Staying fresh as a Rector

Posted on October 15, 2020 
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“Even before COVID-19, every rector was aware of the growing pressure of the role: the demands of compliance, managing expectations and criticisms from the congregation, tensions within parish council, the demands of meeting the budget, keeping the staff aligned with a common vision, and the challenges to see both church and gospel growth.

COVID-19 has simply escalated that stress by requiring so many decisions on an ever-changing treadmill. The result is that we can be left feeling tired and uninspired with a gnawing sense of failure as we count the days to our resignation or retirement.

At different stages of my ministry I found refreshment in the following…”

– Encouragement from Ray Galea, at The Australian Church Record.

Jo Gibbs to be new CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries

Posted on October 14, 2020 
Filed under People, Sydney Diocese Comments Off on Jo Gibbs to be new CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries

“ADM is pleased to announce the appointment of Jo Gibbs as its new CEO, effective 17 November 2020.

Jo Gibbs joins ADM from St Pauls Castle Hill, where she has been the Care and Assistant Discipleship Minister. Prior to this, Jo spearheaded work in international and cross-cultural settings. …”

– Announcement from Anglican Deaconess Ministries.

See also:

Congratulations to the new CEO of Anglican Deaconess Ministries – Moore College.

“Jo is known to many of us as a godly woman and a gifted fellow-worker in the gospel.”

GAFCON Chairman’s October 2020 Letter

Posted on October 13, 2020 
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“Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

As I write to you, my brothers and sisters, it is the fall season here in North America.  Like you, we are being challenged by the onslaught of the pandemic, but we have not lost hope and we are confident in the faithfulness of the Lord that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 10:35), and that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

Please continue to pray for the Lord to relieve the world of this pandemic, guide the medical and health officials and the politicians in their decisions, and bring healing to those who have the coronavirus. …”

– GAFCON Primates Council Chairman, Archbishop Foley Beach, calls for continued prayer – including for Archbishop Ben Kwashi – in his October Letter.

Why we should say Yes to Sydney and Anglican!

Posted on October 12, 2020 
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“Twenty-five years into formal Anglican ministry in the Diocese of Sydney, I am still here because I want to be an Anglican clergyman.

Sure, I’d be equally content serving the Lord Jesus in a different type of work, but there is something marvellously compelling about wearing the badge that says both Sydney and Anglican.

I have identified five distinctive elements that have shaped both me and the church I serve that make it both something to be thankful for and a ministry worth unashamedly embracing for a lifetime. …”

– Nigel Fortescue writes at The Australian Church Record. First published in the ACR’s Winter Journal.

(Image: Christ Church St. Ives.)

Transgender and Sport

Posted on October 12, 2020 
Filed under Culture wars, Opinion Comments Off on Transgender and Sport

“I am not sure that the women I know are looking forward to being unrepresented at an elite level in the sports of their choice. For all those men who are not fans of women’s sport (their loss), you may be able to rejoice that women’s sport will soon be the domain of men. That sounds confusing, and it is, because it is confusing. …”

– Rick Lewers, Bishop of Armidale, shares some engaging thoughts in his latest column.

Men Meeting The Challenge Conference 2020

Posted on October 12, 2020 
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This year’s Men Meeting the Challenge Conference, not surprisingly, will be an online conference. Keynote speakers are Al Stewart and Ross Ciano.

From the organisers:

Why not join us at Men Meeting the Challenge this year, online, on Saturday 7 November 2020, for some real encouragement and inspiration. Gather a group of men today and go online at menforchrist.asn.au and register for a conference that will really make a difference!

And you can watch the promo video here.

Capitol Hill Baptist case — COVID restrictions on gatherings unlawful

Posted on October 11, 2020 
Filed under COVID19 Comments Off on Capitol Hill Baptist case — COVID restrictions on gatherings unlawful

“Most of us are chafing under restrictions on gatherings imposed by COVID-19 laws.

Getting the balance right here is hard, and we want to give the government as much leeway as possible; but the restrictions have been very difficult for churches, and the rules adopted in some jurisdictions seem to discriminate against church meetings in comparison to other activities which are now allowed.

These were the issues at stake in the recent decision of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Capitol Hill Baptist Church v Bowser (Case No. 20-cv-02710 (TNM), McFadden USDJ, Oct 9, 2020). …”

– Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia comments on the Capitol Hill Baptist Church case, and also notes the current circumstances in New South Wales.

The DC Mayor Doesn’t Get to Define Church

Posted on October 10, 2020 
Filed under COVID19, Theology Comments Off on The DC Mayor Doesn’t Get to Define Church

“Since the spring, Christian commentary on COVID-19 restrictions and church closures has focused on the authority of government. Do we as Christians believe the Bible gives Caesar the authority to ask churches to cease gathering in times of emergency?

That’s a conversation worth having. Yet an equally important theological question has quietly lurked in the shadows, which many Christians have missed: What is a church? More specifically, must the members of a church gather on a weekly basis to be a church?…”

– Jonathan Leeman writes at Christianity Today about the nature of “church”. It’s a good question to consider as we seek to encourage Christians to gather.

(Photo: Capitol Hill Baptist Church.)

@HomewithColin One-Off online show — Saturday night

Posted on October 9, 2020 
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The Gospel Coalition Australia is partnering with Colin Buchanan for a special one-off Saturday online @HomewithColin concert.

It will include a bunch of Colin’s Christian kid’s favourites – plus a few surprises!

@HomewithColin One-Off is streaming this Saturday 10th October, from 5:00 pm AEST on Colin’s Facebook Page.

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 
Filed under GAFCON, People Comments Off on Frontline church leader battles cancer

“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 
Filed under COVID19, Culture wars Comments Off on Victoria: Christians celebrate a basic liberty retained!

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 
Filed under GAFCON, People Comments Off on Archbishop Ben Kwashi on colon cancer, the future of Gafcon, COVID in Africa

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.

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