A Call to Worship (Psalm 95)
Posted on October 8, 2025
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“King Lear, one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, tells the story of a king who voluntarily set aside his titles and property in favor of two of his three daughters, only to find himself reduced to poverty and homelessness because they rejected him. …”
– In today’s Word on Wednesday at The Anglican Connection, John Mason turns to Psalm 95 and asks, ‘how often do we express our gratitude to the LORD?’.
My story, God’s story
Posted on October 8, 2025
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“Your story is unique. Sharing your story is one of the most authentic ways you can witness to your faith and confidence in Jesus. It is so adaptable to different situations from sharing one-on-one at a cafe? or sharing to a group of people at an event, or even in written form. And when it’s our story, it’s not a debate, or pushy, or fake and, if it comes from the heart, it will be personal, engaging and real.
I am convinced that personal stories (testimonies) are a very powerful tool that the Holy Spirit uses to stir spiritual interest and to draw people towards Jesus. …”
– David Bassett, Assistant Bishop in Perth, writes to encourage Christians to share their story – and offers some simple principles to help.
On page 2 of The Messenger from the Diocese of Perth, for October 2025.
Sin in the New Testament On being sons (and daughters) of Adam
Posted on October 7, 2025
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From Phillip Jensen:
“We come back today to the subject of men and women, though this time not from Genesis, but looking at how the New Testament looks at this topic.”
– Why does a baby cry on hearing the voice of Peter Jensen? This, and other (more important) topics are explored in this week’s Two Ways News podcast.
Moore Matters Spring 2025 edition
Posted on October 6, 2025
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The latest edition of Moore Matters – from Moore Theological College – is now available.
The theme of this issue is Love.
If you are not able to pick up a printed issue at church, you can read online or download a PDF version from the College website.
Get up to speed on responses to the Canterbury announcement
Posted on October 5, 2025
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Here’s a handy list of links we’ve posted to responses to the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury –
Archbishop Dr Laurent Mbanda – GAFCON.
Archbishop Dr Justin Badi Arama – Global Fellowship of Anglican Churches.
Bishop Peter Hayward, Commissary for the Archbishop of Sydney.
Dr Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore Theological College.
The Church of England Evangelical Council.
The Pastor’s Heart – with Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, Dr Lee Gatiss, and Vaughan Roberts.
Image: Bishop of London Sarah Mullaley speaks at the Church of England’s General Synod, 6th February 2023.
Appointment of New Archbishop Continues Tragic Slide into Irrelevance
Posted on October 5, 2025
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“This week, the Church of England’s leadership continued its tragic slide into irrelevance as it announced the appointment of Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anglicans around the world had hoped for the appointment of an orthodox and faithful guardian of the faith who would address the serious decline in England’s established church and its dire standing in the global Anglican Communion. Sadly, those making the appointment have chosen to continue on a decades-long course of theological revisionism, cultural capitulation, empty churches, and unprecedented division.
In fact, the Church’s recent trajectory has attracted the condemnation of Anglicans worldwide. …”
– Principal of Moore Theological College, Dr. Mark Thompson, writes at The Gospel Coalition.
Image courtesy Moore College’s Centre for Christian Living.
Laurent Mbanda, Lee Gatiss and Vaughan Roberts: A lanyard wearing Archbishop and fractured communion
Posted on October 5, 2025
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From The Pastor’s Heart, a special and important edition:
“The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, will take on the role of Archbishop of Canterbury — but instead of celebration, the global response has been marked by shock, disappointment, and unprecedented criticism.
Once, the Archbishop of Canterbury was recognised as the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion — the “first among equals” for Anglicans everywhere. But that authority has been dramatically eroded in recent years, especially after the GAFCON and Global South movements declared in 2023 that they no longer recognised Canterbury’s leadership, citing the Church of England’s decision to bless same-sex relationships as a betrayal of biblical truth.
As the GAFCON Kigali Commitment put it:
“Public statements by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders of the Church of England in support of same-sex blessings are a betrayal of their ordination and consecration vows to banish error and to uphold and defend the truth taught in Scripture.”
With GAFCON and the Global South together representing as much as 85% of global Anglicans, Sarah Mullally will now lead a communion that is, in practical terms, far smaller and more fractured than it was at the start of Justin Welby’s tenure.
So what does this appointment mean for the future of Anglicanism?
Joining us today are three leading voices (statements from their organisations are linked):
See also George Owers article in The Critic: The Lanyard Class Archbishop.
– Watch at YouTube – or watch or listen at The Pastor’s Heart website.
Shoes, temperance and benevolence — Samuel Callaghan (1809-1884)
Posted on October 5, 2025
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“Samuel Callaghan was born in Londonderry, Ireland…
At his death on 29 August 1884, Callaghan had been associated with various efforts of the Wesleyan Church in the colony of NSW for a period of 45 years, and for about 11 years in Ireland prior to coming to Australia. His family maintained an active involvement in Wesleyan/Methodism well into the 20th Century, and one of his grandsons, Robert Samuel Callaghan, was hailed by The Methodist as ‘a prince and a great man’ of Australian Methodism. …”
– Gospel minister and historian Paul F Cooper, Research Fellow at Christ College, Sydney, provides a glimpse into the life of yet another Christian man who worked to be a blessing to the people of Sydney.
Read about Samuel Callaghan at Philanthropists and Philanthropy in Australian Colonial History.
Queensland Supreme Court judgment says that Queensland Presbyterians liable for debts for its aged care operations
Posted on October 4, 2025
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“The Presbyterian Church of Queensland (PCQ) is liable for tens of millions in debt incurred by Prescare, its former aged care operator. This is the latest result in continuing litigation that has already placed the church denomination in receivership, and future court cases will be needed to determine how the debt can be paid.…”
– At The Other Cheek, John Sandeman reports on further challenges for the Presbyterian Church of Queensland.
A disappointing decision: The Australian Church Record on Canterbury’s new Archbishop
Posted on October 4, 2025
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From The Australian Church Record:
“The ACR regrets this appointment and laments the way it will likely accelerate the weakening of the Church of England and the bonds which hold together the Anglican Communion.”
“The Australian Church Record (ACR) notes the announcement that Dame Sarah Mullally has been appointed to the office of Archbishop of Canterbury, and as such, the Primate of All England and metropolitan bishop of the Province of Canterbury. The ACR regrets this appointment and laments the way it will likely accelerate the weakening of the Church of England and the bonds which hold together the Anglican Communion.
At the heart of the English Reformation in the sixteenth-century was the gospel of Jesus Christ. The supreme authority of the Holy Scriptures declared that the great problem of the sinfulness of mankind could only find its remedy in the once for all sacrifice of Christ on the cross. By faith, and faith in Christ alone, could anyone stand before almighty God, and that gift of faith was precisely that which the world needed. At the cost of his life, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer stood for these truths and bequeathed a noble theological heritage to the Church of England in the Book of Common Prayer, the 39 Articles of Religion, and the Ordinal.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not merely a symbolic primate; historically, he is called to safeguard doctrine, discipline, and unity under the lordship of Christ. From Augustine of Canterbury to Thomas Cranmer to the modern incumbents, that office has borne the responsibility of upholding the priority of the gospel throughout the English church. As a global Anglican communion came into being the office took on a moral responsibility to keep calling churches back to the teaching of the Scriptures and the centrality of the crucified and risen Saviour. Yet in our day …”
– Read the full statement here.
Appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury — Response from Sydney
Posted on October 4, 2025
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Appointment of the Archbishop of Canterbury
We acknowledge the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury with a spirit of prayerful reflection and gospel-centred concern.
We commend Dame Sarah’s distinguished record of public service in healthcare and recognise her achievements in administrative leadership.
However, we also recognise that this appointment comes at a time of profound theological tension within the Anglican Communion. The recent trajectory of the English Church–particularly regarding issues of human sexuality, biblical authority, and unity–has caused deep concern among those who hold to the historic and reformed teachings of Scripture.
Her public comments show she has strayed from the clear teaching of scripture and promoted serious error that will neither advance unity nor the mission of the church.
The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury once held a symbolic leadership role in the global Anglican Communion. However, due to a tragic failure to uphold biblical teaching, successive Archbishops have forfeited the trust of orthodox Anglicans, who now look to other leaders.
The Church of England and its new leadership must urgently return to the message of faith, hope, and love entrusted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bishop Peter Hayward
Commissary for the Archbishop of Sydney (on leave) 4 October 2025
Other responses to the appointment of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury
Posted on October 4, 2025
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From Church Society:
We note the election of Dame Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. We offer our congratulations and prayers for her as she prepares to take up this ministry, and we hope to be able to meet with her in due course to discuss the urgent need for reformation and renewal of the Church of England in biblical faith.
While the milestone election of a female archbishop creates additional problems of disunity in the Church in England and around the world, we note the positive comments of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet about this here.
But we need a change of direction, not just of sex. More concerning is the appointment (for the third time in a row to this position) of someone who does not seem to actually hold to the doctrine of the Church of England on marriage and sexual ethics but wants it to change. We pray that at a time when there is serious fracture and distrust on this subject, as there is on serious safeguarding issues as well, that God would give bishop Sarah the wisdom she will need to help restore confidence and credibility to the church.
From The Church of England Evangelical Council:
The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) joins Anglicans across the world in praying for Bishop Sarah Mullally on the announcement that she is to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Bishop Sarah will take up her role as the next Archbishop of Canterbury at a difficult time for the Church of England, set against a backdrop of global conflict and instability.
At home, the Church of England faces challenges because of declining attendance, financial pressures and their impact on sustaining parochial ministry. This is in the context of the significant divisions created by the Living in Love and Faith process. More broadly, across the Anglican Communion, in recent years there has been a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop and a cry for leadership consonant with our Anglican doctrinal heritage.
These challenges exist within a wider context of political fragility—both in the UK and abroad—with contentious debates domestically, including the proposed assisted dying legislation, immigration, and ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East.
We therefore pray that God will enable Bishop Sarah to hold to the apostolic faith and call the Church of England to recommit to the historic doctrines and formularies entrusted to it. We pray that this might be a moment where the current drift away from a biblical and Anglican understanding of marriage and sexual ethics is either halted or a way is found to secure biblical convictions in the Church of England for the future. Above all, our hope is that she will lead the Church of England in presenting the unchanging good news of the gospel afresh to our needy world.
In 2 Timothy 1:14, Paul implores Timothy to ‘guard the good deposit’. We pray that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Bishop Sarah will be enabled to do the same.
From Anglican Futures:
The wrong Archbishop for this cultural moment? – Their conclusion:
The crowning achievement for most Archbishops of Canterbury is the highlight of hosting a “Lambeth Conference” of all the Communion’s bishops. One is due in 2032, the year before the archbishop is due to retire – but whether there will be a Communion to gather is doubtful.
Bishop Mullally may, as many say, be “really kind”. She may, as she says, “…intend to be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever our tradition…”, but the thing about shepherds is they have to know both where the good pasture is and where the wolves are.
Given that in less than two hours today Bishop Mullally repeated her failings at home and further alienated the Communion abroad, it is hard to imagine a worse start for the new incumbent of the chair of St Augustine, or a worse morning for the Church of England. There might be “Nothing like a Dame”, but she has just over six years from January to put things right.
– Do read the whole article.
And at The Critic:
The lanyard class Archbishop – by George Owers, writing about the “quiet revival” happening in many places –
“If I were to try to imagine a candidate for the new Archbishop of Canterbury who is the furthest away from this, the worst and least suitable replacement for Welby possible, I would probably pick someone along the following lines. They’d be a former state bureaucrat who made an entire career out of the sort of bland HR department-inspired managerialism that is destroying the church, probably a senior civil servant in (say) the NHS. They’d be on record as having every tick-box lazy progressive political and theological opinion imaginable. They would, of course, have lived and worked in London for most of their life and be a thoroughgoing metropolitan. …”
Photo via The Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
GSFA Statement on the Appointment of the Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally as the Archbishop of Canterbury
Posted on October 4, 2025
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From the Global Fellowship of Anglican Churches –
“While we shall of course pray for Bishop Mullally as she assumes this historic position, we feel compelled to say that we feel this appointment is a missed opportunity to reunite and reform the Anglican Communion.
In June, we issued an open letter to the Crown Nominations Commission urging that ‘the next Archbishop of Canterbury should be someone who will uphold the orthodox faith shared by the great majority of global Anglicans’. So we are deeply saddened that the person still perceived by many to be the spiritual leader of now some 100 million Anglicans worldwide has played a leading role in the Church of England’s departure from Anglican tradition and the clear teaching of Scripture in matters of marriage and sexuality.
When the Church of England’s General Synod opened the door to the blessing of same sex relationships at its February 2023 General Synod she described this as ‘A moment of hope’. For us, it was a moment of lament because we believe that the teaching of Jesus and the whole of Scripture is fundamental to human flourishing, both now and for eternity, and should not be compromised by the pressures of a particular culture.
Sadly therefore, our position must remain as it was in our Ash Wednesday statement of February 2023 when we stated that we were no longer able to recognise the then Archbishop of Canterbury as the ‘first amongst equals’ leader of the global Communion.
Grievous though this turn of events is, it is not unexpected and is one further symptom of the crisis of faith and authority that has afflicted the Anglican Communion for the past quarter of a century. To remedy this, the GSFA offers to all orthodox Provinces a framework of covenanted relationships, rooted in an explicit commitment to orthodox Anglican doctrine and mutual accountability which we commend to the whole Communion as a matter of urgency. Only in this way, we believe, will it be possible to restore confidence, clarity and unity as we continue to obey our Lord’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.
The Most Rev Dr Justin Badi Arama
Primate of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan and
Chairman of GSFA”
– Source.
Canterbury Appointment Abandons Anglicans — Gafcon responds to the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury
Posted on October 3, 2025
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From Gafcon:
To my dear brothers and sisters in our Gafcon family,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The news has finally arrived after months of prayer and long waiting. But it is with sorrow that Gafcon receives the announcement today of the appointment of Dame Sarah Mullally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury. This appointment abandons global Anglicans, as the Church of England has chosen a leader who will further divide an already split Communion.
For over a century and a half, the Archbishop of Canterbury functioned not only as the Primate of All England but also as a spiritual and moral leader of the Anglican Communion. In more recent times, the See of Canterbury has been described as one of the four “Instruments of Communion,” whilst also chairing the other three Instruments, namely the Lambeth Conference, the Primates Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.
However, due to the failure of successive Archbishops of Canterbury to guard the faith, the office can no longer function as a credible leader of Anglicans, let alone a focus of unity. As we made clear in our Kigali Commitment of 2023, we can “no longer recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as an Instrument of Communion” or the “first among equals” of global Primates.
We had hoped that the Church of England would take this into due consideration as it deliberated over the choice of a new Archbishop of Canterbury and would choose someone who could bring unity to a divided Anglican Communion. Sadly, they have not done so.
Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy. Therefore, her appointment will make it impossible for the Archbishop of Canterbury to serve as a focus of unity within the Communion.
However, more concerning is her failure to uphold her consecration vows. When she was consecrated in 2015, she took an oath to “banish and drive away all strange and erroneous doctrine contrary to God’s Word.” And yet, far from banishing such doctrine, Bishop Mullally has repeatedly promoted unbiblical and revisionist teachings regarding marriage and sexual morality.
In 2023, when asked by a reporter whether sexual intimacy in a same-sex relationship is sinful, she said that some such relationships could, in fact, be blessed. She also voted in favour of introducing blessings of same-sex marriage into the Church of England.
Anglicans believe that the church has been given authority by God to establish rites and ceremonies and to settle doctrine controversy, “and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word” (Article XX). The church cannot bless or affirm what God has condemned (Numbers 23:8; 24:13). This, however, is precisely what Bishop Mullally has sought to allow.
Since the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury has failed to guard the faith and is complicit in introducing practices and beliefs that violate both the “plain and canonical sense” of Scripture and “the Church’s historic and consensual” interpretation of it (Jerusalem Statement), she cannot provide leadership to the Anglican Communion. The leadership of the Anglican Communion will pass to those who uphold the truth of the gospel and the authority of Scripture in all areas of life.
Gafcon gathered in Jerusalem in 2008 to reset the Anglican Communion back onto its biblical foundations. Today’s appointment makes it clearer than ever before that Canterbury has relinquished its authority to lead. The reset of our beloved Communion is now uniquely in the hands of Gafcon, and we are ready to take the lead.
For such a time as this, Gafcon has summoned global orthodox Anglican bishops to Abuja, Nigeria, from 3 to 6 March, 2026, for the G26 Bishops Assembly. This may be the most significant gathering of faithful Anglicans since 2008.
Today’s announcement will cause sadness and dismay among Anglicans worldwide. Yet, every morning, Anglicans throughout the world recite the words of Psalm 95: “Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Today, that is our prayer for all bishops and leaders within the Anglican Communion, including Bishop Sarah Mullally. We pray that as she takes upon herself the weight of this historic office, she will repent, and earnestly work with the Gafcon leadership to mend the torn fabric of our Anglican Communion.
May all our hearts be softened to hear the voice of God in Scripture, and may we all be inclined to obey, as we move out in gospel mission to a lost and hurting world, for the glory of God.
Yours in Christ,
The Most Reverend Dr Laurent Mbanda
Chairman, Gafcon Primates Council
Friday 3rd October, 2025.
via e-mail.
Moore College Staff and Faculty Thanksgiving Service in the John Francis Cash Memorial Chapel
Posted on October 3, 2025
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“This September, staff and Faculty gathered in the John Francis Cash Memorial Chapel for a Service of Thanksgiving, the first such staff service to be held there in many years. For some, it was the first time they had joined in worship within the Chapel, which made the occasion particularly significant. …”
– Sarah Bingham writes at the Moore College website.
Related –
The John Francis Cash Memorial Chapel 75th anniversary – Moore College archives.
from five years ago –
A unique memorial: the John Francis Cash Memorial Chapel after 70 years – Moore Theological College.
And from 75 years ago –
The opening of the John Francis Cash Memorial Chapel, 22 July 1950. (Governor-General Sir William McKell and Archbishop Howard Mowll are standing in front of the Australian flag.)
Image via footage from Moore College:
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…