ACL Synod Dinner talk: New Churches
Posted on October 12, 2010
Filed under Resources Comments Off on ACL Synod Dinner talk: New Churches
Bishop Al Stewart spoke about New Churches at last night’s ACL Synod Dinner at Chapter House.
We’re thankful to Mark Earngey for posting the video online. You can see a 3 minute excerpt here – but take the time to watch the full 28 minute talk here.
You also can listen to the audio here (10MB mp3 file).
Abp Peter Jensen Presidential Address 2010
Posted on October 11, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on Abp Peter Jensen Presidential Address 2010
This afternoon, Archbishop Peter Jensen delivered his Presidential Address to the 2010 meeting of Sydney Synod. Here’s one encouraging excerpt:
“Matthew Pickering the Rector of Nowra received a phone call to attend the bed-side of a dying man. He found a man who had been handed a copy of The Essential Jesus by a visitor from the parish of Huskisson where he lived; he found a man who had read the Gospel of Luke in this version; he found a man who wanted to know how to become a Christian; he left a man who found the Saviour and whose whole hopes had been transformed as a result, to the astonishment of his wife. I believe that there must be many such stories all over our Diocese.”
Archbishop Jensen’s wide-ranging address is available as a PDF file from SydneyAnglicans.net. Worth reading in full.
Sydney Synod meets
Posted on October 11, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on Sydney Synod meets
Sydney Synod meets today, tomorrow and Wednesday and next week.
Doubtless all involved would value your prayers. Pray that discussions, debate and decisions would all bring honour to Christ.
Archbishop Freier to Melbourne Synod
Posted on October 10, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on Archbishop Freier to Melbourne Synod
Archbishop Philip Freier’s charge to the Melbourne Synod, which has just concluded, is now available on the (newly redesigned) Diocese of Melbourne website.
Vic Tourism ad offensive
Posted on October 10, 2010
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Vic Tourism ad offensive
“Perhaps someone needs to talk to Tourism Victoria about the difference between sexy and sordid, because it is difficult to think of any situation in which the concept of a double life is a positive one… Someone might also put it to them that this promotion is seriously distasteful, trampling community values and moral codes.
But there is a greater offence here…”
– Morag Zwartz in The Age writes about a Tourism Victoria commercial you may have seen. (h/t Bp. John Harrower.)
Oversight: in the grip of grace — by John Woodhouse
Posted on October 9, 2010
Filed under Theology Comments Off on Oversight: in the grip of grace — by John Woodhouse
Paul’s description of what is needed in an overseer in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 presents a picture of a person who is firmly in the grip of the glorious gospel of God’s grace.
“when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected.”
Today we have all been touched by the culture of celebrity. We have imbibed ideas about leadership from the business world. Furthermore as we see too many churches in decline, and too few growing, we long for people with new, bold ideas and the energetic drive to change things. But when Paul describes what is needed in those who do the work of oversight in a church, he does not mention many of things that we might have expected. Read more
October 2010 ACR online
Posted on October 8, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on October 2010 ACR online
The October 2010 issue (number 1900) of The Australian Church Record is now online. It’s downloadable as a PDF file from their website.
Lots of thoughtful content, and an editorial sure to provoke discussion.
New CMS NSW General Secretary announced
Posted on October 8, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on New CMS NSW General Secretary announced
CMS NSW General Secretary John Bales writes, “It is with great joy that we can announce that Malcolm Richards, who is at present serving in DR Congo with his wife Elizabeth, has accepted the unanimous invitation of the General Committee to fill the position of General Secretary in 2011”.
John continues, “Malcolm and Elizabeth are coming back to Australia for leave and Home Assignment at the end of 2010, and we anticipate that Malcolm will take up his new role in the first half of 2011’.
Please uphold in your prayers Malcolm and Elizabeth and CMS NSW in this time of change.
Euthanasia question needs wider discussion
Posted on October 8, 2010
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Euthanasia question needs wider discussion
“Australians are overwhelmingly in favour of euthanasia. Who can resist the will of the people? So goes the pro-death argument for this sweeping social change. A much quoted 2009 survey, commissioned by the pro-euthanasia group Dying with Dignity, reports 85 per cent support for the practice. As is always the case, support is more muted among the over-65s: the prospect of death, it turns out, does concentrate the mind…”
– Andrew Cameron writes this opinion-piece in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.
Yahoo, Yoga, and Yours Truly
Posted on October 8, 2010
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Yahoo, Yoga, and Yours Truly
“Well, you never know what a day holds. This morning, Yahoo put the Associated Press story about my article on yoga on its front page. The rest, as they say, is history. My mail servers are exhausted. Messages have been coming in at a rate of about a hundred an hour. The first lesson — count the cost when you talk about yoga. These people get bent out of shape fast…”
– Albert Mohler on the response to a recent article he wrote.
Desiring God 2010 National Conference audio online
Posted on October 5, 2010
Filed under Resources Comments Off on Desiring God 2010 National Conference audio online
The heading says it all. Here.
A Conservationist among Lumberjacks
Posted on October 4, 2010
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on A Conservationist among Lumberjacks
“I have space to raise three concerns, and these briefly: the presiding bishop’s threat to our polity — litigious and constitutional; the revisions to the Title IV canons; and, finally, a passing word about inhibitions and depositions to solve our theological/spiritual crisis…”
– Bishop Mark Lawrence of South Carolina writes in The Living Church about some of the radical changes in the way The Episcopal Church is being run. (h/t Anglican Mainstream.)
Advice for orthodox Primates
Posted on October 2, 2010
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Advice for orthodox Primates
In his weekly message, Bishop David C. Anderson, President of the American Anglican Council, has some advice for the orthodox Primates, after the announcement of a meeting of the Anglican Communion Primates in January.
“If asked my opinion, I would strongly advise the orthodox Primates to 1) organize before the Primates’ meeting, and 2) attend and remove by force of numbers the Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church (not physically, but by either voting her off the “island,” or recessing to another room and not letting her in). The meeting is a place to gather and potentially to settle some of the issues that are pulling the Anglican Communion apart, and to begin to restore health to a most wonderful communion.”
9Marks at Southeastern Seminary: Biblical Theology
Posted on September 30, 2010
Filed under Resources Comments Off on 9Marks at Southeastern Seminary: Biblical Theology
Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds has posted links to videos of five 9Marks sessions recently given at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina. Details here.
(Bear in mind the videos are large files.)
‘Former strip club sees the light’
Posted on September 30, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on ‘Former strip club sees the light’
“Four years ago it was more Jezebel than Jesus, but now Tasmania’s Anglican Church has reclaimed a former strip club next to its cathedral in Hobart…”
– Report (and image) from ABC News.
