St Andrew’s Cathedral Singapore closes after case of Covid-19

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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“St Andrew’s Cathedral, the oldest Anglican site of worship in Singapore, has been closed after one of its members was infected with the coronavirus. …

On Wednesday, 47 new cases of the virus were announced, an all-time high, bringing the total number of cases in Singapore to 313.”

– News from The Straits Times.

Update on NT Anglican Church Services

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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“Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The coronavirus situation continues to change rapidly, with the federal government announcing on March 18th that indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are suspended. After conversation with other denominational leaders and in the light of news from other parts of the Anglican world, I am announcing that Anglican churches in the Northern Territory will suspend their Sunday services from March 23rd. Individual parishes may suspend their services earlier than this. …”

– Bishop Greg Anderson in Darwin announces the Anglican response there.

Sydney Diocese launches COVID-19 webpage

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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The Diocese of Sydney has just launched a dedicated web-page for resources about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initially, there’s this encouraging message from Archbishop Glenn Davies, and a very informative video from Dr. Charlotte Hespe.

There are Frequently Asked Questions and links to helpful resources.

Bookmark it and see what’s there.

“A woman of profound faith who has left an indelible mark upon modern medicine

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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“World-renowned Christian obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr Catherine Hamlin AC has passed away at her home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the age of 96.

Dr Hamlin, together with her husband, the late Dr Reg Hamlin OBE, created a network of treatment centres for women suffering from obstetric fistula. The crippling condition results from complications in childbirth and leads to social isolation in poor African communities. …”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Related:

Hamlin Fistula Australia Limited.

Jesus the dying saviour

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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“Jesus Christ understood the most deadly virus known to humanity is sin. He knew the sin virus was a killer. Like all viruses it takes up residence and eats away its host. For the virus to survive its host must die.

Thankfully in a war against such a virus you won’t find Jesus Christ rushing for the toilet paper. You won’t find Him in a toilet paper brawl in Bass Hill or in a Coles or Woolworths near you. But you will find him nailed to a cross, suffering on your behalf, offering a cure for the sin virus that has been destroying us from our beginnings. It’s the same sin virus that has people fighting over toilet paper instead of considering how we might care for one another in a time of crisis.

The Bible makes clear that the most dangerous place we can get in society is anarchy, where everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This is the heart of sin, to act like you are God when you are not. We will reap the carnage of this and the virus of sin will destroy us all. In that moment COVID19 will be irrelevant as the judgement of God has the final word. …”

– Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers continues his series of thought-provoking articles for the local newspaper, and also published on the diocesan website.

Call to Prayer and Fasting: Sunday 22nd March

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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GAFCON Chairman Archbishop Foley Beach and General Secretary Archbishop Ben Kwashi issue a call to prayer and fasting for this Sunday, 22 March, interceding against the spread of COVID-19 across the globe, swarming locusts in East Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and famine and hunger in regions of Africa. Read more

Isolation and Christian Love – with Dan Wu

Posted on March 19, 2020 
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Lionel Windsor spoke with his colleague at Moore College, Dan Wu, thinking about how Christians might display love towards others in an age of necessary isolation.

Watch at the link.

When available, Dan’s sermon would be on this page.
The ‘Join the Windsor Family for dinner” video is here.

‘Living with Uncertainty…’

Posted on March 18, 2020 
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“With concerns over the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the panic-buying of toilet paper that seems to have started in Australia, has now gone global. Apparently this panic buying signifies a human desire to be in control.

The reality of course, is that no one, for the present at least, seems to be truly able to control the spread of this virus. It is infectious and potentially deadly – especially for the older generation.

The reality is that it points us to something that we generally don’t want to discuss – the transient nature and fragility of life. …”

– At The Anglican Connection, John Mason reflects on Colossians 3:1.

Sydney Anglican public gatherings suspended because of COVID-19

Posted on March 18, 2020 
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“Archbishop Glenn Davies has issued a public statement on the future of church services because of the spread of COVID-19.

‘In light of the Prime Minister’s announcement this morning, banning enclosed gatherings in excess of 100 people, I have decided that the Anglican Church in Sydney should suspend all public church gatherings until further notice.’ the Archbishop said.

‘We are encouraging all our churches to consider providing their services online or by other communication methods. We shall make every effort to care for our church communities and the wider public, especially those who are isolated and vulnerable. Anglicare Sydney will continue its vital work of showing Christ’s love in ministering to all people, especially older Australians. Anglican Schools will also continue to play a significant role in caring for students and families.’ the official statement said.

‘I call on all Christians to pray for health workers and those seeking to develop a vaccine and to pray that the spread of this disease may slow. God’s love for all people has not diminished, nor his sovereignty over his world. Therefore, I urge all Christians to continue to trust in God’s goodness and mercy in this crisis, and to show Christ’s love to those affected.’”

Via SydneyAnglicans.net.

Pastoral Letter on COVID 19 from the Bishop of Tasmania – 17th March 2020

Posted on March 18, 2020 
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Dr Richard Condie, Bishop of Tasmania, has written to all churches in his diocese –

“Dear Sisters and Brothers,

The Lord Jesus reigns! God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) He is our shelter and our fortress. (Psalm 91:1-2)

These are realities that do not change in the midst of a changing and unstable world, even in the face of the global pandemic of Coronavirus (COVID19). None of this has taken God by surprise. He will watch over his people, and his salvation and goodness are sure.

The Anglican Church in Tasmania is committed to being a Church for Tasmania. We believe that the best way for us to be for the State in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic is for us to stop meeting in large groups, including our Sunday Services. The best practice in limiting the spread of disease, and to protect our health system, is to adhere to social distancing. This means limiting the number of people with whom you come into contact.

From today, there will be no Anglican Church gatherings over 10 people, other than funerals and weddings, but even these will be limited to immediate family members only.…”

– Read it all here. (Bold added.)

See also:

“The Anglican Church of Tasmania will “actively avoid” groups of more than 10 people meeting together and has called off church services for the foreseeable future. …”

– Report from The Examiner.

Cathedrals lead historic prayer amid COVID-19 pandemic

Posted on March 18, 2020 
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“For the first time since the second world war, Anglican Cathedrals in Sydney, Parramatta and Wollongong will lead public prayer for their cities as the effects of the pandemic grow.

Because of the social-distancing measures in force, ministers at each of the Cathedrals will lead prayer, in the open, on the steps of their buildings. …

At St Andrew’s Cathedral in the city, the Dean of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel said prayer was part of the life of the cathedral, but especially so now.

‘We pray regularly for the life and welfare of the City of Sydney at the Cathedral. …

Most of all we want to call people to remember Jesus’ invitation to turn to him, with all our weariness and burdens, to find the rest that only he can provide.’”

– Story from SydneyAnglicans.net.

Related:

Bishops lead prayers on church steps as visitors keep social distance – Sydney Morning Herald.

COVID-19: Thanksgiving Service for Bishop Ivan Lee cancelled

Posted on March 18, 2020 
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Archbishop Glenn Davies has written to Western Sydney churches with the sad news that the Thanksgiving Service planned for Bishop Ivan Lee on Saturday March 28 has had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. He also asks all to continue to uphold Virginia and her family in prayer.

Related:

With thanksgiving for Bishop Ivan Lee – ACL President’s tribute.

“We have lost a great champion for the gospel” – SydneyAnglicans.net.

Leading your church through the COVID-19 crisis – with the pastor, doctor & bishop

Posted on March 17, 2020 
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On today’s interview from The Pastor’s Heart:

Leading your church in the corona era with Pastor Eugene Hor, Bishop Gary Koo and Dr Irmgard Pascoe –

What do we make of the virus?

Posted on March 17, 2020 
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David Cook shares a Biblical perspective through the lens of the Book of Proverbs:

“We embrace humanity with love, we seek to relieve, be surprisingly creative in our acts of kindness, but our greatest purpose is to call on people to listen, repent and believe and so through Jesus have hope of a new creation to come.”

Read below:

Today I returned from overseas and I am self isolating for 14 days.

What do we make of this coronavirus?

I have been preparing a series on Proverbs and Solomon has much to say about what is going on.

The Bible’s wisdom writers are concerned to show us how we are to harmonise with reality.

Dick Lucas says that the aim of Proverbs is to help the young to keep from making fools of themselves in life, another preacher says that Proverbs is a directory of godly conduct.

In Chapter 1, King Solomon introduces the book by telling us in v.1-7, what the book will do for us; who it is for; and how to enter it, by ‘fearing the Lord’.

Then in v.8-19, he tells us there are always two voices in life, the voice of reality and the voice of deceit. In this case the realist is the parent urging the son not to join his peer group, ‘my son do not walk in the way with them’, v.15, and the voice of deceit, is that of the criminal gang, ‘come with us, let us lie in wait for blood’, v.11.

At v. 20-33, Solomon tells us history’s biggest lesson. There are always two voices in life, the voice of God and the voice of the serpent, the voice of reality and the voice of deceit.

The great lesson of history is that whenever God speaks, and is ignored, catastrophe results! It’s a lesson as old as Adam.

Proverbs 1:31 records this passive judgement of God on our deafness, ‘they shall eat the fruit of their way and have their fill of their own schemes’. This judgement is now being revealed, according to Paul, in Romans 1, God gives them over to the fruit of their schemes in Romans 1:24,26,28.

The world we live in is the world into which Adam and Eve were expelled, the world of pain, frustration and death, and is the fruit of their failure to listen to God.

This virus is part of that world and is God’s judgement on us all, and my isolation is a part of that judgement and a reminder of human stubbornness.

In Proverbs 1, Wisdom cries out, raises her voice and speaks and she does so in the main streets and malls. She is freely available, yet humanity refuses to listen, ignores and does not heed.

God personally teaches us this lesson, see His use of the third person pronoun, ‘they hated knowledge… they shall eat the fruit’, v.29-31.

God’s wisdom is our greatest treasure and yet we have become too cool, too self assured, too sophisticated to hear it. Many will be addressed but only some will listen and they will ‘dwell secure and be at ease without dread of disaster’, v.33.

This period of isolation, this pandemic, is a further clarion call to us to harmonise with the reality of our greatest treasure, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus and his word of wisdom.

We embrace humanity with love, we seek to relieve, be surprisingly creative in our acts of kindness, but our greatest purpose is to call on people to listen, repent and believe and so through Jesus have hope of a new creation to come.

‘For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster’. Proverbs 1:32-33.

(David Cook has served as Principal of SMBC and also as Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia as well as in parish ministry. Photo courtesy St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

One concrete thing all churches should be doing right now

Posted on March 17, 2020 
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“At this moment, we are – understandably – being flooded with information and reflections about the coronavirus. There is much helpful stuff for Christians to read, but I fear that one of the most obvious and critical things has not yet gotten much attention. …

If coronavirus is particularly dangerous to older people …”

– Tim Patrick, Principal of the Bible College of South Australia, makes a very important point which should not be overlooked.

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