New Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral Sale
“On Friday November 5, 2013 the Reverend Steve Clarke was inducted and installed as the new Dean of the Cathedral of St Paul and Rector of the parish of Sale.
Steve Clarke began his professional life as a jazz musician in Sydney. Following a ‘chance’ encounter with a traveling preacher, Steve came to faith and felt a strong calling to Christian ministry.”
– News and photo from the Diocese of Gippsland.
Christmas messages from around Oz, 2012
We’ll post Christmas messages from Anglican leaders around the country, as we discover them.
Please pray that all who speak in the name of the Lord Jesus this Christmas will do so with great clarity and faithfulness to his gospel.
Here are the messages so far –
Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier. (video)
Bishop of Tasmania, John Harrower. (video)
Bishop of Canberra-Goulburn, Stuart Robinson. (video)
Dean of Riverina, Robert Harris. (text)
Bishop of Wangaratta, John Parkes. (2.5MB PDF – page 3 of The Advocate.)
Bishop of Gippsland, John McIntyre. (14.5MB PDF – page 3 of The Gippsland Anglican.)
Bishop of Ballarat, Garry Weatherill. (video)
Bishop of Willochra, John Stead. (PDF)
Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, Len Eacott.
And from the leaders of other denominations (via the National Council of Churches in Australia), messages are mixed – but that from David Jones, Moderator General Presbyterian Church of Australia, stands out:
Cry of a Tiny Baby
Bruce Cockburn the Canadian singer and songwriter describes the birth of Jesus beautifully in the chorus of one of his Christmas songs
“Like a stone on the surface of a still river
driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe”
Something happened at Bethlehem that has sent ripples throughout the history of the human race.
If you have ever been robbed of something precious, you will want the culprit caught and punished and you will want your property returned to you. God has been robbed. He made us in his image and likeness but that has been defaced by sin.
Jesus has come to right the wrong done to God by his creatures, to pay the price of our sin and rebellion. But God wants back what is rightfully His. He wants his picture back. He wants his image and likeness restored. That is why Jesus came among us. That is the meaning of Redemption. That is the message of Christmas.
“Redemption rips through the surface of time”
“And the message is clear if you’ve got ears to hear
That forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fear
It’s a Christmas gift you don’t have to buy
There’s a future shining in a baby’s eyes”
(Second photo: Pilgrim Hill.)
Nationwide launch announced for Sexegesis
“On June 14, senior clergy of the evangelical church in Australia will make statements in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth and Adelaide (June 19), with an online launch in Canberra.”
– Download the full media release here (PDF) via the Diocese of Tasmania.
Related:
An important contribution to a vital debate.
Bishops publish protocols.
Sydney Standing Committee motion on Gippsland ‘breach of trust’.
Bishop McIntyre breaks ranks on homosexuality.
The Gippsland Crisis.
Bishop defends gay priest appointment.
Bishop McIntyre breaks ranks on homosexuality
How does this square with the Australian Bishops’ Protocol?
The Synod of the Diocese of Gippsland met in Sale, 18–20 May 2012. In his Presidential Address, Bishop John McIntyre spoke of the “new place” to which he had come in his understanding of homosexual people and the church. He said –
“I will appoint to office in our diocese those whom I believe God is calling to minister among us … and I am willing to live with any consequences that may arise from remaining true to that commitment.”
Read the full text of his address – linked from the diocesan website (PDF) – also quoted at length in The Gippsland Times (“Anglican Bishop enters gay marriage debate”, 19 May 2012).
Related posts. (Photo: Diocese of Gippsland.)
Australian Bishops agree on sexuality protocol
From SydneyAnglicans.net –
“The annual meeting of Australian bishops has agreed to a set of protocols on human sexuality, which conforms to the landmark 1998 Lambeth resolutions.
Australian bishops, including all Sydney bishops, met in Melbourne this month, several weeks after it was revealed that the Bishop of Gippsland had appointed a male priest living with a partner of the same sex to a ministry position in that diocese. Read more
‘Bishop defends gay priest appointment’ – updated
“The Anglican Bishop of Gippsland has defended his decision to appoint an openly gay priest to a local parish, saying he has acted appropriately…”
– Story and audio from ABC Gippsland. (February 27th 2012)
Related: ACL Statement on developments in the Diocese of Gippsland.
Update March 8th:
Bishop John McIntyre of Gippsland Responds, “I have no intention of responding…”
(Photo: Diocese of Gippsland.)
When bishops disagree
“What should bishops do when a bishop breaks ranks and violates the collegiality of the House of Bishops?
That would seem to be the question confronting the Church of England since the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam apparently stated, in an interview with The Times, that he did not see any need to ‘sublimate’ his support for same-sex marriage to the views of the Church.
Given the inevitable shortcomings of newspaper reporting, that may not be exactly what he said or exactly what he meant, but given also that there has been no refutation from him, for the moment we must assume this is the case…”
– John Richardson at the Ugley Vicar looks at events in the UK.
Related: ACL Statement on developments in the Diocese of Gippsland.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…