Peter Grice consecrated as Bishop for Rockhampton

Posted on February 24, 2021 
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Peter Grice, until recently the Dean of Geraldton Cathedral in the Diocese of North West Australia, was consecrated in St John’s Cathedral Brisbane this evening.

He will be installed as the 13th Bishop of Rockhampton at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Rockhampton on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 11:00am (AEST, Noon AEDT). That service will be streamed live.

(The consecration service was streamed live, and a recording may be viewed here.)

Please uphold Peter and Virginia in prayer in this new phase of their service of the Lord Jesus.

Top image: Bishop Grice (back to camera) is greeting by Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies as Brisbane Archbishop Phillip Aspinall, seated, looks on.

When vice presents as virtue: stopping sin before it’s too late

Posted on February 24, 2021 
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“Some personal styles can result in highly effective ministries.

If you are task-orientated, decisive, and confident, your ministries will probably be highly efficient. And if you pair your efficiency with some charisma, people will certainly want to follow you.

But there is a challenge for people who fall into this category (and those of us who serve alongside them): could this kind of ‘effective’ personal style inadvertently excuse sin?…”

– Wise words from Nathan Milham at The Australian Church Record.

Make the most of Easter evangelism post COVID

Posted on February 23, 2021 
Filed under COVID19, Evangelism, Resources Comments Off on Make the most of Easter evangelism post COVID

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Don’t let Easter creep up on you.”

Dominic Steele is joined by Paul Webb, Elliot Temple and Andrew Levy in thinking about how to make the most of Easter this year.

Watch at The Pastor’s Heart.

Also at The Pastor’s Heart, Dominic addresses the tragedy of the recent revelations concerning Ravi Zecharias.

The Dennis Canon Dead in Texas

Posted on February 23, 2021 
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“With its denial of certiorari (review) this morning to two of the Episcopal Church in the USA’s (“ECUSA’s”) groups in Fort Worth, Texas, the United States Supreme Court has put to rest the multiple adverse claims made for the last twelve years against the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.

All of those various claims, and the stages of their ups and downs, have been chronicled on this blog, which began just before the legal disputes emerged.

It is gratifying, therefore, to report that this blog has managed to outlive, along with (retired) Bishop Jack Iker and his faithful flock, the Machiavellian intrigues of the schemers at 815 Second Avenue to hound and intimidate them into surrender of their properties…

The success in Texas leaves just one long-standing ECUSA dispute still festering: its pursuit of Bishop Mark Lawrence and his Diocese of South Carolina.”

– Read it all at The Anglican Curmudgeon, the blog of Christian lawyer A. S. Haley.

And much earlier, on our website …

Diocese of Fort Worth: Living with litigation – Fort Worth Bishop Jack Iker, September 2013.

“Living with litigation has become a way of life for us as members of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. For the past 4 ½ years, we have been under the cloud of a lawsuit brought against us by The Episcopal Church and its local supporters, seeking to deprive us of our buildings and assets.”

Also, most of these post are relevant to Fort Worth.

And on South Carolina, most of these posts are relevant.

Rod Chiswell’s Consecration and Installation as Bishop of Armidale this Saturday

Posted on February 22, 2021 
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From the Diocese of Armidale:

“Our new Bishop, the Reverend Rod Chiswell, will have his consecration and installation service at St Peter’s Cathedral Armidale on Saturday 27th February 2021 at 10 am, followed by a reception at the Armidale Ex Services Club.

The Metropolitan of NSW, the Most Reverend Dr Glenn Davies, will be presiding.

Unfortunately COVID-19 restrictions mean that numbers at the service and reception will be limited, and so attendance will have to be by invitation only. However there are plans to make a live stream of the service available.”

Update: The livestream will be available here.

Photo: Rod and Jenni Chiswell.

How to Pastor when Sanctification becomes Illegal

Posted on February 20, 2021 
Filed under Australia, Culture wars Comments Off on How to Pastor when Sanctification becomes Illegal

“Where I live and pastor some aspects of sanctification are now illegal.

A recent decision in my home state of Victoria – in Australia – seeks to overturn this work of God’s grace. The Victorian Parliament has adopted the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill 2020.

Amongst other things, the Conversion and Suppression Practices Bill criminalizes any prayers or conversations in which one person aims to persuade another that pursuing certain sexual activity is not the best course of action.

It’s not only illegal to pray or speak with an individual about changing their sexual orientation or gender identity – unless, of course, this change means embracing an LGBTIQ lifestyle – the law states that suppression is also illegal.

‘Suppression’ includes prayers for celibacy, and any advice that communicates sexual faithfulness to one’s spouse is a matter of holiness.…”

– 9Marks in the USA has published this piece by Murray Campbell in Melbourne.

Second group of Deacons ordained in Sydney

Posted on February 20, 2021 
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“The second group of new Deacons was ordained at St Andrew’s Cathedral, in a smaller service because of COVID restrictions, but with the same scriptural charge to follow their Lord’s example.

The Making of Deacons service is held annually in February following the completion of the ordinands’ theological studies the year prior. Due to COVID and subsequent reduced capacity in the cathedral, an additional service was held last November for half of the ordinands, who had already been working in parish ministry.  This decision allowed the Cathedral to enable more family and friends to attend in support of the ordinands and encourage them as they commence their ministry. …”

– Full story at SydneyAnglicans.net.

An Introduction to the Homilies

Posted on February 18, 2021 
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For Lent 2021, Church Society’s Director Lee Gatiss is preaching through a modernised version of the Homilies.

In the first video, he introduces the Homilies and explains their purpose.

Five tips for getting your kids involved in ministry (and why you should want to)

Posted on February 18, 2021 
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“Do you, like me, worry that your kids might start to see church as just another extra-curricular activity? And how do we go about combatting a consumer mentality to church in our kids? I think an important first step is how we understand the place of children in the church, and then how we communicate that to them. …”

– At The Australian Church Record, Jocelyn Lone shares some simple but very practical ideas.

How Christians can guard against the Cultural Milieu

Posted on February 17, 2021 
Filed under Resources, Theology Comments Off on How Christians can guard against the Cultural Milieu

This short video from Carl Trueman encourages Christians to read widely and to ground themselves in biblical and systematic theology.

Published by Crossway, it’s part of a promotion for Dr Trueman’s new book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.

When and how to obey God, not man, in Victoria?

Posted on February 16, 2021 
Filed under Australia, Culture wars Comments Off on When and how to obey God, not man, in Victoria?

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“Harsh new rules have just been approved by the parliament of the Australian state of Victoria, banning conversion practices relating to sexuality.

The parliament has made illegal practices that have been part of Christian religion since the start of the church. 

What does the law say a pastor should do if asked for guidance on matters of sexuality? What does God say?  Pastors have questions on what the law says in regards to teaching in church, in small home groups and 1:1, and on how evangelical pastors respond in love to people with questions about personal sexuality. …”

– Neil Foster, Associate Professor of Law at Newcastle University, Peter Barnes, Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, and Heath Easton, Pastor of Drouin Presbyterian Church in regional Victoria, are Dominic Steele’s guests in the latest episode of The Pastor’s Heart.

For the good of Others

Posted on February 15, 2021 
Filed under COVID19, Theology Comments Off on For the good of Others

“As we commence a new year in 2021, I am sure that many of us look forward to the suppression, if not elimination, of the Coronavirus which has threatened lives and livelihoods. We welcome the imminent distribution of some of the vaccines that have been developed and are currently in use in other parts of the world, and I am grateful for so many who have offered prayer each night at 1900hrs for COVID-19 research…”

– In his column in this month’s Southern Cross, Archbishop Glenn Davies uses COVID-19 as a lead-in to speak of the goodness of God’s Law.

Men Meeting the Challenge Conference 2021

Posted on February 15, 2021 
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This year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference is coming up on Saturday 27th March –

“This year’s conference will be held across 5 regional centres; Annandale, Hurstville Grove, Northmead, Rooty Hill and Oran Park.

The conference programme will consist of a mixture of talks that will be delivered either by live stream from another centre, or by speakers who are at the site and are speaking live face-to-face, providing a full day conference experience.”

– Details and registration here.

Collision of laws: the impact of Commonwealth law on the Victorian CSP law

Posted on February 14, 2021 
Filed under Australia, Culture wars, Opinion Comments Off on Collision of laws: the impact of Commonwealth law on the Victorian CSP law

“The Victorian  Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill 2020 (Vic) (which I will call the “CSP” law for short) passed the Upper House on 4 Feb, 2021. As I write it seems not to have yet received the Royal Assent and become an ‘Act’ but that will no doubt happen soon. The government has signalled that the legislation will not come into operation for another 12 months (see the final sentence in this article.)

My previous posts (see here for the most recent) have expressed grave concerns about the effect of the law on religious freedom and specifically on the freedom of parents and others to encourage children to live in accordance with Biblical standards of sexual behaviour. It is astonishing that the Bill was rushed through Parliament in the face of concerns also being expressed by the Law Institute of Victoria, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP). (See this excellent post from Murray Campbell noting these issues.)

There are, it seems, very few legal avenues available to challenge the many problems created by this law. But in this post I want to suggest one which may be available…”

– Associate Professor in Law Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.

Preaching the Pastoral Epistles

Posted on February 13, 2021 
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Lionel Windsor at Moore College has posted a one-hour audio seminar with principles and ideas for preaching the biblical books 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus (‘the Pastoral Epistles’).

Listen at Forget the Channel.

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