Archbishop of Canterbury resigns
Posted on November 13, 2024
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Early this morning, Eastern Australian Time, Archbishop Justin Welby resigned, releasing a statement –
“Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.
When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow.
It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.
It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.
I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.
The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.
In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.
I ask everyone to keep my wife Caroline and my children in their prayers. They have been my most important support throughout my ministry, and I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice. Caroline led the spouses’ programme during the Lambeth Conference and has travelled tirelessly in areas of conflict supporting the most vulnerable, the women, and those who care for them locally.
I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.
For above all else, my deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person.”
– Source, The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
Older people and ‘positive, Jesus focussed, choices’
Posted on November 12, 2024
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From The Pastor’s Heart:
“How do we proactively serve Jesus in retirement? How might we motivate our older church members to prioritise the work of the gospel?
Mike Raiter said on The Pastor’s Heart a little while back that retirement needs rethinking to avoid the sin of the sluggard.
Mike Raiter said downing tools at 65 and spending 20 or 30 years resting is a 19th century concept and is not Christian.
But what is the alternative?
Ying Yee is lead English Pastor of Chinese Christian Church Milsons Point in Sydney.
Carmel Vincent serves as training and events coordinator at the Ministry Training Strategy.
And Ian Carmichael was CEO of Sydney’s Matthias Media.”
An open letter to Justin Welby from Church Society
Posted on November 12, 2024
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An Open Letter released by Church Society:
11 November 2024
Dear Justin,
It was with heavy hearts that we read the long-awaited Makin report at the end of last week. It was, as it must be for anyone reading it, a painful experience, as horror after horror was exposed. For many of those directly involved in the events of the 1970s and 80s, those horrors have already ended at their death, to be subject to the endless mercy – and eternal justice – of the Lord.
For many of those, including John Smyth himself, that death came after 2013.
In 2013, by your own acknowledgement, you were aware of the horrific abuse perpetrated by John Smyth. You described this as ‘disclosable’, meaning, we assume, that the police should be informed. And yet you did not inform the police, nor ensure that anyone else had informed them. That is a serious failure of safeguarding, which in this instance ensured that prosecutions which might have taken place did not, and now, cannot.
More than this, in 2017, you offered publicly to meet with the victims of John Smyth, to hear their stories and understand their needs. Failure to follow up on this caused further pain and trauma to these people who had already suffered and continue to suffer so much. This is another failure of safeguarding, in which the needs of victims must be prioritised.
In addition to this, it is our understanding that another failure of safeguarding occurred while you were Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, in which a retired priest who was a convicted sex offender, continued to minister while the complainant was barred from the cathedral.
These failures of safeguarding would be sufficient for ANY ordained person to be suspended and investigated. If they were proved to be true, we would expect the person to be immediately removed from their post. If the person had safeguarding responsibilities in that post, those must of course be transferred to someone else with immediate effect.
In the absence of any authority with the power to suspend you, we can only urge you to submit yourself to the equivalent. That is, remove yourself from duties with immediate effect, undergo an investigation, and act on the outcome. With immediate effect, somebody else must also take over your responsibility for safeguarding within the whole Church of England.
Or alternatively, you should resign.
The Church of England is, quite rightly, being judged by the world because of this case. It is horrific that such abuse could ever have been committed by a church officer. It is horrific that it was not reported to the police by other church officers who knew about it more than 40 years ago. And it is unconscionable that the most senior cleric in the church today, with official responsibility for safeguarding, knew about the abuse over ten years ago and failed to report it then.
You are now, personally, bringing the Church of England into utter disrepute. You can no longer continue to represent the Church in the public sphere or the political sphere. Your words can no longer be trusted and your moral standpoint is hollow.
A year ago, we both indicated (when asked by you in a meeting with a number of others) that we thought you should resign because of your failure of leadership with respect to the Prayers of Love and Faith. Your recent public acknowledgment that you no longer believe the Church’s teaching on sex and marriage makes that failure all the more serious. We still think that this issue alone is sufficient to require your resignation. But we wish to be clear that, no matter what your views or ours happen to be on sex and marriage, the safeguarding issues listed above are more than serious enough to call for your resignation on that matter alone.
Resignation of this post is, we acknowledge, a hard thing to do, but to resign now may be your greatest act of service to Christ and his church.
Rev Dr Lee Gatiss, Director of Church Society
Dr Ros Clarke, Associate Director of Church Society.
– Source.
More calls for the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign — but this time for another reason
Posted on November 12, 2024
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From BBC News:
“A Church of England bishop has called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign, calling his position ‘untenable’ after a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church.
Mr Welby is facing mounting pressure to resign after it emerged last week that he did not follow up rigorously enough on reports of John Smyth QC’s ‘abhorrent’ abuse of more than 100 boys and young men. …”
– Bishop calls on Welby to resign over Church abuse scandal – BBC News.
And Anglican Mainstream has links to a growing number of related articles.
Duties of Church Membership (i) — Church Society podcast
Posted on November 12, 2024
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“In 1954, the Church Assembly (the forerunner to General Synod) asked the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to write this short guide to the duties of church membership.
It is a simple list which could be given to every person in church, indicating what is expected of them as disciples of Christ and members of the congregation. Presumably in 1954, there were already concerns that not everyone who attended church understood these. It is certainly the case today that newcomers to church have no idea about many of them.
In this week’s episode of the podcast, Tony Cannon and Steve Short discuss the first three items: discipleship and witness, prayer and Bible reading, asking what benefit they would bring to individuals and congregations if we were all more faithful in doing them. …”
– The latest Church Society podcast.
Holy Imposter Syndrome
Posted on November 11, 2024
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“The term might not be familiar to you, but the concept behind it most likely is – imposter syndrome. It’s the feeling, often experienced in professional or academic contexts, that you can’t do what everyone believes you can and expects of you. You feel like an imposter. Any success you seem to have experienced up until this point was a fluke. You’re a fraud, and any moment now everyone is going to realize it. It’s only a matter of time. …”
– Sam Allberry helps put it all in perspective. At The Gospel Coalition.
Idolatry and the Church of England
Posted on November 10, 2024
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“The Archbishop of Canterbury recently commented about his changing views, admitting that he no longer believes the doctrine of the Church of England on sexuality.…
These comments have rightly been met with a wide backlash from evangelicals in the Church of England. This is an Archbishop leading his people astray. This is an Archbishop saying ‘Enter through the wide gate to destruction’ (Matthew 7:13-14).
But the reality is that Justin Welby and the Bishops have been saying this for years. …
All false religions ultimately destroy us. We are promised salvation by the things in the world, but they will never satisfy, they will never deliver. They will never save.”
– Strong words from Benjamin John, writing at Christian Concern.
Image: Ben John speaking at the Church of England’s General Synod in February 2023.
Preaching Mentors 2025
Posted on November 10, 2024
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From The Expository Preaching Trust:
“The Trust is delighted to offer mentors to encourage faithful and engaging expository preaching.
Mentoring can take place on a weekly or fortnightly basis and consists of the mentor listening to Sunday’s sermon and then meeting via Zoom to give feedback.
Feedback consists of highlighting the positives of the sermon and then mutual investigation of how the sermon might be improved. …”
– Very helpful and encouraging. See the details from David Cook here.
Eternity: The Power of a Word
Posted on November 9, 2024
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“Arthur Malcolm Stace (1885-1967) was a returned Australian soldier who served in in World War I and later became known as ‘Mr Eternity’.
Stace grew up in an impoverished and broken family. His mother handed him over to foster care at the age of seven, and his sisters would end up working as prostitutes.
By the age of 14, Stace was an alcoholic. He would turn to booze to escape his pain and misery. However, all it did was increase the sorrow of his heart. …”
– In this brief sketch at AP, James Jeffery reminds us of the wonderful discovery made by Arthur Stace – and calls us all to live in the light of eternity.
Image: at left, Photo of Arthur Stace by Les Nixon. at right, The Eternity memorial at the waterfall in Sydney Arcade between Town Hall and St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
Looking for Remembrance Day resources?
Posted on November 9, 2024
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Defence Anglicans has some resources – including audio files – you could use – for Remembrance Day, 11th November, or perhaps in church on Sunday.
Image: Defence Anglicans.
How an Australian church is changing Christian songwriting
Posted on November 8, 2024
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“Over the last few decades, church music has shifted. Congregations sing fewer hymns and more praise songs. We hear fewer organ chords and more guitar riffs. We read lyrics that are less theological and more generic.
The move toward quicker and more casual songwriting means new music hits our Spotify—and CCLI—lists more quickly. But it also means Christians are sometimes singing repetitive choruses, nonsensical lyrics, or wrong theology.
That matters, because we sing those songs so often that we memorize them. We hum them in the car. We play them while we’re making dinner. We lean on them when hard times hit.
About 10 years ago, a church in Australia noticed these problems. They tried a different songwriting process. It was slow and clunky and never should have worked—and yet it did.
Odds are, you’ve sung their good theology in your church, in your car, or in your kitchen.”
– At The Gospel Coalition’s Recorded podcast, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra introduces CityAlight to her audience.
See also the accompanying article.
Related:
Armidale’s “The Link” – November 2024
Posted on November 7, 2024
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The latest edition (November 2024) of The Link, the magazine of the Diocese of Armidale, is now online.
Download a copy for your edification and your prayers.
Launch 2025 for School Leavers– and ten years of Two Ways Ministries
Posted on November 6, 2024
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From Phillip Jensen –
“Join us at Launch 2025!
Launch is the camp for school leavers keen to live for Jesus. It is where you will –
- Meet others who have just finished school
- Listen to great Bible talks from Phillip Jensen and Richard Chin
- Equip yourself for University/TAFE alongside leaders and staff-workers
Our leaders are an awesome group of young women and men just a few years ahead of you! They are keen to help you work out what it means to align your priorities to God’s in this next phase of your life whilst having a fantastic time meeting others doing the same thing. Launch camp truly is the best investment you can make to think through how to live for Jesus!…”
– Download a flyer, and secure your spot.
Three nights away at Stanwell Tops – 3rd-6th February 2025.
It’d be good to advertise it at youth groups and church too, before other, less strategic, things are booked to occupy that time!
“The aim of Launch is to work out together what it means to live for Jesus in the transition to post-school life – years that are likely to be the most formative years of life.”
Related:
Two Ways Ministries is ten years old! – See the TWM website to learn more, give thanks, and do pray.
How personality impacts ministry teams
Posted on November 6, 2024
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From The Pastor’s Heart –
“I want to be a big hearted encourager like Barnabas. I want to be a reliable assistant like Timothy. I want to be passionate preacher like Apollos.
When you think about the qualifications for Christian ministry in 1 Timothy 3, the significance of personality is pretty much ignored.
What is the relationship between character and personality? Someone is all about structure and someone else is much more ‘loosy-goosy/flexible’.
When there’s conflict in church or in a ministry teams – it’s often put down to personality difference or sometimes even disorder.
What does the Bible say about all this?
Tim Omrod serves with the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) at Griffith University on the Gold Coast and has just finished a study of the co-workers of Paul.”
BBC Daily service – giving thanks for Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith
Posted on November 5, 2024
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On BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service for 4th November 2024, Pam Rhodes from BBC TV’s Songs of Praise gives thanks for her dear friend Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith, who was called home in August.
The 15 minute programme is available until the end of November.
(Image from a 2020 message from Bishop Dudley-Smith to the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…