Tired of the Debate

Women's Ordination to the Presbyterate has been repudiated again.

This time, many more people than in the past voted not to even have a debate.

Calls for the inevitability of the measure are very much premature, as the first cultural change picture appears to be growing in strength.

Sydney has a good situation, with many men and women working to serve Jesus with their lives (and many doing it in a full-time paid capacity too).

What a wonderful thing that is.

Question Answered

It seems that the Archbishop liked my question, but that the planning processes are already happening.

Lots to write about from another day of Synod, but I might put it all together tomorrow.

There was however an excellent motion about the Global Anglican Crisis which brought great joy to me to see pass.

Oh well, I have uni in the morning and am tired.

Revitalising the Church

I asked the following question in the Synod today:

Archbishop,
I give notice that I wish to ask the following question:

i. Has the Diocese kept the results of the Parish Buildings and Capital Audit conducted prior to last year’s Synod?
ii. How many parishes in established suburbs are at or near to capacity when utilising their buildings?
iii. Is there any encouragement being offered to have smaller churches revitalised by congregation-planting partnerships, before these churches enter serious decline?
iv. Are there any current plans to use the Audit Results to assist planning congregation-planting partnerships between parishes with buildings at or near capacity and parishes with free or under-utilised buildings?
v. Does the archbishop consider that these sorts of arrangements will have the potential to continue strengthening the work of the mission in established suburbs?

It is nice that we live in a city with such a concern for the gospel, that the Synod can be used for operational fine-tuning.

I just hope the implicit challenge to action in the question will actually be heeded.

New Westminster

I am deeply concerned about the situation facing the Anglican Network Churches in British Columbia which are in the Diocese of New Westminster.

It was known that the promised remedy of the Archbishop's Panel of Reference would not necessarily fix everything, but I am quite saddened by the fact that the report deals in much detail about legal technicalities rather than theological realities.

The Anglican Communion Worldwide is disfunctional, unfortunately there is no common theological ground uniting the different bodies, and this is reflected in many differing ways.

What seems to be needed is a strong reform, and the creation of new theologically based networks, maintaining unity and support for our Anglican brothers and sisters worldwide. How this will look will be an interesting discussion point for many.

Sydney Synod Day 1

I'm not sure that a diocesan forum is necessarily the best thing to frame things around when considering the strengths and weeknesses of a denomination.

But the bold leadership of individuals may shape your views either way.

The things that stood out most were probably the following:

Peter Jensen reminded people tonight of the fact that when we hold the gospel clearly, we can change other things to ensure we keep having the gospel reach people.
A particularly nice bit of his challenge was as follows:

One of my most vivid memories is of a dear friend of mine who was a member of the same church as me. He was a Professor at the University, a man of impeccable rectitude, an adornment to the gospel. He grew up as an Anglican in the bush, where they do things a bit differently. He cherished a more formal style of church; nothing flash: he is what you may call a Prayer Book Christian; like me if it comes to that. His faith is part of him; it is very much who he is; and church with the Prayer Book and a bit of dignity is part of that inner piety which makes the man what he is.

We met in the pews one Sunday morning. We had just been through what for him was a travesty of church – substance but no style; omissions of all the things which we cherished - music, indescribable.. ‘I miss the old ways,’ he said. Then he paused. ‘But, Peter, I’d rather give up the old ways, hard though that is, for the sake of what we are now doing for Christ.’ For there in that church as the Bible was being taught were young and old men and women being transformed by the Spirit of God, coming to faith and going ahead in Christ.

And then Al Stewart gave a talk about various things including an example about feral pigs... (ask me later if you want the full story). The gospel is not an optional extra according to Jesus, we need to feel that it hurts us when we shape our priorities.

The fun with debates seems to start tomorrow, although there will be a few interesting debates interspersed with generally important things which need to be done.

Humility

There is something attractive about people who can simply be humble. It is a call for the Christian, and is what should come naturally when anyone stands beside the cross.

But it is really hard. We want others to see our carefully crafted image rather than our true sometimes grotesque selves. It is easy to think that Jesus' death for me wasn't as hard as it could have been for those others, until we actually look at ourselves failing to live the way God intends for us to.

I have often been careful to be rather cryptic in referring to things I have failed at outside the glare of my friends, but it sometimes has let the light hide away from where it needs to be.

Please pray that I will continue to be honest and repentant about my real failings, so that the glory of what Jesus has done for me can be shown all the more.

Promoting the Gospel

Just been reading John Dickson's book on how we promote the gospel.

It was a pretty good challenge to keep my life in line with gospel standards, and to keep seeing my priorities reflect God's priorities, but over the whole of what I do.

It was a pretty nice thing to read through, and a clear explanation of a few things.

Definately worth a good read, and personally helpful to keep me thinking through various things as I look towards working next year.