EFAC

The recent tragic events in Haiti (13/1/10) raise this question acutely for us once again, but the question is always with us because we all experience suffering in some form or other in our lives and the lives of those we love.

There are no simple or glib answers to this question, but if one is to live in hope and not despair it is essential to think it through. The following is an attempt to provide a Christian framework from within which to consider the question.

1. We need to observe that suffering has different causes:

(a) It can be the result of human decisions and actions that are selfish, exploitive, cruel, unjust or evil. E.g.: Economic exploitation, war and other forms of armed conflict, pollution that leads to disease, individual life style decisions that lead to alcoholism or drug addiction, heart disease or diabetes, etc. Human actions can also compound the effect of natural forces like flooding or seasonal cycles of cyclones when people are forced for economic or political reasons to live in flood prone areas like parts of Bangladesh or Burma. Climate change is another example of this. The tragic impact of the earthquake in Haiti is compounded by the political corruption, instability, poverty and lack of infrastructure in that sad country.

Such a lot of to-ing and fro-ing these days between conservatives, charismatics, ‘open’ and reformed evangelicals! On October 14th 2009 I was listening to Fulcrum’s Stephen Kuhrt at the residential conference of the Church of England Evangelical Council (at which I was present – as a former CEEC Chairman). I found myself wandering down Memory Lane. For it was fifty years back – September 1959 that old man Chavasse ordained me in Rochester Cathedral.  

Why, Stephen Kuhrt is still a babe – ordained in 2003!  Yet I could no more have given a talk on his level to CEEC at that stage than have driven the BRM racing car. 

Do you know, life was altogether more simple when I was ordained! The evangelical intake in September 1959  numbered about seven percent of the total. Who were we? What were we? Nothing, in the minds of the wider church. It was Backs to the Wall for us despised evangelicals. Charismatic evangelicals? They were a non-breed. Reformed evangelicals? Forget it. If I had a label at all it was Evangelical. That was enough – and it ought to be enough today!  True, in those early days there was a group who called themselves Liberal Evangelicals, who had problems over Bible infallibility and penal substitutionary atonement. But with Stott around they were a dying breed. And then there was Billy! Our numbers and our confidence grew.
It was really in 1962 – with Honest to God – that true battle began. Even so – in that still comparatively stable era morally – it would have been completely unthinkable that the Richard Baxter-style dismissal of 1685 could have repeated itself at Kidderminster, as it did in 2002 with a brave colleague, Charles Raven, whom I admire for his stance against his bishop’s blatant defiance of the Lambeth 1998 resolution on homosexuality. Charles, though banished from St John’s Kidderminster under threat of police arrest, has never renounced his anglicanism, and – for his consistent placing of Faith and Truth above Order – has, to my mind, every God-given right to continue speaking to us as an anglican evangelical.

Full article available at.... Anglican Mainstream.net

Former EFAC Victoria President and well known church leader, Peter Corney, has announced the launch of a website containing his written material collected into one place. Peter has written extensively for EFAC over the years as well as for Arrow Leadership and other Christian organisations. He is the author of many popular books on Church Leadership.

Peter writes “ Due to the generous help of a friend I have recently developed a website that contains a number of articles I have written and resources I have developed over the years. It will also have a couple of my books that are now out of print downloadable as PDFs. I also plan to place new material regularly on the site.The site is called ‘Foundations’ and its aim is to stimulate creative thinking about Christianity and culture, provide resources for those in Christian leadership and to encourage Christians to be more effective in our mission of sharing Christ with the world. The material is all freely available under the Creative Commons licence and acknowledgement of material used would be appreciated. I pray that you may find it useful and stimulating. I would appreciate any feedback you might want to give.”


The website may be found at  http://www.petercorney.com/ and is well worth checking out.

Our EFAC Annual Dinner speaker, Zac Veron, has recieved 2nd prize in the Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards, with his book, "Leadership on the front foot."

The judges said "This book has the potential to change the church in Australia."

A full media release can be seen here or an article from Sydney Anglican Network here.

Eternity is a brand new monthly newspaper for the Christians of Australia. Eternity will be launched in October 2009 and is published by Australian Christian Pty Ltd. Eternity will produce news with a Christian worldview, drawing on the resources of Christians and churches around Australia. The paper is independent of denominations and is privately operated. Christian churches in Australia will receive Eternity for free to share with their people and community.

Quick Facts
• Eternity will be produced and distributed in October and December 2009 and then monthly from February 2010
• Initial print run will be 100,000 nationwide, delivered free to over 2,000 churches across all major denominations
• The paper will be funded from advertising, not subscriptions

The Team
Eternity is published by Australian Christian Pty Ltd. The directors of this company are John Sandeman and David Maegraith. John Sandeman, 53, left Fairfax Media Limited in 2008 after 28 years of service, culminating in the position of Design and Production Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. David Maegraith, 38, most recently has worked as Marketing Manager for Anglican Media Sydney, publishers of Southern Cross newspaper. David has previously worked for organisations such as CMS, AC Nielsen and Rolling Stone magazine. John and David have engaged journalists and support staff to partner in the production of Eternity.

Take Your Place in Eternity
We invite you to join us in the exciting launch of Eternity, a new mass market newspaper for Australian Christians. We would like to hear from churches, organisations and individuals with a story to tell, their news, testimonies and opinions. All enquiries of an editorial nature should be made in the first instance via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Churches are welcome to register to receive Eternity for free - simply email your registration request to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it For organisations and individuals looking to advertise Eternity offers
a substantial print run of 100,000 copies nationwide, monthly. In addition, state-specific editions of Eternity will be produced, for state-based organisations to target readers in their area.
For all advertising-related enquiries email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

More about Eternity
Eternity is published to encourage and support Christians, for example by hearing of other people becoming Christians through testimonies – the most basic and ancient form of Christian communication. The paper will run news, ‘played with a straight bat’, in the tradition of the US
evangelical paper ChristianityToday, the gold standard of christian reporting. Through stories of missionaries overseas and church planting in ordinary Australian suburbs, even the smallest article can show the big picture of God at work locally and globally. A strand of social justice stories will alert readers’ consciences each month. In addition, critical engagement with culture will include Christians at work in the arts. The paper will run extracts of good new books, especially local ones. Eternity will be published as a “three quarter Tabloid” magazine (same page
size as Good Weekend, and some local papers). Eternity Serves a Wide Audience
• 12 million Australians state their religion as Christianity.
• 23 per cent of adult Australians participate in church or religious activities.
• 1.6 million Australians attend church each week. The monthly attendance is more than double.
Australian Christians has never had a mass media voice to report and represent news and views of interest to them. Until now.

Contact Us

For all advertising-related enquiries email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
For all other enquires email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Eternity is published by Australian Christian Pty Ltd
122 Johnston Street Annandale NSW 2038
http://www.eternity.biz/