UK: Draft legislation to consecrate Women Bishops
Posted on January 2, 2009
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“Earlier this week the first draft was published of legislation to permit women to be consecrated as bishops in the Church of England. The draft will be considered by the General Synod in February and it must either be rejected or passed a Revision Committee, the latter being by far the most likely outcome.
… the legislation is not making provision for alternative oversight, but just a form of delegated oversight. Opponents have consistently said that delegated oversight is inadequate.”
– David Phillips, General Secretary of Church Society at Church Society’s EVnews.
Abp of Canterbury’s New Year Message
Posted on January 2, 2009
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The Archbishop of Canterbury’s New Year message is now available at the Anglican Communion News Service.
(Photo: Lambeth Conference media.)
FiF Aust responds to Bishop Kay Goldsworthy
Posted on January 1, 2009
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Forward in Faith Australia has released this statement:
“The Council of Forward in Faith Australia Inc takes great exception to Bishop Kay Goldsworthy’s statement reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that those who oppose the ordination of women ‘will never accept that God is calling women to leadership in the church’.
This denigrates the great women in the past as well as the present who are leaders in the Church. …”
– Full statement available at the FIF website. (Photo: Diocese of Perth.)
ESV Bible Reading plans
Posted on January 1, 2009
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If there’s one thing most of us need to work on in 2009, it’s reading the Bible more regularly and systematically.
The people at ESV.org have assembled a helpful range of Bible Reading plans and made them available in a range of formats.
Want to be reminded each day of the passages to read? Want to receive it by e-mail? Read it on your iPhone? Even the Book of Common Prayer’s lectionary (in ESV) is available.
See ESV.org for details. (Hat tip to Justin Taylor, who has links to even more plans.)
Women bishops want male authority
Posted on December 31, 2008
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Women bishops must enjoy the same authority as their male counterparts if they are placed in charge of an Anglican diocese, say two pioneering Australian churchwomen.
Barbara Darling, who was consecrated Assistant Bishop of Melbourne this year, said she opposed any plan that would diminish traditional authority of bishops over their dioceses. …
– Report from The Sydney Morning Herald. (Photo: Australian women bishops Barbara Darling and Kay Goldsworthy – by Janine Eastlake / Anglican Media Melbourne.).
Latest Australian Church Record out now
Posted on December 30, 2008
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Released just in time for Christmas, the latest issue of the web-only newspaper, The Australian Church Record, is now online.
The 700kb December 2008 issue is available in PDF form at australianchurchrecord.net.
The Advent of Humility
Posted on December 30, 2008
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Innumerable Christmas devotionals point out the humble circumstances of Jesus’ birth—among shepherds, in a crude stable, with a feed trough for a bassinet. When Jesus himself tried to summarise why people should take up the yoke of following him, he said it was because he was meek and humble (Matt. 11:29).
Seldom, however, do we explore the full implications of how Jesus’ radical humility shapes the way we live our lives every day. …
– Tim Keller on humility – at Christianity Today (just before Christmas). (h/t Between TwoWorlds)
C of E drafts women bishops legislation
Posted on December 30, 2008
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The Church of England published draft legislation Monday that could allow the ordination of women bishops – an issue that has provoked deep splits among Anglicans.
The proposed measures will go up for debate by the church’s General Synod governing body at a meeting in February. …
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
Posted on December 28, 2008
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“Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it’s Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.
It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I’ve been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I’ve been unable to avoid since my African childhood.…”
– The Times columnist Matthew Parris makes some interesting observations.
(Photo: Times Online.)
Communicate Jesus
Posted on December 25, 2008
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Helpful new Sydney-based website from Steve Kryger. Ideas and resources “to help churches and Christian ministries as they seek to communicate Jesus”.
Worth seeing – at communicatejesus.com
Priest ‘ruins Christmas’ for kids
Posted on December 24, 2008
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A Catholic priest has been criticised by parents in a city in northern Italy for telling their children that Father Christmas does not really exist. …
– ‘Shocking’ story from BBC News about telling the truth.
Can a Christian deny the Virgin Birth?
Posted on December 24, 2008
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Can a true Christian deny the virgin birth? This question would perplex the vast majority of Christians throughout the centuries, but modern denials of biblical truth make the question tragically significant. …
The great quest of liberal theology has been to invent a Jesus who is stripped of all supernatural power, deity, and authority.
– Al Mohler provides an overview of modern attacks on the virgin birth.
Goodbye Larry King, hello Jerry Springer!
Posted on December 24, 2008
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The hoo-hah over President Elect Obama’s choice of Rick Warren continues unabated, with most of the critics focussing mainly on Warren’s attitude to homosexuality and gay marriage. …
As Don Carson commented recently, American Christians have yet to wake up to the fact that the gospel really is despised by the world. And I would add: in a culture where everyone seems to need to be liked, affirmed and, above all, agreed with, that realisation is going to be very hard and challenging for the evangelical establishment to take on board.
– Carl Trueman writes at Reformation21. (Seen at Between Two Worlds.)
The Future of Jesus – Peter Jensen
Posted on December 23, 2008
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Last week Steve Austin on ABC Radio in Brisbane interviewed Archbishop Peter Jensen on ‘The Future of Jesus’.
Audio of the interview is available on the ABC Brisbane website.
(Photo of Steve Austin: ABC Radio.)
Why the Church of England cannot lose its ‘Head’
Posted on December 23, 2008
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“Even if the Church of England were disestablished, even if Prince Charles became King and took the title ‘Defender of Faith’, even if his son converted to Islam and duly became our first Muslim monarch, the situation would be unchanged …”
– John Richardson writes at the Ugley Vicar.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…