Bishop John

Based at the University of Tasmania, Samuel Green through the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical students (AFES) has a national ministry engaging in conversation and debate with Muslim people. In his recent newsletter Samuel mentions his blog devoted to reading the Qur’an. It is quite fascinating to read the Qur’an through Samuel’s Christian eyes. Highly commended. Thank you, Samuel.

In his AFES newsletter he wrote,

Last year I finished reading the 9 volumes of the Hadith of Bakhari. This took several years but was an important task as Bukhari is second to the Qur’an. I took extensive notes and now have a much greater knowledge of Islam and the quotes I need. Therefore this year I am reading the Qur’an again and understanding it much better. I plan to know the Qur’an better than the people I debate.

Samuel also communicated that,

• He meets weekly with 7 students; a Muslim, a convert from Islam to Christianity, and Christians from Australian or Egypt to disciple them,
• Engaging with Islam course, in its second edition, should be available in November. More information is available here,
• He has many debates this year on excellent subjects, in particular in Tasmania on July 28 and 30,
• He will be visiting Papua New Guinea, as the church leaders have requested he visit and teach them about Islam. Malaysia are spending lots of money to send people into the South Pacific to Islamize it,
• He is writing several Evangelistic Booklets and trying to organise Arabic and Indonesian Bibles for Christians to give their Muslim friends, and lastly
• He will be running and speaking at the mid-year conference (The topic is the Kingdom of God) on July 5-9. This conference is open to all University Students.

Samples of Samuel’s debates are available at,  Abdullah Kunde vs. Samuel Green: “The Preservation of the Bible & Qur’an” Part One and Part Two.

I could not have said it any better than the Irish condemnations of today’s ordination in Los Angeles of a partnered lesbian as a bishop.

This is not just another cut in Anglicanism’s ‘death by a thousand cuts’ but the gathering pace of the self mutilation of TEC (The Episcopal Church – the Anglican Church in the USA plus its Affiliates). I suggest this is not just a cut, but a mortal wound.

A sad day for worldwide Anglicans who worked for a solution to this crisis via the authority of the Scriptures, the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury and ‘the listening process’.

Irish Anglicans Condemn Same-sex Consecration  

As members of the Church of Ireland we wish to express sorrow that Mary Glasspool, a person who is living in a same-sex relationship, is to be consecrated as one of two new assistant bishops in Los Angeles on May 15.

Many Christians of all traditions and denominations will share our sorrow and see Mary Glasspool’s consecration as a defiant rejection of pleas for restraint and, even more importantly, as a rejection of the pattern of holiness of life called for in Scripture and endorsed by believers over the centuries.

The elevation to senior church leadership of a person whose lifestyle is contrary to the will of God revealed in Scripture is both wrong and disappointing.  

The decision to elect and confirm Mary Glasspool to the position of suffragan bishop is a clear rejection of the many pleas for gracious restraint made from within the Anglican Communion, not least by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Windsor Report and the most recent Primates’ Meeting.

The Episcopal Church (TEC) has taken this provocative step despite knowing the division and difficulties created by Gene Robinson’s consecration in 2003. This shows a deliberate disregard for other members of the Anglican family and suggests that TEC does not greatly value unity within Anglicanism and indeed throughout the universal Church.

We wish to express our support for the many people within The Episcopal Church who feel alienated and hurt by this development. We stand in fellowship with them and with those who have separated from that Church for conscience’s sake, many of whom now face legal proceedings and financial sacrifices as a result.

Jointly issued by the committees of: The Church of Ireland Evangelical Fellowship (www.cief.net) The Evangelical Fellowship of Irish Clergy (www.efic.info) New Wine Ireland (www.new-wineireland.co.uk) and Reform Ireland (www.reform-ireland.org). With acknowledgement to David Virtue.

The Primate of All-Ireland expresses his exasperation with TEC  here.  The Most Revd Dr Harper said in part:

“This is a development which I deeply regret. Whatever may be ‘the mind of a majority of the elected leaders in The Episcopal Church’, it does not reflect the mind of a majority of those in positions of leadership in the Anglican Communion and it is bound to create even greater stresses within the Communion at a time when consultations on an Anglican Covenant are at an advanced stage,”.

Good article today Telegraph.co.uk, First Lesbian Bishop to be consecrated by Anglican Church in America.

Also Same sex moratoria (Lambeth) dashed  and  Anglican Communion – Global South Meeting.

The text of the Prayer Pilgrimage Purposes & Prayer is now complete,

‘People@prayer’– Prayer Pilgrimage Purposes & Prayer  

This year I am going on a Prayer Pilgrimage around the Diocese. The theme is ‘People@prayer’.

The Pilgrimage will commence on Pentecost Sunday 23 May and continue through the months of June and July. See the Pentecost Sunday 2010 brochure here. It will be distributed in all parishes. Its title will be ‘People@ prayer’; setting out this essential characteristic of God’s people. The Pilgrimage will conclude at the Cathedral on 25 July, St James’ Day, the 10^th Anniversary of my ordination and installation as Bishop of Tasmania.

The Pilgrimage itself will be my 10^th anniversary celebration – gathering God’s people to be at prayer throughout Tasmania: ‘People@prayer’. What a wonderful way to celebrate God’s calling upon my life to be your bishop.

The calendar of visits is organized. My excitement is building as I think of the places and people around Tasmania with whom I will be praying. I am profoundly grateful for this privilege.

The Pilgrimage’s Purposes and Prayer follow and I ask for your prayers for the Pilgrimage.

 A. PURPOSES

For all parishioners, clergy and the Bishop to pray corporately for the Holy Spirit to work among us

1. To model and encourage corporate prayer by Tasmanian Anglicans
2. To teach Tasmanian Anglicans about prayer
3. To unify Tasmanian Anglicans through prayer
4. To see God respond to our prayers and for Tasmanians to become disciples of Jesus Christ

  These purposes will –

1. Deepen our relationship with God both as individuals and as the people of God, the Church, and deepen within us the expectation that God will work in the world.
2. Encourage people to pray by the Bishop being at prayer with the Anglican Parishes, Schools & Agencies. In my vision, ‘a healthy church … transforming life’, I state that my heart’s desire is for every Anglican to be a prayerful activist, enlivened by biblical faith and the power of the Holy Spirit; and for us all to take initiatives in mission that God may transform the life of our Christian communities and all Tasmanians. 
3. Teach about prayer by teaching on the theme ‘People@prayer’.
4. Unify God’s people through praying together and praying for the Anglican family of Tasmania and all Tasmanians.

  B. THE PILGRIMAGE PRAYER 

Heavenly Father, your word teaches us that we do not have because we do not ask 

By your Spirit make us as keen to pray as you are to listen 

as determined to listen as you have always been to speak 

that we may be equipped for mission and united as your people, 

healthy churches transforming our lives and those of all Tasmanians 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Recently I was sent an article, Helping Ministers, by Dr Tony Robinson of Vitality Psychology & Consulting Services Pty Ltd  (Strathfield, NSW). Dr Robinson co-wrote this article with Andrew Peden, Brendan Geary and Geraldine Taylor Robinson.

In this article the authors,

describe the main psychological issues that ministers encounter and how ministers can seek help if they find themselves faced with a psychological challenge.  “When we are psychologically healthy, our ways of acting, thinking and feeling are adaptive (successful) in nature.”

Being aware of potential challenges can help us recognise the “warning flags” in our own life; and in turn we are able to support fellow ministers who need help.

I believe the potential challenges for us as ministers is when parishes (and sadly also ourselves) forget that we are human. But we are just like ‘the bloke next door’: we get tired, we face depression, we get sick, we need time out, we make mistakes, we get angry, we are no different to the average person; and we are trying to live life in a fulfilling and happy way. We can be a good spiritual example of how to live a life faithful to Christ, but we are not perfect. Why? – because we are not God!

How can we help ministers?

• by realising that they (like us) are human,
• by realising that they (like us) make mistakes (To err is human),
• by being there to support them when they trip up, and
• by ensuring that they take time out to be alone and re-charge their batteries. I recall that Jesus Christ did that often. We need to follow His example – bishops included! 🙂

If you would like a copy of this article, please email Dr Tony Robinson of Vitality Psychology & Consulting Services – trobinson@vitalitypsych.com.au

See also Ministry Burnout Syndrome.

This excellent review of the book ‘Christianity alongside Islam’, by John W Wilson (Brunswick East: Acorn Press, 2010, $39.99) concludes,

Into whose hands would I put this book, then? Certainly into the hands of anyone – Christian, Jew, Muslim, agnostic – who goes in search of understanding of the connection between life and faith, and the ways in which each touches the other in private and public life, and who values the other person as a fellow human being of unique worth. (This latter point is a major thread running throughout +John’s book.). I would encourage undergraduates in theology to read it, too, given that they – like all of us – are immersed in sound-bite cultures which often take short cuts and declare easy judgements: this book offers some solid foundational material on which to build.

Christianity alongside Islam is a book that is a clear, concise reference work – whether for an expanded historical reference, an Arabic term, a map, a patrilineal schema, or an encouragement to practical, hospitable living. It will find a place on many bookcases in many studies; even, perhaps, in the odd garage…

The Right Revd Dr Mark Burton is the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

 Full book review in The Melbourne Anglican at Honest, confronting comparison of two faiths 

Other articles on Islam in May edition of The Melbourne Anglican: Christianity, Islam assumptions challenged; and

 Looking at the darker side of Islam;   and   Give women a greater voice, says Muslim feminist scholar.

See my ‘Christianity alongside Islam’ launched.