Bishop John

As I watched the dog jump at the Huon Show (what a great rural show) today I was reminded of the term ‘underdog’.

Australian concern for the ‘underdog’ clearly comes from the Australian passion to give those with lesser possibilities a better chance at getting over life’s hurdles. Back to the dog jump! The greatest cheering from the crowd arose as the smaller dogs made valiant attempts to leap across the increasingly higher hurdle. We cheered wildly as the ‘underdogs’ made it and groaned in sympathy as they one by one failed to make it; but we sent them off with a great round of applause. There was and is a genuine concern in Australian culture (well at least at the Huon Show in Tasmania) for the ‘underdog’. And may it be ever thus! 🙂

In this frame of mind, cheering on the ‘underdogs’, I reread this week’s Australian High Court decision eliminating the extra hurdle that asylum seekers arriving by boat had to vault if they landed on Australia’s so called ‘excluded territories’ (always a lot of gobbledygook in my humble opinion) and in this way they were excluded from Australian legal processes under the Migration Act.

I applaud the decision to eliminate this hurdle to boat people and trust that the Government and Opposition will take the opportunity to enact a more humane approach to asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat.

See, Ruling a blow to asylum strategy.  Also, When it comes to boat people: whatever happened to ‘concern for the underdog’?  and  Roman Catholic Bishops welcome High Court Ruling on Offshore Detention  and  Govt ponders new laws on asylum seekers  and Refugee mythbusting animation – GetUp!.

I was encouraged by the recent review of Facing the Future, sent to me by Rena Pritchard, the Senior Editor of Acorn Press.

 As you may know I contributed a chapter, A New Openness to Change, to the book which was published in 2009.

 Darren Cronshaw (Pastor of Auburn Baptist Church) wrote this review for the local church and mission edition of the Australian Journal of Mission Studies.  He writes,

My favourite chapter is John Harrower’s modelling of “a new openness for change” (pp.203-212). It seems the Tasmanian Diocese heard the challenge not to merely try to do what they have done in the past, but with more effort, but to look for a new way of being church. In the 1990s decade of evangelism, church attendance in Tasmania declined 30%. But in 2000, Harrower started as bishop with a mandate to be a mission bishop. At his first Synod he declared:

You elected me, trust me.
You elected a missionary, let us be missionaries together.
You elected an innovator, let us be innovators together.
You elected a change agent, let us change together.
You elected a missionary bishop, let us be a missionary diocese (p.205).

He shared a vision of “Every Tasmanian committed to Christ”, declared the diocese “The Missionary Diocese of Tasmania” and encouraged every Anglican to be a “Missionary disciple” (p.204). He promptly made a public apology to child sexual abuse victims, gave increased authority to rectors, prioritised recruiting new leaders, and farewelled some who did not come on board. Archdeacons became “mission support workers”, archdeaconries became “mission networks”, parish priorities became “Mission Action Plans” and bishop visits included “mission conversations”.

“Mission conversations” became a dominant metaphor and practice for diocesan life: leaders came together to discuss mission and how to join with what God was doing in their neighbourhood. The Bishop’s office resourced creative evangelists and invited schools and agencies to re-examine their mission. And the Bishop modelled honest evaluation by making public three external reviews of his work, to foster a culture of review in the diocese. When many things might divide a diocese, Harrower sought to focus everyone around missiology. This was an exciting chapter of denominational restructuring and resourcing for mission

 Read Darren’s review here.

 See also Imagining a different church, and my chapter A New Openness to Change.

I was encouraged to read the Founders Day Address given at Launceston Church Grammar School , June 2010, by the Pastoral Dean, Mr Mark Cox.  A snapshot of what Mark said,

On Jesus:   You see many think of Jesus as a truly ‘good bloke’ or as one of history’s ‘great teachers’. Both descriptions are no doubt true. But neither comes anywhere near this statement from Jesus’ own lips. Jesus claimed not only to be God’s ambassador, but God himself. He claimed to be God in our shoes; God as “one of us”.

Reading the four Gospels (the life stories of Jesus) is like being treated to front row seats in the most amazing show of all – God, walking in our shoes. We can learn about what God is like and what God’s purpose is for our lives. For God calls each of us to a life of purpose – a life of service – to Him and to each other.

On the School’s Founders:   Our Founders may not have envisaged Grammar as we know it today, but they knew the God who held the school’s future in his hands….we are told that the founders of the school were gentlemen who took part in community activities – and were supporters of all the charitable and supporting societies in Launceston.

For many generations God has called ordinary men and women to positions of leadership, work and service in and for the people of Launceston and the world beyond. Tonight we give thanks for the lives of all these who have gone before us, for the pioneering character, vision and honest toil of those men and women who have faithfully served Grammar and Broadland House.

The principles and practices of our Founders still have relevance to us today & they will do so into the future.

And so we too should seek wisdom, so that we may recognise that which is good and noble in our time, how best to blend it with what that we have received from the past and so hand on to those who will come after us a school heritage made richer, and one that continues to serve God’s purposes today and into the future.

Like our Founders we should heed the words of the writer of Proverbs:

Trust in the LORD with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge him, and he will make our paths straight.

Mark has kindly given me permission to put his LCGS Founders Day Address up on our website, here.

Os Guinness has been a great teacher over many years now as he engages the truth of the faith with the contexts in which we live. Here he speaks at the recent Lausanne Congress on, ‘Why truth matters’ (14 minutes).  He looks a debonair as ever. How does he do that?  See http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?/sf/page/26752

Does religion play a positive role in a child’s development?  An atheist answers the question, positively!

The culture clash is not over being a Protestant in a Catholic church, but over being an atheist. The attack comes from my fellow unbelievers (atheists), as if I have made human sacrifices of my children. How can you let them be indoctrinated? How can you send them to the church of Pell and Ratzinger? Do you want them infantilised by the mumbo-jumbo of miracles? Isn’t this (to heed the call of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens), the time for us atheists to take a stand?

To which I reply: us atheists, yes. But children are too young to be atheists, or for that matter believers. It is as an atheist that I wanted them to have religious education. It is as an atheist that I agree with Robert Forsyth, the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, who says ethics classes should not be substitutes for scripture. It is as an atheist that I support a religious education, and here are the reasons. {only the headings follow}

• There is no such thing as no decision. 
• So they know what those buildings are.
• The stories are their birthright. 
•  So they will know what rules they are breaking.
• So they may come home with unanswerable questions. 
• Good works. 
• Without it, they can never be tolerant, only indifferent. 
• Religion is not synonymous with ethics.
• Kids don’t get indoctrinated that easily.
• Because I had to. 

Fascinating article (via the Dean), Altar Egos: Religion is fundamental to a child’s development.