When the Church bows to the State: Gay bishops in the Church of England

Posted on June 22, 2011 
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“As if the Church of England does not have enough troubles, word is leaking out of Lambeth Palace that the church is about to allow the appointment of openly gay bishops, so long as those bishops remain celibate.

The news has emerged in the form of a leaked internal memorandum prepared for the Archbishop of Canterbury by the church’s highest legal adviser…”

– Albert Mohler looks at the latest controversy facing the Church of England.

Bishop calls for Churchwide day of prayer, fasting for an end to Sudan violence

Posted on June 21, 2011 
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From the office of the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Kadugli, Sudan

A Call To Prayer and Fasting to End the Nuba Genocide, and for the Peace of all Sudan! – Sunday June 26, 2011

To all my brothers and sisters in Christ,

On behalf of my people in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan we are asking all Sudanese Christians wherever they are, and the Church throughout the world to join with us in a day of prayer and fasting on June 26, 2011.    Read more

ACL Council members 2011–12

Posted on June 21, 2011 
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We’ve updated the list of members of the Anglican Church League’s Council, after last week’s Annual General Meeting.

Reform calls for legal advice on Bishops’ Appointments to be withdrawn

Posted on June 21, 2011 
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“The legal advice from Church House on whether clergy in civil partnerships can be appointed as bishops should never have been published and should now be withdrawn. This is the view of General Synod member and chairman of Reform, the Revd Rod Thomas. …”

– Reform responds to the highly publicised release of ‘legal advice’ on Church of England bishops in civil partnerships.

(Peter Ould takes apart the story at An Exercise in the fundamentals of orthodoxy.)

Pastoral letter from Bishop Don Harvey ANiC

Posted on June 20, 2011 
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This Pastoral Letter from Bishop Don Harvey of the Anglican Network in Canada was written just after the announcement last week concerning the Vancouver churches.

“But just as the events of this day, nine years ago, were a spark that ignited a flame that went beyond our wildest imaginations, so may the Christ-like manner in which we handle this decision be an encouragement to so many of our brothers and sisters who are struggling to find courage to take action against something they realize is dreadfully wrong in the church where they have remained.”

My dear friends in Christ Jesus:

When the history of our Church is written, the date of June 16th will receive very special mention. It was on that day, nine years ago that a relatively few members of the Synod of New Westminster made the fateful decision that they no longer were able to remain in a church that was showing itself unfaithful to the Word of God. They felt that as precious as unity was, it still came secondary to truth and that the time had come to put their strong faith into action.  Read more

Place Sensational Headline Here

Posted on June 20, 2011 
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“Lindsay Tanner’s book “Sideshow” argues how the media has undermined the capacity for proper policy debate in our society. The media’s recent presentation of our Archbishop’s statement on the redefinition of marriage is a classic illustration of the point.

The homosexual community has called society into a debate about the nature of marriage. Through the influence of the Greens, the members of parliament are to inquire of the electorate about changing the law to allow same sex marriage. The Labor party is going to debate its policy on this issue at its national conference.

It would seem right and proper therefore, for any person to present a view on this matter, especially leaders of community groups who have a particular interest or concern to express their views.

As one such community within society, Christians have every right to hold a particular interest in the nature of marriage. We have had a long-term interest in marriage – our ministers are registered by the Government as authorised celebrants and about a third of the community turn to the church for their weddings.  Furthermore, rightly or wrongly, we believe that our view is for the good of society as a whole. …’

– Phillip Jensen, Dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney, writes at PhillipJensen.com. (Also at SydneyAnglicans.net.) Related: Real Marriage, by Archbishop Peter Jensen.

Lessons to be learned from the Canadian Church experience

Posted on June 18, 2011 
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In June 2008, Dr J I Packer spoke at Holy Trinity, Eastbourne on “Lessons to be learned from the Canadian church experience” – and stated that the issues which prompted GAFCON are the most serious since the Reformation.

His talk is a very helpful reminder of why St. John’s Shaughnessy, and three other churches in Vancouver, have taken the costly stand they have.

Hear his talk (55 min / 9.5MB) and the question time (32 min / 5.6MB) on the Holy Trinity website.

As well as being a member of the team at St. John’s Shaughnessy, Dr Packer is an Honorary Canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney. (Photo: Ed Hird.)

Army Chaplain on Open House

Posted on June 18, 2011 
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Tim Booker, Army Chaplain and Rector of the parish of Guildford, was interviewed by Leigh Hatcher on Open House last weekend. Good to hear, to inform your prayers for the chaplains.

(h/t Defence Anglicans.)

Supreme Court of Canada dismisses appeal, congregations to be evicted

Posted on June 17, 2011 
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David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy:

“the way we respond is a God-given opportunity to bear witness to Christ. As those who are disciples of Jesus Christ, this is not just about ‘what’ we do but also ‘how’ we do it. In some ways nothing will change with the decision on Thursday. We are still God’s family, and he has placed us in Vancouver to spread his glory.”

News release from the Anglican Network in Canada:

“The trustees of four Vancouver-area Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) parishes are preparing to vacate their church buildings after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed their case and awarded legal costs to the Anglican Church of Canada Diocese of New Westminster. The four churches are: St John’s (Shaughnessy), St Matthews (Abbotsford), Good Shepherd (Vancouver), and St Matthias & St Luke’s (Vancouver).

The parishes had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada requesting the court to overturn the decision of the BC courts in awarding their church properties to the Diocese.

‘Obviously, this decision is extremely disappointing and should be of great concern to all Christian denominations. While these congregations have remained steadfast in their faith, and have not changed the traditional teaching of the Christian church, they have now been called to sacrifice all their assets, including their church properties, for the sake of their faith’, said Cheryl Chang, a former Trustee of St. John’s (Shaughnessy) and Special Counsel to the Anglican Network in Canada.‘Clearly, we were hoping for a better result when we sought help from the courts. However, we always said that given a choice, we would choose our faith over our properties, and we have been willing to make that sacrifice if called upon by the courts to do so.’

The Supreme Court of Canada gave no reasons for their decision.”

————-

Before the decision was announced, David Short, Rector of St. John’s Shaughnessy (and Canon of St. Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney), released a pastoral letter to the congregation at St. John’s. The congregation at St. John’s is being called to prayer this afternoon, Sydney time.

“Friends,

I am writing to let you know that this Thursday we will receive the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on our Leave to Appeal Application. We have been in this unprecedented process for nearly 10 years, and this is the next step toward clarity about our future. I thank God for you and for our unity together in the gospel, and ask you to pray that God would bring glory to his own name through the unfolding events.

If the Supreme Court of Canada does not grant us Leave to Appeal, we will meet at the Church at 7:30 PM Thursday evening to pray together. This will mark the end of the Legal process for us.

From a practical point of view, a number of parallel processes will then be initiated.

If we are granted Leave to Appeal, our Lawyers will begin working on the documents for the Trial. Currently the Supreme Court of Canada is scheduling hearings in the first quarter of 2012. It will then be another 6-8 months before we have a decision, likely late 2012 or early 2013.

Regardless of the decision on Thursday, the way we respond is a God-given opportunity to bear witness to Christ. As those who are disciples of Jesus Christ, this is not just about ‘what’ we do but also ‘how’ we do it. In some ways nothing will change with the decision on Thursday. We are still God’s family, and he has placed us in Vancouver to spread his glory. We are in an uncomfortable place and the words of Romans 12 encourage us to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

I thank God for sustaining and guiding us this far as a family, in partnership with our extended family of St. Matthews Abbotsford, the Church of the Good Shepherd, and St. Mathias & St. Luke. I do not know of many churches that have had the privilege of being so purposefully shaped and transformed by the Holy Spirit in such unusual circumstances; and I am constantly grateful to be a member of St. John’s, praying and expecting to see how God will use this for his own glory.

Warmly,
David Short
Rector St. John’s Vancouver

(from the St. John’s website – PDF.)

Related news note from The Globe and Mail. (Photo: Joy Gwaltney, GAFCON.)

New BCA videos

Posted on June 17, 2011 
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The Bush Church Aid Society has released a short promotional video. It runs for 3 minutes and can be seen here.

There’s also an interview with Mike & Chantalle Keith, with BCA at Lightning Ridge. Food for thanksgiving and prayer.

New Garage Hymnal album coming

Posted on June 16, 2011 
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Garage Hymnal’s forthcoming album, Unity, recorded live at St Stephen’s Newtown last month, is now available for pre-order. Details on the Garage Hymnal website.

(This week, Bob Kauflin introduced his US readers to the song We Belong to the Day.)

Peter Brain at Latimer Fellowship NZ

Posted on June 16, 2011 
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Bishop of Armidale, Peter Brain, will be speaking at the Latimer Fellowship NZ’s Retreat in August 2011.

Details and info on other events in NZ here.

(Photo: Russell Powell.)

New bishop for Ballarat

Posted on June 15, 2011 
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Garry Weatherill, currently Bishop of Willochra in South Australia, has been appointed the 10th Anglican Bishop of Ballarat.

Report from Anglican Media Melbourne.

Bishop rejects claim of hardline attitude

Posted on June 15, 2011 
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“Anglican Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn Stuart Robinson has emphatically rejected his diocese is becoming a clone of the hardline, evangelical Diocese of Sydney. …”

– Story from The Canberra Times.

Tasmanian Synod ‘No’ to Euthanasia

Posted on June 12, 2011 
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The Synod of the Diocese of Tasmania  –

* affirms that all human life is made in the image of God and precious in his sight

* affirms that a just society will seek to protect the weak and vulnerable.

* affirms its opposition to voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

* calls on the Premier and Prime Minister to oppose any initiative to legislate for voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide

* calls on State and Federal Governments to provide adequate funding for palliative care services across Tasmania

* calls on all Tasmanian Anglicans to raise these issues with their local members of Parliament

* requests the Bishop to make the substance of this resolution known to the relevant parties.

– from Bishop John Harrower. The Synod met in Launceston on 4 June 2011.

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