‘Out of step’ with the times — but not the Bible
Posted on July 15, 2014
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“The Church of England’s decision to allow women bishops may represent a historical shift in attitudes in its General Synod, but to the dismay of supporters of the ordination of women, the move may hold little sway for Sydney’s Anglican community…
‘As much as we respect the Church of England, it is no longer the centre of our world,’ Bishop Forsyth said. ‘It’s not our Rome, it’s a partner church in the worldwide community of Anglicans.’…”
– from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Includes a quote from ACL President Gav Poole –
”Sydney is known around the world for its evangelical character and its holding to the authority of the scriptures,” he said. ”That’s a long tradition here in Sydney and something we have always appreciated.”
‘Anglicans mad only if they ignore Bible’
Posted on July 15, 2014
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“Amid the swirl of opinion around the Anglican General Synod’s decision to commit to finding a way to bless gay couples, the epithets for orthodox Anglicans have mounted: anti-gay, homophobic, wrong, immoral, betrayers of Jesus, unloving, judgmental, intolerant, bigoted, ostracising, unjust and hypocritical. Doubtless an incomplete list, but enough to paint a nasty picture…”
– In this opinion-piece for the New Zealand Herald, Michael Hewat (Vicar of the West Hamilton) argues that the NZ Anglican General Synod has failed ‘the LGBT community’.
Related: Same-Gender blessings: NZ General Synod votes. (May 14 2014)
‘Church of England says yes to women bishops’
Posted on July 15, 2014
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“Women can now become bishops following an historic vote by the Church of England’s General Synod today.
Following a day of debate at the General Synod meeting in York on the issue of women in the episcopate, at least two thirds majority of each house – laity, clergy and bishops – voted in favour of the measure to pass.
General Synod votes in favour in all three houses:
• Bishops: 37 in favour, 2 against, 1 abstention.
• Clergy: 162 in favour, 25 against, 4 abstentions.
• Laity: 152 in favour, against 45, 5 abstentions…”
– from the Anglican Communion News Service.
See also: The transcript of the Archbishop Justin Welby’s remarks during the General Synod debate.
Beware of scams
Posted on July 15, 2014
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The Church of Nigeria warns of scams involving requests supposedly coming from Archbishop Nicholas Okoh –
“It has come to our knowledge that some unscrupulous persons fake the identity of the Primate of All Nigeria online and create impostor facebook accounts bearing his picture and his name. These same people also use these scam facebook accounts to defraud some unsuspecting members of the public by raising money online under a pretext to support some charity causes.”
– PDF file from The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
Gospel Coalition Australia announced
Posted on July 14, 2014
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“Following the broad pattern of the original TGC, we have formed a Council drawn from across Australia. Building on existing relational networks, we have drawn together a group of 13 men committed to the TGC Foundation Documents and to one another.
Whilst we haven’t tried to ensure that every possible constituency is represented, we have ended up with a real mixture of denominations, backgrounds, geographical locations, and experience. The founding Council Members are listed for your information below.”
– from The Gospel Coalition website.
Who is the most important person in your church?
Posted on July 13, 2014
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“Who is the most important person in your church? On one level it’s kind of a silly question to ask. Yet in his book Healed at Last, Scott Blackwell provides an answer that is both sweet and encouraging. He tells about his friend Steve who has been profoundly disabled since birth.”
– Tim Challies draws attention to Healed at Last.
‘Anglican archbishops clash over assisted dying ahead of UK law debate’
Posted on July 13, 2014
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“Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has stressed his opposition to assisted dying as one of his predecessors announced he has changed his mind and will now support the right of terminally ill patients to seek help to end their lives. …
George Carey … said he would now oppose the church’s official line by supporting the right to be helped to die…”
– Report from The Sydney Morning Herald.
Related:
Blogger “Cranmer” weighs in: “Lord Carey unhelpfully tells us via the Daily Mail that ‘The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering’.”
“Desmond Tutu: I support assisted dying” – The (UK) Telegraph.
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.)
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…