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The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search |
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a healthy church...transformingLIFE |
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June 2006 |
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Presidential Address to SynodBishop John Harrower delivered his Presidential Address to the forty-ninth Synod of the Diocese of Tasmania in May 2006. The Gospel of Jesus is a love story: the story of a divine love, a divine passion. The Gospel is passionate business and fuels key areas of life: How are you praying? • How are you praying?Prayer is the mission of the Church. We are a pilgrim people formed by the Pentecostal Spirit to worship God and to perform God’s work in the world. Prayer is our heart yearning and communing with the Heart of the universe. The Heart that calls life from death, love from un-love, light from darkness. We can invite people to join with us in prayer. Recently, our Beaconsfield church had its doors open day and night to offer a place of quiet meditation and prayer for the community. Gathering for prayer is an opportunity for hospitality; a welcome into the presence of God. Daily prayer, regular prayer both individual and shared is vital to ‘ahealthychurch . . . transforminglife’. How are you praying? • How are you growing?‘Believing’ and ‘belonging’ are two key aspects of growth in Christ. Questions about Christian belief can come at a late or an early age. Bob Witten of the Midlands: ‘I have been approached by a man over 70 who said, ‘You keep referring to other bits of the Bible and I don’t have enough framework to hang things on to understand.’ He has read enthusiastically several Lion Handbook publications and has now requested Confirmation.’ ‘On many occasions the children (at the Kempton Festival and the Oatlands’ Bullock Festival) riding the donkeys made comments about why a donkey has a cross pattern on its back - ‘Is that because Jesus died on a cross?’ ‘Did the donkey that carried Jesus know that Jesus was going to die on a cross?’ ‘Did the donkey carry the cross and that gave it the mark?’’ Jacob Yung, Minister of the Hobart Chinese Anglican Church: ‘Chinese church has two interesting ministries, mission to local Chinese and mission to overseas students. On 30 April, we had one local Chinese and two overseas students baptised, two overseas Chinese were confirmed. Mission to the overseas students is a very rewarding ministry. Every year we have new believers with God’s grace. When they came here, they were touched by the Holy Spirit and the love of other Christians here. Then, their life changed.’ I also grow because I belong to the Church, the community of Christians, God’s pilgrim people. Late last year I had a Ministry Review after five years as your bishop. This has assisted my growth as a Christian and as a bishop of the Church. How are you growing? • How are you working with others?We are made in love by Love and for love. That is to say, we are made to live in community, with others. The Holy Spirit calls us into the fellowship of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Church. Alan Bulmer, Rector of Deloraine: ‘The seven Churches of Deloraine and District have for many years worked together to present the Gospel to this community.’ ‘For the last five years all Churches have supported our Chaplain in the High School and two years ago provided a Chaplain to our Aged Hostel and Nursing Home. This has been so successful that the Boards of both homes now share the cost of the Chaplain who is working full-time.’ Andrew Koerbin from Sandford Parish: ‘The Parishes of Lindisfarne, Bellerive, Howrah and Sandford came together on Easter Sunday to hold an Easter Fun Day to reach out to the Eastern Shore community... From such humble beginnings, anything is possible’ I work intensively and extensively with Anglicans throughout Tasmania and I thank you all. The Anglican agencies and schools meet with me regularly to keep ourselves informed and encouraged by each others ministries. Building personal relationships is a key to building a healthy church. One of the ways in which I seek to do this is through my annual ‘Bishop’s Day’ at our Anglican schools. From a Chaplain’s letter: ‘(H)ighlights of the day included Grade 6 and Grade 10 forums in which students entered into dialogue with Bishop John about a range of spiritual issues. Topics ranged from heaven, hell, donkeys, baptism, who made God, the Trinity, clerical dress and what’s the Bishop’s day job?...’ In August I will be visiting the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council (NATSIAC) in Brisbane to hear from them of their role and relationship with the Anglican Church in Australia. How are we working with others? • How are you building your community?Anglicans in Tasmania are active in community groups. Anglicans at Beaconsfield continue to exercise sensitive and significant ministry with affected families and friends. At Queenstown, a local Councillor congratulated the newly commissioned Local Ministry Support Team, ‘At a time when many services are being withdrawn from the West Coast and in many areas the community is in decline, it’s good to see the Church continuing on. I thank the Anglican Church for your commitment to the West Coast.’ Ten years ago at St David’s Port Arthur the Anglican community was arriving for worship when people began running up towards them from the café. Their worship that day was expressed in caring for victims of the tragedy. Their loving service has continued through the following years. As God’s ‘Easter people’ we serve the community in many ways. Prison Chaplain Charles Whitton comments, ‘Since I’ve been full-time at Risdon, I’ve baptised many prisoners. I’ve given them the sacrament of the Eucharist, many for the first time, I’ve anointed them with oil, married them, buried them. And in all of this I see the face of the suffering Christ who longs for us to reach out to him in the least, the poor, the broken and the vulnerable.’ How are you building your community? How are you ‘MAPing’? MAP, ‘Mission Action Plans’, is a tool to help your parish or agency plan its mission. How are you ‘MAPing’? How is my episcopal ‘MAPing’?I highlight five areas: 1. A focus on prayer during Lent 2007. And so to prayerIn prayer we align ourselves to the purposes of God. When we pray ‘your will be done’ we are embracing both surrender and deliberate action. Let us pray (APBA pages 210-211): Christ, whose insistent call
This is an edited version of Bishop John's Presidential Address to Synod.The full text may be found here . |
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