EFAC Australia
Vale Bishop John Wilson
- Written by: EFAC Aust
EFAC Australia recognises the untimely death of Bishop John Wilson, retired assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne and a committed evangelical and supporter of EFAC.
Click here for a recent article that John that wrote for Essentials.
The following is written by Tim Foster of Ridley Melbourne as a tribute to John.
John Wilson was a former student and long-time friend of Ridley Melbourne. He studied at Ridley from 1960-1962 and tutor 1963-1964. Deaconed and priested in 1964 he served in the Diocese of Armidale. He went to the USA for his doctoral studies, setting out to focus on Hebrew and Aramaic, but after his intended supervisor moved he wrote a dissertation in early church history entitled, The First Epistle of Clement : a theology of power studies. John returned to Ridley as a lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew from 1973-1985. He left in 1985 to become Bishop of the Southern Region, continuing to support the college as a member of the Council from 1987-2006.
Welcome to the EFAC Website
- Written by: EFAC Aust
Welcome to the EFAC Australia Website!
We are hoping this website will be used to connect members around Australia and keep everyone up to date with what's happening in their state. We have branches in each state plus the ACT and NT, so by clicking on your branch under the tab above, you can find out what is happening in your state. The site will be updated with news and events.
If you have any suggestions for the site please forward them to
The decline in the Australian Protestant Church - how we got where we are.
- Written by: Peter Corney
The main stream Protestant churches in Australia are in serious decline and have been for some time. To give but one example: attendance at worship on an average Sunday in the Anglican Church in Melbourne has dropped from an estimated 50,000 in 1981 to 21,000 in 2006. How did we get to this point so quickly?
As accelerating secularism began to hit Australian society in the 1960’s the churches were not only unprepared they were also weakened by several trends that had been developing for some time.
One of the most significant was the trend in clergy training to become overly focused on pastoral maintenance rather than pastoral leadership, ministry skills and growth. The times called for new initiatives, new models of ministry, the ability to initiate change, new styles of worship that related to the rapidly changing culture. The training of clergy has properly always had a strong pastoral care element but three influences exaggerated this: the psychological counseling movement that developed momentum post war; the Christian Education movement; and the undermining of preaching and teaching by Liberal theology. As secularism and rapid social change hit these influences coalesced to fatally weaken pastoral leadership.
Read more: The decline in the Australian Protestant Church - how we got where we are.
Gamaliel and Gafcon
- Written by: Peter Adam
An appeal to the Archbishops and Bishops of the Anglican Church of Australia.
Introduction
I did not attend Gafcon. I am in sympathy with some of its passions, less so with some of its politics.
This is an appeal addressed to those whose tendency is to reject or dismiss Gafcon and Anglican Mainstream, or who fail to see how God might use it.
Here are four reasons why I think we should take Gafcon seriously.
1. Do not Gafcon and Anglican Mainstream show the characteristics of reform movements in the past that have later been recognized as the work of God?
These reform movements usually include the following characteristics. They are grass-roots based ecclesial communities. They critique the status quo and work outside the existing Episcopal, diocesan, and parochial structures. They have clear intentions for reform, and they set up alternative complementary energy and power structures to the existing.
Read more: Gamaliel and Gafcon
Anglican Principles in a Changing Culture
- Written by: Peter Corney
(This article originally appeared in Essentials: The Journal of EFAC* it has recently been revised 11/09)
We are living in a time of enormous and rapid change at every level of our lives. Hugh Mackay in his book Re-inventing Australia describes it as the Age of Redefinition. The church is not immune to this change. The Anglican Church of Australia (ACA) is, along with the rest of society, experiencing profound changes. Experiments with new congregational models following the Fresh Expressions discussions; the new liturgically minimalist contemporary style of services in many places now; the ordination of women as Presbyters and Bishops; the strains within the Anglican Communion as a result of the willful and heterodox decisions by the American Episcopal Church and the response of splits in ECUSA and a whole new independant N. American diocese formed and the GAFCON conference saying ‘enough is enough’; ageing and declining congregations; many parishes moving below the line of viability; the growth of ethnic congregations; theological challenges from within to fundamental doctrines like the uniqueness of Christ as Savior and Lord; stable parish life threatened by urban mobility and social changes – these are just some of the more obvious changes.
What are Anglican core values?
As we attempt to evaluate, respond and adapt to the pace and extent of change it is essential that we review our foundational principles and theological roots. We need to rediscover our ‘core values’ if we are to respond constructively.
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