ACL Synod Dinner bookings open soon
Posted on September 21, 2013
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This year’s ACL Synod Dinner will be held in the St. Andrew’s Cathedral Chapter House on Monday 14th October from 5:30pm (or when Synod rises). Dr Mark Thompson, Principal of Moore College will be our over-dinner speaker. We’ll open bookings soon, but in the meantime, you might want to note the date!
School Chaplains challenged again in High Court
Posted on September 21, 2013
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“Scripture Union Queensland (SU QLD) will again defend national school chaplaincy in the High Court of Australia this month, with the first directions hearing to be held in Sydney on 20 September.
Ron Williams, the man behind the High Court Challenge, announced on his Facebook page in August that a Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim had been issued to the Commonwealth of Australia (First Defendant), the Minister for Education (Second Defendant) and SU QLD (Third Defendant). …”
– Report from Bible Society Australia.
And now SU Queensland is seeking support, and you can request an Advocacy kit.
“SU QLD is again being forced to attend the High Court of Australia to defend the vital program of school chaplaincy. This second challenge has the potential to impact the funding of thousands of chaplains across the nation who support and encourage our students every day. Read more
Anglicans appoint first female bishop in UK and Ireland
Posted on September 21, 2013
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“Anglicans have appointed the UK and Ireland’s first female bishop. The Rev Pat Storey, rector of St Augustine’s in Derry, has been elected by the Church of Ireland as the new bishop of Meath and Kildare. …”
– from The Guardian. Photo: Church of Ireland.
“Our People Die Well” — John Wesley
Posted on September 20, 2013
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Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7
“Who are your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you? Most of us have many. In our childhood we may have been privileged to have parents who taught us God’s word, or there were Sunday school teachers or youth fellowship leaders at our church, or ISCF/Crusader teachers at school. For many it has been the pastor of our church, or the Bible study leader. During the lifetime of a Christian we usually have a range of leaders, who teach us God’s word. There are some people whose leadership stretches well beyond personal ministry to affect whole communities with their teaching of God’s word.
They speak at conventions, write books and articles, and travel to speak at evangelistic gatherings and church conferences. They become well known to the community as a whole, as they influence the culture of church life. And as we consider the outcome of the lives of those who lead us personally, we also remember and consider the lives of these more public leaders.
Recently I have been caused to remember and consider two such men, as they came to the end of their earthly life to be welcomed into the presence of the Lord of eternity …”
– Phillip Jensen reflects on the ‘outcome of the way of life’ of Geoff Fletcher and Dudley Foord, as models for all who hope in Christ.
New Armidale website
Posted on September 20, 2013
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The Diocese of Armidale has updated its website – and The Link, the diocesan newspaper, has gone digital.
An Overview of the Anglican Communion Today – From Communion to Coalition
Posted on September 19, 2013
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A presentation by Vinay Samuel, last Monday 16th September, at St. Mark’s Battersea Rise in London, to a pre-GAFCON 2 meeting –
“The Anglican Communion as it exists today is not a single communion – it is more a collection of coalitions.
The centre (Lambeth) has no meaning in defining the Communion. Archbishop Justin Welby has inherited a broken communion he cannot heal. The role of Lambeth has enormously diminished. The instruments of communion as the governing centre are irrelevant for dealing with communion matters. People will not accept a communion that promotes things that are heretical. Instead of Lambeth legitimation we need mutual legitimation. This leads to coalitions. …”
– Read it all at Anglican Mainstream. More on the meeting from Andrew Symes.
A ‘real leader’ who ‘wore out’
Posted on September 18, 2013
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“A packed Memorial Service has been told Bishop Dudley Foord was a ‘real leader’ who will continue to shape the Diocese of Sydney in years to come…”
– Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net reports on today’s memorial service for Bishop Dudley Foord.
Oliver Barclay (1919–2013)
Posted on September 18, 2013
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“Oliver Barclay, second General Secretary of IVF/UCCF, died at his home in Leicester… 12 September 2013, aged 94. …
Oliver first joined the small IVF team in 1945, having completed a doctorate in zoology. His original hope was to teach in one of China’s newer universities, but Douglas Johnson, IVF founding General Secretary (always known as DJ), persuaded him to defer his departure by two years. As Oliver’s newly-created role as Assistant Secretary took shape, it soon became clear that the universities of Britain and Ireland would instead be his life’s work.”
– Read the full tribute at the UCCF website. Photo via Christian Today.
For an essential understanding of the history of the IVF / UCCF, (and, by extension, IFES and AFES) see –
- Whatever Happened to the Jesus Lane Lot? – Oliver R Barclay, Inter-Varsity Press, 1977.
- Contending for the Faith (A History of the Evangelical Movement in the Universities and Colleges) – Douglas Johnson, Inter-Varsity Press, 1979.
Related: Journey Among Students – Howard Guinness, AIO Publishing, c.1978.
To boldly go… with the troops
Posted on September 18, 2013
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This story by Southern Cross journalist David McIntyre won the ARPA Silver Award for ‘Best Feature Single Author’. It gives a good picture of the life of Australian military chaplains –
“Navy Chaplain Andrew Lewis washes dishes in the scullery on board the transport ship HMAS Success – not because he has to, but because it gives him ‘permission to sit down with the cooking staff at morning tea’.
He then goes up to the bridge to chat to the officers on duty before heading off to a meeting with the commander of the ship. …”
– Read it all at Defence Anglicans.
Two new Faculty members for Moore College
Posted on September 18, 2013
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“The Governing Board of the College has approved the principal’s nomination of two new faculty members to join the College community in July 2014. …
The Rev Ed Loane (aged 34) is a graduate of the College … Senior Student in 2007. After leaving College with a first class honours degree, he served as the assistant minister at Moorebank Anglican Church and then moved to Cambridge where he has been undertaking doctoral research in William Temple’s thinking about church unity. …
Mr Will Timmins (aged 41) is an Englishman with an honours degree in theology from the University of Cambridge who attended the Cornhill Training Course and has worked in Eden Baptist Church, for the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship in the UK, at George Whitfield College, Beeston Free Church in Nottingham, and Christ Church Cambridge. He is currently completing a PhD in New Testament at Cambridge, studying the identity of the ‘I’ in Romans 7.”
– Read the full announcement at the Moore College website.
Can Evangelical Chaplains serve God and Country? — The Crisis Arrives
Posted on September 18, 2013
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“The repeal of the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy, coupled with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, set the stage for this crisis. The full normalization of same-sex relationships within the U.S. military is part of the unprecedented moral revolution that is now reshaping American culture at virtually every level.
The crisis in the chaplaincy arrived with these developments. The presenting issue is clear: Can a chaplain committed to historic biblical Christianity remain in military service? Does the normalization of homosexuality require that all members of the military, including chaplains, join the moral revolution, even if doing so requires them to abandon their biblical convictions? …”
– Albert Mohler looks at an issue which will not stay confined to the US military chaplaincy.
Related: ‘Gay head priest shows how far Canadian military has come’
Acting the Miracle — free eBook from Crossway and Desiring God
Posted on September 17, 2013
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The soon-to-be-published Acting the Miracle – God’s Work and Ours in the Mystery of Sanctification – edited by David Mathis and John Piper, is available as a free eBook from Desiring God.
via Andy Naselli.
The Puritans: John Bunyan
Posted on September 17, 2013
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“John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress and undoubtedly the most famous of all Puritans, was born on November 28, 1628 in Bedfordshire, England. His father was a brazier (a brass worker) and it was intention that his son would take over the family business. …”
– In his latest post on The Puritans, Tim Challies introduces the author of Pilgrim’s Progress.
Related: Kel Richards introduces Pilgrims Progress in the introduction to his Aussie adaptation of the story (sadly now out of print).
New Registrar for Sydney Diocese
Posted on September 16, 2013
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“Doug Marr has been named as the Registrar of the Diocese of Sydney.
Archbishop Glenn Davies announced to Standing Committee that he had invited Mr Marr to succeed Dr Philip Selden who is retiring at the end of October 2013.”
– Details from SydneyAnglicans.net.
GAFCON prayer bulletins available
Posted on September 16, 2013
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“A series of prayer bulletins is being issued in the weeks leading up to the October conference. This allows provinces, churches, organisations and individuals to read about the preparations and to uphold GAFCON in prayer.”
– Downloadable from the GAFCON website.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…