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

Posted on September 25, 2010
Filed under News Comments Off on ‘Archbishop of Canterbury: Anglican Church has ‘no problem’ with gay bishops’

“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
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Gambling at General Synod

“…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
Filed under News Comments Off on David Peterson to speak in NZ

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
Filed under News Comments Off on Jerusalem Declaration eyewitness – Allison Street

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
Filed under News Comments Off on Peter Jensen on Jerusalem Declaration vote

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.

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
Filed under News Comments Off on Faith Under Fire — new resource for Defence Chaplains

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
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Church, constitution and creeping centralism

“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
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Out of Egypt

“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
Filed under News Comments Off on ACL membership friendly reminder

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
Filed under News Comments Off on Anglicans oppose euthanasia move

“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
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on Should Christians practice Yoga?

“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
Filed under Opinion Comments Off on The power of proximity

“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.”