Sydney Archbishop: Indian MP must retract false statements about Graham Staines
Posted on October 8, 2020
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“The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies has demanded an apology and a retraction of statements made by an MP during a debate in the Indian Parliament which accused murdered missionary Graham Staines of child abuse. The Archbishop called the statement ‘slanderous’…”
– Story from Indian Link via SydneyAnglicans.net.
See also the Diocese of Sydney Media Release, 08 October 2020.
Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement
Call for retraction of false statements about murdered missionary
Archbishop Glenn Davies has called for an apology and the retraction of a slanderous accusation by an MP during debate in the Indian Parliament in which murdered missionary Graham Staines was accused of child abuse.
Mr Staines was an Australian missionary who worked tirelessly and selflessly with leprosy patients in India for more than 30 years. Along with his two sons, Timothy (aged 8) and Philip (aged 10), he was burned to death in an attack by Hindu extremists in Uttar Pradesh in 1999.
During Parliamentary debate in September, a member of the ruling BJP party and a representative of Uttar Pradesh state, Satya Pal Singh, accused Mr Staines and other Christians of molesting 30 girls belonging to local tribes in Odisha and converting them to Christianity. He cited this as the main reason for the murders and as justification for stringent amendments to the law on the basis ‘forced conversions’ are still being perpetrated by Christian missionaries.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Glenn Davies called the comments ‘reprehensible’.
“The murder of Graham Staines and his sons was a stain on the history of India. The then President K.R. Narayanan was right to describe it as ‘a monumental aberration of time-tested tolerance and harmony’ and that the murders belonged to ‘the world’s inventory of black deeds’. For the MP to now use parliamentary privilege to bring such baseless accusations for political purposes deserves the strongest condemnation. A retraction and full apology should be issued for the sake of truth and as a bulwark against religious intolerance.”
The Archbishop said many Sydney Anglicans have travelled to India in recent years and been welcomed, along with the help they bring to the population. “I would like to think that the Government and others from Mr Singh’s party would not sit idly by while such comments are made. They should be repudiated in the strongest possible terms.”
Archbishop Glenn Davies
8 October 2020
Frontline church leader battles cancer
Posted on October 8, 2020
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“There’s been a worldwide prayer request for one of Africa’s senior church leaders, who has been hit by colon cancer.
Archbishop Ben Kwashi, the general secretary of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and Archbishop of Jos in Nigeria, has begun treatment after being diagnosed last month. …”
– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.
Victoria: Christians celebrate a basic liberty retained!
Posted on October 8, 2020
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Here’s a media release from The Australian Christian Lobby:
“Victorians can now breathe a sigh of relief with the Andrews government relenting on its grab for controversial detention powers in its COVID-19 Omnibus Bill.
‘The Australian Christian Lobby welcomes the government’s move to delete this unwarranted measure,” ACL spokesperson Jasmine Yuen said today. “The government wanted to appoint anyone as an ‘authorised officer’ to detain people, without warrants, for indefinite periods of time if they are considered ‘high-risk’ and likely to fail to comply with emergency directions.
“The Christian community in Victoria, including Christians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, expressed grave concerns that the Bill left all Victorians’ freedoms open to abuse. As Christians, we are concerned when the state curtails freedoms. Often the first freedom to be impacted is freedom of religion.
“Some of our migrant Christians have come from – or even fled from – their home countries where their religious freedom no longer exists.
“The Christian community in Victoria have been doing what they can to fight for their hard-earned freedom and were determined in their opposition to these draconian measures.
“We are pleased that, in this instance, the Andrews government has heard and respected the voice of its citizens.æ’”
– Source.
Archbishop Ben Kwashi on colon cancer, the future of Gafcon, COVID in Africa
Posted on October 6, 2020
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From Dominic Steele at The Pastor’s Heart:
“As general secretary of GAFCON, Nigeria’s Archbishop of Jos Ben Kwashi is one of the world’s most influential Anglican leaders.
With GAFCON representing two thirds of the world’s Anglicans, Archbishop Kwashi has been described as the most influential person in the Anglican Communion.
Nine days ago rumours started to circulate on social media that he’d been diagnosed with Colon Cancer.
Archbishop Kwashi joins us to give an update on his health, the 74 orphans who live with him and his wife Gloria, plus news on navigating COVID in Africa and the future of the GAFCON.”
– Plenty to pray about. Be sure to watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart.
MTS Recruit videos online
Posted on October 5, 2020
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The videos from the MTS Recruit conference sessions the last few days are now available to watch.
Ray Galea and Phillip Jensen give the main addresses. Plenty of encouragement to consider gospel ministry.
Feel the Breeze
Posted on October 4, 2020
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“In the past people used to curled up with a good book. Now the joy is curling up with your Kindle or iPad. Some people like to log in to video games, while for others it’s a good movie or just the TV. It’s hard to speak of these with joy because so often the content is less than joyful and can even be quite stressful.
I want to give a plug for some time in the sun, to walk the great outdoors. I want to give a plug for something more than your world hemmed in by four walls. …”
– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, writes with encouragement for you.
Lift up your hearts – GAFCON devotions – this month by Simon Manchester
Posted on October 2, 2020
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Simon Manchester is contributing October 2020’s ‘Lift up your Hearts’ devotions for GAFCON. On the book of Deuteronomy.
And see the interview with Simon on the page linked above.
(Photo: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)
Pastoring Through Political Turmoil — 9Marks Journal September 2020
Posted on October 2, 2020
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“Ordinarily, the 9Marks Journals push in a theological direction. The last six issues, for instance, have covered the work of a pastor, gospel-centered preaching, complementarianism, the atonement, church membership, and Calvinism.
Yet you won’t be surprised to hear the number one question we’re hearing from pastors these days: how do we pastor through a season of political turmoil?
Hence, this issue of the Journal is devoted to pastoring through political turmoil. …”
– The latest 9Marks Journal is not only about US politics, and will be helpful for Australian pastors in navigating the huge social changes we face.
For example, there’s “How to hold your tongue about politics and thereby not split your church over things the Bible doesn’t talk about” – Part 1, and (more expansively) Part 2.
Review: The Mission Before Us
Posted on October 1, 2020
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“You are an Anglican from Sydney? Get this book.
Read it carefully. Read it prayerfully. If it is aimed at you, do something about it.
And it is aimed at all of us. …”
– At The Australian Church Record, former Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Peter Jensen, commends “The Mission Before us”.
Learn how you can get your free copy.
Worshipping on Sunday is okay, but witnessing on Monday…?
Posted on September 30, 2020
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“A leading religious freedom expert has laid out the issues ahead for Christians expressing their faith in public, saying the looming battleground is not private, but public, beliefs. …”
– At SydneyAnglicans.net, Russell Powell reports on Professor Patrick Parkinson’s 2020 New College Lectures.
See also:
The fall of Rome and the way forward for Jesus’ people – with Patrick Parkinson – The Pastor’s Heart.
What if the church wasted the COVID crisis by not prepping for a more hostile shutdown? – Stephen McAlpine.
Four surprising ways to cheer your Covid-stressed Pastor
Posted on September 30, 2020
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“Some while ago I wrote a short blog about how to put a spring in the step of your pastor.
Here is a Covid update. How about this for four ways to cheer your pastor in these pandemic days? Each arises partly out of conversations I have had with pastor friends. …”
– Christopher Ash shares some encouragement at The Good Book Company in the UK.
See also:
Stop! Think Twice Before Switching Churches in 2020 – Ivan Mesa at The Gospel Coalition.
“No pastor ever took a seminary course on pastoring amid a pandemic, so be patient with them.”
Southern Cross magazine for October 2020 now out
Posted on September 30, 2020
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The latest Southern Cross magazine (October 2020) is now available for download, or reading online.
Features include:
• Christians and sport
• Getting back to church in Sydney
• Evangelism in COVID Melbourne
• The latest Ordinations
• Persecution of Chinese Christians by rewriting John 8
One Year in Sydney: An Interview with David Robertson
Posted on September 29, 2020
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You may recall David Roberston’s interview with The Australian Church Record in July 2018. At the time, asked about his impressions of Sydney Anglicans, he said,
“I came here expecting to learn a great deal about evangelism. I have learnt about church structures, praise, organisation and leadership training – all of which is essential. But in my limited experience I’m not convinced that evangelism is a strong point amongst Sydney Anglicans (or indeed some other Christians).”
That’s what’s behind the beginning of David’s answer in this new interview with the ACR:
“I think what has happened is a warning to those of us who have big mouths – or at least think out loud!
After I spoke to you, I returned home to my church in Scotland, safe in the knowledge that I would not have to put into practice what I suggested. But the Lord had other ideas! Peter Kaldor of City Bible Forum challenged me to come to Sydney and put into practice the ideas I was talking about.
Through a variety of push and pull factors it was made clear to myself and my wife, Annabel, that the Lord was calling us here. In one sense it was a hard decision – giving up home, country and a now well-established church to come to the unknown.
But the opportunity to set up a new evangelistic opportunity called Third Space, and to work with Steve McAlpine and CBF, was one that ultimately, we could not refuse. …”
‘But Billy,’ you may ask…
Posted on September 28, 2020
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“Andrew Blackwood was Chair of Practical Theology at Princeton and said of preaching, ‘These three remain, faith, hope and clarity, but the greatest of these is clarity!’
Billy Graham was one of the clearest preachers I have heard, I heard him preach for two weeks at his Sydney campaign in 1968. Dr. Graham would often stop and ask himself, ‘“But Billy,’ you may ask…” He would anticipate and answer the question on peoples’ minds.
Dialogical preaching which anticipates questions raised by the sermon is a very good friend of clarity in preaching. …”
– David Cook continues to encourage preachers at The Expository Preaching Trust.
Photo: Billy Graham and Archbishop Marcus Loane in Sydney, 1968. Photo courtesy Ramon Williams.
Luther: In Real Time
Posted on September 27, 2020
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From Ligonier Ministties:
“It’s 1520. Martin Luther has been declared a heretic by Pope Leo X, and his books are being burned. How much longer before Luther himself is thrown into the fire?
Enter the dramatic story at the dawn of the Reformation. Each episode is released 500 years to the day after the events described, allowing you to walk in Luther’s footsteps from his heresy charges to his famous stand for God’s Word.
Hear, in Luther’s own words, what Protestants are protesting and why it still matters today.”
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…