ACL Pre-Synod Briefing — TONIGHT Wednesday 5th October
Posted on October 3, 2016
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Pre-Synod Briefing, This Wednesday 5th October, 6:30 – 8:00pm at Chapter House.
As a service to the Synod, the ACL is holding a Pre-Synod Briefing for Synod members.
The Rev Craig Roberts, Rector of St Augustine’s Neutral Bay, Standing Committee member, and ACL Vice-President, will discuss the main issues for this year’s Synod.
Download your invitation here.
The Synod Survival Guide — got your copy?
Posted on October 3, 2016
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New to Synod? The Synod Survival Guide (4th edition), by Robert Tong is an invaluable help to make sense of it all.
Presented by the ACL as a service to the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney, you can download your PDF copy here.
Some of Victoria’s ‘inherent requirements’ amendments may be unconstitutional
Posted on October 2, 2016
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“The Victorian Government introduced the Equal Opportunity Amendment (Religious Exceptions) Bill 2016 into its Parliament on 30 August 2016. It has passed the Legislative Assembly without amendment, and is presently before the Legislative Council. …
I have commented in a previous post as to why I think this is poor legislation from a policy perspective. In that previous post I briefly noted that an argument could be made that some of the amendments, at least, would be unconstitutional. Since that previous post I have looked into the area further and am fairly sure that this is the case. Here I want to develop the case a bit further. …”
– In his latest post at Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster sheds light on the proposed Victorian bill.
GAFCON Chairman’s letter, September 2016
Posted on October 2, 2016
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“My dear people of God,
As I write, GAFCON is about to launch a project which I believe will be very significant for the future of the Anglican Communion. Under the leadership of Director Dr Samson Mwaluda, the recently retired Bishop of Taita Taveta in Kenya, the GAFCON Bishops Training Institute begins its first conference in Nairobi on 29th September for some twenty recently consecrated bishops drawn from GAFCON affiliated provinces. We already have a waiting list for our next conference!…”
– Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council, shares some encouraging news in his latest pastoral letter.
Confident Disciple Making for Tasmania
Posted on October 1, 2016
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The Diocese of Tasmania is running an event to equip church members in Confident Disciple Making – in Hobart, on 29th October. Colin Marshall is the keynote speaker.
From Bishop Richard Condie:
“Making disciples is our great task, set for us by none other than the Lord Jesus himself. But the task is challenging, especially in our present time. We need help and assistance to know how we are going to do it effectively and confidently.”
Presbyterian Moderator General reports on the General Assembly
Posted on September 30, 2016
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“The triennial meeting of the General Assembly of Australia testified to our fundamental unity around the truth of God’s Word and the power of Christ’s gospel.
It’s time to reflect and review a most excellent week…”
– New Presbyterian Moderator-General John Wilson reviews the recent General Assembly of Australia.
Why ‘No Creed but the Bible’ is a lousy creed
Posted on September 30, 2016
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“First, it’s impossible not to be confessional. Everyone is confessional; now, whether it’s written and whether it’s biblical is another matter. And everyone is a theologian…
It’s always better when we’re clear on our theology, and for that nothing beats writing it down on paper. Writing does not guarantee infallibility, of course, but it does make it easier to determine whether the doctrine we’re confessing aligns with Scripture.
Second, the point of a confession of faith isn’t to put something above Scripture. The point of a confession is to ensure the public teaching of the church is as close to the teaching of Scripture as possible. When we don’t write down our theology and confess it publicly as a church, it leads not to healthy freedom but to unhealthy restriction.”
– Is it biblical for the church to use confessions of faith? How should a confession be used? What makes a good confession of faith?
At The Gospel Coalition, Jeff Robinson put these and other questions to Ligon Duncan, Chancellor of Reformed Theological Seminary.
Sadly, many churches seem to think creeds are outdated. It’s not too late to repent – check out:
Creeds and other affirmations of faith – from the Diocese of Sydney’s Better Gatherings.
The Athanasian Creed – from Church Society’s An English Prayer Book.
400 attend Renew Conference in Northern Powerhouse
Posted on September 30, 2016
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“The rector of a plant into an Anglican church which began in 1961 with a congregation of one plus the organist, and who is only its second rector in 55 years chaired a 30 hour Renew Anglican conference of over 400 in Leeds on September 19-20. Many of the participants were vicars, curates and ministry colleagues from over 200 churches whose average age was in the early 40’s.
William Taylor of St Helen’s Bishopsgate told the Conference: ‘I am sometimes asked whether our constituency is planning to leave the Church of England. We are not. We are, however, putting in place spiritual relationships that enable us to pursue our ministry goals of pioneering, establishing and securing Anglican evangelical local churches.’
The Renew Conference has grown by 100 people a year and moved for 2016 from the Midlands to Leeds to find a big enough venue and to support the work of Anglicans in the north of England…”
– Report in The Church of England Newspaper, via Anglican Mainstream.
(The ReNew conference is organised by Anglican Mission in England, Church Society, and Reform.
Crossway reverses decision to make ESV Bible Text permanent
Posted on September 29, 2016
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“The publisher of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible has reversed its controversial decision to finalize the text after tweaking 29 verses.
‘We have become convinced that this decision was a mistake,’ stated Crossway president and CEO Lane Dennis in an announcement released today. ‘We apologize for this and for any concern this has caused for readers of the ESV, and we want to explain what we now believe to be the way forward. Our desire, above all, is to do what is right before the Lord.’…”
– Story from Christianity Today.
The Legacy of Broughton Knox — MTC Library Day 2016
Posted on September 29, 2016
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Don’t miss this special event coming up at MooreTheological College on Saturday 29th October.
David Broughton Knox (26 December 1916 – 14 January 1994) was the long serving Principal of Moore Theological College from 1959 until 1985.
DBK is considered by many to have been hugely influential, under the Lord, in the shaping of Sydney Diocese into what it is today.
The 2016 Moore College Library Day will explore Broughton’s life and theology as well as its enduring influence on Sydney diocese and beyond.
When: Saturday 29 October, 2016, 9:15 am for 9:30 am start, 3:30 pm finish
Where: Broughton Knox Teaching Centre, Moore Theological College, 15 King Street Newtown
Registration: $40 includes coffee/tea on arrival, morning tea & lunch.
Speakers include:
- Mark Thompson
- Robert Tong
- Peter Jensen
- Robert Doyle
Who was Broughton Knox? See these tributes in our Resources section.
- David Broughton Knox – What we owe to him – by Archbishop Donald Robinson.
- Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – tribute to Broughton Knox – by Archbishop Sir Marcus Loane.
No need for a censor if we censor ourselves
Posted on September 28, 2016
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“It happened again this week. It will doubtless happen many times in the weeks and months and years to come.
A Christian dared to elaborate publicly on why he thought homosexual practice was morally wrong, and was greeted not with counter-argument or rebuttal, but outpourings of abhorrence and anger, as well as regret and apology on the part of the event organisers (that such a view had come to be to be expressed on their platform)…”
– At Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living, Tony Payne writes about the strong temptation for Christians to ‘self censor’.
Related: “Can we talk about same-sex marriage?” – Wednesday 19th October at the Centre for Christian Living.
For the Bible tells me so: Biblical authority denied … again
Posted on September 27, 2016
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“‘Jesus loves me — this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ This is a childish error
Evangelical Christianity has a big problem, says Andy Stanley, and that problem is a reliance on the Bible that is both unwarranted and unhelpful. In a recent message delivered at North Point Community Church and posted online, Stanley identifies the evangelical impulse to turn to the Bible in our defense and presentation of Christianity as a huge blunder that must be corrected.”
– Albert Mohler warns against diluting Biblical authority in an attempt to connect with our culture.
Rod Bower in his own words
Posted on September 26, 2016
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“Three decades on, Father Rod Bower, 54, is the one causing headaches as Australia’s most outspoken, social media savvy and incongruous priest. …”
– The Australian has this profile of Rod Bower, Archdeacon of the Central Coast in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.
(h/t David Ould. Photo: Rod Bower via Facebook.)
Related: From October 19, 2014, Report: Bishop of Newcastle appoints Rod Bower as Archdeacon of the Central Coast. (Which includes this link.)
LGBTI threats against Mercure Hotel show ‘poison’ in public life
Posted on September 26, 2016
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“The poison in Australia’s public life has reached a point where a casual bystander now can fall victim to the tactics used to win a fight at all costs.
The latest sign of the illness came when employees at a Sydney hotel answered the telephone last week to hear threats of physical violence. Their crime? The Mercure Sydney Airport Hotel had taken a booking for a conference room for four Christian groups.
This was not an isolated threat. The phone calls kept coming. …
Threatening phone calls to a Sydney hotel may seem like a minor test of these principles, yet the affair is instructive all the same. When the campaign went too far there was a reluctance to call it out. Australian Marriage Equality refused to condemn it. The Greens have declined a request to comment. The early response from the ‘progressive’ side of politics was to deny the problem. The message is that rights are not always worth fighting for.”
– from The Australian. (via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
Inboxes. Getting all the stuff out of them. Every day.
Posted on September 26, 2016
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“This post is about a core habit that helps me to reduce everyday stress: emptying inboxes. I’m not just talking about getting my email to ‘inbox zero’ every so often. I’m talking about identifying all my inboxes in life, and daily emptying them. That means getting all the vaguely undefined and stressful “‘stuff’ out of those inboxes and into my trusted system, where they can do some good.”
– At Forget the Channel, Lionel Windsor continues his series on “sustainable sacrifice” in Christian ministry.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…