Supporting +South Carolina

A letter from the Bishop of Tasmania to the Bishop of South Carolina

[fri 14.oct.2011] In response to news from the Diocese of South Carolina (click here for more information), I wrote the following letter to Bishop Mark Lawrence.

14 October 2011

Rt. Rev’d Mark Lawrence
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Post Office Box 20127
Charleston SC 29413
United States of America

Dear Brother,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I received with deep concern and sadness the news of formal allegations against you and your diocese with respect to some ill-defined sense of abandoning the faith of the Church.

I write so that my recognition and support of you as a Brother Bishop in the Anglican Communion may be clear and unambiguous, and to assure you of my prayer for you and your leadership team at this time.

It has become clear over recent years, and it was certainly my experience at the Lambeth Conference of 2008: not only are the revisionist pursuits of certain parties clearly no longer bounded by the fundamental witness of the gospel in Scripture, but the means of that pursuit seem no longer bounded by the common human wisdom of good grace and fairness. The fact that current events demonstrate a willingness to impugn the fundamental character of Episcopal polity is a demonstration of their intransigence.

Nevertheless, please be encouraged in the Lord Jesus in whose sufferings you share and in whose resurrection hope we live and minister.

I note the words at the top of your diocesan website – “…that all may come to know Him…” Our Lord Jesus is indeed our sole focus, our joy, our salvation; and the knowledge of him our goal for ourselves and all those we meet. He is the head of the church and his promise to his people is secure.

May his grace and peace be with you and the faithful saints of the Diocese of South Carolina.

Yours sincerely in the bonds of Christ,

Shalom

John Harrower
Bishop of Tasmania

Click here to read the letter.

Bishop Lawrence’s reply

Please convey my profound appreciation to Bishop Harrower for this most encouraging letter to me and to the Diocese of South Carolina.  It lifts the spirit, heartens the soul and strengthens our arms and hands for the tasks ahead.

Gratefully yours,

Mark Lawrence

XIV Bishop of South Carolina

See also responses to my letter from Anglicans in America here on standfirminfaith.com

Nursing home readiness?

Having recently celebrated another year on this earthly planet, my accountant sent me this test to assess readiness for a nursing home. (It’s good to have friends who care!)

I will be advising my results via letter one month prior to moving!

1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

2. There is an assistant at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall and he wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?

3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?

5. What word in the English Language is always spelled incorrectly?

6. Sally was born on December 28th, yet her birthday is always in the winter. How is this possible?

7. In Canada , you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?

8. If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

9. Which is correct to say, “The yolk of the egg are white” or “The yolk of the egg is white”?

10. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field?

 

Here are the Answers

 

1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?

Answer: Johnny of course

2. There is an assistant at the butcher shop, he is five feet ten inches tall, and he wears size 13 sneakers.  What does he weigh?

Answer: Meat.

3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Answer: Mt. Everest ; it just wasn’t discovered yet.

4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?

Answer: There is no dirt in a hole.

5. What word in the English Language is always spelled incorrectly?

Answer: Incorrectly

6. Sally was born on December 28th, yet her birthday is always in the winter. How is this possible?

Answer: Sally lives in the Northern Hemisphere

7. In Canada , you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?

Answer: You can’t take pictures with a wooden leg. You need a camera to take pictures.

8. If you were running a race, and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?

Answer: You would be in 2nd. Well, you passed the person in second place, not first.

9. Which is correct to say,
“The yolk of the egg are white” or “The yolk of the  egg is white”?

Answer: Neither, the yolk of the egg is yellow

10. If a farmer has 5 haystacks in one field and 4 haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in another field?

Answer: One. If he combines all of his haystacks, they all become one big stack.

Hansard document: Civility

Hansard Tasmania – 21 September 2011

As I read through this document, I feel distressed at the way our politicians talk to and treat each other.

One question would address the Christian politicians and ask how Jesus would have them act in the face of such behaviour?

But the issue of civility is not just for politicians.

Civility or rather the lack of it, is a major issue for us in Australia today.

How do we speak of similarity and difference in our understandings and across social, economic, racial, religious, educational and ethnic differences?

I apply this challenge to myself. To what extent do I allow the Holy Spirit to apply the The Beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5) to my daily relationships? And in particular, when I am discussing differences of opinion?

In an earlier article I addressed the topic by suggesting reading for our Tasmanian Anglican ‘Parliament’, our Synod! See, Synod: required reading.

We are to be learners after the example of Jesus Christ. Note the power of the question in Jesus’ conversations and also his use of stories.

May the Holy Spirit give us wisdom and civility, beginning with me. Amen.

“Australian Parliament calls for an end to Coptic persecution in Egypt”

Below is an excerpt from the article “Australian Parliament calls for an end to Coptic persecution in Egypt” on the Australian Coptic Movement website:

Today, the House of Representatives honoured Australia’s commitment to religious freedom with a clear endorsement of a historic private member’s bill addressing the ongoing persecution of the Coptic Christians of Egypt.

On 19 September, Mr Craig Kelly MP, Liberal Federal Member for Hughes moved the following:

That this House:

(1) recognises that Coptic Christians in Egypt are suffering ongoing and increasing persecution;

(2) condemns the recent attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt;

(3) expresses its sympathy for Coptic Christians who have been victims of recent attacks in Egypt; and

(4) calls on the Government to:

(a)   issue a public statement condemning the ongoing attacks against the Coptic Christian minority in Egypt;

(b) make immediate representations to the United Nations to end the persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt; and

(c) strongly urge the Egyptian Government to provide equal rights and protection for all Egyptian citizens regardless of race or religion.

Read the rest of the article, including a personal and heart-wrenching account from a young Christian Egyptian woman here.   See also Bishop Mouneer of Egypt’s call for urgent prayer,

Euthanasia talk by Margaret Sommerville

Many thanks to The Revd Samuel Green for filming and editing this talk on euthanasia by Margaret Sommerville. I strongly encourage you watch this to gain a better understanding of why euthanasia should not be legalized.

Bishop of Egypt: Urgent prayer

The ‘Egyptian Spring’ has rapidly turned to autumn.

Bishop Mouneer is a courageous shepherd of God’s people who I have the privilege of knowing many years ago through CMS and at Lambeth Conference in 2008. The bishop is due to be with us in Tasmania in January but now he asks us for urgent prayer.

Please join with me in praying as he has requested of us for the tragic situation in Egypt where the ‘Egyptian Spring’ has rapidly turned to autumn.

Urgent prayer request from Bishop of Egypt about demonstrations over church-burning       October 10th, 2011

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I do request your urgent prayers as the situation here in Cairo is very inflamed.  Many Christians demonstrated after the incident of the burning of a church building in Mari Nab near Aswan (Egypt).  The demonstrations started peacefully as the people were requesting that investigations for the incidents of burning and demolishing churches would be completed and the new law for building churches, that was promised four months ago, would be passed.

This evening it turned to be very violent between demonstrators and the military.  More than 20 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.

Tomorrow there will be a large meeting for the House of Bishops of the Coptic Orthodox Church and political leaders will have a separate meeting to discuss a way out of this very difficult situation.  I would appreciate your prayers for our beloved country.

We will hold prayer meetings tomorrow and I hope that I can meet with Muslim religious leaders in order to discuss a way forward for the situation.

Thank you for your prayers.

+Mouneer

The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis

Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt

with North Africa and the Horn of Africa

President Bishop of the Episcopal / Anglican

Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East

From, Anglican Mainstream.  See, Egypt riots: Anger grows against army  and  Egyptian military in the dock  and  A scholarly analysis, A Double-Bind Upon the Copts: dhimmitude in action and his modified consideration of the role of the anti-Christian mobs More on the Recent Massacre of Copts in Cairo.

Gumbuli of Ngukurr

When both author and elder are known, their book is keenly anticipated.

I have prayed for many years for Aboriginal elder Michael Gumbuli Wurramara. Gumbuli lives one of those pioneering lives that encourage and challenge us to keep on seeking the welfare of our communities no matter the changes and chaos confronted.

I am interested to learn more of Gumbuli’s integration of his indigenous culture and Christian faith.

Related is the broader but no less challenging issue of the Ngukurr community’s attitudes and actions in confronting non-indigenous culture.

Issues arise such as health, employment, economics, welfare, Stolen Generation, polygamy, alcohol and Aboriginal spirituality. The plea of ‘Why don’t you ask us?’ seems to fall on deaf ears in each generation.

In the words of The Hon Malarndirri McCarthy, Member for Arnhem, Northern Territory:

In this centenary year of the surrender of the Northern Territory from South Australia to the Commonwealth, we reflect on those 100 years and the 50,000 years of stories of Aboriginal people. Gumbuli of Ngukurr is one of those inspiring stories. An incredible man and outstanding leader for Arnhem Land, Groote Eylandt and Gulf country region, his is a story to be shared by all Australians.

I look forward to reading the book authored by long term friend and colleague Murray Seiffert and launched today at Nungalinya College, Darwin.

Further information, Gumbuli of Ngukurr: Aboriginal elder in Arnhem Land.

Seeing God in ‘The Person’

I’ve read the weekend papers, listened to the news, participated in societal debates: my conclusion deepened by my morning’s devotional reading:

We see God not through a philosophy but in and through a Person: Jesus of Nazareth.

I know that this is not new! But how refreshing to come to it again and again.

I am reminded of Bishop Lightfoot’s comment on the Gospel (the Good News of Jesus Christ),

though the Gospel is capable of doctrinal exposition, though it is eminently fertile in moral results, yet its substance is neither a dogmatic system nor a moral code, but a Person and a Life.

This is the uniqueness, the particularity, of Jesus Christ.

Though he was 100% human and lived his humanity fully as one of us, yet he is 100% divine.

The ‘scandal’ of his ‘particularity’ compels to rejection or worship.

As for me, I am compelled by his love to worship, and hence to prayer:

Almighty God and heavenly Father,
through your Holy Spirit keep me focused on your Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Person, the Life which gives life.
My life is often filled with people and demands which are good
but which too often leave little time
for Christ, for us, for growing to know Him more.
Help my scattered life to be centred on Christ,
not on philosophy but on ‘The Person’.
Empower me through your Holy Spirit
to know your Son more and more
to rejoice in His love and purposes for life
to live with thankfulness a life of generosity
and to worship God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Reflected Glory

Grindelwald was glorying in its profusion of professors: scholars in physics, mathematics, zoology, economics and all manner of research abounded.

The scientists had invited me as a chaplain to their conference. Why a chaplain? Because this profusion of scientists was also Christian!

The theme of the Conference of Science and Christianity (COSAC 2011) was Disenchantment: Faith and Science in a Secular World. The description read ‘From the time of the Enlightenment, Western society has become progressively disenchanted, as a sense of the transcendent and of spiritual forces, which pervaded mediaeval life, was lost, even repudiated…’

Is this true? Is science doing away with God, awe and wonder?

Perhaps so. Apologist and mathematician John Lennox in his book From God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? quotes chemist and atheist, Peter Atkins, ‘Science has no need of purpose… all the extraordinary, wonderful richness of the world can be expressed as growth from the dunghill of purposeless interconnected corruption.’

But the COSAC description had a challenge: ‘Are we now disenchanted with disenchantment? How do Christians who are scientists speak into this world?’

Materialists only find awe and wonder in themselves, or that which is in the limit of their observation. Anglican minister and columnist Chris Mulherin observes on the ABC Religion website, ‘At last year’s Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne, Dawkins encouraged his followers to give thanks for the ‘gift’ of life, while recognising that some find incongruity in ‘giving thanks in a vacuum.”

I find this fascinating. This is the beginnings of a description that begins to shape around God, and his glory, but it stops at himself. How sad is this truncation!

I want to shout, ‘Dawkins, keep going! Push on to curiosity, to the wonder of something beyond. You are a scientist; let your inquisitive juices flow to poetry, music, art, love, sacrifice, joy and beauty.’

I say this because, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.’ (Psalm 19:1)

I remember as a teenager climbing the Grampian Mountains and sensing the magnitude and the splendour of God. I remember seeing my mother ironing at 3am: a love that sacrificed for a son. I remember as a father being transfixed by a crib holding our own son – how could this be but a magnet of affection?

Science is based on that which can be measured and marked in repeated experiments. Science has its limits. Love, however, has no end. Hence the inscription on my Bishop’s ring, ‘God’s love is like a circle – it has no end!’

We can boldly assert what God has revealed to us in sending His Son. We proclaim, ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14)

And returning to science: is love not ‘evidence’? As John Lennox asks, ‘…where is the evidence that religious faith is not based on evidence? …faith is a response to evidence not a rejoicing in the absence of evidence …’

In turning to Christ, we turn, in awe and wonder, to the true glory in awe. In the miracle of divine transformation we are transformed: a healthy church … transforming life:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)

See, Reflected Glory  and further articles in the October 2011 Tasmanian Anglican.

Also, “Being Sure of Our Ground” (COSAC Devotion #4).