New Head for Anglican EdComm
“Anglican EdComm, the Education Commission of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has announced the appointment of Stephen Kinsella as its next Executive Director.
Mr Kinsella, who is currently Headmaster of The Illawarra Grammar School will take up his new appointment in early 2018.”
– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.
(Photo: The Illawarra Grammar School.)
“I have been ashamed of Episcopal leadership denying the Christian faith…”
On GAFCON: “It is therapy for our hubris to have those to whom we have sent missionaries, now seeing the need of mission to the United States, Canada, Europe and Britain in their headlong race to sever ties with the Christian faith.”
– Bishop C. Fitzsimons Allison, retired Episcopal Bishop of South Carolina, was interviewed on his 90th birthday for VirtueOnline.
For decades, Bishop Allison was a leading light in the battle for the Lordship of Christ in The Episcopal Church of the USA.
Reflections on the 50th anniversary of my Diving Accident
Joni Eareckson Tada reflects on the the Lord’s faithfulness, these fifty years, since she had her diving accident.
The message lives on
“Mr Eternity could never have imagined he would have crowds of Sydney-siders remembering him 50 years after his death, but that’s what happened at St Andrew’s Cathedral on Sunday.
But then again, he wouldn’t have imagined he would prompt city authorities to emblazon Eternity in fireworks on the Harbour Bridge at the turn of the century, either.
Arthur Stace was an alcoholic converted during the Great Depression, who then went on to devote his life to reminding people of Eternity by writing the word in perfect copperplate on Sydney Streets.…”
– Russell Powell reports on the tribute to Arthur Stace, “Mr. Eternity”, last Sunday at the Cathedral. (Photo of Arthur Stace courtesy HammondCare.)
See also this report from Eternity News, and these related posts.
Nathan Tasker sings Eternity
From Nathan Tasker’s album “Home” (iTunes), the single “Eternity (What we were made for)”.
Related:
Eternity: How Arthur Stace’s handwritten chalk message became a symbol of Sydney – Sun-Herald.
From here to Eternity: Arthur Stace in his own words
In 1964, 79 year-old Arthur Stace was interviewed on Sydney radio about why he wrote “Eternity”.
We’ve transcribed the brief segment. (A few words are unclear.)
Presenter: [One of ] the things that strikes a visitor to Sydney, and indeed many other towns right throughout New South Wales, is the fact that someone has been there before, in writing “Eternity” on the footpaths, on walls, almost anywhere, in very fine handwriting, and in yellow chalk.
For Monitor, Jim Waugh found Mr Arthur Stace, who writes “Eternity” and asked him, “Why?”. Read more
Colin Buchanan sings about Mr Eternity
“Award-winning musician Colin Buchanan will perform a special tribute tomorrow to the man who emblazoned Sydney and Melbourne with ‘Eternity’.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Arthur Stace, Buchanan wrote Eternity (Arthur Stace).
During a 10:30am commemorative service tomorrow for Stace at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, Buchanan will perform the song – which you can listen to below. …”
– Listen at Eternity newspaper.
Societas 2017
Moore College’s annual student magazine publication, Societas, is now available.
Always a good read!
‘Mr Eternity’ remembered at Hammondville
“This month will mark 50 years since the death of Arthur Stace at Hammondville. Internationally recognised as ‘Mr Eternity’, Stace spent 30 years anonymously writing the word ‘Eternity’ across the streets of Sydney. …
After spending more than three decades writing Eternity on footpaths (500,000 times) – with initial inspiration coming in a sermon by Baptist evangelist John Ridley – Arthur Stace spent his final years as an aged care resident at Hammondville before dying of a stroke on July 30, 1967.”
– Story from HammondCare.
We understand that HammondCare’s David Martin will be on Open House on Hope 103.2FM this Sunday evening.
Related:
Cathedral to remember ‘Mr Eternity’, Arthur Stace, this Sunday.
The Eternity waterfall after 40 years.
(Photo: Arthur as the Emergency depot Manager at the Hammond Hotel Chippendale, 1930s. Courtesy HammondCare, used with permission. © HammondCare.)
Music for the Church: Mark Dever interviews Keith Getty
“Mark Dever recently sat down with hymn writer and musician Keith Getty to talk about his hymn-writing, the effects of technology on church music, and more.”
– An interesting and encouraging interview, as well as insights on how Mark Dever picks songs.
Listen at the 9Marks website.
Cathedral to remember “Mr. Eternity” Arthur Stace, 50 years on
This Sunday (30th July) marks the 50th anniversary of the homecalling of Arthur Stace, the man who wrote “Eternity” on the streets of Sydney from 1932 until 1966.
He died at Hammondville Nursing Home on the evening of Sunday 30th July 1967.
On Sunday, Arthur Stace will be remembered at a special service at St. Andrew’s Cathedral at 10:30am.
Why did he write “Eternity” right across our city? What happened to change him from a life of alcohol and crime and hopelessness? Was he a mystic or a loner? This Sunday, hear the wonderful news he discovered, and understand what drove this humble Sydney icon.
(He’s also being remembered, this Sunday and next, in the western suburbs. Is your church doing something? Let the webmaster know.)
Photo of Arthur Stace by Les Nixon, via Ramon Williams, used by permission. Taken at Burton Street Tabernacle, 27 December 1952. Right hand photo: the Eternity memorial in Town Hall Arcade.
Related: The Eternity waterfall after 40 years – 12th July 2017.
In Memoriam: Haddon Robinson
“Dr. Haddon W. Robinson, longtime faculty member, former President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and one of the world’s foremost experts in Biblical preaching, went to be with the Lord on July 22, 2017.”
– Gordon-Conwell Seminary gives thanks for Haddon Robinson.
‘Becoming more truly who I am: a transgender female priest’
In an Ad Clerum (a letter to the clergy) dated 22 July 2017, Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Phillip Aspinall writes:
“Recently the Reverend Dr Jonathan Inkpin shared with me a deeply personal journey involving a life-time struggle with gender issues and personal identity. That journey has now culminated in a decision to transition gender and a formal request to be known by the wider diocesan family as Josephine or Jo.
Jo has written a letter which tells of that journey and asked me to distribute it to you all in the hope that you are properly informed and that unhelpful speculation might be avoided.”
Dr Inkpin is a member of the faculty of St Francis Theological College in Brisbane, and posts the full text of the letter. (Photo via St. Frances’ College.)
Evangelical Christianity 150 Years Ago and Today
“Being an evangelical Christian in 2017 can be a fairly daunting prospect. There appear to be so many challenges in wider society and in the wider church. Surely standing up for the gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaiming it in the world is more difficult now than it was in the past!
Well, a little historical perspective can allow us re-evaluate our situation and encourage us by the inspiring examples of those who have gone before. It is for this reason I commend two recent books about nineteenth-century evangelicals.
The first little book is Allan Blanch’s A Pioneering Pastor: Thomas Sharpe of Norfolk Island and Bathurst.
Sharpe’s faithful evangelical ministry has been somewhat forgotten in our historical narrative of Christianity in colonial Australia. Sharpe was born 220 years ago in Yorkshire and was ordained in 1828 … for the specific purpose of Anglican ministry in Australia.
One of the wonderful features of Blanch’s biography is that he allows Sharpe to speak for himself through his journal. Blanch also provides important contextual background for the events — both ecclesiastical and social. This book is well-researched and easy to read.”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Dr. Ed Loane briefly reviews two new books – A Pioneering Pastor: Thomas Sharpe of Norfolk Island and Bathurst by ACL Emeritus Vice President Allan M. Blanch, and Bishop J.C. Ryle’s Autobiography, edited by Andrew Atherstone.
A Pioneering Pastor: Thomas Sharpe of Norfolk Island and Bathurst by Allan M. Blanch is available for $19.99 from:
Strathalbyn Books
P.O. Box 970, Bathurst NSW 2795.email: strathalbynbooks@gmail.com
Cheque or money order made out to Strathalbyn Books.
Click here to download an order form (PDF file).
Graham Cole back at Moore to celebrate the Reformation
Coming up later this month, Dr Graham Cole, former member of the Moore College faculty, will deliver a public lecture entitled: The legacy of the Reformation through the eyes of J.C. Ryle.
In the Marcus Loane Hall, Wednesday 19th July, 7:00pm – 9:00pm.
Graham studied at Moore College from 1973 to 1976 and was ordained in 1977. He served as Curate at St James Turramurra before returning to Moore to lecture in Christian thought from 1980 until 1992.
He subsequently served as Principal of Ridley College, Melbourne (1992–2001), Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago (2002–2011), Anglican Professor of Divinity and Beeson Divinity School, Alabama (2011–2015), and in 2015 he returned to Trinity to become its Dean.
– Details at the College website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…