Syria
Pray for Christians in Syria following the toppling of dictatorial regime
[Roman Catholic] Bishop tells Islamic rebels Christians must not be 'second-class citizens' in Syria: report from Christian Post
Al Qaeda urges victorious Syrian rebels to target Christians, from Barnabas Aid.
Concerns have been raised about the safety of Christians and other minorities in Syria after an Islamist-led rebellion ousted the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Dr Timothy Shah comments that despite the awful regime of Assad, “Christians did reasonably well under Assad and are likely to fare much worse under a regime that is likely to be dominated by Salafist-Islamist rebels supported by a Turkey that is deeply hostile to Western powers and Western Christianity.”
Anglican News
Abuse scandal triggers vote of no confidence in church leadership, by Kaya Burgess, The Times. Rochester Diocesan Synod overwhelmingly expresses no confidence in the leadership of the Archbishop’s Council, particularly over safeguarding.
Welby sorry for hurting abuse survivors with speech, from BBC News.
Justin Welby said his words, delivered to the House of Lords on Thursday, had caused further hurt to those harmed by the "heinous abuse" perpetrated by prolific child abuser John Smyth. It comes as three lead bishops for safeguarding in the Church of England described the speech as "utterly insensitive" in a letter to some abuse survivors.
Calls for Archbishop of York to resign over Church failings in sex abuse case, from BBC News.
David Tudor, a serial abuser of girls who was suspended twice in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, remained in post in the Diocese of Chelmsford (including under Stephen Cottrell’s tenure as Bishop) until this year.
Civitas report calls for rethink of parishes, by Madeleine Davies, Church Times:
Drawing on criticisms offered by the Save the Parish movement, a new report argues that power and assets should be taken away from Diocesan administration and the oversight of the Archbishop’s Council, and returned to local parishes. The Church of England rejects the conclusions of the report. [Editor’s comment: Faithful members of the C of E should ask: it’s easy to criticise the ‘managerial’ approach of some C of E leadership, but would the solutions offered by ‘Save the Parish’ be any better if the gospel is not proclaimed?]
Does the future have a church? From Religion Media Centre.
Summary of discussion hosted by think tank Theos. The Church of England is experiencing decline, as there is much less of a “nominal fringe” of community contact with church through life events. Meanwhile non-C of E churches are growing, partly caused by immigration.
A more positive take: recent podcasts
CEEC Director John Dunnett in conversation with Ian Paul, Andrew Goddard and Amanda Robbie. Their view: Lots of good things are happening in evangelical churches within the C of E. We need to hope, pray and work to get better bishops to lead the church in the future
The Pastor’s Heart: Dominic Steele talks to William Taylor from St Helen’s Bishopsgate who is in Australia to speak at conferences. “Our goal is to secure evangelical ministry”, he says, and outlines principles of leadership training and church planting. If the bishops do not provide proper provision within the C of E, “then we will take matters into our own hands”.
Gafcon
A gathering of Gafcon leaders from across the world is being planned for March 12-15 2025 in Plano, Texas. This will be a great opportunity for fellowship, strengthening unity in the gospel, responding to spiritual threats and other mission challenges, and renewing vision for global orthodox Anglicanism. Pray for this!
Anglican Network in Europe
ANiE is established in Ireland as congregations supported by Irish Church Missions come under Bishop Andy Lines’ oversight. Ministers who have not been recognised by the Church of Ireland but whose churches want to remain Anglican were ordained by Bishop Andy into ACE on 2nd December.
Mark Smith, of City Church Dublin, looks forward with joy to being part of an Anglican movement committed to biblical orthodoxy. Mark speaks here.
Davood Mahmoodi is the pastor of Iranian Gospel Church in Dublin. A gifted evangelist, he has shared the gospel in Ireland for 20 years, and has seen many come to faith, even from a Muslim background. “We are excited to now be part of Gafcon Global churches.” Davood speaks here.
Kieron Lynch with Immanuel Church Dublin says “we found ourselves as Anglicans without an appropriate home…and so we have found with ACE deep fellowship, support and a place we can call home”. Kieron speaks here.
More ministers in the Church of Ireland and other denominations with their congregations are in the process of joining ACE.
Assisted dying: Parliament votes to bring this forward to the next stage
Highlights from the Parliamentary debate on Assisted Suicide, By Carys Moseley, Christian Concern
An excellent summary of the debate which took place on 29 November, concluding with reasons why Christian should continue to oppose the “assisted dying” agenda.
Esther Rantzen is wrong. There’s no such thing as ‘secular neutrality’, from Premier Christianity:
The pro-euthanasia campaigner was critical before the Commons vote of those who are guided by their faith in making ethical decisions, believing this to be irrational and untrustworthy. James Gillies, writing in Premier Christianity, shows how this is a wrong understanding of faith. Christians can be confident in arguing from biblical principles, aware that secular worldviews often have irrational assumptions.
The idols of death and the God of Life
Editorial blog from Anglican Mainstream argues that state-sponsored “assisted dying” is an outworking of idolatry: “an assertion of my own will to power over the will of the Creator and sustainer. Idolatry is progressive and leads to an inversion of what we see as precious or worthy.”
Gospel and culture
AI – a modern Tower of Babel? By Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, The Gospel Coalition:
Fast developing AI has potential for good, but already we can see how it can be an attempt to create a superintelligence, like our own god, and also to replicate authentic relationships. How should Christians respond?
My Top 10 Theology Stories of 2024, by Collin Hansen, The Gospel Coalition
A thoughtful take on news highlights from the year, including
- Massive increase in bible sales worldwide
- Decline in Western mainline church attendance contrasted with global south leadership increasingly taking responsibility for the world church
- France: “post-Christian buffet” at Olympics, yet also reopening of magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral
We must not lose Christ at Christmas, by Peter Mead, Evangelical Focus.
It sounds obvious, but “let’s be sure to pause and allow our hearts to be wowed by the wonder of it all…If angels are amazed, surely we should slow down and make sure we are too. Can we ever fully grasp the wonder of Christmas? Wesley’s words again, ‘Veiled in flesh, the godhead see, hail the incarnate deity, pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel!’”
Summary for prayer:
- Pray that many would come to saving and living faith in Jesus over this Christmas and that seeds that are sown bear fruit.
- Pray for Gospel outreach and witness in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
- Give thanks for Irish Church Missions and pray for those recently ordained into ACE.
- Pray for Christians in Syria following the overthrow of the Assad regime by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - (formerly the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda).
- Pray for the selection of the new ABC and pray into the continuing fallout from the Makin review.
- Continue to pray against the culture of death in UK and for the life and light of Jesus to shine.
The delegates present in Kigali pledged to give over $750,000 to become foundation members of the Gafcon Endowment Fund, by pledging to give $10,000 over the next 3 years. Might you or other faithful Anglicans that you know become founder members also?
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