General
EFAC Queensland Update
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- Written by: Lynda Johnson
Anglican evangelical ministry across Qld has a rich history. Rev Jeff Roper came to Brisbane to start a CMS branch at the end of the 1950s, and with the CMS League of Youth, reaped the fruit of the Billy Graham Crusades. There has been faithful evangelical ministry for decades, holding strong in the face of increasing liberalism and at times, significant progressive activism. EFAC in Qld has long been the place for lay people to find their home. There are more lay members than clergy members, which has always been a great blessing. In recent years, the membership of EFAC has grown, and it is hoped this will stimulate even more strategic connection and creative thinking for future Gospel impact.
Following the gradual change within Melbourne Diocese over the last 30 years, my prayer is that there might be similar transformational change across Queensland, and particularly in Brisbane Diocese.
The two dioceses in the country which are at the forefront of the liberal/progressive growth are Perth and Brisbane. While some smaller Dioceses are also liberal/progressive, they don’t have as much influence because of their size. Perth and Brisbane have significant influence.
Queensland has three Dioceses – Brisbane, Rockhampton and North Qld. It is great that for more than a decade, the Bishops of Rockhampton have been evangelical. The Diocese of Nth Qld, while geographically large, has a proportionately small number of parishes. In both Nth Qld and Rockhampton Dioceses, BCA is providing wonderful ministry in many rural and regional areas, and there are great growing evangelical churches in the cities of Cairns and Townsville, including one associated with the Diocese of the Southern Cross.
Here is a more detailed snapshot of the Brisbane Diocese, noting that these figures are as accurate as possible with the information available.
Currently there are 158 active clergy across the Diocese of Brisbane. 23.4% of those would align with the evangelical end of the spectrum. While Diocesan statistics would give a larger number, I estimate the number of parishes in the Diocese to be 117, as many (particularly in the western region) are unviable. 22.2% of those 117 are led by evangelicals.
Both clergy and parish figures are close to 25%, which is encouraging. While one would expect that these figures might equate, evangelical parishes are more likely to have more than one stipended clergyperson, which is the case in at least 3 parishes.
The Diocese is divided into southern, northern and western regions. The Southern Region has the strongest representation with close to 30% of parishes clearly evangelical or led by evangelicals. The Southern Region is also where two churches associated with the Diocese of the Southern Cross began, and both they, and those who chose to remain, are now doing well. The Northern Region used to be stronger than it is now, but due to purposeful attrition of evangelicals over the last 25 years, previously strong evangelical parishes are no longer that. There are currently 5 parishes led by evangelicals which equates to 10% (down from previously 11 parishes which would have been 23%). Due to the smaller number of viable parishes in the Western Region, just over 30% are led by evangelicals.
It is also significant that there are vacancies in parishes that are seeking a clear evangelical leader (currently approx. 8), and with some retirements in the next couple of years, these figures will change.
These figures should encourage us. Please pray that EFAC across Queensland will continue to shine a light for Godly gospel ministry, that brings many to Christ.
Rev. Lynda Johnson is the Chair of EFAC Qld.
EFAC Victoria Update
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- Written by: TIm Collison
Last year EFAC VIC held its first annual meeting since 2019. It elected a new chair, Tim Collison; a new treasurer, Pedram Shirmast; and a new secretary Xiaoxi Lou. EFAC VIC also held a spiritual retreat led by Peter Adam last year. This year it held a briefing meeting about the importance of the election in the Melbourne Diocese, and has facilitated a number of churches getting grants to send their teenagers to Leader's in Training Conference. We are pleased with the election of Bishop Ric Thorpe as the Archbishop of Melbourne.
Tim Collison is Assistant Minister at St. Mark's Anglican Church Chair of EFAC Victoria and Secretary of EFAC Aust.
Editorial Winter/Spring 2025
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- Written by: Stephen Hale
The past few months have been especially important for the future of the Anglican Church in Australia. On Saturday 19th July Bishop Dr Mark Short was elected as the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. Mark has been Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn since 2019. Prior to that he was the National Director of BCA. Mark is an EFAC Australia Vice President. The last evangelical Primate was Sir Marcus Loane (Sydney). Prior to 1982 the most senior Metropolitan became the Primate. After that they have been elected. Do pray for Mark and Monica as he assumes this weighty extra responsibility in November and as he leads the Anglican Church in Australia and represents the Anglican Church of Australia internationally. Pray also for the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn as they seek to support Mark as he takes up this new role.
The other exciting news in the past few months has been the election of Bishop Ric Thorpe as the Archbishop of Melbourne. Bishop Ric is the Bishop of Islington in the Diocese of London and has a national role in church planting and revitalisation in the Church of England. Bishop Ric is a regular visitor to Australia and will be a real gift to the Australian church when he starts in late November. Peter Adam has written a great reflection piece on this significance of his election.
This edition of Essentials is a bumper edition in every sense of the word. I had an above average number of responses to invitations to contribute to the Winter edition, so we decided to put out an expanded Winter/Spring edition! You’ll also notice that we have included two copies in each sleeve.
The focus of this edition is Church Planting. Inside is a very stimulating interview with Andrew Katay one of the key Anglican leaders in this area. We probably all know about Trinity Adelaide and City on a Hill but most of us don’t know about the remarkable way both have evolved and expanded in the past decade or so. We have some lovely stories from two church planters from Melbourne as well as a range of other great articles.
BISHOP STEPHEN HALE
EDITOR
Editorial Autumn 2025
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- Written by: Stephen Hale
Sing to the Lord a new song
The Autumn edition of Essentials was edited by Ben Underwood from Perth. Readers will be familiar with Ben as he edited Essentials for a number of years. Ben agreed to pull together a number of articles from his fellow West Australians. I trust you enjoy these articles as well as Ben’s own original hymn lyrics!
Also included is the EFAC Global response to the IASUFO proposals on the realignment of the Anglican Communion. As one of the contributors it needs to be said that landing a response wasn’t easy. Ultimately we believe that it represents a potentially positive way forward. It has significant inadequacies which we have noted. I commend it to you.
BISHOP STEPHEN HALE
EDITOR
Editorial Summer 2024
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- Written by: Gavin Perkins
It is often easy to get locked in to our own views and interpretations, especially when it comes to our gospel reading and interpretation traditions. However, we can often most easily see our own fixatedness by approaching these areas from different locations, and indeed through different media. Each of the essays in this issue asks us to revisit biblical and theological narratives which we should know very well and view them through a different lens. Not necessarily to change our minds, nor to discard our thinking, but to be refreshed and renewed in our appreciation of the biblical narrative, and especially
Advent.
The placement of Advent at the beginning of our church liturgical calendar gives us a wonderful opportunity to examine the biblical birth narratives alongside our culture’s penchant for tinsel, carols, and kitsch. Indeed, as our Evangelical tradition is often one for words and ideas the visual and aesthetic nature of our Advent and Christmas celebrations give good opportunity for engagement and reflection from the other side of our brains.
Additionally with the cyclical nature of the church calendar, we are blessed with the possibility of annually repeated moments where our culture and church collide in fruitful explorations of the gospel. May we be surprised, refreshed, renewed, strengthened, and challenged again this advent as we engage the cultures around us with the beauty and blessings of the gospel. For: “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’” (Mt 1:23, NRSVA)
CHRISTOPHER PORTER
Editorial Spring 2024
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- Written by: Gavin Perkins
In its 2018 report An Evangelical Episcopate, the Sydney Diocesan Doctrine Commission helpfully elucidated the core responsibilities of a Bishop in the Anglican Church. The first priority of a Bishop is to be a guardian of ‘the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). This is the priority found in the New Testament and in the Anglican Ordinal. Through public proclamation and defence of the apostolic gospel and by personal example the bishop is to do all in his power to ensure that the teaching of Scripture shapes and directs the life, ministry and mission of his Diocese. Other priorities flow from this. The Bishop must order the ministry of the Diocese towards this gospel witness and ministry, he must exercise pastoral concern and insight, he must represent his Diocese faithfully nationally and internationally, and he must administer the work of the Diocese in line with its mission. This is the vital and onerous task of each Bishop and so we must remain deeply committed to pray for our Bishops, and we rejoice in great thankfulness for those who have and continue to discharge these duties. In this edition of Essentials, it is wonderful then to have three such faithful Bishops represented as contributors. In a global and national Anglican context in which Bishops have often been at the vanguard of heterodoxy rather than orthodoxy, it is a great joy to hear from these three brothers, Peter, Kanishka, and Paul in this edition.
Alongside these contributions we have our eyes lifted to see the work of ARDFA amongst some of the most distressed displaced peoples, holding out the love of Christ in the darkness, and we also have our minds stimulated to see with clarity the glory of Jesus’ transfiguration and its purpose for his ministry. I commend our Spring edition to evangelical Anglican friends across Australia.
GAVIN PERKINS, BOWRAL NSW
EDITOR