First Church of England Bishop ‘to declare he is in gay relationship’
Posted on September 3, 2016
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“The bishop of Grantham has become the first Church of England bishop to publicly declare that he is gay and in a relationship. …
Nicholas Chamberlain said there had been no secret about his long-term – albeit celibate – relationship with his partner. …
In a statement, [Archbishop of Canterbury Justin] Welby said: ‘I am and have been fully aware of Bishop Nick’s long-term, committed relationship. His appointment as bishop of Grantham was made on the basis of his skills and calling to serve the church in the diocese of Lincoln. He lives within the bishops’ guidelines and his sexuality is completely irrelevant to his office.’…”
– Story from The Guardian. Photo: Diocese of Lincoln.
See also: GAFCON Statement on the Appointment of the Bishop of Grantham.
“We note with prayerful concern the revelation that Nicholas Chamberlain, Bishop of Grantham, is in a same sex relationship.
Our understanding is that the nature of his relationship conforms to the guidelines set out by the Bishops, and that he has not been campaigning publicly for a change in the church’s teaching on sex and marriage. We do not doubt that he has many gifts as a leader and pastor.
However there are aspects of this appointment which are a serious cause for concern for biblically orthodox Anglicans around the world, and therefore we believe that this appointment is a major error.
In 2003, Jeffrey John’s candidacy for the post of Bishop of Reading caused deep divisions within the Diocese of Oxford and beyond, and this news about Nicholas Chamberlain will exacerbate the same divisions within the Church of England and throughout the wider Anglican Communion.
In this case the element of secrecy in the appointment to the episcopacy of a man in a same sex relationship gives the impression that it has been arranged with the aim of presenting the church with a ‘fait accompli’, rather than engaging with possible opposition in the spirit of the ‘shared conversations’.
We remain opposed to the guidelines for clergy and Bishops, permitting them to be in same sex relationships as long as they publicly declare that the relationship is not sexual. This creates confusion in terms of the church’s teaching on the nature of sex and marriage, and it is not modelling a helpful way to live, given the reality of our humanity, and temptation to sexual sin.
The Most Rev. Peter Jensen
General Secretary of Gafcon Global.”
and also: Gay bishop: Appointment of Nicholas Chamberlain ‘major error’ says Gafcon. BBC report.
Persevering with the Desperate
Posted on September 3, 2016
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Simon Manchester’s exposition on 1 Kings 19 at the recent Evangelical Ministry Assembly in London is a great encouragement to all in pastoral ministry.
(The theme of this year’s EMA was ‘Leaders who last’.)
(He also spoke on Persevering with the disobedient, Exodus 34; and Persevering with the dull, Mark 6.)
ACL Pre-Synod Briefing Wednesday 5th October & Synod Dinner Monday 10th
Posted on September 1, 2016
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Two special events for Sydney Synod members: Read more
Adrian Reynolds to be Training Director for the FIEC (UK)
Posted on September 1, 2016
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News from The Proclamation Trust:
“The Trustees of The Proclamation Trust (PT) today announce that Adrian Reynolds, Director of Ministry for the Trust since 2009, will be leaving his post at Easter 2017 to take up a role as Training Director for the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC)…”
GAFCON UK responds to Archbishop Nicholas Okoh’s August Letter
Posted on September 1, 2016
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“GAFCON UK welcomes and is very encouraged by the Chairman of the GAFCON Primates’ Council’s recent August Letter. In it Archbishop Okoh states that the ‘greatest cause for concern continues to be the British Isles’. We share this analysis and hear Archbishop Okoh’s call on GAFCON UK and the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) to ‘demonstrate that they have the necessary courage and faith in a context which to a large extent they alone can grapple with’.
GAFCON UK has recently been reconstituted precisely to meet the challenges that Archbishop Okoh outlines and is committed to grappling with the departure from orthodoxy in the UK. The AMiE is about to launch an ambitious plan for pioneering church-planting in the context of the ReNew Conference in September, where the aim is to encourage regions throughout England that pioneer, establish and secure healthy local Anglican churches.
Andy Lines
Chairman of the GAFCON UK Task Force.”
– via GAFCON.
Youthworks College to move to Moore College’s Newtown campus
Posted on September 1, 2016
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From Moore College:
Youthworks has today announced the move of the Youthworks College diploma courses to their new Moore Theological College campus premises.
“A vital need of the moment is men and women committed to gospel work among children and youth in our city and beyond. Youthworks College under the principalship of Dr Bill Salier is uniquely placed to meet this need and its new location in Newtown alongside Moore College will significantly enhance this work. I am looking forward to building on the already close partnership between Moore and Youthworks College” said Moore College principal, Dr Mark Thompson, when speaking of the move.
Youthworks College sees this as a strategic move that is aimed enhancing Youthworks College’s mission of raising up skilled youth and children’s ministers serving in churches and schools.
This move will provide greater accessibility of Youthworks College’s programmes to more students due to the relative ease of the physical location; and the greater visibility of Youthworks College generally as they move closer to the centre of Sydney.
Dr Bill Salier remarked, “We are also excited by the opportunities as yet unseen that will occur as a result of a change of this type. We believe it will further stimulate us to think through what we do, and how we do it, in the new space.”
“Youthworks College is grateful for the generosity of Moore College and the spirit of partnership this represents. We look forward to working side by side, albeit with our different audiences and programmes, sharing the common goal of strengthening Gospel ministry in Sydney and beyond” concluded Dr Salier.
GAFCON Chairman’s Pastoral Letter, August 2016
Posted on August 31, 2016
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“My dear people of God,
I have just returned from a very encouraging visit to the United States where I met with my brother Archbishop Foley Beach and I rejoice to see how the Anglican Church in North America is growing strong and standing firm.
As the steep decline of The Episcopal Church (TEC) of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada continues, despite the hope of its leaders that reshaping it in the image of secular culture would attract, we give thanks for the Anglican Church of North America and remember the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ ‘I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’ (Matthew16:18).
GAFCON recognises that the Church is not ours. It belongs to Jesus and it is Jesus who builds the Church through his word. …”
– Read all of Archbishop Nicholas Okoh’s pastoral letter for August 2016 at the GAFCON website.
Marriage debate ‘taints’ outcome, says Anglican Archbishop
Posted on August 31, 2016
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“The leader of the nation’s largest Anglican diocese has warned that the political debate on same-sex marriage is ‘so tainted’ its resolution is beyond the ‘capabilities of the current parliament’.
Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies said the issue went to a change that would ‘affect the foundations of our society’. All Australians needed to be consulted and the arguments against marriage equality given a fair public hearing, he said. …”
– Full story from The Australian. (Paywalled.) Photo: Moore College.
Is denying same sex marriage unconstitutional?
Posted on August 31, 2016
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“An article in The Conversation on 30 August 2016, “Marriage ‘inequality’ is a threat to religious freedom – and it is probably unconstitutional” by academic Dr Luke Beck, Lecturer in Constitutional Law at Western Sydney University, suggests that, far from proposals to redefine marriage to include same sex couples being a threat to religious freedom, the current law (which does not recognize such relationships) is itself in breach of free exercise of religion principles.
Dr Beck, it has to be said, is one of Australia’s foremost legal experts on s 116 of the Constitution (I regularly cite his many articles on the topic to my students in the “Law and Religion” course I teach.) So it is with some hesitation that I have to say I disagree with his view on this issue. But disagree I do.”
– Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia lays out the reasons he is not convinced.
Statement from the Task Force of GAFCON UK in response to John Bingham’s article in the Daily Telegraph 29/8/2016
Posted on August 30, 2016
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“GAFCON UK warmly commends the initiative of Rev Dr Peter Sanlon and others from a number of parishes in the Home Counties to set up a ‘shadow synod’ as stated in John Bingham’s article ‘Parishes begin Church split’.
This is a grass-roots initiative by local congregations which is representative of the views of many across the country, and is in line with the concerns of Anglicans from the GAFCON movement worldwide…”
– A statement from the GAFCON UK Task Force – via AMiE. (Photo: Dr. Peter Sanlon, St Mark’s, Tunbridge Wells.)
And here is the online version of the article by John Bingham in The Telegraph.
The Rev Dr Peter Sanlon, Vicar of St Mark’s Church in Tunbridge Wells, who is hosting this week’s meeting, said: “If senior leaders of the Church of England water down the teaching of the Church of England on key issues like homosexuality, then this synod could easily evolve in to a new Anglican jurisdiction in England.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury has signalled that he is aware of the possibility that a significant proportion of the church will not accept a change in the church’s teaching.
“This could be the beginning of that playing out.”
Archbishop preaches at Moore College Chapel
Posted on August 30, 2016
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Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Glenn Davies, was the guest preacher this morning at the Moore College Chapel.
He spoke on Hebrews 12, godly disciple, and the reality of suffering in the Christian life.
Listen to the 22 minute sermon (11MB mp3 file) here.
Canberra Rector asks Bill Shorten for ‘a civil and tolerant discussion’ on Same Sex Marriage
Posted on August 30, 2016
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“Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has been accused of intolerance and ‘brutal’ language towards people opposed to same-sex marriage, in a confrontation with a rector outside a church service this morning.
Mr Shorten was among politicians attending the service to mark the start of the parliamentary year.
The Labor leader is a vocal advocate of same-sex marriage, but has raised concerns a plebiscite would be divisive and encourage the vilification of same-sex couples.
Rector Ian Powell, from a Canberra Anglican church, took the opportunity to raise concerns about Labor’s approach. …”
– Report and image from ABC News. (Watch to the end.)
Related: on 2GB today, Ben Fordham spoke with Michael Jensen.
Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?
Posted on August 29, 2016
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“Can we talk about Same-Sex Marriage?” is the topic for the next Centre for Christian Living event at Moore College.
“There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, says the Bible (Eccl 3:7). What time is it, then, when the subject of same-sex marriage comes up around the watercooler? Should Christians speak up on the topic—in our personal conversations, and in the public square? And if we do, how can we talk in a way that is loving, gracious and truthful?”
When: 7:30pm — 9:30pm, Wednesday 19th October.
Where: Moore College, 15 King Street, Newtown.
Speakers: Michael Kellahan and Tony Payne.
Book through the Centre for Christian Living.
‘Jesus & the Ten Gospels’ – New College Lectures with Dr Simon Gathercole
Posted on August 28, 2016
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Dr Simon Gathercole is giving this year’s New College Lectures on September 20 and 22.
“Some of the most widely published challenges to the Christian faith today have come in the publicity surrounding the “apocryphal” Gospels not included in the Christian Bible.
The idea that there is nothing particularly special about the four New Testament Gospels has appeared in both the popular media and in Biblical scholarship, from references to the Gospel of Philip in the Da Vinci Code, to the publication by the Harvard Theological Review of the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’s Wife” fragment.
These lectures will discuss the relevance of these Gospels outside of the Bible, comparing them with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.”
– Free entry, but RSVP essential. Details from New College.
Alec Motyer (1924–2016)
Posted on August 27, 2016
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Renowned Old Testament pastor-scholar Alec Motyer has gone home to be with the Lord, at the age of 91.
Justin Taylor has this appreciation at The Gospel Coalition.
Church Society Director Lee Gatiss has posted another:
“Alec was a pillar of the evangelical Anglican establishment in the second half of the twentieth century, and a terrific example of a Reformed evangelical Bible commentator.
As the ‘church militant here on earth’ becomes increasingly bereft of those in that great generation, we must pray fervently for the continuation of their legacy — especially for the production of more Bible-loving, theologically-rigorous resources which feed warm-hearted, Christ-exalting preaching, but also for more Anglicans with his love for the word and for Reformation truths.”
Update: Terry Johnson has also posted this Personal Remembrance at Reformation 21:
“Each weekday the entire college gathered for lunch. The food typically was English-bland, and 30 years after Victory in Europe Day, in war rationing quantities. The fellowship was wonderful, but the highlight (besides the tea) was Mr. Motyer’s closing prayer following a review of the college’s life.
The prayer before the meal was very brief. “For these and all thy mercies we give Thee thanks, O Lord, in our Saviour’s name, amen.” Motyer was devout but not sanctimonious. It was time to eat; no sense delaying the hungry.
The prayer following the meal was long, and worth the price of admission. He was no Prayer Book cripple. He prayed as he preached, with an Irishman’s passion and filled with Scripture. I never missed lunch, despite the food, because I didn’t want to miss the prayer.”
Additional note: His recently-published “Psalms by the Day — a New Devotional Translation”, published by Christian Focus, is a wonderful example of Motyer’s warm-hearted, Christ-honouring approach to Scripture.
(Image: thesermon.co.uk)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…