Plans for Consecration of GAFCON General Secretary Paul Donison announced

Here’s an Announcement from The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda, Chair, Gafcon Primates’ Council, Primate & Archbishop of Rwanda:

“Dear Brothers and Sisters within our Gafcon family,

On behalf of the Gafcon Primates, it is my joy to announce the upcoming consecration of our General Secretary, the Reverend Canon Paul Donison, as a Bishop in our Lord’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic church on 4 February 2024 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kigali, Rwanda.

At our November 2023 meeting in London, the Primates passed a resolution asking that Dean Donison be consecrated, as the role of General Secretary is episcopal in nature: guarding and expanding the mission and unity of the Church, and helping to convene the Councils of the Church.

In December 2023, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Rwanda agreed to consecrate Dean Donison as Bishop if the ACNA College of Bishops approved. Furthermore, in January 2024 the synod of the Metropolitan Diocese of Gasabo unanimously resolved that Dean Paul be consecrated as assistant Bishop of Gasabo Diocese.

On 9 January, 2024, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), consented to the proposal that following his consecration, Bishop-elect Donison will be transferred to the Anglican Church in North America, and Invested as Vicar General (Area Bishop) of the Texas Deanery of the Anglican Diocese of the South. A service of Investiture and Celebration of his New Ministry as Gafcon General Secretary will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, Plano, Texas, USA, on 17 February 2024.

One of Gafcon’s priorities is to raise up a next generation of global leaders, and the Primates are unanimous in our conviction that Paul is the right person to assume this office “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

I ask your prayers for Bishop-elect Paul, his wife, Monika, their daughters, and for our whole Gafcon movement. …”

– Source: GAFCON.

Riding the wave of significant growth — with Indian Ocean Archbishop James Wong

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Gospel ministry in the Indian Ocean is growing rapidly.

Anglican Primate James Wong leads the ministry in Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius and is visiting Sydney, on a speaking tour of the Church Missionary Society Australian Summer Conferences.

Archbishop Wong charts a course for further growth in ministry in his region.

Plus he outlines the detailed back room work taking place to reset the Anglican Communion, following the failure of the Church of England leadership to repent, ahead of the significant Global South meeting in Cairo in June.

Archbishop Wong is an advisor to the Gafcon Primates Council and serves on the leadership group of the Anglican Global South Fellowship.”

– Watch or listen here.

Pray for Dr. Siegfried Ngubane as he prepares to become REACH-SA Presiding Bishop

Here’s today’s GAFCON prayer request:

“Rev. Dr. Siegfried Ngubane is the Presiding Bishop elect for the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (REACH-SA), a welcomed new Gafcon province. Pray for Dr. Ngubane as he prepares to assume the role from Presiding Bishop Glenn Lyons.”

Related: REACH SA website.

Photo: Dr. Ngubane with Bishop Glenn Lyons.

How I rely on God with motor neurone disease

“My name is Gill Truman. I live in Bowral, I’m married to Matt and we have two boys – Charlie is 13 and Art is 11.

I have a jazzy computer that talks for me. Why? Because I have motor neurone disease. It is a progressive, terminal neurological disease with no known treatment or cure. …”

– In the latest (December – January) Southern Cross, Gill Truman shares her story to remind us all where we must put our trust.

Remembering Broughton Knox after 30 years

David Broughton Knox, Principal of Moore College 1959–1985, was called home 30 years ago, on January 14th 1994.

Who was Broughton Knox? Take the time to read these two tributes:

Sir Marcus Loane, Archbishop of Sydney 1966 – 1982, preached at his funeral at St. Andrew’s Cathedral:

“There were many strands in Broughton’s complex make-up as husband and father, teacher and friend. But all who knew him know that his life was ruled by a profound faith in God. That life was to span just a shade over seventy seven years from the time of his birth. And they were years crowded with quiet achievement as well as moments of high drama.

It was a life rich in friendship, in world-wide contacts, and in special fields of service. And it has left a mark for God that will endure in and beyond his own generation. …”

And Donald Robinson, Archbishop of Sydney 1982–1993, wrote a tribute for ACL News in 1994:

“It is no doubt too soon to estimate Broughton’s full contribution to the Australian Church. We can note something of its character, its thrust, and its scope, and we can voice our gratitude where we have personally been its beneficiaries.

Broughton was a theological person, whose mind and heart was focussed on the living God as He has made himself known. …”

William Ansdell Leech (1842-1895) and the Fresh Air League

“On 25 September 1890, in his parish of Bong Bong in the Southern Highlands of NSW, the Rev William Ansdell Leech, an Anglican clergyman, formed a Ministering Children’s League (MCL) group from which the NSW Fresh Air League (FAL) would arise.

Initially, the activity that gave rise to the FAL was Leech’s particular way of fulfilling the ideals of the MCL. It soon became apparent that providing holiday accommodation for poor children and families in a healthy mountainous environment was a ministry deserving of its own name. …”

– Paul Cooper, Research Fellow at Christ College, Sydney, provides another fascinating window in to the (not-so-distant) past at Philanthropists And Philanthropy In Australian Colonial History.

Image: colonialgivers.com

For Archbishop of Canterbury, Heading Anglican Church Is ‘High-Wire Act’

“When the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, welcomed friends to sing Christmas carols at his London residence last week, his remarks ran, as they often do, to his coronation of King Charles III in May. …”

– The New York Times has this piece on Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

It tells us,“he is keenly aware of the limits on what he can accomplish before he hands over to the next archbishop in 2026. A bitter, yearslong debate over how the Church of England should treat same-sex marriage will not be resolved during his term, he said in an interview at Lambeth Palace…”

Vale: David Chislett

Anglican.ink relays the news of the death, in the UK, of David Chislett, sometime Rector of the Parish of All Saints’ Wickham Place, Brisbane. At the time of his death, he was Vicar of All Saints’, Benhilton, in the Diocese of Southwark.

A convinced Anglo-Catholic, David differed sharply with the theologically liberal direction of the Diocese of Brisbane and the then Archbishop Dr Phillip Aspinall – especially over the latter’s support for the ordination of women to the priesthood.

In 2005, he was consecrated in Philadelphia as a Bishop in the Traditional Anglican Communion and served for some time as a ‘flying bishop’ to support TAC and Forward in Faith parishes across Australia. (Further background here.)

His consecration led to his removal from his position in Brisbane Diocese that year. (Link to the old section of our website – apologies for the horrible formatting.)

Despite his non-trivial theological differences with the Diocese of Sydney, David spoke gratefully of the stand taken by Sydney on the authority of Scripture, and was happy to be identified with the Anglican Church League (!).

In 1998 we published this article by David (also in the old section of our website).

“The strongest and, many would say, the most spiritually vital body within Australian Anglicanism, is the Diocese of Sydney.

Overwhelmingly and uniquely Calvinist and Reformed, mainstream Sydney Anglicanism is passionately evangelical, though not, as some suppose, fundamentalist. It is inherently suspicious of those who seem less biblical in their priorities.

In past decades, Sydney Anglicans tended to see anglo-catholicism as the great enemy. Today, however, Sydney and the anglo-catholics (the Dioceses of Ballarat, Wangaratta, The Murray, and a small sprinkling of priests and lay people from other places) join forces on an increasing number of issues. It is becoming clear that despite their very real differences, the so-called extremes of Anglicanism have a lot more in common than either has with the liberals in the middle. Most importantly, they contrast their adherence to a revealed religion with the modernist idea of contemporary culture as the ultimate authority in matters of faith.”

The article is worth reading in full.

Fr. David Chislett was ordained in the Diocese of Ballarat, and served in a number of Ballarat parishes before moving to All Saints’ Wickham Terrace, the well known anglo-catholic parish in the heart of Brisbane in 1995. He was Rector there until his removal in 2005, and has, most recently, been serving in the United Kingdom.

Many will remember David Chislett with thanksgiving to God.

See also his 2007 article, “How many CHURCHGOING Anglicans does Lambeth represent?”

Photo: Bishop David Chislett’s consecration in the USA in 2005.

Dave Jensen: “Sydney Anglicans’ first family and its prodigal son”

“A few days after Peter Jensen was elected Archbishop of Sydney, a famously conservative Anglican diocese that frowns upon divorce, female ordination and sex outside heterosexual marriage, his son Dave, barely out of school, sat him down for an awkward conversation. …”

– The Sydney Morning Herald his this profile of Dave Jensen. A topic of conservation at work or over coffee this week?

Moore College farewells The Rev Dr Chase Kuhn

“Moore College’s much-loved lecturer in Christian ethics and theology, The Rev Dr Chase Kuhn, has accepted the Archbishop’s invitation to become the Rector of St Matthias Centennial Park in Sydney. Dr Kuhn’s long-standing love of church-based pastoral ministry means that this move has not surprised any who know him.

While we will be very sad to see him go, we are so glad that he is able to use his very considerable gifts in the service of this community of God’s people. We share the joy of this opportunity with Chase, Amy and the family. …”

– News from Moore College.

Facing Death as a Christian

From Mark Powell at AP’s Profiles in Christian Living Podcast:

“In this interview we talk with Gordon Cheng who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer. Thankfully, he is currently in remission, but we speak to him about where to find comfort, strength and hope when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”

– Watch here.

Many of our readers will be upholding Gordon and his family in prayer.

Gordon makes it very clear: “As a Christian, I want to testify that there’s nothing better than being the servant of the Lord. Even in the darkest valley of the shadow of death…”

Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali became a Christian

“Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim and now a former atheist, recently declared that she has converted to Christianity. This is a cause for great rejoicing.

It is also a fascinating sign of the times. Her published account of why she is a Christian is somewhat odd, given that it mentions Jesus only once. It is, however, unreasonable to expect a new convert to offer an elaborate account of the hypostatic union in the first days of faith. This is why churches catechize disciples: Conversion does not involve an infusion of comprehensive doctrinal knowledge. And whatever the lacunae in her statement, the genuineness of her profession is a matter for the pastor of whatever congregation of Christ’s church to which she attaches herself.

Here is what makes her public testimony a sign of the times …”

– Carl Trueman writes at First Things.

Why I am now a Christian – Ayyan Hirsi Ali at Unherd.

Image: Crossway. Link via Anglican.ink.