GAFCON Missionary Bishop for Scotland

Posted on June 3, 2017 
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Via Anglican Mainstream:

“On 8 June 2017, the Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) is scheduled to vote to finalise a change to their canons that would attempt to redefine marriage.  If this action is taken by the SEC it will further marginalise faithful Anglicans in Scotland who seek to uphold Jesus’ teaching on marriage.

This change comes in the context of a global reformation that is happening in the Anglican Communion.  While Anglican provinces such as The Episcopal Church (USA), Anglican Church of Canada, and Scottish Episcopal Church are rejecting the authority of the Bible, faithful Anglicans are uniting through Gafcon to proclaim and defend the unchanging truth in a changing world.

Recognising the pastoral need that arose following the initial SEC vote (in June 2016), in April of this year the Gafcon Primates authorised the consecration of a Missionary Bishop to care for those who seek to remain faithful to the scriptures and Jesus’ teaching on marriage.

On 8 June 2017 Gafcon will hold a press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland at 5pm. 

At this press conference the Missionary Bishop will be announced and introduced. He will be joined by a Gafcon Primate and representatives of those whose fellowship with the SEC will be broken by the Synod decision.”

Related: Remnant in Scotland find hope through Gafcon.

The Robinson-Knox view of Church — Interview with Chase Kuhn

Posted on June 3, 2017 
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“If you’ve grown up in Sydney Anglican churches chances are your understanding of what church is and what it’s for has been significantly shaped (perhaps unknowingly!) by two people – Donald W. B. Robinson and D. Broughton Knox.

However, no one has undertaken a systematic and extended articulation and appraisal of this approach to church …. until now – we chat to Moore College lecturer Chase Kuhn about his new book The Ecclesiology of Donald Robinson and D. Broughton Knox.”

– Read it all at The Australian Church Record.

Forty-forty vision

Posted on June 2, 2017 
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“Thursday 22nd June marks forty years of a refocussed and refreshed church.

The Presbyterian Church of Australia (PCA) is almost unrecognisable from what it was in the 1960s. I suggest each congregation might pause during the week of 22 June … to pray for the PCA and thank the Lord for all the fruit of our renewal. We belong to a blessed church.

Four decades represents a significant milestone. We learn from the Scriptures that God required Moses to spend forty years in the wilderness country of Midian before engaging in his life’s mission. Moses needed to learn to be a faithful provider for his own family and to care for his father-in-law’s sheep prior to the trust of looking after God’s flock. It was a probationary period for Moses. Are we emerging from forty years probation?

If so, what has the Lord released us to do?…”

– John P Wilson, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, gives thanks  – and asks some probing questions – as the Presbyterian Church of Australia marks forty years of ‘continuing’.

(The Uniting Church was formed on 22nd June 1977 by the amalgamation of the Methodist, Congregational and most Presbyterian churches in Australia. The continuing Presbyterian Church of Australia has largely returned to its Evangelical and Reformed roots.)

How God sustained two faithful churches through tough times

Posted on June 1, 2017 
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From GAFCON:

“This article looks back 10 years and examines two churches in the USA which faced ruin because they took a courageous stand for biblical truth. We consider the severe trials they faced, how they responded, how God acted and where they stand today.

The first story concerns the Anglican Church of The Good Shepherd, Binghamton, New York.…”

– Two stories of encouragement from the USA.

From our archives: Earlier posts mentioning The Church of the Good Shepherd in Binghamton. (Not all of the older links are still active.)

Presidential charge to the Synod of the Diocese of the Northern Territory

Posted on May 31, 2017 
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“Last synod, I mentioned six planks that I felt needed to guide what I, and we together, focussed on in the diocese, and I have written more about them in the issues of Top Centre since last synod. Now that I have been the bishop for nearly two and half years, I have had more time to think about and refine the areas that I believe need attention and resourcing.…”

– The Diocese of the Northern Territory has published Bishop Greg Anderson’s 2017 Synod Charge.

Read it, and be encouraged to pray for our brothers and sisters, and the progress of the gospel, in the Top End.

What can Rome learn from the Anglican Church?

Posted on May 31, 2017 
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Would it be “processes of synodal life”?

From a Vatican Radio report:

“‘Walking together on the way’ is the title of a new document to be published by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, whose members met this month in Erfurt, Germany.

Despite some ‘difficult conversations’ and ‘hard questions’ over the past year, the Anglican and Catholic theologians who make up ARCIC III managed, at the May 14th to 20th meeting, to conclude the first part of their mandate, finding agreement on ways in which the two Churches are structured at local, regional and universal levels. …”

Freedom17 Conference – Religious Freedom in a Secular Age?

Posted on May 31, 2017 
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More relevant than ever. The 2017 Freedom for Faith conference in Canberra on June 14. Details here.

“Freedom 17 is a unique conference for church leaders, lawyers, policy makers and politicians to meet in Canberra and talk about the pressing public issue of religious freedom.”

And for a secular voice on some of what is at stake in western society, Andrew Bolt’s editorial from The Bolt Report on SkyNews Australia – “stopping the activist bullies is now more important than same-sex marriage”.

Kirsty Birkett on Reformation Epistemology

Posted on May 31, 2017 
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“At this year’s St Antholin Lecture, Kirsty [Birkett] gave us a fascinating and insightful lecture about the impact of sin on the mind.

How is that fallen minds can know anything accurately, let alone a holy God? The Reformation brought not only reform of doctrine and Church but also how we think.”

– A Reformation resource from Church Society.

The Christ Church Cathedral saga

Posted on May 29, 2017 
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“Lost track of what is going on in the Christ Church Cathedral saga? These 19 questions will get you up-to-date. …”

– Over in New Zealand, six years after the earthquake, the future of Christchurch Anglican Cathedral is still undecided.

This article helps to explain why it is taking so long for the situation to be resolved.

Photo: cardboardcathedral.org.nz.

Margaret Court vs Sensible Evangelicals

Posted on May 27, 2017 
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“Margaret Court’s mistaken assumption, from what I can see, is that she talks to the world as if it should know better. It doesn’t and can’t, not because it doesn’t know better, but because it doesn’t know the one who is better – the Lord Jesus. …”

– In a long and thoughtful article, Stephen McAlpine in Perth considers the huge shift which has occurred in our culture, and how Christians can respond.

(h/t Tim Challies. Photo: Victory Life Centre.)

The Secularisation of the Church of Scotland

Posted on May 27, 2017 
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“Much to no-one’s surprise, the Church of Scotland General Assembly has just voted to accept the Theological Forum’s report which changes the Churches definition of marriage to include same sex marriages and to apologise to gay people for their previous understanding.

I know there are various caveats and nuances but that is the reality of what has just happened – and although some will say ‘its not over’ – in the eyes of the Kirk, it’s a done deal.

One of the devil’s greatest tricks is that he loves to sow confusion and doubt, and thereby cause division. Yesterday was a great example of that. …”

– At The Wee Flea, David Robertson in Dundee looks what the Church of Scotland General Assembly’s decisions really mean.

Praying for the Muslim world

Posted on May 27, 2017 
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Ramadan is a great time to pray for the eternal good, through the Lord Jesus Christ, of Muslim men and women the world over. The “30 Days of Prayer” prayer guide is a real help and encouragement to pray.

You can order the Prayer Guide booklet from 30 Days Australia, or purchase a PDF download (in many different languages) from the international site.

Users of the Prayermate app can also subscribe to the 30 Days feed.

“30 Days is a remarkable effort to focus millions of Christians on prayer for the spiritual needs of Muslims.” – Patrick Johnstone, founder of Operation World.

”We want this guide to help followers of Christ see some of the diversity in the Muslim world and learn about the needs of Muslim families across the globe, so that you can pray with a heart of understanding that leads to greater awareness of God’s love for Muslims.” – from the introduction to this year’s Prayer Guide.

Church of Scotland Assembly agrees on apology to gay people

Posted on May 26, 2017 
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“The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has approved an apology to gay people for the history of discrimination they have faced in the Church.

Commissioners also approved a report which could pave the way to allow some ministers to conduct same sex marriages in the future. …

Professor Torrance told commissioners that the Church’s journey on the issue had parallels with the one it has taken on the ordination of women in the 1960s.”

– Report from The Church of Scotland. Photo credit: Church of Scotland.

Margaret Court Arena name change called for after star’s Qantas boycott over gay marriage support

Posted on May 26, 2017 
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“Martina Navratilova has joined calls for Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to be renamed after the tennis champion said she would no longer fly with Qantas because of the airline’s stance on same-sex marriage.

Margaret Court, who is now a pastor at Victory Life Church in Perth, wrote an open letter to Qantas in yesterday’s West Australian saying she was disappointed that Qantas chief Alan Joyce had become an active campaigner for same-sex marriage. …”

– Contrary views no longer permitted. Story from ABC News.

Jerusalem 2018

Posted on May 25, 2017 
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GAFCON has announced that the next GAFCON Conference will held in Jerusalem from Sunday 17 to Friday 22nd June 2018.

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