Caring or Killing

Posted on July 12, 2014
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“‘Is the baby normal?’ is one of the first questions parents ask the doctor and that’s the last time the parents are happy that their child is only normal!

We don’t want our children to be abnormal or have any abnormalities but we do want them to be above average. We don’t want them to be the high achievers who crash and burn in the blaze of celebrity magazine publicity, but nobody wishes their child to be below average. Everybody’s child is above average in their parents’ imagination, and even higher in their grandparents’ estimation.

However, it is very important that our pursuit of excellence and perfection should never be applied to our humanity…”

– Phillip Jensen looks at some implications of being human.

Armidale Diocese Centenary — 8 November 2014

Posted on July 11, 2014
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The Diocese of Armidale has posted a note about their upcoming Centenary celebrations.

Archbishop of Canterbury to visit Melbourne

Posted on July 9, 2014
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will attend the installation of Dr Philip Freier as the new Primate at a service of Choral Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Wednesday August 13. Archbishop Welby will preach, after flying from the Solomon Islands the day prior, and before to a trip to New Zealand the next day.

‘Can I Really Trust The Bible?’ Promo

Posted on July 9, 2014
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You might enjoy this promotional video for Barry Cooper’s book, Can I Really Trust the Bible?

The Late Governor Peter Underwood — media release from Bishop of Tasmania John Harrower

Posted on July 8, 2014
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“The news of the death of His Excellency the Honourable Peter Underwood AC, Governor of Tasmania last night is received with sadness by the Anglican community in Tasmania.

On behalf of the Anglican Church, Bishop John Harrower extends his sympathy to Mrs Underwood and their family upon hearing of this news…”

– Read the full media release from Bishop John Harrower.

When the sermon could have been better

Posted on July 7, 2014
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In the latest Preaching Matters video from St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in London, William Taylor speaks about what to do when your sermon wasn’t really up to scratch.

Phillip Jensen to resign as Dean at Christmas

Posted on July 6, 2014
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“I believe we have reached that stage of development at the Cathedral and it is time for me to resign as Dean. …

As far as my future is concerned, I have a new job lined up in 2015 with ‘Two Ways Ministries’. Being freed from the varied responsibilities of Dean will allow me to serve God’s people outside the confines of one church and without the weight and distractions of being a church pastor…”

– Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen announces his intention to retire from the position of Dean at Christmas 2014 – and he shares what he plans, Lord willing, to do next.

Related: Dean moves to new ministry (SydneyAnglicans.net.)

Archbishop Glenn Davies: “Phillip Jensen has exercised an extraordinary ministry in the Diocese of Sydney for more than 40 years, most notably as Chaplain of the University of New South Wales and rector of St Matthias, Centennial Park.”

Bishop Edwin Ngubane

Posted on July 5, 2014
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“Many Sydney Anglicans are grieving the death of a very dear brother in Christ.

Rt Rev Edwin Ngubane, the Area Bishop for Johannesburg and Pretoria with REACH (Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, formerly known as CESA) and Rector of Christ Church Hillbrow in the heart of Johannesburg’s red light district, died on Sunday 29th June. Edwin was 44. He succumbed to a series of strokes following many months of battling TB and pneumonia.”

– Very sad news via David Mansfield. It would be good to pray for Edwin’s wife, Genevieve, and family, and for the church at Hillbrow.

Tribute from Gorge Whitefield College Principal Mark Dickson.

Related: Rescued From Hell in Hillbrow. (Photo: REACH South Africa.)

A succession plan for our parish

Posted on July 5, 2014
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“Blake’s words about ‘dark, satanic mills’ were not specifically about Oldham, but they could have described the Oldham of my childhood, surrounded as we were by over 360 mills.

The damp, gloomy atmosphere of this Pennine town, together with the coal mined here, provided ideal conditions for it to be the textile processing capital of the world. The parish of Christ Church Chadderton was founded in 1870 at the height of this industry as a clearly evangelical witness.…”

– At Church Society, John Simmons shares why his parish has asked Church Society to be its Patron. (It’s a rather different system in the CofE – and evangelical patronage is a significant responsibility.) Photo: Christ Church Chadderton.

New Proc Trust website

Posted on July 4, 2014
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The Proclamation Trust has an updated website with lost of resources.

Keeping up with General Synod

Posted on July 1, 2014
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Australian dioceses (image: Anglican Church of Australia) As General Synod meets in Adelaide, here are a few ways you can keep up, if you so desire –

Biblical Theology and the Sexuality Crisis

Posted on June 30, 2014
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“As the church responds [the current moral and sexual revolution], we must remember that current debates on sexuality present to the church a crisis that is irreducibly and inescapably theological.

This crisis is tantamount to the type of theological crisis that Gnosticism presented to the early church or that Pelagianism presented to the church in the time of Augustine. In other words, the crisis of sexuality challenges the church’s understanding of the gospel, sin, salvation, and sanctification.

Advocates of the new sexuality demand a complete rewriting of Scripture’s metanarrative, a complete reordering of theology, and a fundamental change to how we think about the church’s ministry.”

– Albert Mohler writes at the 9Marks blog.

Praying for Moore College

Posted on June 30, 2014
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In the latest post at the Moore College ThinkTank, Principal Mark Thompson urges us to pray for the College.

And they’ve been trawling through College audio archives for classic sermons on Prayer. So far, two are online – Graeme Goldsworthy on Galatians 4:6, and John Woodhouse on The Lord’s Prayer. They plan to add another one each week.

Subscribe to the Moore College Classic Prayer podcast on iTunes.

Confident and Equipped: Facing Today’s Challenges in the Church of England

Posted on June 29, 2014
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One of the passions of John Richardson, who departed this mortal life at the end of March, was to see the Church of England reclaimed for Christ.

A Thanksgiving Service was held for John at St. Peter’s, Harold Wood on June 11th (Order of Service, PDF file).

It’s fitting that the new book, Confident and Equipped: Facing Today’s Challenges in the Church of England, was available just in time for the service. It’s a volume of papers from the Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference 2013 (which John started).

Lee Gatiss has an outline of the contents – and the book is available in the UK from Church Society (£40.00 for 10, £22.00 for 5, £5.00 for one – contact them for international orders).

Photo: St. Peter’s Harold Wood.

Archbishop Philip Freier elected Primate

Posted on June 28, 2014
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The Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, has been elected Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia at the meeting of Electors in Adelaide today.