Read the latest...
- From the Bishop's desk
- Media releases
- Administrative Circular
- Safe Church Communities
- Our bi-monthly magazine: Tasmanian Anglican
- Our Diocesan Mission Action Plan
- Bishop John's blog
From the Bishop
Click here to catch up on
Bishop John's blog. Here are some recent posts...
- Doctors’ Religion and end-of-life care
- Self-Interest and Marginal seats
- ‘Tasmanian Anglican’ – August Issue
- Refugee Mythbusting Animation – GetUp!
- Pastoral help 4 Election Stress
- To Serve is to Suffer!?
- No rest for the holy?
- Losing My Religion: Aust Christian Book 2010
- ‘Bring me my burqa!’
From the Bishop's Desk is the bishop's regular email newsletter. Click here to see his recent newsletters or to join the mail list.
Bishop John's recent publications, Addresses, letters, reflections, messages: click here.
Bible Study & Preaching Material
Stressed out with no time to write bible studies? Try ‘Growing Disciples of Jesus’, our new Lectionary-based study outlines for home and church-based study groups and personal study; will also help preachers. To have a look, click here: http://www.anglicantas.org.au/lec_based_study/
Preaching Resources
This resource is provided to help guide, encourage and resource the preachers in our diocese, be they new or experienced. It’s new and evolving, so we recommend that you drop in from time to time.
A PRAYER FOR transformingLIFE
Transforming God,
as we meet together
fill us with your wisdom.
Give us the capacity
to work boldly
and with humility,
embracing the challenge of mission.
Use us to bring transforming life
to our Christian communities and
all Tasmanians
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Download the transformingLIFE document
Will the Imagine Project change your life?
CMS: This study is a gift
While Andrew & Pam Lake visited over 24 parishes in the Diocese before heading to the posting in Damascus, Andrew had been busy on another project. He has released this short book called Christian Mission for Tasmanians. This is a very personal approach from Andrew on this important topic of Mission written for the Missionary Diocese of Tasmania. Andrew says of the book,
"My hope and prayer is that this study will help put mission front and centre of the church’s agenda. I make no claim to infallibility and will have achieved my aim if this has helped start some fruitful conversations about mission."
We offer our thanks to Andrew, having served in the Diocese as an Archdeacon and Mission Support Officer. But now we offer our thanks for this impressive gift to the church in Tasmania.
Of particular interest to you, dear reader, is the freely available nature of this book. In fact, you can click here to read it right now. So is it free? Andrew explains in his Forward:
"This study is a gift to the Tasmanian church. It is freely available on the diocesan website but I invite you when you use it for personal or group study to make a donation of $10 per person to the Church Missionary Society of Tasmania."
A healthy church...transforming life
Is 'bad' teaching better than no teaching?
Put another way, "Is it worth attending the only church in my town even though I know the teaching is not 'good'?"
Here are the links to Rev. Will's posts:
- Click here to see his personal blog post
- Click here to see his Formspring post.
Can God be loving and yet send people to hell?
After you have watched the video, why not leave a comment on Rev. Luke's blog.
- Click here to go to the video (this link will take you to Rev. Luke Isham's blog)
- This is from a Vimeo page called "A Passion for Life" which you can view by clicking here.
Doctors’ Religion and end-of-life care
Click here to have a look.
Administrative Circular: 08/2010
Click here to read.
NCD TRAINING DAYS with Ian Campbell
29 Sept - North West | 30 Sept - North | 1 Oct - South
Click here for more details of NCD Training in your network
[fri 27.aug.2010 poster]
From The Bishop's Desk
In it you will read of appointments, commissionings, a resignation and an update on Paul Cavanough's health.
The Tasmanian Anglican magazine
Click here to read it now.
(if you attend an Anglican Church, it would have arrived at your church on Sunday)
Refugee Mythbusting Animation – GetUp!
Bishop John has placed a video on his website which looks into myths about refugees and Australia. Has our recent election painted a fair picture of refugees? Bishop John's blog post adds some helpful commentary on the video and the issue and he provides links to some other material for further reading. This is a blog post well worth reading and watching.
Click here to go to Bishop John's blog post (which includes the video).
Christian organisations employment rights in Canada
This article from ChristianityToday brings us an outline of the situation and an update to it. From the article:
Can Christian organizations in Canada discriminate based on religion when hiring employees? Such groups are still attempting to figure that out, months after a court decision was supposed to answer that question.
An Ontario Divisional Court ruled in May that Christian organizations can't take religion into account when hiring support employees. But at the same time, the decision gave Christian organizations more hiring freedoms than they had under earlier rulings, experts said.Copyright © 2010 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Click here to read the article in full at ChristianityToday.
It may do us well to pray for our brothers and sisters in Canada as they struggle with this and many other worldly pressures upon the church, and also for our own society that we do not find the world's pressure upon us in the same way.
No rest for the holy?
Click here for the post on our Bishop's blog.
Diaconal Administration of the Sacraments
[tue 17.aug.2010 rob] Rev. Will Briggs has brought to light some recent legal procedings in the Australian Anglican Communion. With regard to The Appellate Tribunal and Diaconal Administration of the Sacraments, Rev. Briggs comments on his blog:
To read more of this post by Rev. Briggs, click here.
Rev. Will Briggs' blog can be found at god-s-will.blogspot.com
CMS Dinner
Date: Wednesday 8 September
Time: 6:30pm
Location: The newly refurbished Parish Centre at St. David's Cathedral, 121 Macquarie Street, Hobart.
Speaker: Bishop Glenn Davies
Topic: Understanding the Bible: Ancient Text, Contemporary Reader.
"In the current cultural milieu, this topic is very important and timely for all Christian work, both in the Church and in the community and nation."
Cost: $25
Payment: Cash or cheque at the door.
Bookings and enquiries can be made at:
CMS Tasmania Office, tas@cms.org.au or 6244.3926
Praying for Muslims during Ramadan
[sat 14.aug.2010 rob] Bishop John has a great post on the Muslim Ramadan. Bishop John tells us:
"Ramadan is a challenge to Christians. It challenges our lack of discipline, especially in prayer and fasting. It challenges us with the fact that so few Muslims have become followers of Jesus. It is also an extremely strategic time for us as Christians to believe that God would sovereignly reveal Himself to those who do not yet know Him."
Click here to have a look at Bishop John's post and read more on this important topic.
The latest DNWA Prayer Notes
Click here to find the prayer notes.
(With thanks to acl.asn.au)
From The Bishop's Desk
In it you will read of the sad news of Revd Peter Atkins' resignation, news of Confirmations, Ordinations, Commissionings, parish visits by the Bishop, Cursillo news, the upcoming PeaceBuilding Conference, Lectionary-based Bible Studies update, and the upcoming Ministry Conference Day.
Growing Disciples of Jesus
Click here to have a look at the studies.
Ministry burn-out
[wed 11.aug.2010 rob] From the blog 'Commonweal', this post about clergy burn-out:
Click here for the NY Times article
Click here for the Commonweal blog
Click here for this Commweal blog post on clergy burn-out.
Thinking about church
- Only two legal scenarios to download YouTube videos: A post he did today, looks at the topic of Christians and copyright, but goes on to discuss how we as Christians (and our churches on a Sunday) use videos from YouTube. Explain what the bible says and then give an example... Great stuff!
- 15 ways for churches to use Twitter: Steven looked at how churches might use Twitter as an effective tool for your church in the modern age. People are always wondering how modern technology and 'fads' translate to real ministry. Here, Steven has given us an example of how Twitter might work as a tool for churches. However, while it may not be useful for your church, the article will inform you why others are using Twitter.
- 30 ideas for community outreach (part 1 of 3): Reaching out into your local community sounds great, but how do you do it? What are people doing already, and can any of those ideas translate into your church? In this post, Steve gives us a bundle of examples... but wait, this is only part one of a three part series!
Plenty of thinking about church here. Read, enjoy! Click here for the Communicate Jesus blog.
click on image for more information
The Boathouse, 55a Lindsay St, Invermay Launceston
[sun 08.aug.2010 rob] The Imagine Team (+Ross, Will Briggs, Meredith Campbell, Andy Goodacre and others) will be looking at topics to do with ministry in context desiring to help you in the ministry that you are involved in. It will be a day of training, encouragement, challenge, a chance to hone ministry skills and just think about ministry.
Topics will be around the areas of:
- Getting new ideas off the ground
- Connecting with Baptism Families
- How to do Pastoral Care when you aren’t the Rector
- Encouraging Seniors back to church
- Connecting with Young Adults
- Preaching
- Connecting with Professionals who are now young mums
- How can churches compliment school chaplaincy
- Connecting with your community
- “Its all about context”
More information will appear over the coming weeks so stay tuned and register early. Advertising and registration details are in the attachment
For more information about The Imagine Projects go to http://theimagineproject.com.au/
Feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested, ministry teams, congregations your next door neighbour. All are invited and we hope to see you all there
Sunday is here... Sunday is coming
Here is a quotation from the writer John Owen taken from the Preface to his 1684 book titled, 'Meditation on the Glory of Christ',
This verse recently appeared on a beatiful picture which you can find by clicking here.
Atonement for a sinless society
[sun 08.aug.2010 rob] Something for your thoughts on a Sunday:
On the personal blog of the Rev. Will Briggs (Anglican Parish of Burnie) there is a review of a book titled 'Atonement for a Sinless Society', by Alan Mann. The title itself is aluring, taking 'Atonement' with its centrality to our faith and combining it with the people we are called to engage with the good news of Jesus. Here is how Rev. Will begins:
Click here to read on at Rev. Will's blog.
TONIGHT! ...RE|FRESH 2010
6:00-7.30pm Chill time with BBQ, games, hot drinks
7.30pm + Youth Service
When? 6th August
Where? Hutchins Auditorium (71 Nelson Road, Sandy Bay)
Check out the Facebook event page click here!
Lectionary-based study outlines
If you are looking for help in preparing a sermon, if you are leading a bible study group, or if you would like some help as you work through the Lectionary... whatever the reason, let me encourage you to have look at our Diocesan Lectionary-based study outline webpage.
At the moment, we have outlines up to and including Sunday September 12, which is the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost when the Lectionary Gospel reading will be Luke 15:1-10.
Click here to view the Lectionary-based study outlines webpage.
And if you personally find an outline of help, why not take note of who wrote the outline and let them know how God has used their gift to bless you!
Boasting only in the cross of Christ
[thu 05.aug.2010 rob] Paul writes in his letter to the church in Galatia,
Click here to read or listen to a sermon by John Piper entitled 'Boasting only in the cross'. He reminds us of Paul's words to the church in Galatia and the wonderful and uplifting greatness of the centrality of the cross in the Christian life. Without the cross, the Christian message is empty, and at the same time, Paul reminds us that we have nothing to boast in except the cross of Christ.
I do hope you find God's blessing in this sermon by John Piper.
Recent Diocesan Releases
- Click here to view Bishop John's From The Bishop's Desk 19.10 (for August 2010).
Another blogging Tasmanian minister
[tue 03.aug.2010 rob] I have recently enjoyed reading the blog of one of our Battery Point Anglican ministers, Rev.Luke Isham. In recent days, I have noticed Luke to be one of the only bloggers to pickup on Australian Anglicans being noted in international Christian media. Why? The topic of over-population.
From Rev. Luke's blog:
Click here to read Rev. Luke's blog.
Click here to read Rev. Luke's blog post in full.
Click here for the Christianity Today article.
Click here to read the paper that has created this excitement.
Click here for the article in The Age newspaper.
Over at Bishop John's blog
- Election issues such as Mental Health, where he engages with comments by Anglicare on the state of Mental Health across the nation.
- The health of rural churches in our Australian context with reflection on the 2006 NCLS results, and,
- The question of faith: where Bishop John asks, "How do you go about describing your faith?"
These posts are all on Bishop John's blog, which you can find by clicking here.
The best of last month
The best of last month
The best of last month
The best of last month
click on image for more information
The Boathouse, 55a Lindsay St, Invermay Launceston
The Imagine Team (+Ross, Will Briggs, Meredith Campbell, Andy Goodacre and others) will be looking at topics to do with ministry in context desiring to help you in the ministry that you are involved in. It will be a day of training, encouragement, challenge, a chance to hone ministry skills and just think about ministry.
Topics will be around the areas of:
- Getting new ideas off the ground
- Connecting with Baptism Families
- How to do Pastoral Care when you aren’t the Rector
- Encouraging Seniors back to church
- Connecting with Young Adults
- Preaching
- Connecting with Professionals who are now young mums
- How can churches compliment school chaplaincy
- Connecting with your community
- “Its all about context”
More information will appear over the coming weeks so stay tuned and register early. Advertising and registration details are in the attachment
For more information about The Imagine Projects go to http://theimagineproject.com.au/
Feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested, ministry teams, congregations your next door neighbour. All are invited and we hope to see you all there
To view archives of front page news, click here.
AnglicanTas frontpage editor: Rob Stanley