- Ceremony and sainthood (19 Feb 10)
It is announced that Mary MacKillop is to be canonised on 17 October 2010. I am sorry that this has happened as it burdens Australian Christians with temptation to a ...
- Where is God when earthquake kills? (15 Jan 10)
The Haitian earthquake disaster of 13 January 2009 as often for such disasters provokes questions about "Why does God permit such suffering?" or "How can God exist in the face ...
- They asked for a sign (05 Jan 10)
My selection for the Epiphany 6 January.The incarnate Word is with us is still speaking is present always yet leaves no sign but everything that is.— Wendell Berry. From "Sabbaths ...
- A right to accept (05 Jan 10)
We reserve the right to accept everybody! is the motto of The First Baptist Church in America which has been ministering in Providence Rhode Island since 1638. I like it. ...
- Sola scriptura? (28 Dec 09)
Some wisdom from Dr Louie Crew.Jesus said that when you face rival claims of Scripture test each part against the first and second commandments. All law and all prophecy hang ...
- The Pope is not catholic (28 Oct 09)
In reciting the Nicene Creed many Christians affirm that "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church." Those who use the Apostle's Creed simply say "I believe in the ...
- Competence and bold humility (27 Oct 09)
The Anglican Diocese of Sydney's Synod has been digesting the loss of A$160 million that will lead to cuts in jobs and services. Synod members rejected a proposal to censure ...
- Roman smoke signals (23 Oct 09)
There has been much comment about the decision of Benedict XVI to issue an Apostolic Constitution to enable but any Anglican group—community parish even an entire diocese—to enter into communion ...
- The wisdom of the Sabbath (17 Oct 09)
Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth has written that Sabbath—whether Saturday or Sunday—is our counterweight to the pressures and values of the ...
- Angels and Daisies (29 Sep 09)
29 September: Michaelmas the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. God's angels glorious in beauty and holiness; yet somehow the humble Michaelmas Daisy speaks more eloquently of God's beauty ...
- Rules, truth, love and God (05 Sep 09)
"There are no rules of any institution anywhere that supersede the truth that is the love of God." — Joan Chittister Welcome to the wisdom of the world (2007) p. ...
- God's partners in matters of life (27 Aug 09)
There's been debate about a statement by President Obama during a recent discussion with Jewish rabbis about health care that "We are God's partners in matters of life and death ...
- Resisting the shattering of the crystal spheres (24 Aug 09)
The Economist (18 Aug 09) notes the recent meeting of the International Astronomical Union with a short piece in praise of astronomy "the most revolutionary of sciences" and "Galileo four ...
- Connecting (12 Aug 09)
Last night at the St. Thomas More Forum some friends and I attended an outstanding talk by Geraldine Doogue of ABC TV's Compass and ABC Radio's Saturday Extra. Her topic was ...
- Alienation : a challenge for the parish? (23 Jul 09)
The idea of alienation is basically Marxist and what it means is that man living under certain economic conditions is no longer in possession of the fruits of his life. ...
- Un-Christian Christianity (04 Jun 09)
Observing the reports of the Irish Commission to inquire in Child Abuse finding that tens of thousands of Irish children were sexually physically and emotionally abused by nuns priests and ...
- Abuse in a theological vacuum (24 May 09)
The recently issued and widely publicised report of the Irish Commission to inquire in Child Abuse shows that tens of thousands of Irish children were sexually physically and emotionally abused ...
- Reconciliation takes as long as long as it takes (09 May 09)
I am still thinking through the outcomes of the Anglican Consultative Council's deliberations in Kingston Jamaica this fortnight. Seems to me that little has changed for good or ill. Seems ...
- An overworked official's prayer (05 May 09)
A suitable prayer for one who wonders how he became so overworked?My dear Lord and Saviour I come to you burdened and oppressed by many worries and slavish work by ...
- Being there at Communion (01 May 09)
Church life and worship is often so busy that I need something to collect my mind and spirit as I approach the Lord's Table. Maybe this from St. Anselm of ...
- Come on now little man (29 Apr 09)
21st April 2009 was the 900th anniversary of the death of Saint Anselm of Canterbury. It's time I took to heart Anselm's exhortation in chapter 1 of his Proslogion.Encouraging the ...
- Risen indeed (11 Apr 09)
In Man alive! (Leicester: IVP 1967 p.28) Michael Green relates this story told to him by a Czechoslovak theologian.A Russian lecturer a member of the Communist party was addressing a ...
- The radiant peace of the divine sabbath (10 Apr 09)
Ruht wohl ihr heiligen Gebeine Die ich nun weiter nicht beweine Ruht wohl und bringt auch mich zur Ruh! Das Grab so euch bestimmet ist Und ferner keine Not umschließt ...
- Monday sabbath (06 Apr 09)
Holy Week poses the challenge of trying to be prayerful and reflective while ridiculously busy at the same time. There's one's employment where "everything has to be done by Easter" ...
- Lenten purposes (08 Mar 09)
Not too much from me on these pages lately as James and I have been commissioning a new iMac—copying and organising files and software etc. All pretty straightforward but it ...
- Evolving celebration (19 Feb 09)
A recent essay on "Why Christians should celebrate Darwin" by Dr Denis Alexander (Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion St Edmund's College Cambridge) has stimulated me to ...
- Tedium in Communion (11 Feb 09)
It's good that the recent meeting in Egypt of the Primates of the Anglican communion was more harmonious than such meetings have been for some years. Nevertheless the endless unresolved ...
- Notes on the virginal conception of Jesus Christ. (31 Dec 08)
"Virginal conception" is the term preferred to "virgin birth" as the precise question at stake is whether Jesus was conceived without a human biological father."This belief maintains that Christ's incarnation ...
- A night already warmed and illuminated (26 Dec 08)
I am glad that Christmastide begins on Christmas Day for twelve days. It takes that long to begin to take in once again the depth and meaning of all that ...
- Australian Church Record on Bishop-elect Robinson (23 Dec 08)
The few readers of this scrapbook will know that I have collected 'news' items about Canberra an Goulburn's bishop-elect. The Australian Church Record December 2008 Issue 1895 says this on ...
- Death to Santa Claus (22 Dec 08)
I repeat my annual slogan: Death to Santa Claus; St. Nicholas is the real deal. Artist: Elisabeth Jvanovsky ...
- The joyous tale of light in the darkness (12 Dec 08)
Christmas message 2008 The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop The Episcopal Church The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1:5). The ...
- A rival denomination, not a province (04 Dec 08)
Conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church have at long last announced the formal establishment of what the New York Times rightly describes as "their own rival denomination.". An tht is ...
- Truth or majority? (01 Dec 08)
Proposition 8 passed by a slim majority of Californians on 4 November took away from same-sex couples the marriage rights that the court California Supreme Court had established in May. ...
- Interesting question, Mr Dessaix (29 Nov 08)
"[T]he very idea of worshiping a god has always struck me as primitive. What sort of god demands to be worshiped?"--Robert Dessaix. Arabesques: a tale of double lives. (2008) p. ...
- Slowing down for Christmas : Rowan Williams (28 Nov 08)
Dr Rowan Williams's Reflections on Advent are superb. Some extracts are below but do read it all We're not a culture that's very used to waiting. During Advent Christians go ...
- Accepting the offender (22 Nov 08)
The Adelaide diocese of the Anglican church has been much troubled by the harm done in the past by child abuse. There's been recent publicity about arrangements to apply when ...
- Respect for life is a seamless garment (21 Nov 08)
The Tablet records (22 Nov 08) that Roman Catholic US bishops last week warned that "the unity desired by President-elect Obama and all Americans at this moment of crisis" would ...
- The difficult peace of Christ (19 Nov 08)
Ekklesia and the London Mennonite Centre are advertising a seminar "Threatened with resurrection" on the 26th. I shan't be travelling from Australia to attend (!) but the questions to be ...
- Schuller's mission (18 Nov 08)
"I was called to start a mission not a church " Robert H Schuller told his congregation at the Crystal Cathedral. "There is a difference. . . . You don't ...
- Eucharist celebrated by all (26 Oct 08)
Muriel Porter reports in Church Times that the Synod of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has affirmed that deacons men and women may preside at holy communion. It agreed that ...
- Christianity and the social order (25 Oct 08)
To many it appears evident that we have allowed the making of profits which is necessary as a means to the continuance of ... industry to get into the first ...
- Voting for life and dignity (24 Oct 08)
I've written previously that I loathe abortion but the single-issue politics surrounding abortion troubles me. It's a worry that the choice of candidate for the most powerful job on Earth ...
- Dr Aspinall to continue (20 Oct 08)
I for one am delighted that on 17 October 2008 the Board of Electors re-elected Archbishop Phillip Aspinall as Primate of the Anglican Church of Australian for a further term ...
- A whole 'nother church over that? (14 Sep 08)
My own view which I was able to express at one point when I was feeling particularly frustrated is that in one sense the Anglican Communion is dead. By this ...
- Anti-abortion AND pro-choice. (05 Sep 08)
I loathe abortion and find it hard not to describe it as homicide (unless the mother's life is endangered). Nevertheless I prefer to leave it for the mother to decide ...
- Communion, not The Communion (18 Jul 08)
The Tablet marks the beginning of the Lambeth Conference with an editorial. It suggests that a "return to fundamentals might help" the Conference toward grace and respect. The editorial observes ...
- WYD : hope, joy and superstition (13 Jul 08)
Today preaching on the parable of the seed and the sower (Mathew 13.1-9 18-23) my rector the Revd Rob Lamerton spoke of how delighted he had been to see so ...
- Unholy zeal (07 Jul 08)
I have been studying the Rule of St. Benedict lately with the aid of various commentaries including Joan Chittister OSB's excellent The rule of St. Benedict: insights from the ages ...
- Royal wisdom in Anglican troubles (05 Jul 08)
The Times today reminds us of what the Queen said on 13 Nov 1980 when opening the General Synod of the Church of England. Wisdom indeed. ...
- The biblical texts in all their richness (14 Jun 08)
A tendency to read the Bible through the lens of "fundamentalism" threatens to undermine Catholics' understanding of Scripture the Vatican says in the Instrumentum laboris (working document) for the Twelfth ...
- Sabeel (27 May 08)
Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians. Inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ this liberation theology seeks to deepen the faith of Palestinian ...
- Sexuality and Siddurim (24 May 08)
A majority of people surveyed in Britain believe religion is sexist and discriminates against homosexuals according to a recent poll. Six out of 10 people believe that all religion is ...
- We ARE in communion (19 May 08)
On his website the Revd Tobias Haller BSG expresses beautifully something I have long believed.Unless the Lord Builds the House . . . . . . their labor is in ...
- Protestant and reformed (17 May 08)
Walter Cardinal Kasper's remarks to Britain's Catholic Herald (7 May 08) about Anglican identity have been widely quoted. He said that the time had come for the Anglican Church to ...
- Women, worship and and oneness (03 May 08)
Australia's Catholic Weekly (27 Apr 08) reports Michael Putney Bishop of Townsville and Chairman of the [Australian Roman Catholic] Bishops' Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations as saying that the ...
- Barbara Darling named as Bishop (26 Apr 08)
With the announcement that that the Revd Canon Barbara Darling is to be appointed assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne Kay Goldsworthy is no longer the only woman to ...
- The truly Scottish church (05 Apr 08)
The parish of my forbears is the Presbyterian (Church of Scotland) parish of Parish of Rhu and Shandon formed in 1648 the present building of which dates from 1851. However ...
- Thomas and hope (04 Apr 08)
The Gospel for last Sunday the second of Easter was John 20.19-31 the story of Thomas and his doubts. Two sermons encourage and blessed me from this story.The Revd Susan ...
- A jubilant celebration (03 Apr 08)
I have not commented on separation from The Episcopal Church of its former Diocese of San Joaquin and other such dramas. It is not for Australians to interfere; we have ...
- The emperor's nakedness and tea with Aunty Jenny (01 Apr 08)
In "Of God tea and auntie Jenny" (Guardian 21 March 08) Professor David Wilson shows how useless cold and hope-less church platitudes can be especially in speaking of death.My auntie ...
- Globalisation and the spirit of wisdom (27 Mar 08)
Tribune magazine is perhaps not a journal in which one would expect to find theological reflection. Yet in the 25 Mar 08 issue Stephen Beer reviews Anglican Communion in crisis: ...
- The waterboarding of Christ (24 Mar 08)
Giles Fraser in the Guardian 22 Mar 08:A funny kind of Christian Somewhere in the Middle East Jesus Christ is strapped to a bench his head wrapped in clingfilm. He ...
- Power, division and the church calendar (22 Mar 08)
This year's early date for Easter has revived interest in the Computus the complex and arcane rules for calculating the date. In Western Christianity the earliest possible date is 22 ...
- A window to wonderment (05 Mar 08)
In this piece the Revd Dr Giles Fraser Team Rector of Putney asks "Technology: does it dispel the wonder?" Well no rather it may create wonderment -- or at least ...
- On how not to frighten the secular horses (22 Feb 08)
This wisdom from the Rt Revd John Pritchard Bishop of Oxford in response to the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments about Sharia laws. The Archbishop's comments Bishop Pritchard says are part ...
- We believe it to be regrettable (20 Jan 08)
Debate on the proposed Anglican Covenant drones on. Sadly I am finding it hard to maintain an interest. As usual the Scottish Episcopal Church got it right in its brief ...
- Satan Claus (19 Dec 07)
Death to Santa Claus. St Nicholas is the real deal. Buy nothing. ...
- An infeasible doctrinal unity (11 Nov 07)
One of the problems faced by we Anglicans is that we are good at starting things but sometimes unable to end them when they are no longer of value. Beyond ...
- Agreeing with Akinola on Lambeth (06 Nov 07)
I am not always in agreement with the Most Revd Dr Peter Akinola. But I do agree with him in arguing for the postponement or outright cancellation of the Lambeth ...
- Quizzed eucharistically (28 Oct 07)
This Eucharistic theology quiz rates me as Lutheran which is probably fair enough as the closest option to Anglican! You scored as Luther. You'll stick with the words of Scripture ...
- A most productive gathering (28 Oct 07)
14th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia held in Canberra this past week was productive gathering. A great deal was done and it was good to be part ...
- Intercessions for the General Synod. (20 Oct 07)
Intercessions for the opening worship of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia Saturday 21 October 2007 led by Brian McKinlay of Canberra and Goulburn. God of all ...
- Wanted: visionaries and prophets (18 Oct 07)
Anglicans in Australia (UNSW Press 2007) is the latest welcome book by Bishop Tom Frame Director of St. Mark's National Theological Centre here in Canberra. Its release is timed to ...
- God calls upon us to live dangerously (29 Sep 07)
A piece by Safdar Hasan Siddiqi author of The role of Islam in the twenty-first century: A journey towards peace amity progress. Ferozsons 1997. Pakistan Times 21 Jun 06.God belongs ...
- The bread which we all break (18 Sep 07)
While I was on holiday The Sydney Morning Herald (17 Sep 07) reported that the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has "revived its radical push to let church elders preside over ...
- Be (26 Jul 07)
Be simply be in the stillness of my heart that my heart may be in all I doHeart gone walkabout: poems prayers lines and spaces / Noel Davis. (With my ...
- Mischief from the South (23 Jul 07)
On 18 Jul 07 Anglican Communion primates from the Global South have issued a statement saying they will continue to violate the boundaries of the Episcopal Church and may intervene ...
- The Bible doesn't say anything (21 Jul 07)
In an essay "Rivers of revelation" (The Tablet 14 Jul 07 pp.14-15) Nicholas King SJ reflects on the recent flooding in the UK on finding meaning amid the destruction and ...
- The Synodical not-so-melting teapot (14 Jul 07)
Giles Fraser's columns in The Church Times are always interesting. Even when he writes on specifically English matters there is often value for we non-English. This time (13 Jul 07) ...
- Communion is Christ not covenant (08 Jul 07)
This passage from Orthodox theologian Olivier Clément's small book Taizé: a meaning to life (Chicago: GIA Pubs 1997 pp. 37-38) illustrates why a written 'covenant' such as that being considered ...
- Covenantal caution (06 Jul 07)
Church Times 7530 (6 Jul 07) notes call in the Church of England for caution in approval of an Anglican Covenant. The present General Synod motion asks the Synod to: ...
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