and Executive Director of the Centre for Public Christianity, preached. Speaking from John chapter 11 (the raising of Lazarus), he said,

“Bruce Baird was a lifelong churchgoing man of Christian faith, trusting himself to that life. So much of Bruce’s life was animated by and shaped by his faith.”

– A recording of the full service can be seen here. (The sermon begins at 1:03:10.)

Matt Brain elected Bishop of Bunbury

Bishop of Bendigo, Bishop Matt Brain, has been elected Bishop of Bunbury in Western Australia.

In a message today to the people of the Diocese of Bunbury, Archdeacon and Administrator of the Diocese the Ven. Geoff Chadwick writes  –

“Dear all,

No doubt you have been waiting to know who has been elected as our next Bishop.

It is my pleasure to announce that it is The Very Rev Dr Matthew Brain. He comes to us from the Diocese of Bendigo having previously been the Assistant Bishop of Canberra/Goulburn, Rector of Kambah and the Diocesan Youth Minister and Rector of Kalbarri.

He has experience in ministry training and development.

He is married to Rachael and has five adult children.

His other interests include cycling and he takes pleasure in playing the guitar.

I can assure you that we in the Diocesan Office will do all that we can to make him and Rachael welcome.

The date of his installation will be decided in due course.

May I also advise you not to contact him until he is installed. He will have much to do in Bendigo as he navigates his departure.

I look forward to working with him as we discover where God is leading the Diocese Please pray for him, his wife Rachael and the Diocesan team during this time of transition.

With Blessings.

Geoff

Archdeacon and Administrator.”

See also this pastoral letter from Bishop Brain to the Diocese of Bendigo. (PDF file.)

Top photo from the August 2026 issue of The Spirit from the Diocese of Bendigo.

Earlier:

Four Australian dioceses pray for wisdom in seeking new leaders – 03 September 2026. Now add prayers for Bendigo.

“What does a bishop do?”

From SydneyAnglicans.net –

“Hundreds gathered to farewell Bishop Peter Hayward and his wife Julie at Figtree Anglican Church in Wollongong as tributes praised his faithful pastoral leadership and unwavering commitment to God’s people. …”

– Report from Russell Powell.

Archbishop Raffel announces key ministry appointment

“The Rev Caroline Litchfield has been appointed Archdeacon for the Ministry of Women in the Diocese of Sydney, bringing more than two decades of ministry experience to a role supporting hundreds of women serving across churches and diocesan organisations.

‘This is a key role encouraging and promoting the ministry of women in our diocese,’ said Archbishop Raffel in making the announcement. …”

– Story from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.

Moses Tay, 7th Bishop of Singapore, called home to the Lord at age 88

From Salt&Light in Singapore –

“Right Reverend Dr Moses Tay Leng Kong, the seventh Bishop of Singapore and the first Archbishop of the Province of Anglican Church in South East Asia, was called home to the Lord on the night of September 24. He was 88.

He is survived by his wife of four decades, Cynthia, two children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Bishop Moses served as Bishop of Singapore from 1982 to 1999, a period that saw significant growth and change in the Singapore Anglican Church.

In 1996, he also became the first Archbishop of the newly formed Province of South East Asia, which brought together the dioceses of Singapore, West Malaysia, Kuching and Sabah. …”

– Read the full tribute by Gracie Lee.

Long-term readers will well remember Bishop Tay’s key role, along with Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and two other bishops, in consecrating two American Episcopal clergymen, John Rodgers and Chuck Murphy in January 2000.

For some background on that, see:

Vale Bishop Chuck Murphy – 24 January 2018.

Moses Tay: A Prophet confronts Lambeth Pragmatism – Charles Raven, January 2010.

and material migrated from our old website –

Kampala Statement November 1999 and the Tay and Kolini Letter January 2000 in our Reference Documents and Press Releases section.

Dr. Stephen Carnaby elected 12th Bishop of Bathurst

From Archdeacon Andrew Thornhill, Administrator for the Diocese of Bathurst –

“It is with joyful gratitude to God that I announce the Venerable Dr. Stephen Carnaby has accepted the diocesan Bishop Election Board’s invitation to be the 12 Bishop of Bathurst.

We firmly believe that Stephen will help lead our diocese faithfully, courageously, and joyfully into the years ahead.  …

He served in ordained ministry across churches in regional Tasmania and Hobart for 18 years, with his experience including church revitalisation, planting new congregations, children’s, youth and families’ ministry, and general pastoral work.

For the past nine years he has been the Director of Ministry Development [in the Diocese of Tasmania], working closely with the Bishop and overseeing diocesan training, raising up leaders, supporting and resourcing churches, and other efforts to fulfil the diocesan vision to make disciples of Jesus. …”

– Full announcement here (PDF file).

And Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel welcomes the news.

Pastoral Farewell Letter from the Bishop of Bathurst

After the service in Bathurst Cathedral today to signal the end of his time as Bishop, Mark Calder released this Pastoral Farewell Letter –

“Dear brothers and sisters,

At our recent Bishop-in-Council meeting in Dubbo, BiC asked that what I shared with them in my Bishop’s Matters might be shared more widely across the Diocese.

As this was my final Bishop’s Matters, I was a little more reflective than usual. I didn’t attempt to rehearse the last seven years, nor offer a grand assessment of my time here. Rather, I wanted to note with thanksgiving something of what the Lord has done among us, acknowledge some areas where I have needed considerable help, and say something about what I hope the Diocese will continue to value and pursue in the next chapter.

So, with only a little adaptation for a wider audience, here is something of what I shared. …”

– Download the PDF file to read his full letter.

Anglican Church’s first female Aboriginal priest and prolific Arnhem Land artist dies — “Her constant focus was on the work of the gospel”

From ABC News –

“A pioneer within the Anglican church has been remembered by her family as a ‘strong cultural woman’, after she passed away this week in the Northern Territory. …

Reverend Y. Nunggumajbarr was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2009 at a ceremony in her home community of Numbulwar, on the Gulf coast in south-east Arnhem Land. …

In an email sent to members of the Anglican Dioceses, Bishop Greg Anderson said Reverend Y. Nunggumajbarr had ministered services in nearby Angurugu and Numbulwar for more than a decade, prior to her retirement from the ministry in 2023.

‘Her constant focus was on the work of the gospel, and what needed to happen to make it spread,’ Bishop Anderson wrote. …”

– Story here.

The Sydney Family Album 9 — T.C. Hammond

In 2011, Mark Thompson, now Principal of Moore College, published a series of posts, entitled “The Sydney Family Album”, for his website, Theological Theology.

We felt they merit wider distribution, so, with Mark’s kind permission, we are re-posting them on the ACL website, at the rate of one a week.

Here’s the ninth and last in the series, on T.C. Hammond, Principal of Moore College, 1935 – 1953.

One of the most important of Howard Mowll’s many influential appointments was that of Thomas Chatterton (T. C.) Hammond as Principal of Moore College.

Appointed at a time when the College seemed to be shifting its theological position, Hammond, who already had a worldwide reputation as an evangelical preacher, teacher and apologist, would be, it was hoped, precisely the kind of leader who would strengthen the College and set its course firmly in the mainstream of evangelical Anglican theology. He would meet all of these expectations and surpass them.

Other posts in the The Sydney Family Album series are in our Resources section.

Photo: T.C. Hammond standing at the Moore College gate on Carillon Avenue, Newtown. Frame from late 1940s movie film digitised by the Moore College Archives.

The Joy of William Wilberforce

Paul Barnes reminds us of a key man in recent world history, and of some who influenced him –

“In 1786 Edmund Burke, the renowned orator and politician, was sure that the abolition of the slave trade was a fantasy – that it stood no hope of being accomplished. We might find this surprising, and think it would be obvious that something as horrendous as the capturing and selling of people should be abolished. Thus, it is difficult for us to understand just how impossible the abolition of the slave trade looked.

Although he was certainly not the only one against the Slave Trade, William Wilberforce has rightly taken primary place as the man who achieved the impossible. But how did Wilberforce achieve the impossible in a world that looked down on his faith and what he was trying to achieve? …”

– Read the full essay at AP, the national Presbyterian journal.

Image: Painting of Wilberforce by Anton Hickel.

The Sydney Family Album 8 — Howard Mowll

In 2011, Mark Thompson, now Principal of Moore College, published a series of posts, entitled “The Sydney Family Album”, for his website, Theological Theology.

We felt they merit wider distribution, so, with Mark’s kind permission, we are re-posting them on the ACL website, at the rate of one a week.

Here’s the eighth in the series, on Howard Mowll, Archbishop of Sydney, 1934 – 1958.

It really is rather hard to overplay the contribution of Howard Mowll to the shape and character of the contemporary Anglican Diocese of Sydney.

His election as Archbishop in April 1933 was a critical moment in the diocese’s history, a decision for its evangelical heritage rather than the more eclectic theology others were advocating at the time. His tenure of the office during World War II and the equally critical post-war years set directions, embedded principles and fostered a new generation of leaders who enabled Sydney Anglicanism to remain unambiguously Protestant and evangelical while engaging seriously with the challenges of a new era.

Among so many other things gifts to the diocese, he was the driving force behind the invitation to Billy Graham to come to Sydney in 1959, though Mowll died six months before the Crusade began.

Other posts in the The Sydney Family Album series (as we add them) are in our Resources section. There is still one more to go!

Photo: Archbishop Howard Mowll, from his biography by Marcus Loane.

‘Dick Lucas’ mind was blown apart’ – with Andrew Atherstone

From The Pastor’s Heart –

“1986. London’s Westminster Central Hall. The then young Australian preacher Phillip Jensen takes the platform at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly, and detonated UK Anglican Evangelicalism

Dick Lucas, the elder statesman of UK Evangelicalism Rector of St Helen’s Bishopsgate, said his mind was “blown apart by these bold Australian exhortations.”

Chris Green says a room full of ministers in training were “revolutionised overnight.”

It’s the third in our occasional series of specials on evangelical oral history.

We are with Dr Andrew Atherstone (Wycliffe Hall Oxford) and this time we trace how a Sydney rector’s insistence on Bible teaching and the local congregation, over and above inherited Anglican structure made such an impact on the UK evangelical scene.

Jensen’s 1986 and 1988 addresses didn’t just inspire, but they gave a generation of English ministers permission to think differently about bishops, boundaries and where real spiritual authority lives.”

– Watch it at The Pastor’s Heart. And yes, Phillip Jensen’s talk did create quite a stir! Much to be thankful for.

The Pastor’s Heart page has links to Phillip’s talks at the EMA in 1986 and later.

In addition, you can hear all the talks given (by Phillip Jensen, J I Packer and Dick Lucas) at that 1986 Evangelical Ministry Assembly at The Proclamation Trust website.

The Sydney Family Album 7 – Nathaniel Jones

In 2011, Mark Thompson, now Principal of Moore College, published a series of posts, entitled “The Sydney Family Album”, for his website, Theological Theology.

We felt they merit wider distribution, so, with Mark’s kind permission, we are re-posting them on the ACL website, at the rate of one a week.

Here’s the seventh in the series, on Nathaniel Jones, Principal of Moore College, 1897–1911.

Nathaniel Jones brought to Moore College a passion for serious theological education. He immediately set about raising the academic standard at the College, preparing students for the Oxford and Cambridge Preliminary Examination for Holy Orders.

He was concerned to give his students the theological resources necessary to meet the challenges of liberal theology, which was already being exported to Australia from England and from America.

His students would be able to face these challenges with confidence based on a deep grounding in the Scriptures and a clear evangelical Anglican theology of the type being taught at this time at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford by Jones’ lifelong friend W. H. Griffith Thomas…

Other posts in the The Sydney Family Album series (as we add them) are in our Resources section. There are still two more to go!

Photo: Nathaniel Jones in 1899, detail from a photo held by Moore College. See the post for the full reference.

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