Over consumption, not over population, the problem, General Synod told

Posted on September 27, 2010 
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“Population growth is not the fundamental environmental problem, but our greed and over-consumption, said Canon Sandy Grant, Dean of Wollongong, at General Synod this week…”

– this story from Anglican Media Melbourne gives a taste of one debate at last week’s General Synod. (Photo: Anglican Media Melbourne.)

The Constitutional Crisis in ECUSA (I)

Posted on September 27, 2010 
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“Recent changes made by General Convention 2009 to the Canons, in combination with some in the Church who want to establish a strong central authority under the Presiding Bishop, and the ego of the current occupant of that office, have pushed ECUSA to the brink of a crisis, from which it cannot emerge unscathed.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has already seized authority over the affairs of the Church which is unprecedented — and her usurpation of authority to date has for the most part not been challenged, or questioned. Led by its Presiding Bishop, ECUSA is in the middle of being transformed by a small group from within, and the average congregation and their clergy as yet have no awareness of the scope of the changes.”

– Christian lawyer A S Haley, who blogs at Anglican Curmudgeon, has begun what may well be a most enlightening series.

Shadow Gospel

Posted on September 26, 2010 
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Just released:

Shadow Gospel: Rowan Williams and the Anglican Communion Crisis – by Charles Raven – a new publication from The Latimer Trust in the UK.

Here’s an extract from the preface:

“Although signs of hope are undoubtedly emerging, a secure future for the Anglican Communion rests on an accurate diagnosis of its present ills. In this account of Rowan Williams’ leadership as Archbishop of Canterbury a kind of tragedy unfolds, in which the weight of an historic institution and the resourcefulness of a deeply learned mind are brought to bear in an attempt to sustain the unsustainable – an illusory middle ground between two fundamentally opposed visions of Anglican identity.   Read more

‘Archbishop of Canterbury: Anglican Church has ‘no problem’ with gay bishops’

Posted on September 25, 2010 
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“The Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the Anglican Church has “no problem” with homosexuals being bishops but he was not “positive” about them having relationships…”

– From The Telegraph. One of the stories in today’s UK papers. Anglican Mainstream has this response.

Gambling at General Synod

Posted on September 24, 2010 
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“…I’m pleased to say we finally reached a motion I gave notice of on the first day of Synod on the last day! After a bit of debate, it was passed unanimously. …

‘… Synod calls on all state and territory governments to reduce their reliance on taxation on gambling and asks all political parties to refuse donations from organisations which profit from gambling. …’

The last day of Synod also saw Sydney get hammered on the finances.”

Sandy Grant, Rector of St. Michael’s Wollongong, continues his General Synod blogs at The Sola Panel. (Other posts here.)

David Peterson to speak in NZ

Posted on September 24, 2010 
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The Latimer Fellowship in New Zealand has announced details of this year’s William Orange Memorial Lecture:

The Rev Dr David Peterson – Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in New Testament at Moore College – is speaking on “Church Growth in the Book of Acts and Today”.

Auckland: Friday, 5 November 2010
7.30 pm at St Margaret’s Anglican Church, 102 Hillsborough Road, Mt Roskill.

Christchurch: Sunday, 7 November 2010
2.00 pm at St Stephen’s Anglican Church, 6 Emmett Street, Shirley.

Nelson: Tuesday, 9 November 2010
7.30 pm at Bishopdale Theological College, 30 Vanguard Street, Nelson.

Jerusalem Declaration eyewitness – Allison Street

Posted on September 23, 2010 
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The Rev. Allison Street spoke at General Synod in favour of Australian Anglican churches studying The Jerusalem Declaration. Afterwards, Russell Powell asked her about what she said and why. Watch the interview here.

Peter Jensen on Jerusalem Declaration vote

Posted on September 22, 2010 
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SydneyAnglicans.net has posted “a quick reaction from Archbishop Peter Jensen after the vote of General Synod to pass the Jerusalem Declaration to Australian churches for study”. See it here.

Related: The Jerusalem Declaration. (As a PDF file.)

And Bishop Robert Forsyth writes, “Overall this has turned out to be a friendlier occasion than I can remember in nearly seven General Synods.”

Faith Under Fire — new resource for Defence Chaplains

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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From Defence Anglicans:

“Faith Under Fire is a practical look at the Christian Faith for those in the military. The full course will be released and distributed to Australian Defence Force Chaplains in the beginning of 2011. The course is a six session practical introduction to the Christian Faith.”

– Army Reserve Chaplain, and Rector of Guildford, Tim Booker, previews the series.

Church, constitution and creeping centralism

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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“As we continue to debate a number of matters concerning the relationship of the dioceses to the national church there’s an increasing sense that there are many here who have less and less time for Sydney, except when it comes to us opening up our wallet.

The background to this is probably worth explaining…”

– David Ould continues to write from General Synod. Today’s thoughts have been posted on SydneyAnglicans.net.

Sandy Grant is also posting some reflections over at The Sola Panel.

Out of Egypt

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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“On 30 January 2010 Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt announced that he was resigning from the standing committee of the Anglican Consultative Council…

Bishop Mouneer could easily have camouflaged his resignation in the way that people often do. He could have pleaded the burdens of office or the dangers of stress and ill health. He might even have said that it was time for someone else to take his place, and pretended that he was stepping down in order to give others a chance. He did none of those things…”

– from Gerald Bray’s Churchman Editorial 124/2 (Summer 2010) – on Church Society’s website.

ACL membership friendly reminder

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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ACL Members are reminded that subscriptions for 2010/2011 are now due. If you have not paid in the last few months, you can renew your membership here. Thanks!

Anglicans oppose euthanasia move

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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“Labor and the Greens have shown a lack of integrity by moving on voluntary euthanasia straight after the election rather than before it, Melbourne Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins said yesterday.

Bishop Huggins has asked the national parliament of the Australian Anglican Church, now meeting in Melbourne, to affirm the sanctity of life as God’s gift. … ‘This was not a matter of pre-election debate. Would people have voted the same way if they knew a Labor government with the Greens would, as a near-first action, promote a conscience vote on euthanasia?’…”

– Report from The Age.

Should Christians practice Yoga?

Posted on September 21, 2010 
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“Some questions we ask today would simply baffle our ancestors. When Christians ask whether believers should practice yoga, they are asking a question that betrays the strangeness of our current cultural moment…”

– Albert Mohler looks at the modern sanitisation of Yoga.

The power of proximity

Posted on September 20, 2010 
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“Already I’ve been struck by the value that General Synod provides for proximity. That is, it brings together some of the key players and leaders of all the different dioceses in the Anglican Church of Australia. We are together with time and space forcing us to deal with things we could otherwise put off for years or just ignore for ever…”

– Over at SydneyAnglicans.net, Bishop Robert Forsyth blogs on General Synod so far.

And Anglican Media Melbourne reports –

“The General Synod, meeting at Melbourne Grammar School, adopted a resolution asking the synods of all 23 Australian dioceses to consider whether the Anglican Church of Australia should adopt the Anglican Communion Covenant and to report to the Standing Committee of the General Synod by December 2012. The resolution asked the Standing Committee to report to the next meeting of the Church’s national parliament in 2013.”

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