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Written by: Kanishka Raffel

Created: 20 August 2015

Kanishka Raffel is rector of St Matthew's Shenton Park, WA. This is an extract from the first of his Anglican Future Conference  Bible Studies.

Peter's second letter is short and full of urgency. It is urgent for at least four reasons: firstly because the apostles and eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus are dying out; secondly because there are false teachers who reject the testimony of the apostles; thirdly because these are the last days, the season of God's patience when he calls on everyone to repent, and finally because Peter himself, the slave and apostle of Christ, is nearing death. As the aging apostle nears the end of his life, he does not give up the commission given to him to feed the Lord's sheep, to feed his lambs.

What is the food to which Peter directs the sheep?  Where are they to find pasture for their souls and food for the journey when the apostle is with them no longer?  Peter's top priority for believers is the knowledge of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter means believers to feed on Jesus. Through the knowledge of Christ, grace and peace are ours in abundance (v2). Through the knowledge of Christ, grow in grace (v3).

When Peter talks about knowledge he doesn't mean mere information, philosophy, an intellectual stance towards Jesus. He means close and vital relationship with Jesus. To know God through Jesus is to have come into relationship with him through faith and repentance.

Knowing Jesus is of first importance.  Can you imagine a church that doesn't know Jesus?  Can you imagine a ministry that doesn't know Jesus?  Can you imagine a gospel that doesn't know Jesus?  What a parody of faith, what a parody of church, what a parody of mission when the knowledge of Jesus is lost! That's the threat that Peter wants to counter in this letter.

Notice here that God is a giver and notice the gifts God gives: Peter writes to those who have received a faith (v1). God's divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life (v3), and throughGod's glory and goodness he has given us great and precious promises (v4).

But now notice how it is that God's people come to receive these gifts. Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (v2). His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us (v3).

Knowing Jesus is the essential and sufficient foundation of the Christian life.  Not having Bible information, not keeping religious rules, not being moral, not ecstatic experience or institutional authorization—no, the gifts God gives come on account of what he has done to secure them, and are given to those who enter into relationship with him. Even the faith that saves is something we receive on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus—it is all of grace, even faith and repentance .

It is the stunning life and ministry of Jesus which is planted like a great flagpole in history, that summons all those who will come, to know God through Jesus and to receive from him all that God has to give—grace and peace, everything needed to live the godly life, his very great and precious promises.

To say that God has given his people a faith is to say he has called them into relationship with himself—through Jesus. To say that he has given them grace and peace is to say that they have received forgiveness and reconciliation — through Jesus.  To say that God gives his people everything necessary for the godly life, means that God produces in his people the life that pleases him, produces in his people the likeness of Jesus. To say he has given his people great and precious promises is to say that Jesus is the hope of his people, he has secured their future and they live in the light of what is promised but not yet seen.  To say that God's people participate or fellowship in the divine nature is to say that they are no longer prisoners to corruption but adopted children in the divine family, sons and daughters in fellowship with the Father through the Son by the Spirit.

If you are at all like me, you have come to this conference, partly to get a break from the relentlessness of caring and feeding and guarding the flock of the Chief Shepherd.  We count it a privilege, we count it the highest privilege—but in the midst of tears and prayers and doubts and death—we wonder, how will we rise to this task and how will we keep at it?  But brothers and sisters, take courage!  His divine power has given his people everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Jesus who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Jesus, for his own glory and in accord with his own inexhaustible goodness saved us for himself.  The faith we have, we received—because it was him who chose us before we chose him.  And all those who are his have received a faith as precious as that of the apostle himself.  We are in no different a position than the first generation of believers in Christ, for he has given us everything we need through our knowledge of him. 

So do not neglect the knowledge of Jesus in his righteousness, grace and peace and in God's very great and precious promises.  It can happen can't it?  We can be so busy with ministry we lose touch with Jesus. Those chilling words that Jesus speaks in Matthew 25: 'Away from me. I never knew you!' Do not neglect the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness, and do not hesitate to offer him to others.  We have nothing to offer as ministers of the Lord Jesus other than the Lord himself. But as people receive and respond to him they receive everything they need for a godly life.
And if you are at all like me then you have come to this conference slightly overwhelmed and slightly intimidated by the opposition and the indifference of the world around us to the message we proclaim and the offer that we make.  But do not doubt for one moment that in the face of secularism and skepticism and consumerism and hedonism and pluralism his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Jesus our Lord. 

There is one who can lift our eyes to things we cannot see, there is one who can answer the doubts and fears of the human heart, there is one knowledge of whom is such comfort and joy that he makes the pleasures of the world dull and tasteless, there is one whose freely bestowed grace and peace is more valuable and more beautiful and more satisfying  than all the glitter and technology with which we adorn our lives, there is one whose singular life lays claim to human hearts, one heart at a time.  All we have to offer the world is Jesus; but Jesus is the answer to all the world's longings. The knowledge of Jesus: that's powerful knowledge.

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Written by: Jude Long

Created: 20 August 2015

Jude Long’s plenary reflections on the AFC asked us to attend to our relationship to Indigenous Australians.

Dr Jude Long is Principal of Nungalinya College, Darwin, NT

The reminder that the Anglican Church can and has changed in the past, and that it should be transitional and must be adapted to local need and opportunity, is very timely.
We all approach these issues from our own context and my context is very different to most people here so I bring a different perspective.

I have been concerned that the first peoples of this country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been hardly mentioned in this conference with the exception of Mark's panel comments yesterday until that beautiful story by Kanishka this morning (about William Cooper). I confess that before I went to Nungalinya I probably would not have noticed, but now that omission is painfully obvious.
Looking to the future is great but you bring the past with you. We are all complicit in a terrible corporate sin against the first peoples of this land. Without recognition, repentance, reparation and change, that sin will continue to pollute all we do. You cannot walk freely into the future with the mud of the past stuck to your feet.

As we look to the future in this continent of Australia, can we listen to our first peoples, learn from them, allow the flavour and content of our Anglicanism to be changed by this unique context? Can we take small steps to engage with our Indigenous peoples? Even just a small thing like singing some worship songs in an Indigenous language can open doors to more changes.

Related to this is the distribution of resources. Paul took up a collection for those suffering in Jerusalem and the sharing of resources was a mark of the early church clearly demonstrating the love of Christ. Those of you from down south would find it hard to imagine the challenges faced in a place like the Northern Territory. In the Northern Territory we have lots of Indigenous clergy, but they are not paid. We have a theological college that can't fit the students in who want to learn the bible due to lack of teachers and funds. We have people who long to read the Bible but cannot access it in their own language. We have communities where not only do they not have Internet access, but the only way you can contact them is to ring the public phone in the street. I could go on and on, but I think my point is made.
As we look to an Anglican future can it please be one where we actively seek to address injustice, care for the poor and marginalised, where those hungry for the word of God are fed, and the last become first and first become last. Perhaps if our church looked more like this some of those other contextual issues that make it hard to share the gospel may disappear.

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Written by: Peter Adam

Created: 20 August 2015

Peter Adam delivered an address on the final morning of the Anglican Future conference, in which he sought to help us consider what the  future may hold for Australian Anglicans. This is an edited and abridged version of that address.

Adoniram Judson, pioneer missionary in Burma, now Myanmar, tied up, ready for the flames, was asked what he thought about his future. His reply: ‘The future is as bright as the promises of God’.
God warns us in the Bible that it is foolish to assume that we know the future, or to think that we can control or create the future. Indeed the prophet Ezekiel was told to prophesy against those who prophesy out of their own imaginations [Eze 13:2].

The Lord Jesus may return today: a great plague may decimate the developed world:  orthodox churches may abandon the faith: there may be a world-wide revival of Biblical Christianity: we in the West may face persecution in twenty years’ time: we in Australia may have to pay rates on church property, which would dramatically change our ministry: and certainly leadership of world Christianity will be found elsewhere than in the West over the next thirty years. We do not know the future. We do know that our world is changing at an ever-increasing rate, and that living in a global village increases the possibility of radical change on a world-wide scale. There are no places to hide in a global village: our neighbours are too close, and so World War III is even more likely, as is the universal persecution of Christians, fuelled by a range of motivations, both by  pagans, and by the religious.

We learn from Genesis 1 that we humans, made in God’s image, have dependent responsibility for the world. We are absolutely dependent on God, who rules his world in power and love. But we are also responsible to God for this world. Both are true: we are dependent, yet also responsible to God for our work in the world. We know from the Bible that we cannot know the future, nor can we control the future. Yet at the same time, our responsibility to God includes our provisional planning for the future, even if we cannot know it, control it, or secure it.

The book of Proverbs warns us to plan wisely, an apt word for Anglicans, who are more likely to be trapped by the present than they are to plan for the future: ‘Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, she prepares her food in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest’ [Prov 6:6-8].

Yet it also warns us that we cannot control the future, an apt word for the arrogant: ‘The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established’ [Prov 19:21].
We must plan, and we must trust. We should imagine our future, but hold our imaginings and our planning in open hands, trusting that God will achieve his gospel purposes, and that Jesus will indeed build his church.

It is a privilege to address this topic in this forum. It is too often the case that we only have the energy to respond to present pressures and problems, and so we are reactive rather than proactive. It is good for us to spend some time imagining our future, so that we can prepare for it, and focus our energy on achieving it. Decisions made today shape our future ministry. Humans naturally underestimate the damage they can do: and we also underestimate the good that we can do by God’s power and in his plan. As we think of our future, we have three great needs:

Firstly, we need to know that Anglicanism is capable of radical change.  What is Anglicanism? Does it have a future? Is it worth investing in its future? These issues are matters of current debate,

not least among Australian Anglicans, including Bishop Tom Frame, and Dr Bruce Kaye, and Archbishop Geoffrey Driver, whose recent books have stimulated my thinking.1
When thinking about Anglicanism our natural tendency is to universalise our present experience, and assume that what we see is what has always been the case. Parishes think that what the last Vicar did is normative Anglicanism. That is not so. Anglican more broadly think that what happened in the 20th century is normative Anglicanism, but that it not so. But Anglicanism is not unchanging. It is contextual and transitional. It is always changing. Here are some examples.

We might think that dioceses and parishes are the essential structure of Anglicanism.  That is not so. The early Celtic church in England was based primarily on monasteries and itinerant evangelists and teachers, not dioceses or parishes. The monastery was the base for evangelism, education, and pastoral care. This changed with the arrival of Augustine in Canterbury in 597 AD. He was sent by Pope Gregory to bring that church into line with Roman customs, including geographical dioceses and parishes.

And after the diocese and parish system was set in place in Europe, by the early 1100s it was no longer capable of evangelism and education. So the preaching orders, such as the Franciscans and the Dominicans, were set up, not by bishops but by concerned clergy and lay people. They were independent of dioceses, bishops, and archbishops, and still function that way in the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman church has two distinct forms, and one of those forms comprises a variety of movements or ‘religious orders’, as they are known. We Anglicans would call them ‘voluntary societies’.
Although these preaching orders were abolished in England at the Reformation, both the Church of England and Anglicanism more broadly have been profoundly affected by our own voluntary societies, including many evangelical societies. So the Anglican Church has in fact been pluriform: dioceses on the one hand, and voluntary societies on the other. In Australia these include the Church Missionary Society, Bush Church Aid, and ecumenical societies such as the Bible Society, Scripture Union, the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students, the Gideons, World Vision, TEAR, and many more.
You might think the Anglican Communion is essential to Anglicanism.  That is not so. It was an invention of the 19th century, and was, at least in part, an ecclesiastical reflection of the British empire.  National churches are what matter in Anglicanism. No international association of churches matters in Anglicanism inasmuch as  no such association has any power to dictate to Anglican  national churches.
For the ‘Anglican Communion’ was to a large extent not the product of the evangelistic energy of the Church of England, but came from the evangelistic activities of voluntary missionary societies. Some of these were evangelical, such as the Church Missionary Society, and others were high church, such as the Universities Mission to Central Africa. It was these societies which provided effective international sharing of resources, prayer, and fellowship, before there was anything called the Anglican Communion.

The initiative to evangelise the inhabitants of India did not come from leaders of the Church of England. It came from a group of concerned evangelical clergy and laity, members of the Clapham Sect. Similarly the initiative to plant the gospel and begin Anglican ministry in Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet did not come from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but from people such as John Newton and William Wilberforce.

You might think that the Archbishop of Canterbury must be the leader of what we call ‘The Anglican Communion’.  But this is not so. The idea is based on the notion of geographical origin, the idea that the Church of England originated in Canterbury, and therefore all Anglicans originate from Canterbury.  There is no evidence that the geographical origin of the Church of England was Canterbury: and Canterbury was not the powerhouse that created Anglican churches around the world. And in any case, an accidental event of history can never become the proof of necessary truths of revelation.
You might think that the creative energy for Anglicanism has come ‘from above’, from Archbishops and Bishops. That is not so.  The great and effective movements for reform within Anglicanism have been initiated ‘from below’ rather than ‘from above’.  These included Wycliffe and Tyndale and the translators of the Bible into English. The Bishops burnt the first translators and their Bibles. The Reformation was exceptional in being both a reformation ‘from below’ and ‘from above’. But it certainly would not have been effective without the costly and sacrificial movement ‘from below’. Similarly, the Evangelical Movement, the Oxford Movement, the East African Revival, and the Charismatic Renewal were fuelled ‘from below’. Such movements have usually been persecuted by the hierarchy, then grudgingly accepted, and then celebrated.

So historically, structures have changed, and new structures have been created, to enable people to be converted, churches to be planted, and people groups and nations to be evangelised.
One of the great contributions of the Baptist William Carey was that he realised that the Baptist churches of England could not evangelise the world, without what he called a ‘means’. Carey, later missionary to India, wrote his Enquiry Into the Obligations of the Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen, which led to the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792, and the founding of many other missionary societies in following years. A ‘means’ is an organisation, a structure: voluntary societies are ‘means’.

The Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion was a movement ‘from below’, set up by John Stott and others to offer support, encouragement and resources to Anglican evangelicals throughout the world. The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans was also set up more recently to serve the Anglican Communion, by providing alternative structures for those who held firmly to Biblical and creedal Christianity. Both are ‘voluntary societies’ of the Anglican Communion, set up to provide what was lacking in that Communion, and to correct some unhelpful tendencies in that Communion.
You might think that it is impossible to have more than one Anglican diocesan structure in one place. That is not so. In Europe there are two different structures of Anglicanism. One is the Diocese of Europe, which is part of The Church of England. The other is the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, part of The Episcopal Church of USA. Perhaps this is an instructive model for the future. There is room for two different expressions of Anglicanism in the same place. Anglicanism is more flexible than first appears!

You might think that the continuation of Anglicanism is essential. That is not so. Effective mission is always contextual, and so church life must always be in a sense ‘transitional’.  However Anglicanism is also ‘transitional’ in another sense to  do with its self-understanding.

I have always valued the modest claims of Anglicanism: it does not claim to be the only church: it does not claim to be the best church: it does not even claim to be a necessary church. The idea of Anglicanism as transitional has been prominent in Anglican ecclesiology in the 20th century. It is the idea that Anglicanism could one day be absorbed into a larger fellowship: it could, on the one hand re-amalgamate with the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, it could join with other Protestant churches to form a new church, a new denomination.
This happened in India and Pakistan. There Anglicans joined with other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India, the Church of North India, and the Church of Pakistan. There are no ‘Anglicans’ left in India and Pakistan: they have all joined with other churches to form a larger church. Those churches are not considered part of the Anglican Communion. So, on the global scale, all Anglicans in every place could decide to join with other Christians to form a new church, and ‘Anglicanism’ might cease to exist!

Of course our flexibility is our weakness, as well as its strength. Anglicanism was able to be Reformed in the 16th century, but then lost its gospel clarity in the 17th century. It was renewed by the Evangelical Revival in the 18th and 19th centuries, but then compromised by the rise of Liberalism in the 19th and 20th centuries.

However the Anglican Communion as presently run seems to express some of the worst features of an English identity, described by the English novelist John Fowles:
‘Perhaps all this is getting near the heart of Englishness: being happier at being unhappy than doing something constructive about it. We boast of our genius for compromise, which is really a refusal to choose; and that in turn contains a large part of cowardice, apathy, selfish laziness…’ 2

Over thirty years ago I decided to respect people who left the current structures of Anglicanism, and to hope that they would respect me if I stayed.3  In my study of those who left the Church of England in 1662 and those who stayed,  I indicated my respect for those who conformed, and for those who became ‘nonconformists’, and recognised how God worked for gospel good among both groups of people.

Matthew Newcomen, Vicar of Dedham, was one who resigned in 1662. In his final sermon, he preached these words:

‘It hath been all along, a Merciful Providence of God, that when some of his servants could not satisfy their consciences, and come up to the things that have been imposed upon them, without injuring their Consciences; yet others have had a greater freedom given them, that they could yield: and if not so, what would have become of the people of God? Therefore, in those things, achieved there may be some providence of God, for good to you be in it.’4

We need the ministry of EFAC, continuing to support evangelical Anglicans, whatever their ecclesiastical connection. And we need the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, for those Anglicans who need new ecclesiastical structures for fellowship, support, and encouragement. Even if you do not need FCA in your context at present, you may need it in the future, and others need it now. We in the West may feel that we do not need larger fellowships to belong to, but they are of particular value to Christians who face constant persecution.
Anglicanism has constantly changed its shape, and style of ministry. Anglicanism is a mixture of the good gifts of God and human sinfulness. God in his mercy has used, is using, and will use Anglicanism: God does not need Anglicanism, in any form: but God in his mercy may continue to use those called Anglicans for his gospel purposes in the world.  Anglicanism is still changing, and we are all part of those changes.  

Our second great need is that we need the Spirit’s clarity about God’s purpose for his church in the last days. If we try to imagine our future without reading the Bible, we are sure to be confused, deceived, and destructive.  The detective writer P.D. James, who was herself a devoted member of the Church of England, has one of her characters describes Anglicanism in these terms:

‘Some of the girls practised a religion. Anglicanism…was accepted as a satisfying compromise between reason and myth, justified by the beauty of its liturgy, a celebration of Englishness; but essentially it was the universal religion of liberal humanism laced with ritual to suit each individual taste.’5

I attended a funeral in one of our Anglican parishes late last year. The Bible reading was from John 14. The reading finished half way through John 14:6. So the first half of the verse was read: 'Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life"', but the second half of the verse was not read:  ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’. What futile arrogance to edit the words of the Lord Jesus in order to change his theology!

As God has given us 2 Peter to show us what life will be like in the last days, so he has shown us from Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus what ordinary churches of the post-apostolic age should be like. Here is a checklist. Whatever the future of Anglicanism, these must be its primary features:

We need to believe, teach, and implement the gospel in our church, and proclaim the gospel to the world. [2 Tim 3:14-16, 2 Tim 4:5]
We need theological clarity about the content of the gospel from the Bible. [2 Tim 1:13-14].
We need godly, stable and able ministers of the gospel, who do not engage in abusive behaviour [Titus 1:5-9]
We need an effective team of gospel ministers around the world, both imported and indigenous. [2 Tim 4:9-21].
We need effective training for gospel ministry, and to raise up the next generation of gospel workers. [2 Tim 2:2].
We need people in ministry who know the gospel from the Bible, and are trained and equipped by the Bible to do their ministry. [2 Tim 3:15-16]
We need to know that our greatest problem and limitation is our sin and our sinfulness; as we need to know God our saviour, and his transforming gospel. [Titus 2:12-14].
We need to rebuke and correct error in life or theology. [2 Tim 2:14-19]
We need to be able to distinguish between fellow leaders who do call on the Lord out of a pure heart, but whom we must correct with gentleness [2 Tim 2],  and those corrupt church leaders who  have the form of godliness but deny its power, of whom Paul says, in 2 Tim 3: ‘have nothing to do with them’.
We need to pray for the world and the church, that the gospel may be proclaimed to the whole world. [1 Tim 2:1-7].
We need to be willing to suffer for the gospel. [2 Tim 1:8].

I love Cranmer’s ordination services, not least because the instrument or means of ministry is the Bible handed to every candidate. But I would like to add one question to every ordination service. Not just, ‘Do you believe the gospel?’, but also ‘Are you willing to suffer for the gospel?’ All ministry involves suffering, as indeed Paul wrote, ‘all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted’. Ministers who are not willing to suffer for the gospel, will not defend the gospel. We must prepare ourselves, our children, our churches and our converts to stand firm.

Our third great need is absolute trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Saviour, Lord, and Judge of his church. If we try to imagine our future without reading the Bible, and without trusting in

Christ, we are sure to be confused, deceived, and destructive.  God gave us Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus to teach us what ordinary churches of the post-apostolic age should be like. So too he gave us the book of Revelation, to increase our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever our future. Revelation begins with a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1:12-18.

Notice two important features of this vision. Firstly, he is seen ‘among the golden lampstands’, and as ‘walking among the golden lampstands’. Like the high priest in the Old Testament sanctuary, Christ walks among the golden lampstands, and walks among them to tend them. In that sanctuary, the golden lampstands in the holy place were a reminder of the glory of the presence of God. In this vision, the seven golden lampstands are the seven churches addressed in John’s letter. Christ walks among his churches; he sees and knows them; and he speaks to them; with a specific message for each of those churches, a message which is also what the Spirit says to all the churches. 

The speaking of this message is the second important feature of this vision: ‘coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword’ [1:16]. Christ is present among his churches, and he speaks these powerful words to them, and so to us. Christ walks among his churches even today. He walks among our churches: he knows them better than do. He knows our works: he knows our good works, and he rewards them: he knows our bad works, and he condemns them. He warns us of our dangers, he encourages us in our strengths, and invites us to trust his promises.
We need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the glorious and sufficient saviour and redeemer of his church, that he is the glorious and sufficient Lord of his church, and that he is the glorious and sufficient Judge of his church. If we do not know this, we might despair, we might give up, we might try to control, we ourselves might to try to save the church, to rule the church, to secure the church, or to judge the church. But this is Christ’s work, and he does it as he walks among his churches, to tend them, correct them, and care for them. He sees, he knows, he saves, he warns, he judges, and he rewards.

We do not know what our world will be like over the next fifty or a hundred years, or until the return of Christ, nor do we know the future of the Anglican Communion, or the shape of future world Christianity. We do know that no prayer is wasted, because ‘the prayers of the saints rise to the presence of God’. We know that that no good work is wasted, because the Lord Jesus knows our good works, commends them, and rewards them. We know that no sin is unknown to Christ, or unnoticed or ignored by him: he rebukes our sins, and invites and commands us to repent.
We know, too, that no repentance is wasted, because we are ‘set free from our sins by the blood of the Lamb who loves us’; that no suffering is wasted, for followers of the Lamb will suffer, and will conquer by suffering, and by not holding their lives dear even unto death. We know that no ministry is wasted, because Jesus knows our good works, and commends and rewards them, and because he is worthy of our service.

We do not know the future of Christianity in Australia. Will we face virulent persecution? Will we become a flourishing persecuted church? Will we see widespread revival? Whatever the case, we do know that no personal repentance, self-denial or self-restraint is wasted, for ‘those who wash their robes will eat of the tree of life, and enter the city’. We know that no self-sacrifice is wasted, because when Christ comes ‘he will bring his rewards with him’. Not even our weak ministry is wasted, because we are the armies of heaven, following the Lamb, praising the Lamb, witnessing of the Lamb, conquering through the Lamb, and one day ruling with him. No careful tending of the Church is wasted, because Christ walks among the churches, tending them, caring for them, rebuking them, and encouraging them, and because when he returns the Lamb’s bride will ‘be ready, clothed in fine linen, and adorned for her husband’.

Whatever the future holds, we know that no speaking, teaching, or preaching of the Bible is wasted, because Jesus Christ who tends the churches ‘has a voice like the roar of many waters, and his words are like a two-edged sword’, and his words are ‘what the Spirit says to the churches’. We know that no martyrdom is wasted, because ‘those who conquer will sit with Christ on his throne’; that no endurance is wasted, because ‘those who endure will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God’; that no service, suffering, or sacrifice is wasted, because the slain Lamb has conquered, and is ‘worthy of all power, wealth, wisdom, might, honour, glory, and blessing’.

We do not know the future of Christianity in the two-thirds world. Will those churches lapse into liberalism or legalism? Will they be taken over by syncretism or the prosperity gospel? Will they re-evangelise the West? Will they lead a world-wide revival of Biblical Christianity?

We know that Satan’s work is to spread heresy and persecution, but we also know  that ‘we conquer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our witness, and by not loving our lives even unto death’. We know that no evangelism is wasted because there will be ‘a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, crying with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb”’.

We know that no cleansing of the church is wasted, because one day we will be revealed as the bride, the wife of the Lamb, as God’s holy city, having the glory of God radiant as a rare jewel, and the dwelling place of God and the Lamb. We know no suffering is wasted, because one day ‘God will wipe away every tear from our eyes’.

No suffering for Christ is wasted, no sacrificial service for Christ is wasted, no worship of Christ is wasted, because he is ‘worthy to receive all power, wealth, wisdom, might, honour, glory, and blessing’, because he ‘was slain, and by his blood he ransomed for God people from every tribe and language and people and nation’.

Adoniram Judson said,  ‘The future is as bright as the promises of God’. St Paul wrote, ‘All the promises of God find their yes in Christ’. I urge you to trust Christ as your saviour. I urge you to trust Christ as the powerful and effective saviour of his Church. I urge you to trust Christ as the powerful and effective Lord and judge of his church.

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Written by: Stephen Hale

Created: 20 August 2015

Stephen Hale lays out a frank and wide-ranging analysis of the good, the bad and the broken in the Australian Anglican engagement with Jesus’ Great Commission. He finishes by naming eight keys to a way forward.

Stephen Hale is Chair of EFAC Australia and the lead minister of the St Hilary’s network in Kew and North Balwyn Vic. This is an edited version of the address Stephen gave at the Anglican Future Conference.

By any criterion the past 30 years has seen significant progress in some parts of Anglicanism in Australia. Just reflect on some of the good things that have happened in that time:

Good things that have happened

The number of evangelical parishes has grown significantly and many of those churches have defied the general trends and grown strongly. The balance of episcopal appointments has very slowly started to change so there are now more evangelical bishops which is slowly starting to reflect the reality on the ground in terms of church attendance.
In 1975 there were two large seminaries in Australia—Moore College and Ridley College—and they both continue and are strong. Ridley in particular needs mentioning as it receives a tiny diocesan grant and has only been able to grow because of its Foundation and many generous supporters. In the west we have seen the rise of Trinity Theological College, and St Mark’s Canberra has played an important role especially in rural Dioceses.

Even in places that generally function as monochrome Catholic dioceses there are growing numbers of evangelical ministries and ministers. There is an encouraging emergence of theologically orthodox gospel hearted Catholic Anglicans and that is reflected in this conference.

Miraculously, through the work of BCA, CMS and the Dioceses of NWA and NT we have healthy mission and ministry in many remote parts of Australia.

Church planting was barely on the radar screen in 1985 but has become a major focus in the past decade with many new plants in many places. City on a Hill only started seven years ago but now has three centres. Good quality Bible preaching and teaching is a key feature of the many growing churches. John Stott started the trend of what has become the norm. Student ministry has grown both numerically and also extensively and there has been a huge explosion of ethnic specific ministries due to migration and the influx of refugees. One third of Anglican attenders in Melbourne are involved with such ministries.

Christian welfare agencies offer a very high percentage of welfare delivery (unique to Australia) and the Anglican Church is a big player in this area. Alongside of this has been a rediscovery of ministries of compassion happening in and through local churches. Anglican schools have multiplied in recent decades. Committed school principals and staff as well as chaplains are in the front line of mission in our day. For most students that attend these schools this is the only interface they have with the church and where the gospel is articulated and lived out. So, there is much to be encouraged about and much more that I haven’t mentioned. Yet there are many challenges before us and one big overall weakness we must address.

Some challenges we face and our great weakness

Sadly there are many dying churches and the next decade in particular will see the collapse of many parish churches that are just clinging on at present. Radical liberalism doesn’t reproduce itself—I’ve seen it from inside. When you’re a bishop in a diocese like Melbourne you spend a lot of time in small struggling catholic church land. According to the 2014 General Synod Report on Viability and Structures, seven Australian dioceses are financially unviable and others are close to that situation. To quote that report, ‘The Anglican Church of Australia is at a crossroads. For over thirty years it has slowly been declining and the time has come for a revolution if it is to be a strong and sustainable church for the future.’ (p.8-076).

The sex abuse crisis has radically undermined our standing and credibility. A recent McCrindle Research report indicates this issue as by far the largest reason for people not wanting to engage with the church. Parents in our context used to freely let their children attend our youth programs, now they are both cautious and suspicious.

Most dioceses internally operate in a state of semi-perpetual crisis—the tail wags the dog as the small dying or conflicted churches burn up vast amounts of time. Many are under significant financial pressure and the compliance regimes are proving hard to implement. Too many clergy are being knowingly appointed into small, conflicted and dysfunctional parishes. The consequences are totally predictable and many clergy are paying a high price for this. Not enough bishops are offering real hope or are actively giving permission to change with some outstanding exceptions, e.g. Tasmania and Canberra. Amongst more conservatively reformed ministers there is an unhealthy model of high control leadership that leads to significant disengagement by the lay members of the church.

At this conference we will wrestle yet again with issues in relation to human sexuality. Pastorally on the ground it is a major issue. You don’t have to scratch too far below the surface at the church I lead to know that it is a huge cause of grief and tension for many adult members because of the choices their adult children have made. The large cohort of young adults at St Hilary’s are growing up in a context where they live with the tension of what the church teaches and then what the world promotes and they see lived out amongst their friends. They tell me it’s a huge barrier in evangelism because people don’t want to talk with them because they assume they are anti gay. In a wider sense people who are same sex attracted have, rightly or wrongly, whether we like it or not, got the message that they are not welcome in our churches.

In the midst of this there is One Big Problem, a big weakness or failure: our lack of evangelistic effectiveness. I can demonstrate this in my own patch. St Hilary’s is a network of three churches, where the people are notably gifted, capable, educated and articulate. We are well-resourced, and have been very well taught over many decades. The general outlook of our people is healthy, and positive. Most years we see a number of converts, especially among Chinese and Iranians, but very few of that number are Anglo. In my view this is our biggest overall challenge.

Mission in Australia is tough

As we all know, we live in a tough context to do mission. It is estimated that only 30% of the population have any real interest in going to church or having any church connection. A TEAR report in the UK found that 70% of the population had no intention of attending a church service at any point in the future. The Mission Shaped Church Report of the Church of England put it at 40% who are unchurched plus another 40% who are open or closed de-churched. As Timmis and Chester argue in Everyday Church, ‘that means new styles of worship will not reach them. Alpha and Christianity Explored won’t reach them. Toddler churches will not reach them. The vast majority of the un-churched and the de-churched people would not turn to the church, even if faced with difficult personal circumstances or in the event of a tragedy. It is not a question of ‘improving the product’ of church meetings and evangelistic events. It means reaching them apart from meetings and events. Many churches are growing, but mainly through transfer growth. It is still possible to grow a church by offering a better experience than other churches, but this is not evangelistic growth. It is possible to plant a church and see it grow without doing mission.’ (p.15,16)
How should we respond to all of this?

A crossover era

My overarching view is that we are living in a crossover era. One way of being church is rapidly dying and something new is emerging to replace it. There was an era when there was a way of doing church, which worked pretty well in just about every place. That era was a fair while ago but it still has a deep imprint on our psyche. We kind of think that if we could just get things back on track then it will all happen again. The reality is that we are a long way from that. We live in a post-Christian context where there is little sympathy for the Christian faith.

The era we are now in is an era of great opportunities if we are seeking to reach out in our day. At the same time it is an era of significant tension both theologically and ecclesiastically. We have a whole ecclesiastical framework set up in the Christendom era. There are churches and people scattered all over the place. We go to synods and grind our way through legislation and never-ending motions to convey our good intentions and go home knowing that not much will change as a consequence.

It is an era with a seemingly never-ending stream of ideas on the way forward. Just think of the books that have emerged in the past decade or so: Purpose Driven Church, Mission Shaped Church, Centre Church, Liquid Church, Simple Church, Soma Church, Everyday Church, The New Parish etc, etc. For the average vicar and vestry it is perplexing and overwhelming. Hitch your wagon to theory x this month but who knows? Something better may come along next month.

Some ways forward

So, what are some of the ways forward? I have eight suggestions and there is much more that could be said.

1. Stronger parochial units

In my view we need less small churches and more churches that have critical mass and energy. There are too many churches in our major_ cities that are in close proximity and too many that lack the capacity to have the range of ministries that are essential in connecting with and attracting people to be a part of us. If each of those churches is seeking to re-establish itself,  then almost inevitably churches will be seeking to do very similar things but totally independently. It would make more sense for these churches to cluster together and to have a team ministry or for them each to sell up and co-locate onto a site with larger and contemporary facilities.

In a wider sense there is a significant shift to larger churches taking place and in the main the Anglican Church doesn’t do large churches. If we are to have stronger parochial units they need a clear vision, which is owned by the people and intentional leadership to implement the vision. We need better team leadership and ministry. Many of our churches have tired and dated facilities that need significant attention. A stronger church will have a comprehensive ministry approach and therefore the opportunity to connect with more people. Leadership of larger churches is demanding and complex and for a range of reasons we haven’t been good at raising up these sorts of leaders.

2. A new lay revolution

Most of our churches are too staff and clergy centred. The bigger you grow the more staff you have. Responsibility is delegated to the staff and pretty soon the staff run and manage everything. The consequence of this down the track is massive disengagement. People turn up less frequently, they give financially but without any enthusiasm and they are largely passive because we’ve pacified them.
At St Hilary’s we are bigger and more complex than we were five years ago but we have 15% less staff and wherever possible we seek lay volunteers to head up ministries. We are seeking to rebuild a sense of ownership and participation. We’ve got a long way to go on this project but unlocking the creativity, skill and passion of our volunteers is one of the key leadership challenges of our era.
Our people have the relational connections with unbelievers and they are in the front line of mission. Our people are time-poor like yours are, however it is also true to say that people will give an amazing amount of time if they are motivated and given a genuine sense of freedom and ownership. They don’t want to be micro-managed but trusted, supported, encouraged and released.

3. Localise mission and do it in community

One of the big trends globally is a rediscovery of people living their lives more closely together and seeking to connect intentionally in their neighbourhood. This may be through one of the different models of what are called ‘missional communities’. These will be lay led and run. It is an attempt to rediscover what it means to be a parish by connecting locally and personally. The gospel is lived out and shared by people who are in relational connection with each other and their neighbours.

This model can also be used to connect via affinity groups or network groups where you have a shared interest or connection. We have a soccer club at St Hil’s with 50% church players and 50% non-church players. For the past year or so we’ve developed a missional community associated with the club and they are building on the strong personal connections that the club creates. Last year we saw several people come to Christ as a consequence.

The model is also applicable in the workplace as people meet to pray and connect with their work colleagues. They support each other to be salt and light but also to offer opportunities to help others connect and hear the gospel.

4. Church planting and replanting

As one form of being church gradually dies many facilities will become available as a base for replants, new plants and networks of churches. The only city in the western world where church attendance has increased is London. That is principally because of the explosion of ethnic churches, but it is also because of the plants and replants of the Anglican churches in the Diocese of London.
Our major cities and provincial cities are growing rapidly and the population in our cities and inner cities is rapidly increasing. The population in the CBD of Melbourne was 2,100 in 1993, was 116,431 in 2013 and is projected to be 163,000 by 2023.

In broad terms we are too often raising up leaders to be trained for a settled church when we need more missionary pioneers to re-establish the church or start a new church. Our theological colleges need to develop alternate pathways to ministry with in situ learning alongside of their biblical and theological studies. At the same time the growth corridors keep extending and we have struggled to keep up with the church plants needed in these rapidly expanding suburbs and provincial cities.

5. Ethnic churches

Clearly the growth in this area is a major cause for rejoicing. God is literally bringing the world to us and these are the groups who are most open to and receptive to the gospel. Having a cross-cultural mission strategy is critical to the future. It is great that Sydney Diocese is reflecting this in episcopal appointments.

6. Permission-giving bishops

What we most need are permission-giving bishops who are supportive and willing to go out on a limb for those who are taking risks. The bishop has a key pastoral role but also a key role as a broker and advocate. There are still bishops who play a heavy-handed part in blocking appointments and not allowing the best people to be appointed. As the General Synod Report said, ‘the Diocese must make serving the front-line parishes in mission its key priority rather than the other way around.’ (p 13).

7. Allow people to have the best training available

Australia is blessed with two of the strongest Anglican theological colleges in the world and bishops who are mission-minded will want their clergy to be formed at the best colleges. Any other organisation would want its people to have the best possible training and those options exist if people are willing to be less parochial and more adventurous.

8. Ride the Boomer wave

The largest cohort in the population is moving to retirement. They are gifted, experienced, in many cases cashed-up and they want to be a part of something meaningful (as well as to travel and to dote on the grandchildren). They are living longer and longer. This is a remarkable opportunity which we need to gear up now to embrace. Boomers need to be treated with respect and carefully managed. They are used to calling the shots and so they need to be trusted and actively supported.