Getting up to speed for the CofE General Synod meeting tonight
Posted on February 11, 2025
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The Church of England’s General Synod continues to meet tonight, Australian time.
Anglican Futures gives a taste as to what to expect:
“Synod members have received thousands of pages of reports to read in advance of this week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod and millions of words will, I am sure be written, over the coming days. But for those who have other things to think about – here is a quick summary of what to look out for…”
They cover –
1) Will the Archbishop of York get ‘cancelled’? [Update from Anglican.ink – no.]
2) What more can be said about the Makin Report?
3) Will General Synod vote for ‘greater’ independence of safeguarding?
4) Can the Church of England become less middle class?
5) What can be said about Living in Love and Faith in an hour?
6) Can synod fix the way bishops are chosen?
7) How can poorer dioceses avoid bankruptcy?
Related:
The problem with the C of E: An open letter to Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York) – Ian Paul at Psephizo.
Book review: ‘Proclaiming Christ’
Posted on February 11, 2025
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“The past two hundred years of human history has seen the rise of so-called ‘modern’ thinking, which has created unprecedented challenges for Christians around the world.
As it stands, our current society is underpinned by a subjective approach to truth – emotions determine worldviews; objective biblical standards are labelled extremist; and unalterable biological realities like one’s own gender are contested on the grounds of personal feelings. In turn, this subjectivity has accompanied religious pluralism, as no revelation from God can be considered objectively true, because nothing is objectively true.
Against this cultural backdrop, believers are constantly in need of reminders to keep preaching Christ crucified. As a compilation of Packer’s 1978 lectures at Moore Theological College on Common Objections Against Christianity, this book serves to do exactly that. …“
As we noted when Campbell Markham reviewed the book last year, as well as reading the book, you can watch Packer’s 1978 Moore College lectures – About an hour each:
Lecture 1 – We’ve a Story to Tell.
Lecture 2 – The man Christ Jesus.
Lecture 3 – He emptied himself: the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Lecture 4 – The wonderful exchange.
Lecture 5 – No other name: the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
Pain, anguish and anger to be expected at the General Synod this week
Posted on February 10, 2025
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“The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell has given two interviews to the press this weekend, on the eve of the General Synod. the church’s parliament.
In an interview with the Church Times editor, Sarah Meyrick, he said the church was facing deep systemic challenges and he expected there would be a lot of pain, anguish and anger expressed at the synod, but hoped to focus on change. He also revealed that at a recent bishops’ meeting, there were “tears and penitence and a deep sharing with each other”, adding that there was also pain and a sense of the whole Church being humbled.
Speaking to Kaya Burgess at The Times, he said the general public is disgusted by the Church of England and its deeply shameful failures to tackle abusers in its ranks. …”
– The Religion Media Centre in the UK provides a summary of current religious news stories, including the continuing woes of the Church of England. Here’s their summary for 10 February 2025.
(Link via Anglican Mainstream.)
Nexus 25 coming up on 17th March
Posted on February 10, 2025
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The Nexus25 conference is coming up on Monday 17th March at Village Church Annandale:
“Nexus25 is about how we can reach our city with the life-giving gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Our conviction as a Nexus network is that the death and resurrection of Jesus, and his imminent return, means that our lives and churches must be driven by the urgent proclamation of our Saviour and Lord. And yet if we’re honest with ourselves, this conviction often wanes and does not flow into concerted, effective action in our churches. We believe that God is not done with Sydney. Christ still has many people in this city—people who have not yet heard and believed the gospel of Christ—and we long to see them saved and gathered around his throne.
Together under God, let’s think about what we need to do in our churches as we strive to reach this city for Christ.
Dave Jensen and Phil Colgan are going to help us think about how we can help everyone in our churches be on board with the mission that drives us. What are the convictions we need to sharpen in ourselves and encourage in others if we are going to be evangelistically effective? Are there things holding our churches back? Are there better ways to do things that flow more truly from our convictions? Those are the sorts of questions we’re going to consider.
Of course, along with this, we’re going to do what we always do at Nexus – come together for encouragement, fellowship and prayer, to spur one another on to persevere in the noble task of serving God’s people as pastors, teachers and evangelists.”
– Learn more, and register, at the Nexus25 website.
Amazon ends 4-year ban on Ryan Anderson’s book criticizing transgender ideology
Posted on February 9, 2025
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“Amazon is reversing a ban on a book that is critical of transgender ideology and will now allow the work to be sold nearly four years after it was removed from the platform.
In a statement posted Tuesday about Ryan T. Anderson’s book When Harry Became Sally, the online retailer ‘concluded that we erred on the side of being too restrictive last time, and decided to return the book to our store.’…”
– The Christian Post highlights one example of how some things are changing.
Earlier: When Amazon Erased My Book – February 2021.
Southern Cross magazine February – March 2025
Posted on February 7, 2025
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The latest issue of Southern Cross magazine (February – March 2025) is now available in churches.
If you miss out on getting a printed copy, a digital version is available from sydneyanglicans.net.
• Ministry to bubs and preschoolers
• Welcoming
• Positive masculinity
• Outreach in your suburb
• SRE teachers
PLUS: news, views, reviews and more
Report: Ashley Null elected Bishop of the Diocese North Africa
Posted on February 7, 2025
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“The Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of North Africa is delighted to announce that The Revd Canon Dr Ashley Null has been elected as the next bishop of North Africa. The Electoral Synod met on 4 February in N’Djamena, Chad, in the context of a Diocesan Synod that will continue until 6 February.
If the Synod of the Province of Alexandria confirms this election Dr Null will become the second, and first elected, bishop of the Diocese of North Africa, covering five countries (Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mauritania and Tunisia) and including the territory of the see of St Augustine of Hippo.
Dr Null holds research degrees from Yale and the University of Cambridge. He has received numerous awards for his work, including Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities and Guggenheim fellowships as well as being elected fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries in London. He currently holds a research post funded by the German Research Council at Humboldt University of Berlin and is a visiting fellow at the Divinity Faculty of Cambridge University and St. John’s College, Durham University. His project is editing the private theological notebooks of Thomas Cranmer,
Commenting on the election the current bishop, the Rt Revd Anthony Ball, said ‘I am delighted that Canon Ashley offered, and has been chosen to share, his varied experience and renowned gifts as a pastor and theologian in the service of this wonderful diocese. As the Chair of the Board of The Alexandria School of Theology he is already familiar with the Diocese. He will now have the chance to broaden and enhance the work he has done for many years to promote and encourage Christian witness in this cradle of Christianity. I look forward to working with him and wish him every blessing as he prepares to assume his new role.’ ”
– Report from The Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association in the UK.
A bit more background on Bishop Anthony Ball, who is quoted above –
“On 30 November 2021, shortly after the Province of Alexandria was recognized as a new Anglian Communion province, Ball was consecrated as an assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Egypt. He held this role on a part-time basis while remaining resident at Westminster Abbey. In January 2024, at a service in N’Djamena, Ball was installed as the first diocesan bishop of North Africa—which covers Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia—while retaining his appointments at Westminster.” – Source, Wikipedia.
Photo of Ashley Null: Gafcon.
The Vibe Shift: What does it mean for the Gospel?
Posted on February 6, 2025
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“All of the conservative ducks have lined up in a row. Did you notice? The cultural and political vibe has shifted? Have you felt it?
The vibe has turned against the progressive framework that sought to shut down voices it did not like, including orthodox Christian voices who wanted to speak about ethics. Yes the ducks have lined up, the vibe has shifted and we’re not gonna take it, we’re not gonna take it, we’re not gonna take it anymoooore!
Heady days for many people. It seems we are in for a long period of relative sanity in some areas of life that were previously either insane or being run by those who were. Or we are in for Armageddon, who can tell?
But let’s be positive. Clearly, as many a commentator has pointed out, the vibe has indeed shifted, and with strokes of the pen left, right and centre, the US President is not only changing the vibe in the USA, but across the Western world. Craven tech bros journey up to the new Jerusalem to pay homage.
What was once orthodox, or at least was declared to be orthodox to all and sundry, yet believed by far less than all and sundry, is being banished to the sidelines. …”
– Stephen McAlpine reminds Christians where our focus must be.
California’s End of Life Option: ‘An Awful Way to Die’
Posted on February 6, 2025
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“ ‘Imagine dying without pain and suffering, peacefully, in a dignified, controlled manner, on your terms, on a date and at a time of your choosing,’ reads the advertisement for an information session on California’s End of Life Option Act.
To anyone who believes in God’s sovereignty, the last part of that sentence rings false. Even if a person does decide on suicide or assisted suicide, it’s the Lord who numbers our days (Job 14:5; Ps. 139:16). It’s he who gives life, and we’re warned against ending it prematurely (Ex. 20:13; Eccl. 7:17; 1 Cor. 3:16–20).
But the first part of that advertisement may not be true either. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra shares some details which are distressing but important to be understood.
Next-generation Bishops to gather in March
Posted on February 5, 2025
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Gafcon Primates Council Chairman Archbishop Dr. Laurent Mbanda writes:
“It is with great joy that I share with you news about an important gathering of Gafcon leaders this March, to be held in the United States in Plano, Texas.
The G25 Mini Conference has a special focus upon the next generation of global bishops, with a selection of those consecrated in the past five years receiving a special invitation.
This event comes at a very important time in the life of our movement …”
– see the full letter from Gafcon.
What would we lose if we stopped teaching complementarianism?
Posted on February 5, 2025
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Dr Mark D Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College, writes:
“The following is a paper I presented to a seminar at the 2025 Priscilla and Aquila Conference.
What would we lose if we stopped teaching complementarianism?
If we believe that the complementarian nature of human life and Christian ministry is a good thing, given by our loving God for our welfare, then we ought to want to preach and teach it, and to help people see how this perspective finds expression right through the Bible, and how it nurtures healthy, joyful and meaningful relationships. Yet increasingly, it seems, Bible teachers and preachers who are convinced of the truthfulness and even the goodness of this part of the Bible’s teaching, are unwilling to teach it for a variety of reasons. The context of our moment in history in the Western world — a right and proper concern to affirm the equal dignity and value of women and men, while at the same time being confused about what it means to be a woman or a man; the grotesque misuse of the Bible’s teaching by some to justify oppression and abuse; voices inside the churches insisting the Bible says something different and outside the churches arguing not only that we need not, but that we must not, follow the Bible’s teaching anyway — all of this pushes hard against any decision to teach complementarianism even if we believe it.
So my goal in this seminar is simply to encourage us to teach what we believe. And I don’t want us to do that just out of some sort of obligation, begrudgingly teaching this because it’s there in the Bible, but because we know it is good and that without understanding this our life together will be all the poorer. God is good. His word is good. He is committed to our welfare. He has built us for relationships. And what he has to tell us in his word about how to relate as men and women, in the home, in the church, and in the world that he has made, is very good. So if we don’t teach complementarianism there is a lot that we can lose. …”
– Read it all here – and very good to share with others in your church.
Related: The Priscilla and Aquila Centre at Moore College.
Paul Grimmond: How godliness differs for men and women and how to teach it!
Posted on February 5, 2025
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From The Pastor’s Heart:
“How does godliness play out differently if I am a man, a woman, a young man, a young woman, a husband or a wife?
All Christians are called to live like Christ. Why does the Apostle Paul choose to write about what godliness looks like for the older and younger and for us as men and women, rather than more generally for us as people?
Does our age and sex have implications for the challenges we face in living for Jesus?
Are these things just human constructs or elements of divine gift?
And what implications does this have for how we think about discipleship and our lived experience of complementarian ministry?
Paul Grimmond is a senior lecturer at Sydney’s Moore Theological College. Paul gave the keynote address at the Priscilla and Aquila conference.”
Advancing Indigenous Ministry
Posted on February 4, 2025
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“In a boost for ministry to Indigenous peoples, Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has announced the landmark appointment of the Rev Michael Duckett as the first Director of Indigenous Ministry in the Sydney Diocese.
Synod last year voted overwhelmingly to create the position after a recommendation from the Sydney Anglican Indigenous Peoples Ministry Committee (SAIPMC) that it would greatly impact the growth and oversight of ministry by, among and for Indigenous people in Sydney and the Illawarra. …”
– Good news from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
Photo: Michael Duckett thanks to SydneyAnglicans.nrt.
Religious faith, medical procedures and minors
Posted on February 3, 2025
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“One of the most difficult areas to navigate in the intersection between law and religion is the dilemma that is faced by a court when asked to adjudicate on differing opinions about medical treatment of young people, when objections to medical treatment are based on religious views. This is an area where a court, when asked to adjudicate, will have to weigh up different interests of the minor- bodily health, and being able to make decisions in accordance wth their faith.
Many such cases have arisen in based on objections to blood transfusions by Jehovah’s Witnesses. But in this post I want to note a careful decision on the issues which was handed down early last year, where the young person involved was from a ‘mainstream’ Protestant church, and was strongly of the view that they had been healed miraculously and that no further treatment was needed. …”
– Associate Professor Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia.
Back to school in East Africa
Posted on February 2, 2025
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“As kids are heading back to school in Australia, the school year is also beginning in East Africa where there are over 2000 children in schools and education programs supported by Anglican Aid.
We praise God that Tarime Girls Secondary School in Tanzania is due to open this week. …”
– Anglican Aid has this news for your encouragement and prayers.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…