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From the Bishop

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Bishop John's blog. Here are some recent posts...

Distinguishing euthanasia & palliative care

See ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’

Funny photo :)

Farewell Melbourne, Hello Hobart! Edwin and Beth Lang

Rod & Sue Viney – OAMs

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 our Lectionary-based study outlines for home and church-based study groups and personal study; will also help preachers. To have a look, click here.

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."

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Archive of Home Page: 2011 September

Marriage, religion = social capital

[mon 26.sep.2011 rob]

"In an interesting “sober thought” the authors hit on a
conversation topic earlier in my day in which my friend
commented on the healing and healthy role that his
Christian community played in his life."

Bishop John looks at two research projects and finds "that marriage and religious people in community lead to social well-being. Jesus certainly affirmed marriage and he gathered a community of disciples."

Click here to read Bishop John's post.

Atonement

[mon 26.sep.2011 rob] On Revd Luke Isham's blog, he has posted an article about 'Atonement'. Rather than just a creshendo of words, Isham brings pictures to lead the viewer/reader through the topic. A couple of quotes:

"There's a messiah shaped gap in the Old Testament."

"A substitutionary sacrifice: the Last Supper echoing the first Passover."

Click here to read his post.

Equality for All – Dean of Hobart

[thu 22.sep.2011 rob] Revd. Richard Humphrey wrote a letter to the editor of The Mercury regarding a cartoon on marriage. You may have seen the letter as it appeared in the paper yesterday. Bishop John has kindly posted a copy of the letter on his blog.

So, click here to read the letter.

Media Release: Bishop Harrower responds to the Greens' motion

[tue 20.sep.2011 rob]

BISHOP HARROWER RESPONDS TO GREENS’ MOTION

The Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend John Harrower has spoken out in response to the motion tabled by Mr. Nick McKim in the House of Assembly today.

Bishop Harrower said, “I call upon the parliament to not support this motion.

“I have consistently upheld the Church's affirmation of the definition under the Marriage Act that marriage is the union between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others voluntarily entered into for life.

“I have also consistently supported the recognition of gay and lesbian relationships and have advocated for appropriate legal protection for gay and lesbian couples in areas where there was formerly discrimination.”

Bishop Harrower said, “Mr McKim's call for “Marriage Equality” is disingenuous. What he intends is a redefinition of marriage itself. Redefining marriage does very little, if anything, to extend rights or equality before the law. It appears to be less about extending rights to a minority and more about compelling all to conform to a novel and unnecessary view.

“The institution of marriage is much more than the expression of private love but is a responsibility and a commitment of a particular sort within society. Redefining marriage will disenfranchise those who have embraced and value that particular form of commitment.”

Contact: Diocesan Office 6220 2020

Click here to read or download this Media Release.

Administrative Circular - Sept 2011

[tue 20.sep.2011 rob] The lastest Administrative Circular (Sept 2011) is now available.

Click here to read the latest.

Social Media in Meetings

[sat 17.sep.2011 rob] Bishop John recently made a significant statement regarding the use of Social Media during meetings in our Diocese.

From his blog post:

"We are in Christ and we are to be Christ in whatever context we find ourselves in, including the context of meetings where individuals have access to social media.

I have come to the conclusion that the use of social media to comment on meetings while they are still in progress can be extremely unhelpful."

Click here to read the Bishop's post in full.

Simply Incoherent

[thu 15.sep.2011 rob] In the lead up to Sept 11, Douglas Wilson wrote quite an insightful article about Christopher Hitchens. These two men met each other in what is now documented in the video, 'Collision'.

Douglas Wilson is humerous and to the point in this article as he helps the reader to see what lies underneath some of the recent arguments of some athiests. Wilson begins,

Maybe it is just me, but Christopher Hitchens is at his very best when he is making sense. This is something he does, with his usual vim, in a recent article for Slate entitled “Simply Evil.” In it, he makes short work of the kind of anti-Americanism that tried to turn 9/11 into something complex enough for an obfuscating intellectual to puzzle over. He nails those who tried to blame the attacks on “the Bush administration or the Jews.” And for those who held up a simplistic tit-for-tat blowback explanation, Hitchens dutifully pulls their shirts over their heads and rolls down their socks.

Click here to read the full article.

Euthanasia: The personal side

[thu 15.sep.2011 rob] Bishop John has posted a number of articles on his blog about Ethanasia. One in particular which struck me was a personal story of a daughter whose mother was euthanased. It was moving to see the very personal edge of government legislation and what it can bring to bear on us personally. This is not an Australian website, but I am sure that, as I found, it is very easy to feel compassion for those who feel maligned by euthanasia legislation in their country.

Click here to read the story.
Click here to read Bishop John's original blog post which made the link available.

From The Bishop's Desk 16.11

[wed 14.sep.2011 rob] From The Bishop's Desk (FTBD) 16.11 is now available.

Click here to read the latest from Bishop John.

In this update Bishop John noted the latest Tasmanian Bible Forums:

TASMANIAN BIBLE FORUMS (TBF)
The St Helens TBF in June was a significant day with a record number of participants for St Helens. Yours truly led the sessions on Prayer as Passionate Spirituality. I encourage clergy and lay people to attend these forums to grow in Christ. Is there a school chaplain or youth worker whom you could invite who would value the refreshment this would bring? All for just $15!

15 October St George’s Anglican Church, Sorell, 10.00am – 3.00pm.
‘Wise Up. Life and Faith in Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes.’
Interactive Bible talks/workshop with Richard Humphrey, Dean of St David’s Cathedral, Hobart.
RSVP 10th Oct, Jill McCoy, phone 6265 2445 or jill@srtanglican.org.au

22 October St Aidan’s Anglican Church, East Launceston, 10.00am-3.00pm.
‘No Turning Back.’ 3 Sessions on the book of Numbers
with Mike Raiter, Principal, Melbourne School of Theology; previously BCV.
RSVP 14th Oct, phone 6327 4742 or office@riverlinks.net.au

High Court Ruling on Refugees

[mon 05.sep.2011 rob] From Bishop John's recent FTBD, this on the recent High Court ruling on refugees:

"HIGH COURT RESPONSE TO REFUGEES: I’ve been watching with interest the High Court Case regarding the Federal Government’s so-called “Malaysian Solution” and concur with the decision. I’ll be communicating more about this issue in the near future. I fully endorse the statement put out by the National Council of Churches, which you can find here."

Click here the recent 'From The Bishop's Desk'.

From The Bishop's Desk 15.11

[mon 05.sep.2011 rob] From The Bishop's Desk (FTBD) 15.11 is now available.