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	November 2004				John Harrower
		Bishop's reflection - The Holy Spirit and Christian Mission by John Harrower
			Why did God send the Holy Spirit? God sent the Holy Spirit both to do God's mission in the world and to equip Jesus' followers to carry out God's mission in the world. 'The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focusing upon Jesus Christ.' (John V Taylor in The Go-Between God p.3) The great Anglican missionary of the 19th century, Roland Allen, wrote: I have tried to show that the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the coming of a missionary Spirit; that the Spirit stirred in the hearts of the disciples of Christ a great desire to impart that which they had received; that He revealed to them the need of men for that which He alone could supply; that He enabled them to hand on to others that which they themselves received. (The Ministry of the Spirit, p.59) Roland Allen also noted, 'if we consider Acts as a book of Christian biography, we must consider it as a work of missionary biography'. The history of the Anglican Church in Tasmania is a missionary biography. How is our chapter reading? What do we want our chapter to read like? What are we doing about our missionary biography? My heart's desire is for every Anglican to be a prayerful activist, enlivened by biblical faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. For us all to take initiatives in mission that God may transform the life of our Christian communities and all Tasmanians. General Synod and the Windsor Report We also trust that the Holy Spirit will help us to maintain our unity as God's people when differences occur. General Synod discussed strategies to share God's love in Christ, ordain woman as bishops, professional standards, human sexuality, social and political involvements of the church, and more! - all these issues are part of our mission agenda: a healthy church . . . transforming life. The Windsor Report of October 2004 was established by the Archbishop of Canterbury to address the unity of the Anglican Church when a broad consensus on an issue is held but an opposite view is strongly held by some. The particular issue is the consecration of an actively homosexual priest as a bishop in the USA. Can Anglican provinces 'go it alone'? The answer of the Windsor Report is 'No.' We await the response of the Episcopal church of the USA to the challenge to stay in unity while continuing to discern truth. In a very emotional debate General Synod decided not to pass legislation for women to be ordained bishops. As a national church we must find a way forward to maintain unity while addressing this issue. Some dioceses are seeking advice as to whether a diocese itself has the authority to ordain women to the episcopate. At their recent Synod the Sydney Diocese decided to hold back on 'going it alone' with lay presidency of Holy Communion. This is a very helpful step in our quest to maintain unity. In all of this I hear the words of St Paul, 'maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace'. (Ephesians 4:3) May the Holy Spirit give us great wisdom and love, enabling us to be a missionary people. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of mission. Shalom   PS In a strong affirmation of our Diocese, three Tasmanians were elected to the Standing Committee of General Synod: Audrey Mills, Chris Jones and your Bishop. When a bold mainlander accused Tasmania of over-representation I simply stated, with due humility, 'If you discover a gold mine, you mine it.' He laughed. JH