US Survey shows mainline denomination church members are much more conservative than their clergy

Posted on September 28, 2023 
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In today’s The Briefing podcast, Albert Mohler discusses a survey which shows that in US mainline denominations, the clergy are much more liberal than their congregations.

Yes, this is an American context, but it’s a good reminder as to why Biblical theological education is vital.

– The Briefing, Thursday 28 September 2023.

St. Andrew’s Cathedral Community Garden

Posted on September 28, 2023 
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Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant writes in the Cathedral newsletter about plans for a new ministry space at the Cathedral:

“Friends in Christ, it was a pleasure to show the site and plans for the Cathedral Community Garden to many in-person attenders last Sunday. It was obvious that seeing it ‘from the inside’ as it were is really helpful to imagining what an excellent outdoor ministry space it could be for the Cathedral and for the community.

For example, you could easily imagine a BarBQ there in the summer shade, and how much easier it will be to welcome people into the Chapter House, as well as improved wheelchair access to the Cathedral proper.

To remind you, the project will provide a community garden that will

Completing the Garden will also remove the eye-sore of a building rubble site that has stood unusable behind hoardings next to our beautiful Cathedral for well over two decades.

Let me put all that into a bit of historical context…”

– Read about the plans at the Cathedral website.

The Gospel Coalition announces The Carson Center for Theological Renewal

Posted on September 27, 2023 
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At The Gospel Coalition, Collin Hansen writes,

“On behalf of The Gospel Coalition, I’m pleased to announce the launch of a major new initiative: The Carson Center for Theological Renewal.

Around the world today, biblical illiteracy inhibits spiritual depth—not just in the shrinking church of the West but even in the growing churches of the South and East. But there’s no spiritual renewal without returning to Scripture. And while the internet offers unprecedented access to the Bible, many of the most widely used resources for studying God’s Word are unhelpful at best or heretical at worst.

That’s why TGC has started The Carson Center for Theological Renewal, named in honor of TGC cofounder Don Carson. …”

– Read all about the plans here.

Will there be a place for me in the Church of England?

Posted on September 27, 2023 
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“In August, the Church of England announced that a series of meetings were to be held in September ahead of the bishops presenting to November’s General Synod ‘proposals t o enable same-sex couples to come to church following a civil marriage or civil partnership for prayers of dedication, thanksgiving and for God’s blessing’. …

Where does this leave those of us who wish to uphold the faith ‘as we have received it’? Having been an ordained minister in the Church of England for more than 35 years, I wonder if there will be a doctrinal place for me in my later years?…”

– The CEEC’s John Dunnett asks the question and looks at what would be required – in Evangelicals Now, this copy with thanks to Anglican Mainstream.

Related:

The Church that needs you — Charlie Skrine at JAEC 2023.

The Church of England Evangelical Council.

New book on the Peter Cameron Presbyterian “Heresy trial”

Posted on September 27, 2023 
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Many Sydney Anglicans will remember the so-called ‘heresy trial’ of Presbyterian minister Dr Peter Cameron.

It began in 1992 when Dr Cameron, the Principal of St Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney, spoke at a centenary women’s event at Ashfield where he referred to the Bible as ‘sub-Christian’. In response to the apostle Paul teaching about women, he replied, ‘So what?’.

The disciplinary proceedings came about not because Dr Cameron was in favour of women’s ordination (even though most media reports claimed that was the case), but because he dismissed the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture (not just in that sermon, but on other occasions).

The Presbyterian Church had to make a crucial decision. Would they accommodate theological liberalism as did the Uniting Church which they had declined to join fifteen years earlier?

Now, thirty years on, Paul Cooper and David Burke have edited a series of essays exploring what happened and why –

From the back cover of the book:

“In 1992, the Presbyterian Church of Australia through its disciplinary procedures convicted one of its ministers, the Rev Dr Peter Cameron, Principal of St Andrew’s College, of what the newspapers of the time called ‘heresy’. The secular media and commentary were strongly supportive of Cameron and highly critical of the Church.

Cameron, in 1994, published ‘Heretic’ which told the story from his point of view.

This book, Principle & Principal, invites the reader to consider the other side of the Cameron Case. It reflects a different bias to that propagated by Cameron and his supporters. It tells why the Presbyterian Church took this action knowing that it would result in an avalanche of criticism. While over thirty years have passed since the finalisation of the Cameron Case, and the ranks of those involved have thinned, many of the chapters in this book are written by people who participated in these events.”

Campbell Markham at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Hobart has written this review for AP.

– Details and ordering information from Eider Books.

Related:

The Crisis of ’77 – personal reflections by the Rev Bob Thomas on the decision of Presbyterians to ‘continue Presbyterian’.

Now, where and how for Sydney Anglicans – with Raj Gupta and Zac Veron

Posted on September 26, 2023 
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From the Pastor’s Heart, an important episode on the future of the Anglican Church in Sydney –

“We engage in a ‘Stockdale Paradox’ discussion, confronting the brutal facts about attendance, finances and National Church Life Survey data about mission, newcomers and maturity.

Plus we review the recent Sydney Anglican Synod debate where leader after leader poured out their heart.

The gap is widening between the diocese’s declining attendance and Sydney’s growing population.

We look at the hard facts and attempt to chart a way forward.

Zac Veron is the senior minister of Bayside Anglican Church, Sydney.

Raj Gupta is the senior minister of Carlingford Anglican Church, Sydney.”

– Watch or listen here (though it’s recommended you watch so you can see the charts).

New Perth Assistant Bishops introduced

Posted on September 26, 2023 
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The Diocese of Perth has posted brief videos introducing the two new Assistant Bishops of the diocese. Many of readers will know Archdeacon David Bassett who was ordained in the Diocese of North West Australia and who is now heading back west from Adelaide.

See the videos here.

Ben Kwashi retires as Archbishop of Jos

Posted on September 24, 2023 
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GAFCON General Secretary Archbishop Ben Kwashi is retiring from his position as Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, after 31 years as Bishop.

Prayer request from GAFCON.

Brief news stories from The Guardian (Nigeria) and This Day Live (Nigeria).

Give thanks for his service to the Lord Jesus Christ – particularly in the Diocese of Jos, and also globally through GAFCON.

Photo: Archbishop Kwashi with Archbishop Peter Jensen in Jerusalem in 2018, courtesy GAFCON.

Apple’s Mother Nature Ad: It’s Protestant Paganism

Posted on September 24, 2023 
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“You can imagine the pitch: Mother Nature visits Apple HQ to conduct a performance review. In the writers’ room at Saturday Night Live it would gain instant traction: It’s Gaia in the boardroom as a take-no-prisoners businesswoman.

The idea definitely has potential. It’s what comedy does so well—combining unlikely ideas and enjoying the clash. It’s ancient meets modern, the spiritual meets the corporate. It should work.

But when Apple tried to pull it off last week at the launch of their new iPhone 15, it went down like a lead balloon. …

Many were struck by the out-and-out paganism of the video.”

– At The Gospel Coalition, Glen Scrivener in the UK gives his take on the Apple ad, He notes that it’s not ancient paganism. The gospel has made ancient paganism impossible.

See also his video on the topic from Speak Life.

The Rev Berthier Lainirina — The danger of spiritual deception

Posted on September 22, 2023 
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The Rev Berthier Lainirina from Madagascar spoke at Moore College chapel this morning.

His topic: James 1:16-18, The danger of spiritual deception.

Watch here – or listen here.

Bible colleges in the world’s poorest places

Posted on September 21, 2023 
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“Theological colleges, schools, health centres and biblical resources are the fruit of rich partnerships with Anglican dioceses around the world.

The Synod’s Mission Hour for 2023 shared stories that told of the Sydney Diocese’s service and support worldwide, particularly in areas of great gospel growth and great poverty. …

The Anglican Church of Congo runs more than 1000 churches, 700 schools and 90 health centres. A partnership began in 1992 when Sydney sent the late Peter Dawson as a missionary bishop to pioneer the Diocese of Kindu, in a remote central part of the country.”

– Tara Sing at SydneyAnglicans.net reports on encouragement and the need which was shared at Sydney Synod.

Related:

Back in 1997, ACL News spoke with then recently-returned Bishop Peter Dawson. Amid the turmoil in the country at the time, he saw great opportunities for the gospel –

“People are hungry for biblical teaching and we have seen a new church being opened every two weeks for the last few years. New congregations, new people being converted, Bible colleges full. There is a great opportunity for someone to go out and be a lecturer in one of these new Bible colleges. Great opportunity for teaching the Bible and building up Christians.”

In our From the Vault section.

The train is leaving the station

Posted on September 20, 2023 
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In his The Briefing for Wednesday September 20, 2023, Dr Albert Mohler examines the trajectory of a well-known US pastor and his church –

When a Conference is More Than a Conference: The Trajectory of Andy Stanley and the “Unconditional” Conference

and in his remarks, he gives some background to, and reads from, his current article in World Magazine – The train is leaving the station:

Andy Stanley, one of the most influential pastors in the United States, has been moving in this direction for years, often by suggestion and assertion but clouded by confusion and the deliberate avoidance of clarity. Back in 2018, he called for the church to be “unhitched” from the Old Testament, arguing that the Old Testament should not be understood as the “go-to source regarding any behavior in the church.” There goes “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). But, in truth, there goes the entire Old Testament. …

Reframing the social justice discussion – with Ed Loane, Tim Swan and Berthier Lainirina

Posted on September 19, 2023 
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This week on The Pastor’s Heart:

“Social Justice is a fiercely contested concept among Christians. Often discussions about caring for the poor have not been grounded in a biblical vision for gospel ministry..

Evangelicals have been criticized for appearing to be weak on social justice. The charge is that we have been so focussed on gospel ministry that the poor and disadvantaged have been neglected. How does caring for the poor fit with the mission of Jesus church?

Tim Swan is the CEO of Sydney’s Anglican Aid, which hosted an important conference last weekend ‘Reframing Social Justice.’

Ed Loane is Warden at St Paul’s College in Sydney and lectures in Church History part time at Moore Theological College.

Berthier Lainirina is Principal of St Patrick’s Theological College Madagascar.”

– Watch or listen here.

Love Sydney’s Walk for Life — Saturday 23rd September

Posted on September 18, 2023 
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Love Sydney’s Walk for Life is on again this Saturday.

“Our role is simple – to stand in the gap and be a voice for the voiceless, as we cover Sydney in prayer and love.”

– Details at their TryBooking page

Bishop of Bathurst’s Synod Presidential Address 2023

Posted on September 16, 2023 
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Bishop of Bathurst Mark Calder gave his Presidential Address to the Synod of the diocese this morning.

Video of the address is now available here.

There’s been a lot happening in the diocese. Bishop Calder spoke about:

Included were these remarks about assistance from Sydney –

“Last synod I was able to report that following my presentation and our video of thanks, Sydney synod agreed to renew their initial support of $250,000 a year for six years, for a further six years. This is extraordinary. Given the long history of suspicion between our dioceses, we don’t deserve such generosity. But that is the nature of grace – it is undeserved. Thanks be to God for the humility of Bishop Palmer, and the vision and generosity of Archbishop Davies along with the help of Bishop Stead for opening up this possibility. Bishop Stead and Archbishop Raffel have both been extremely helpful in encouraging and facilitating the extension of the gift.

This gift supports the bishop and the registrar and were it not for Sydney’s generosity, our parish assessments would need to be 20% of income, not 10%. Perhaps we’ll find one day, a way to appropriately express our thanks to Sydney Diocese. I am quite sure that old suspicions and criticisms are melting into the background.”

He also speaks about extraordinary support from the Bush Church Aid Society and from partner churches and individuals far and wide.

The full address is not too long to read and is most encouraging. Download it as a PDF file here or watch the video.

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