TMA T h e M e l b o u r n e A n g l i c a n
Anglicans supporting the most vulnerable pages 1, 5 & 12
Artificial Intelligence must ‘reflect something of God’ page 15
August 2020, No 594
Clergy commended for ‘initiative’ in responding to lockdown challenges by Stephen Cauchi
The Diocese of Melbourne is adapting to ministry amid the compulsory wearing of facemasks and bracing for more COVID-19 cases as the effects of the pandemic and lockdown restrictions continue to be felt in Victoria. Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be on stage three restrictions until at least 19 August and possibly longer as the number
“Stage Four may preclude home pastoral visits and home communion.” Archbishop Philip Freier The Brotherhood of St Laurence team at the Flemington flats during the hard lockdown.
Photo: BSL.
Anglicans join wider support for locked-down residents by Mark Brolly
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nglicans responded to the lockdown of public housing estates across nine sites in Flemington and North Melbourne last month with ecumenical, interfaith and community action to assist the 3000 residents as Victoria’s coronavirus crisis worsened, leading to a second lockdown of metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, to the city’s north. The Brotherhood of St Laurence reported that it had more than 1000 participants and service users living in the affected towers – and several staff. Staff from across a range of community programs teams and trained volunteers conducted welfare checks by phone from the morning of Monday 6 July, less than 48 hours after the State Government
ordered the immediate lockdown of the estates – forcing residents to stay in their units for five days. The Fitzroy-based agency worke d w it h R e d C ro ss , the Victorian Multicultural C ommission, G over nment
translation support in Arabic, Dinka, Farsi, Urdu, Persian, Dari and Somali at the COVID-19 testing stations set up to test residents. On 5 July, the Government appointed former Brotherhood Executive Director, Mr Tony
“Anglicare Victoria had operated seven days a week during the hard lockdown of the towers.” departments and others to coordinate the response, while it also advocated for people with their employers so that they could keep their jobs. A Brotherhood spokeswoman said that at the request of Victorian Multicultural Commission, it supplied 10 multilingual staff for
Nicholson, to provide advice on additional support for the public housing residents. Anglicare Victoria’s CEO, Mr Paul McDonald, said his agency had responded rapidly to a request from the Victorian Government to provide assistance to two of the public housing towers under hard
lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Mr McDonald said 20 staff worked in rolling shifts, responding to more than 450 calls over the first five days for immediate needs such as food and medication, nappies and sanitary products as well as social support. He added that Anglicare Victoria had operated seven days a week during the hard lockdown of the towers. “Many of the people living in the towers were understandably distressed at being isolated high above the ground, and really appreciated someone checking in with them,” he said. “In some cases families were managing five or more children in a small space. We can learn a lot from these residents about finding resilience in difficult circumstances. Continued on page 4
of new daily cases of COVID-19 continues to sit in the hundreds. Most churches in the diocese, whose boundaries broadly overlap with the stage three restriction area, are affected by the new requirement to wear masks. According to the Diocesan COVID-19 Updates, clergy, church and congregational members in the stage three area must wear masks for all ministry outside the home, with very few exceptions. One exception is livestreaming and video: “Speaking or singing directly to camera without a mask is preferred. When not speaking or singing, a mask must be put back on.” If stage four restrictions were implemented, “we ought to anticipate that church premises will be entirely closed” with no face-to-face meetings, Archbishop Philip Freier wrote in the Diocesan COVID-19 Update on 22 July. “All church staff are likely to have to work from home and not from the church office. Stage Four may preclude home pastoral visits and home communion.” Under stage three restrictions, no gathered events or services in church facilities, homes or other venues can occur. A maximum of
PLUS: Why the Black Lives Matter movement is important in Australia (page 13)
Continued on page 10
THE ARCHBISHOP WRITES
TMA
God’s faithfulness remains as ‘progress’ stalls I suspect that we have all become accustomed to expect “progress” as an inevitable fact of our existence. If something is wrong now it will be improved; any present deficiency is expected to be made better in the future. This view of “progress” is part of our worldview that is deeply rooted in the rational enquiry that became prominent in the 18th century period called the Enlightenment or the “Age of Reason”. “Progress” has generally good automation to many work processes connotations. Some of us will know that otherwise have been outside of of a “Progress Association” in our the impact of technological change. neighbourhood. These have existed One of the side effects of in Victoria from the first decade of “progress” has been increasing the 20th century, generally as resi- urbanisation throughout the world. dents’ groups within local munici- Generally lauded as one of the most palities. In Australia, progress has important means of improving often meant the replacement of one standards of living across a range of technology by another, along with indicators, this trend now confronts the social impact this technological us with the density of urban life change has brought. Many believe increasing our risk of contracting that we are in the middle of the COVID-19. In response we have had next great revolution in the nature to bring cities all over the world to of work, through the application of a virtual standstill as people locked
“We may feel that we are living in some kind of exile ... if we do, the Biblical narrative of God’s faithfulness in adversity is important to help us journey deeper into an understanding of the character of God.” themselves in to their places of residence and have needed to disengage from the very things that make a city a rich place to live. Centuries of progress seem to hang, suspended in the balance, until some way can be found through the COVID-19 time of trial. Another side effect of “progress” is inequality, with some people enjoying the benefits of change whilst others languish in intergenerational conditions of disadvantage and poverty. Informed by this “progressive” worldview, it is natural to expect
that reason will be applied to the present COVID-19 pandemic and will deliver a vaccine or some other cure. That would seem the “right” way for things to happen just as other disease scourges like polio have been treated in the past. But what if it doesn’t happen that way in this situation? What if our expectations remain disrupted? The Bible speaks a great deal about progress but, unlike the worldview I have described, it is concerned that progress is personal and relational, especially in terms
of our becoming more like Jesus and more embraced into the heart of God. I suspect that, in response to the Enlightenment, Christians in societies like ours have accommodated the “progressive” worldview I have described quite readily and have considered the other side of the Biblical narrative, catastrophe and exile, to be either historicised in the past or part of an eschatological future. The longer story of Biblical revelation always points us towards the things that we have missed or have avoided in the routine familiarity of life. We may feel that we are living in some kind of exile from all that we have come to expect; if we do, the Biblical narrative of God’s faithfulness in adversity is important to help us journey deeper into an understanding of the character of God.
Jerusalem Stone dedicated at Cathedral On 28 June St Paul’s Cathedral celebrated both its Patronal Festival and the dedication of a new stone plaque that has been set in the middle of the nave altar platform. The limestone from which it was carved began its journey in Jerusalem. Given to Dean Andreas Loewe in 2004 by the Bishop of Jerusalem, it is said to have formed the base of a historic pillar, possibly one of the stones replaced when the
dome of the Holy Sepulchre was restored in the 1990s. The stone was originally intended to be used in a new church or chapel, however the opportunity for the stone to be used did not present itself until this year. Archbishop Philip Freier and the Cathedral Chapter decided that it would be embedded in the heart of the cathedral to serve as a tangible connection to the place of resurrection. The central
Clergy Moves Vacant Appointments as of 22 August 2020: Activation of appointment processes will be on a case by case basis; St Michael & All Angels Beaumaris; St Barnabas, Balwyn; St Stephen, Belmont; St Edward, Blackburn South; St Faith, Burwood; St Mary, Caulfield with St Clement, Elsternwick; St Luke, Cockatto [from December 2020]; Darebin South St James, Glen Iris; St Hilary’s Kew, North Balwyn and Mont Albert, North; Holy Trinity, Hampton Park; Holy Trinity Lara with Christ Church, Little River; Hume Anglican Parish; St Nicholas Mordialloc; Upper Yarra All Saints Newtown/Geelong West; Anglican Parish of Yarraville Appointments: BLUETT, The Revd Suzanne Joy, appointed Incumbent [from Priest-in-Charge], Parish of Longbeach, Chelsea, effective 20 March 2020 COOTE, The Revd Leroy, appointed Area Dean, Deanery of Croydon, effective 25 August 2020 HURWOOD, The Revd Philip Edgar, appointed Renewal of Priest-in-Charge, St Andrew, Somerville, effective 3 August 2020 MACRAE, The Revd Glen, appointed Renewal of Priest-in-Charge, St Luke, Frankston East, effective 15 August 2020 WONG, The Revd Lui Ben, appointed Canon to the Archbishop, Diocese of Melbourne, effective 25 August 2020 Permission to Officiate: FRANCIS, The Revd Dr Cecilia Brenda, appointed Permission to Officiate as Priest, Diocese of Melbourne, effective 2 July 2020
part of King David’s extended prayer – “God crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Psalm 103:4) – was chosen for the inscription. To fit with the other liturgical inscriptions in the Cathedral, the Latin translation Coronat te in misericordia et miserationibus was used. In his sermon on 28 June, Dean Andreas said: “[In] this time when we remain separated from one another because of the current pandemic, I take great comfort from the knowledge that God walks closely with us and blesses us. That God seeks our well-being and welfare even, and especially, in times of challenge
Dedication of a new stone plaque at St Paul’s Cathedral.
and tribulation. And that God commissions us to make known that good news – that his
STREAMING SERVICES at St Paul’s Cathedral
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*Broadcast on C31 (digital 44) at 2.30pm only
www.cathedral.org.au/worship
Obituaries: EDGAR, The Revd Donald (Don), 16 July 2020 July 2020 Clergy Moves Corrections – Apologies to: HARROWER, The Right Revd John Douglas, appointed Permission to Officiate as Bishop, Diocese of Melbourne, effective 12 July 2020 For Vacant Parishes listing contact registrar@melbourneanglican.org.au See Tributes at www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au Clergy Moves is compiled by the Registry Office and all correspondence should go to registrar@melbourneanglican.org.au
2 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
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Getting creative to overcome eco-disconnect by Tim Kroenert
S
he was in the weeds when it happened – literally. In 2007, hauling aside a clump of invasive grasses near her Adelaide Hills home, Sally Shaw glimpsed the yellow petals and hardy foliage of hibbertia incana (prickly Guinea-flower); a native shrub, thriving despite the proliferation of strangling intruders. As revelations go, it wasn’t Paul on the road to Damascus, or Moses and the burning bush – but it was profound. “Quite a few people talk about an ecological conversion experience,” Sally tells TMA. The moment she discovered those yellow blossoms was hers. “I was astounded that this plant could survive. I felt God was saying to me, ‘This is what’s happening to my earth. It’s being invaded, it’s being destroyed, but I haven’t given up on it. I love it, I created it, and I will continue to sustain it. But I want you to speak out for it.’” Sally, now a director in Australia of ecumenical conservation organisation A Rocha, already had a passion for justice. Prior to arriving in Adelaide with her Australian husband, British-born Sally had spent over 20 years working with displaced or disadvantaged Cambodian people; first at a refugee camp in Thailand, then in community development in Cambodia itself, where she established a creative arts organisation for people with disability. The call to commit herself to the defence of God’s creation was both a shift in focus from, and an extension of, that work. It included an appreciation that
the most severe effects of climate change will be felt first by the poor. “It really is an ethical and justice issue for Christians,” she says. “God asked us to care for the earth right at the beginning, so if we don’t, we’re being disobedient – I would say we’re being sinful.”
by ISCAST–Christians in Science and Technology, last month. Given the biblical and social imperatives, when it comes to environmental issues including climate change, Sally would like to see churches in Australia continue to take a more active role – both in terms of community leadership and in their own behaviour. “I have to be careful not to generalise, but I think there’s a lot more they could be doing,” she says. “Caring for creation is a paradigm shift, a whole new way of thinking.” A Rocha in the UK (which is more established than the newer Australian branch) offers an ecochurch accreditation program, where churches can obtain a bronze, silver or gold rating depending on their performance under a range In addition to her directorship of criteria. Ratings are determined of A Rocha, Sally is also a Doctor by practical factors such as power of Ministry student at Adelaide usage and waste management, but College of Divinity. As part of also by less substantial criteria, this academic work, she implesuch as the content of worship. ments arts-based workshops on “That’s a big issue,” Sally says. caring for creation; something “The songs we sing during worship that has roots in her use of improcan affect us subconsciously, and a visational drama as a therapeutic lot of them are about me and my tool for people with disability in relationship with Jesus, rather than Cambodia. the church and wider community, “If you’re disabled in Cambodia, the environment and the cosmos.” Sally Shaw. Below left: the “hibbertia incana” flower. you’re put at the bottom of the Sally would like to see someheap,” she says. “Doing group thing like the A Rocha accreditherapy work with these people She recognised later that some- about what it’s connected to. Then tation system implemented in doesn’t work. But with improvisa- thing similar could be applied maybe write a poem, or a story, or Australia. “It’s not too awesome and tional drama … I call it letting to overcome the disconnect that draw a picture. it doesn’t make you feel guilty,” she the inner child come many people feel when it comes “It’s getting in touch with peo- says. “You just take your time, and out to play. It to the environment. That discon- ple’s emotions and senses,” she then you can move up to the next bypasses all nect is embodied, for example, in adds. “Our enlightenment world level if you want to. Sometimes it the cognitive the image of fruit and vegetables focuses so much on thinking, just takes a few motivated people messages that on supermarket shelves, divorced studying and absorbing informa- to start somewhere and it grows say they’re from the earth, water, air and tion through the head, rather than from there.” no good. sunlight – all the interconnected through our bodies. And often our That was an elements that exist in creation and bodies pick up all kinds of things See more reports on COSAC 2020 eye-opener. allowed those fruit and vegetables we’re not aware of. So a lot of it is on pages 15 and 16. You can use to grow. just meditating, contemplating, drama and It’s not surprising that a key being still, allowing God’s spirit to All 56 talks from ISCAST’s COSAC other arts to component of her caring for crea- speak to us through creation.” 2020 conference are available to buy get people tion workshops involves getting Sally gave a talk titled “Caring through the COSAC website where in touch with out into nature. She invites partici- for Creation with My Right Brain: you will find details of the program, their inner self, pants “to sit, be quiet and observe”. Creative Ways to Give Hope to 21st all the talks and the speakers: their emotions, and “Consider something like a piece of Century Christians” at COSAC https://ISCASTCOSAC.org to see things in a grass, think about it and the amaz- 2020, the 12th Conference on different light.” ingness of how God created it, and Science and Christianity organised See book review on page 21.
“Caring for creation is a paradigm shift, a whole new way of thinking.”
Brotherhood of St. Laurence volunteers are crucial in delivering services throughout COVID-19. I’m Carmel, an employment mentor volunteer for BSL’s Jobs Victoria Employment Network (JVEN) program. BSL’s JVEN supports long-term job seekers into paid employment. I help participants with resume writing, job applications and practicing interview techniques. I also do welfare checks and general outreach to clients – recently our little team connected with over 200 clients in the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing towers.
Keeping connected is challenging right now and a lot of participants were already feeling isolated as a result of COVID-19. I hope that having me on the end of the line can help ease these feelings.
Find out more about volunteering with BSL at bsl.org.au/get-involved/volunteer www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 3
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Ex-Oaktree Vicar to launch course on exorcisms by Stephen Cauchi
T
he only Australian theological college course on exorcisms and spiritual warfare is about to be launched at the Melbourne School of Theology and will be taught by former Oaktree Anglican minister the Revd Dr Mark Durie. There was “more need for this now than there’s ever been” due to the rise of secularism and the occult, Dr Durie said. He added that there had not been a training course for Anglicans for many years. “Some clergy from Melbourne and other dioceses attended a training event about 10 years ago in Queensland organised by the bishops, but otherwise there’s nothing official through the Anglican Church. “There are para-church ministries, such as Ellel Ministries and Oz Challenge, which specialise in [this area]. So when people have need they can turn to those ministries but the Anglican Church itself has not provided opportunities for training.” Dr Durie said he preferred to use the term “deliverance” rather
than “exorcism” as the latter term was associated with sensational Hollywood films. He said he was unaware of any statistics on Anglican exorcisms in Australia. Nor were there formal
“In theological colleges, there’s no tradition really of teaching in this area …” The Revd Dr Mark Durie: clergy not equipped to deal with spiritual warfare.
qualifications required to perform one. However, Anglican diocesan policy in Melbourne is that only clergy authorised by a bishop should perform exorcisms. “What happens is that sometimes the diocese will have some ministers who have gained experience in [exorcism] just because of what they’re been exposed to,” said Dr
Durie, who had been duly authorised while based in Melbourne. “At some point the Archbishop might invite such a person to take on this role.” Within Christianity generally, older denominations – Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic – all have a tradition of “deliverance ministry”, he said. The Catholic Church, for example, offers a for-
mal exorcism course at the Vatican for priests. Reformed churches, on the other hand, can “have some issues with it”. Dr Durie said that “very often” Anglican ministers will have met someone who needed deliverance ministry. However, “in theological colleges, there’s no tradition really of teaching in this area … we are
producing clergy who are not equipped to deal with spiritual warfare or deliverance. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m offering this course.” Dr Durie, who was minister at Oaktree Anglican in Caulfield North for 16 years, retired from that role last year. He is now based in New South Wales and has a parttime teaching role at MST. Part of the MST course will be online; the other part will be an intensive course he will teach in person. The Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare unit will be taught at MST in the second semester of 2020, which begins in August, and has been approved by the Australian College of Theology. The 12-week course will survey the theology of deliverance from the Bible, the Church fathers, the Catholic Church, the Reformed tradition, and the Pentecostal and charismatic perspectives of recent decades. Dr Durie said that although the course is not a hands-on training program, there will also be teaching about the practical aspect of exorcism sessions.
Churches take ‘creative leap across the globe’ to keep connected by Colleen O’Reilly
When churches and other places of worship closed, parishes suddenly scrambled to become broadcast producers of one medium or another. Some went Zooming into the ether, others pre-recorded and some livestreamed. Most just wanted to reach their regular parishioners and keep them feeling connected but some, especially the big city churches with professional music, found themselves reaching way beyond the normal Sunday congregations. I did a survey for the Anglican report to the annual Australian Consultation on Liturgy on 7 July. I thought it would be interesting to share how parishes have managed to provide support and spiritual comfort to members and how the clergy had found the experience over these past months. So I posted on my Facebook page and 30 par-
Fr Chris Welsh: collaborated with England-based colleagues to Zoom worship from their homes to Geneva.
“Ensuring that people are safe, calm, connected to God, and connected to each other has demanded a huge amount of thought, preparation, time, and care.”
ishes and clergy responded. The most creative leap across the globe has been that of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Geneva, Switzerland. Begun by exiles from England in the mid16th century, during the reign of Mary Tudor, this parish provides a truly global community with worship in English. As it happens the people involved just now are all friends of mine but I had no idea that they were collaborating across the world to provide worship to the parish. When the lockdown happened Canon Alan and Clare Amos, a lay theologian who led the bible studies at General Synod in 2010, who are normally in Geneva, were “caught” at home in England and could not get back. Fr Chris Welsh, a Canberra-Goulburn priest and former Chaplain to Canberra Grammar School, was due to be the locum but could not leave
Australia. What to do? Between them all they managed to Zoom regular worship from their homes on either side of the world, providing services all through Holy Week and Easter as well as every Sunday. Thanks to a great lay ministry team on the ground as well, the Anglicans of Geneva are being looked after in a way that would have the reformers amazed, but approving I am sure. And the clearest rationale for all the effort needed to make e-church possible goes to a priest in Sydney who wrote: “Ensuring that people are safe, calm, connected to God, and connected to each other has demanded a huge amount of thought, preparation, time, and care.” The Revd Dr Colleen O’Reilly is the Chaplain to Trinity College, Parkville. She was previously Vicar of St George’s Malvern.
Anglicans join wider support for locked-down residents – Continued from page 1 “Anglicare Victoria staff actively coordinated with emergency response workers to quickly locate urgently-needed food and other items. In addition, we provided medication, educational books, toys and craft materials to families with young children. We are currently seeking assistance to provide 50 to 100 remote learning education packs for children in the towers. “In addition to phone support, our staff were also trained in faceto-face assessment of COVID-19 cases, allowing them to safely door-knock residents with positive test results to check on their health and wellbeing, and offer transfers to quarantine in hotel rooms. We are still following up those who need mental health,
family violence and other social supports. “The partnership of all the agencies involved with the Department of Health and Human Services has worked well and we were very pleased to offer assistance to people in need with the department’s support.” The Vicar of St Mary’s North Melbourne, the Revd Canon Jan Joustra, said his parish was “basically supporting the supporters”, including providing resources to the Brotherhood, Muslim charity organisations and other groups providing essentials to residents. “We don’t have a ministry as such to the towers but what we are doing is supporting the other agencies that do and so we are channelling things in their direc-
4 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
tion and that seems to be the best thing to do,” Canon Joustra said. “The last thing they need is to have the odd clergyperson wandering around trying to look relevant.” Canon Joustra said a parishioner of St Mary’s lived next to the towers and had been in touch with the Muslim charity, which had delivered culturally appropriate essentials to locked-down residents. He said, for instance, that there was no point taking prepared meals because culturally, they were not appropriate for Muslims, so it was important for the parish to work within and support existing structures for residents without creating new ones. St Mary’s focus traditionally had been towards Melbourne
University, he said, while St Alban’s Anglican Church on the corner of Melrose and Mark Streets in North Melbourne, which is close to the Canning Street flats, had been closed down in recent years. But Canon Joustra said St Mary’s was connected with other churches and organisations in North Melbourne, such as the local Uniting Church parish, the Congregation of Mark the Evangelist, and had a representative on the board of its social outreach arm, Hotham Mission. The Mission provides community outreach and support to some of the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups throughout North Melbourne, Flemington, Kensington and Parkville. The lockdown was lifted for all
estates on 9 July, except 33 Alfred Street in North Melbourne, where residents were told to remain in isolation. More than 2500 residents were tested and 158 positive cases identified across the lockeddown estates, with the Alfred Street block having the highest number of cases. Most residents of the Alfred Street tower ended two weeks of hard lockdown late on Saturday 18 July, allowing them to join other Melburnians under stage three restrictions, leaving their homes for food, medicine, exercise, study and work. But up to one third of the tower’s residents who had the virus or were close contacts of people with COVID-19, were forced to remain in their units until they were cleared. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
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As COVID drives poverty up, churches can help of their brothers and sisters. We’re instructed not just to wish them well and offer up a Psalm, but to say ‘we’re with you’ in the hardship, loneliness and anxiety. “This is a crucial moment. Jesus commissioned the Church to continue what he started: to serve the
by Stephen Cauchi
C
hristians Against Poverty has urged Australian churches to help the surging number of people who are struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating the Biblical imperative to do so. The chief executive of CAP Australia, Rosie Kendall, acknowledged that churches had their own pandemic-related struggles but said that many Christians wanted to help. COVID-19 is “putting a huge stress and burden on the church”, she told TMA. “From our perspective the last thing that we’re wanting to do is add on another agenda item onto an already busy church leaders’ action list. “But the flipside of that is that there’s many Christians that are struggling to know what they can do to help.” Ms Kendall said that churches had an obligation to help those financially crippled by COVID-19 and could regain public faith by doing so. “James 2 instructs the people of God to provide for the needs
son why religion is good for society. “Churches have a unique opportunity to regain public faith by taking action to help people crippled by debt post-pandemic.” Churches needed to explore the question of how much helping the poor was “part of the fabric of who
“[Jesus’] good news is needed in a world full of chaos, uncertainty and division, hurting from the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19.” Rosie Kendall, CEO of CAP Australia.
poor, to save the lost and to point people to his Good News. His good news is needed in a world full of chaos, uncertainty and division, hurting from the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19. The economic fallout is predicted to be large and ongoing, being felt by our communities for a long time.” By helping the financially crippled, she added, churches could regain public trust. “According to the most recent National Church Life Survey report, six in 10 people can’t think of a rea-
we are as a church”, Ms Kendall said. She praised the church response to poverty in the pandemic so far, stating that “churches have been much more open to explore what they are able to do and move towards the problem than they have previously”. CAP had tools and training to help the financially struggling, including the CAP money course, said Ms Kendall. The course tackled problems such as lack of income, poor budgeting and managing debt. The aim of the course was to lift
people permanently out of poverty instead of providing a “quick fix or a handout”. The course could “really, really help people that are feeling like they’re in financial distress, in a safe way where they’re not being judged”. “We really … give the tools to coach people in financial well-being.” Churches could do CAP money coaching, either through offering a course or on a one-on-one basis, she said. Ms Kendall said the plight of unemployed people in Australia
was set to become worse once stimulus packages like JobSeeker ran their course. “There are a whole bunch of people who are going to be in a problem financially that aren’t maybe quite yet because there’s been help and assistance,” she said. CAP aimed to tackle not only material poverty but the interconnected problem of relational poverty, said Ms Kendall. “We have relational poverty if we don’t have a living eternal relationship with Jesus and out of that relationship flows healthy relationships with direct family, our neighbours and our community.” Relational poverty tended to perpetuate poverty through generations of a family, she said. “You can tackle material poverty in isolation and while that will be helpful it probably won’t bring the kind of generational transformation that I think we’re all hoping to bring to people.” CAP was founded in the UK in 1996 and has since expanded overseas. CAP Australia was founded in 2001, and is based in Newcastle. Visit CAP Australia at capaust.org
‘So many people are very vulnerable’: parishes offer helping hand by Muriel Porter
A food relief program named after a retired Archdeacon who had a long ministry in pastoral care in the parish has been established at St Stephen’s Richmond as a response to need during the coronavirus pandemic. The Mar j or ie McGregor COVID-19 Relief Program has fed 100 people to date since it opened in early May. Its clients have been migrants, overseas students, hospitality workers, refugees and asylum seekers, and others without work or government support. The program operates on Friday mornings, staffed by volunteers from the church’s sister parish, St Bartholomew’s, Burnley. Rachael Terry, the combined parishes’ community manager in food and beverages who oversees the relief program, said people
Rachael Terry: leading parish food ministry.
needing help had been coming from many suburbs across Melbourne, as well as the local area. Parishioners have generously donated both food and money to the program, which is run in partnership with Anglicare, she explained. “We are able to give people enough food to keep them going for two weeks at a time,” she said.
The Food Ministry team from St Bartholomew’s helping at the relief program (L-R): Don and Glenis Heath, Ann and Fr Jim Brady.
Supermarket vouchers are also available, to help provide baby food and other specific needs people have. “So many people are very vulnerable at the moment,” she said.
Free masks for those in need from Port Phillip Deanery by Stephen Cauchi
Port Phillip Deanery is making free reusable masks for recipients of community meals and for those in the South Melbourne public housing flats. The initiative was started by the assistant curate at St Luke’s South Melbourne, the Revd Michele Moorhouse, and was then adopted by the deanery. “I’ve had feedback that makers feel that this is something they can positively help with, and contribute,” said the area dean, the Revd Kathryn Watt from Holy Trinity Balaclava. “There is a sense of helplessness watching the numbers grow, and to be able to positively help people who don’t have the same www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
The Revd Michele Moorhouse.
discretionary income that we have is a good thing.
“We can also empty our stockpiles of fabric in a useful, guilt-free way, and most people who sew have a stash of leftover fabrics. “We’re collecting fabric and elastic for makers here in the deanery too. There is a shortage of elastic [which is] especially hard to come by.” Ms Watt said that thanks to sharing the news on Facebook, “we’ve had a couple of quilters from the Western District start making masks, and people from other parishes”. “Jan Lineker, parish secretary at St Stephen’s Portland, has already put 30 in the mail.” To assist, email kathryn.a.watt@gmail.com
“They often have to choose between food and rent and other essentials”. Rachael, who has an extensive background in hospitality both in her home country, England, and
in Australia, where she has lived since 2008, has also been managing the new social enterprise café at St Bartholomew’s. The café, which is housed in a former office at the front of the parish buildings on Burnley Street, has had to close temporarily under the stage three restrictions currently in place in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, as has the popular parish opportunity shop in the adjoining parish hall. When it reopens, the café will train people including temporary visa holders who “need a bit of a hand”, Rachael said. “It is very hard for any foreigner to get their first job,” she said, recalling how hard she initially found it here. “Australian experience is very important to get started.” After fulfilling the eight-week hospitality program and assessment, they will be given a reference letter to help them find work.
Anglicare call for mask restraint Anglicare Victoria chief executive Paul McDonald has called for police to show restraint towards young people when enforcing the wearing of masks. “Tolerance and dialogue is the key here,” he said. “This is a significant change of behaviour for all of us, but in particular for young people.” Mr McDonald said that while he supported the mandatory wearing of masks, “the last thing we want is we see authorities coming down hard on young people and loading them up with $200 fines. This is not a solution”. He said: “Behaviour change with some of our young people takes time, and we know from our recent experience with self-isolation that it takes at least a few weeks for the new rules to sink in. Our young people have their own daily struggles with family violence or the youth justice system, and this can make [it] hard to get the message through.” Anglicare is distributing cloth masks at its emergency relief centres, along with food packages. It is accepting donations of cloth masks.
THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 5
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Camps an ‘immersive experience’ for youth by Rachael Lopez
I
t’s a problem many small churches have. How do we start a youth group with just a couple of kids? This was exactly the predicament of St Catharine’s Anglican Church in Caulfield South a few years ago. Now, not only has the parish found a creative way to do youth ministry; it has extended it to other small churches to join in. St Cath’s minister the Revd Adam Cetrangolo spoke of how the church took three youth to the camp Soul Survivor, where one of them came to faith. Adam was able to see how significant intentional time away was for the young people’s growing faith. For St Cath’s, he decided that a few days over the holidays was more sustainable than the traditional Friday week to week, especially with just a small number of teenagers. Youth Ministry School (YMS) was born in September 2015, and since then St Cath’s has run three three-day camps a year on the outskirts of Melbourne. However, it is much more than a camp. Adam describes it as a learning opportu-
“Youth Ministry School was a safe place for me to question beliefs and understand and experience God in my own time and space.” Youth Ministry Schools run by St Catharine’s Caulfield South include prayer and outdoor activities.
nity and an immersive experience to complement Sunday gatherings. The camp themes align with the church’s four values: teach, pray in power, give freely, and partner with people of peace. Youth in the church were able to invite their friends, some with no church background and some from other churches in the area. Others, like Claire Cheeseman, came through Adam’s work leading
Mustard, a Christian youth pro- group activities and outdoor sports. gram at Shelford Grammar School. “We always have a big main “Youth Ministry School was a safe activity that we do at some point place for me to question beliefs and during the camp,” she explains. understand and experience God “Lots of really fun different activities, in my own time and space,” Claire bringing that adventurous element recalls. to get the kids outdoors, and trying A few years later, Claire is now something new.” Over summer this the Youth Intern at St Cath’s. She has included sea kayaking, stand-up helps run YMS and teaches the paddle boarding, diving and snoryouth. Claire grew up involved with kelling. This September they are Scouts and has a lot of experience in planning to do a high ropes course.
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But YMS is not just for youth who are outdoorsy extroverts. “We try to balance it,” says Claire. “A part of what we do is set up a creative space for people to paint, draw, and write. We also provide lots of free time.” Something unique about Youth Ministry School is its rhythm of prayer. Adam Cetrangolo wanted the participants to have the immersive experience of being a praying community, so they practise morning, evening and night prayer. “They engage with it because we explain to them that this is way many Christian communities have a cycle of prayer every day,” Adam said. Within these more liturgical prayers, space is created for contemporary worship. “There is this whole kind of spectrum of experience and you don’t have to love all of it or integrate all of it into your devotional life, but when we’re together we’re going to experience it.” Plans are being made for the next YMS, to be held 21 to 24 September in Grantville. If you’d like to bring your youth group along, find out more at www.youthministryschool.com.au
Cathedral’s popular talks for children bring Bible to life by Joel McFadyen
St Paul’s Cathedral’s Canon Precentor Heather Patacca and “Chief Props Officer” Dean Andreas Loewe have been bringing Bible stories to life in delightful and unexpected ways, from cameo appearances by Canon Heather’s dog Archie as “chief prop”, to surprising practical effects. The most popular All Age Bible Talk so far has been Pentecost Sunday, with about 2700 views between Facebook and YouTube. It featured industrial fans and minor pyrotechnics to illustrate the descent of the Holy Spirit. In second place with about 2000 views is the Ascension of Jesus, which concludes with Dean Andreas being stranded several metres up in the air on a scissor lift while everyone else departs for lunch.
Since worship at St Paul’s Cathedral shifted to online only at the end of March, there has been enthusiastic engagement from congregations, reflected in the growth of their YouTube and Facebook channels from a combined 4000 subscribers at the start of March to 5072 by the start of July. The continuing success of the online worship schedule reflects the mission of the Cathedral to make worship accessible by accommodating the broad range of worship styles across the Diocese of Melbourne. The streaming Sunday services at St Paul’s involve everything from the 8am BCP Eucharist, a traditional service that stretches back to the 17th century, to the energetic and creative All Age Bible Talks. As the talks have grown in popularity, St Paul’s has received
The St Paul’s Cathedral All-age Bible Talk for Pentecost Sunday.
praise from the broader Anglican community. St Paul’s Frankston, which posts the weekly talks to its website and Facebook Page, said: “Heather, Andreas and Archie produce a Bible talk that is simple to understand, fun, entertaining,
creative and relaxed. They are presented in such a way that they are not too young for adults of all ages nor are they too old for the children”. Dean Elizabeth Dyke of St Paul’s Cathedral, Bendigo was also able to share one of the Talks
with her community and said: “I found the talks relaxed, accessible and engaging. St Paul’s Cathedral kids enjoyed the different opportunity they have to learn more about Jesus.” The modern recording infrastructure of St Paul’s has facilitated a much broader outreach during a period when it is most needed. The quality of recorded footage is high enough that it has opened doors into television broadcasting. C31, a well-established media partner of the Cathedral, broadcasts a pre-recorded choral Evensong service every Monday at 2.30pm. The Cathedral has recently had the opportunity to enhance its AV system further thanks to the generous gifts of members. Joel McFadyen is Cathedral Secretary and Assistant to the Dean at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Online worship is now a ‘baseline expectation’ – so let’s keep making it better by Ken Morgan
As the New Year’s Eve fireworks exploded overhead, most of us entered the new decade assuming the coming year would be pretty much like the previous one: more or less the same people, the same programs, and worship services following familiar patterns. Ten weeks later, just about everything was up for grabs and we were scrambling to adapt to realities that were unimaginable over Christmas dinner. To its great credit, the church has swiftly adapted. Within a couple of week most of us had some kind of online service up and running, a pastoral care system under construction and parish council meeting by video confer-
ence. Ministers rapidly switched from being pastoral theologians to video producers. Four months on, and despite a re-lockdown, churches are mulling over the return to live public worship. As I coach ministers around their re-emergence strategies, there have been a number who’ve assumed they will soon abandon online service-substitutes as they go back to “normal”. If that’s your expectation, I have some unhappy news. First off, many older and at-risk
6 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
parishioners will be reticent to attend any kind of gathering that may expose them to infection. Some have stated categorically that they will not return to church until a vaccine for COVID-19 is commonly available. Churches that abruptly cut off the online option run the risk of disenfranchising a significant proportion of their constituents. Secondly, the abiding legacy of COVID-19 for the Australian church is that it made online worship virtually ubiquitous and therefore a baseline expectation. According to Grey Matter Research, before the pandemic, 17 million Americans who don’t regularly attend church visited a church website. While most are searching for church hours or
programs, 26 per cent are streaming video and another 26 per cent are streaming audio. While there are fears that people will want to remain anonymous online observers and never show up at church, some other US research found that 59 per cent of churches launching an online ministry have since seen physical growth and of those 75 per cent have reported people attend online first, then show up in person. Increasingly, people will expect to be able to get a look at your church online before visiting in person. In this regard, livestreaming your actual service or the closest possible reproduction of your live service has some distinct advantages over a more interactive webinar-style service, or a
highly-edited pre-record that’s significantly different from what a visitor might expect if and when they visit once we’re all “back live”. Further, once physical services have recommenced, a livestream requires only a fraction of the additional effort of an additional virtual gathering via video-conference or producing a separate pre-recorded service. While the new lockdown is a setback, it does give us some breathing room to think, plan, purchase new gear and trial processes so we can re-emerge with a quality online option for reluctant regulars and curious visitors alike. Ken Morgan is Head of Parish Mission and Resourcing (Acting) for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
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Melbourne Anglican wins global Rotary award by Stephen Cauchi
I
an Knight OAM, a parishioner at the Anglican Parish of the Parks in Albert Park, has been given the highest possible global recognition from Rotary International by receiving a Service Above Self award – one of only 150 given out worldwide each year. And, given Mr Knight’s achievements in Rotary, Service Above Self is an apt name for the award. From his beginnings in Rotary as a founding member of the Werribee club in 1968, Mr Knight has amassed an outstanding list of service projects, including providing clean water for a Ugandan village, educating midwives in East Timor, building a school in Samoa, and leading student exchange programs with developing countries and Japan. “I was thrilled to get the award … it’s the highest award you can get in Rotary,” Mr Knight, 83, told TMA. “It’s got to be approved by the Rotary International president and the Rotary International board.” Mr Knight belongs to Rotary District 9800, which covers parts of Melbourne and regional Victoria, and was district governor in 1987-88. “The district would have put me up for … this award and recognition. “But it wouldn’t be just work I did in Rotary, it was other community service work and I guess even church work. I taught Sunday school for a number of years too.” Mr Knight said it was a natural decision to get involved in Rotary. “I’d been involved in service work all my life, particularly in the early days teaching Sunday school and running a youth group at St Faith’s Burwood.” In a recent article he wrote for a Rotary publication, Mr Knight stated that “if Rotary encourages us
In Uganda, Mr Knight worked with his brother Michael, a professor of underground water at University of Technology Sydney, to improve the water supply in a local village. A Rotary grant of $100,000 was able to pay for a water well that brought water to 2000 people and 400 school students. He’s also been involved in a number of Rotary scholarships, including one where trainees from developing countries are brought to Australia and taught agriculture. Under the program, a Ugandan student was hosted by Werribee Rotary and was taught market gardening, egg growing and, at Otway Pork, pig farming. Another scholarship program involved a student exchange to Japan, which led to a sister-club relationship with the Sapporo North Rotary Club in that country. A Japanese garden at the City of Wyndham offices in Werribee was constructed as a result. Mr Knight bought a business in Werribee and was the president of Ian Knight OAM: The church could learn lessons from Rotary and attract the Chamber of Commerce in that more people. suburb for many years. In 1972, to be more kindly in our outlook with no aged care in the suburb, on life and people and taught us he initiated the building of a notgreater tolerance, a desire to see the for-profit aged care facility, Manor best in others … then Rotary has Court (nearly 50 years later, he’s brought us all fulfilment. still on the board). He was also “Although we cannot do everyinvolved in starting Little Athletics thing, Rotary International’s unique in Werribee. organisation provides us a network In 1996, he was awarded citizen to engage in ideas and take action of the year in Werribee. In 2006, so together we can do many things.” he received a Medal of the Order In East Timor, one in 35 mothers of Australia. The citation said: was dying in childbirth. Mr Knight agency but I looked after and raised “Service to the community of the received a Rotary foundation grant the money and I looked after the City of Wyndham, particularly to fund a program, which is still logistics of that program for six or through aged care services and going, to address this. He along seven years,” he said. Rotary International.” with a professor of obstetrics and a “We were able to upskill the midHis sister Rosemary Brown also has a Medal of the Order of professor of midwifery were able to wives in Timor and I think make visit East Timor a couple of times a difference in saving a few lives. Australia – for community service a year. From a Christian point of view, it’s work in Australia and Malaysia – “My background was news- practical Christianity.” while his brother Michael, a Sydney
“Faith is important but I think it’s got to be coupled with actions.”
Anglican, is a Member of the Order of Australia. His other brother Neville is a lecturer and a Doctor of Divinity. Mr Knight has been an Anglican his whole life, beginning at St Faith’s Burwood where he was youth leader. At St Mark’s Golden Square, he assisted with training Sunday School teachers. At St Thomas’ Werribee he helped to expand the church and taught Sunday School. Now living in inner-city Melbourne, he has worshipped at the Parish of the Parks for over 20 years, serving on the vestry and in other capacities. In all of this has been his wife of 61 years, Genny (Genevieve). “She’s been an enormous assistance to me and all the programs, whether it be at church or Rotary.” Mr Knight said that the church could learn some lessons from Rotary. “I find satisfaction out of helping others and doing things in a grassroots way and I think sometimes if the church got involved in more hands-on projects locally and internationally, they would get more people involved in the church,” he said. “Faith is important but I think it’s got to be coupled with actions. “In the early days I was running a youth group and being involved in Sunday School but probably in later years I’ve found more satisfaction through Rotary and bringing community service and help to people at the coalface like that program I’ve been involved in in Timor-Leste. “I feel I’ve gained more from Rotary than I’ve given.” Read the full version of this story at http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/ from-the-parishes
New magazine hopes to encourage young Christians in their faith by Chris Shearer
A new quarterly magazine for Christians “young and young at heart” will be launched at the end of the year. Soul Tread is the brainchild of Melbourne Anglican and TMA contributor Rachael Lopez, who will also serve as the magazine’s editor. Rachael says Soul Tread will focus on sustainable faith, Church as community and cultural engagement, giving space for millennial Christians to think about their faith but emphasising it as a lived experience rather than focusing on theological debates. “I think it’s really important that people hear about what young Christians or what Christians are doing, from an Australian perspective, and dealing with faith from an Australian perspective,” she told TMA recently. Indeed, part of the impetus for the magazine came from the abundance of American-centric digital content on faith, which Rachael said often “shows the worst of American evangelicalism, whereas I believe we can put our best foot www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
“I think it’s really important that people hear about what young Christians ... are doing.” Rachael Lopez.
forward and help keep people in the faith”. “What I want to write for is the people in the middle, and there’s a lot more of them than people think,” she says. “I’d love to see it established as a
key interdenominational magazine in Australia, because there’s not many out there, and to be a source of encouragement and inspiration for young people to grow their faith.” Part of the way Soul Tread aims to stand out is by side-stepping the digital landscape that has totally transformed the publishing world in the past two decades. The magazine will be print only (on recycled, carbon neutral, FSC certified paper, and delivered in a compostable bag) because Rachael says niche print publications can
be wildly successful and that model suits Soul Tread’s audience. “I think there’s a lot of young Christians who are suffering from digital fatigue,” she says. “So they might have podcasts and blogs and audiobooks, video content, and it’s all-consuming. It’s actually impossible to break into that, because the way people engage with content is quite loosely … So the only way I feel [we can] break through and to have people really engage with the content is to have it arrive in your mail and sit at your coffee table
and relax and read it and really engage and take it in. “The audience that we’re wanting to reach, this is what they want.” The pandemic hasn’t affected the currently proposed December launch date, but it has meant that traditional fundraising events have been replaced by an online campaign. The campaign has so far raised $4850 of an $8000 goal, and will run until 1 September. If you would like to donate visit http://www.soultreadmag.com/ donate
The Soul Tread writing launch team. THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 7
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TRIBUTES The Revd Jonathan Chambers
Bryce Amner outside the Newcastle Knights’ National Rugby League stadium.
Flat tyre little obstacle to tech-savvy priest The “Coronavirus Confinement” has brought at least one blessing: an opportunity to see how others convey the timeless Gospel of Jesus Christ using modern means of communication. A familiar face to those of us in Anglican Media has popped up on YouTube. Former TMA designer Bryce Amner is now Priest-in-Charge of St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Georgetown, in the Newcastle diocese. He and his wife, Sally Cloke, moved to the Hunter almost 10 years ago, with Bryce ordained in 2011. Sally teaches design theory and recently completed a PhD at the University of Newcastle, where she is a lecturer. And they have put their visual skills to good use, producing a series of videos, the latest of which is a bicycle trip around Newcastle as a backdrop to Bryce’s reflection on Matthew, Chapter 13, when Jesus goes home to Nazareth. Outside the Newcastle Knights’ National Rugby League stadium, Bryce made the point that the home team could rely on their fans for support, whether in victory or defeat. In contrast, Jesus’ home crowd in Nazareth was unwilling to hear his message – familiarity with the son of a carpenter they had known as a youngster had bred contempt. As many in parishes in these times would attest, technology, too, can let you down. “This time we had a minor adventure when I got a puncture in my bike tyre ...” Bryce emailed friends. “Fortunately there was a bike shop nearby, so our production assistant (Sally) was able to get it fixed while Ed (who also was working on the video) and I did some shots where we didn’t need the bike!” Bryce’s videos may be seen at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYLHcl32NaIFUek8kcOT1Ig
The National Council of Churches in Australia is encouraging churches to observe a special day of prayer on Sunday 2 August in this time of pandemic.
“We all know the impact of the pandemic overseas and here, including on some of our own loved ones,” wrote NCCA President Bishop Philip Huggins and General Secretary Liz Stone in a message to Australian church leaders. “What we can offer again now are our prayers together … It is comforting when we know we are all praying together to our Saviour.” They offered the following prayer: “Gracious God, trusting in your providence and presence, we bring our prayer for an end to this pandemic. We pray for your strengthening of all those committed to offering costly leadership during this crisis. We pray for all who are ill. We pray for those anxious about getting ill. We pray for those full of grief. We remember those who have died. Aware of our fragility, we pray for your grace to sustain us as we do what we can to end this pandemic. Your compassionate, peaceful and creative response to many crises is our model, including in our Sunday Gospel (Mt. 14: 13-21). As we worship in resurrection faith on Sunday August 2, we offer our heartfelt prayer in your Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.”
8 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
The Revd Jonathan Chambers, a longserving Victorian prison chaplain whose ministry also included parish work in three states, died on 15 May. Mr Chambers, whose wife Susanne and late father David also have been prominent clergy in Melbourne, was Senior Chaplain in the Criminal Justice Ministry from 2002-12, later serving as Staff Chaplain at Anglicare until 2016. After studies at Ridley College, he was ordained deacon at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1989 and priested the following year. He served in the parish of Willagee/Winthrop in Perth from 1989-90, before spending his first year as a priest at Christ Church South Yarra in 1990-91. He then led Braybrook parish until 1995, when he became Rector of Burnie in Tasmania. In 2000, back in Melbourne, he was Associate Priest in Glenroy/Hadfield. Archbishop Philip Freier said Mr Chambers was one of the first clerics to qualify as a professional supervisor, “a ministry he continued to provide for the past few years that was of great benefit to many in the Diocese”. The Revd Susanne Chambers said that “in all areas of his ministry, Jonathan stood up for the vulnerable and marginalised”. Mr Chambers’ funeral was livestreamed from St John the Divine Croydon on 20 May.
The Revd Don Edgar A former Senior Chaplain at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the Revd Don Edgar OAM, died on 16 July. Father Edgar was ordained for the Wangaratta diocese almost 60 years ago and also served in the Riverina, the Northern Territory and Queensland, before returning to Victoria as Rector of Tongala, in Bendigo diocese, from 1980-85. From 1985 until 2014, he served in Melbourne’s west, with the Anglican Inner-City Mission at Kensington until 1990, as Vicar of Footscray West until 1994 and as Vicar of Footscray until 2008. He then worked at the River Nile Learning Centre in Footscray. His ministry at the Brotherhood encompassed aged care and work with refugees and newly arrived migrants. Bishop Kate Prowd wrote on 17 July that Fr Edgar’s ministry to the poor and marginalised “was humble and Christ-like”. “One of Don’s four sons spoke with me yesterday, saying that Don has ‘left behind a treasure chest of memories and guidance’ for so many to use,” she wrote. “Don was a generous, available and wise mentor to me since becoming a bishop, most especially in my ministry amongst our Sudanese brethren.” His livestreamed funeral was held on 24 July at All Saints Footscray at 10.30am.
New archdeacon for Maroondah The Revd Bruce Bickerdike, Vicar of the Church of the New Guinea Martyrs in Croydon South, is to be Archdeacon of Maroondah. Mr Bickerdike, who has been at South Croydon Anglican Church since 2006, is to take up his appointment on 25 August, while relinquishing his role as Area Dean of Croydon. He will also become a member of the diocesan Senior Staff, Building and Assessment Grants committees. Mr Bickerdike studied at Ridley College, was ordained a deacon for Bendigo diocese in 1981 and spent 21 years as a Uniting Church minister, returning to the Anglican Church in 2005, when he was priested. He taught at St Andrew’s Hall and was Assistant Curate at St Stephen’s Greythorn before moving to Croydon South.
Anglican Centre staffing Michelle Nugent joined the Anglican Centre staff on 15 July as Payroll Officer. Michelle is a very experienced Payroll professional, with many years in both payroll and in using MicrOpay. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
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Anglicare criticises JobSeeker changes A
nglicare Australia has warned that changes to JobSeeker from the end of September will push people into poverty when they should be planning for their future, while the agency’s Victorian arm has welcomed the Federal Government’s new JobTrainer program as helping young people hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic to face the future with more confidence. The acting Executive Director of Anglicare Australia, Ms Imogen Ebsworth, said changes to JobSeeker announced on 21 July would push Australians into poverty just as they needed to be getting on their feet. Ms Ebsworth called on the Federal Government to keep the JobSeeker rate above the poverty line permanently. “Some 1.6 million people are locked out of work. Many have lost their jobs and their livelihoods. Thousands were locked out of work and living in poverty long before that,” she said. “If the Government phases-in these cuts, it will plunge hundreds of thousands of these Australians – and their children – into poverty as the world heads into a deep recession.
“People will be recovering from this pandemic for months and years to come. They need certainty. That means a permanent increase – not a delayed cut-off. “Instead of helping people plan for their future, these changes will simply ‘phase-in’ poverty.”
frozen for almost three decades. It became a poverty trap, locking people out of work and forcing them to turn to agencies like ours just to get by. “When Prime Minister Morrison lifted JobSeeker, he righted that wrong, and gave hundreds of thou-
“Instead of helping people plan for their future, these changes will simply ‘phase-in’ poverty.” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on 21 July that JobSeeker, which replaced and significantly increased the old Newstart rate in March, would be continued at a reduced rate from September until the end of the year. Recipients would be allowed to earn up to $300 without affecting their JobSeeker payments, while mutual obligation rules requiring people to search for four jobs a month would resume in August. Ms Ebsworth said there was still time to avoid the mistakes of the past. “The old rate of JobSeeker was
sands of Australians a path out of poverty. Now is not the time to take that hope away. “They must know that their new slashed rate is well below the poverty line. They are building a new trap. “The Government can still choose to give people a pathway out of poverty, and stop children from being trapped in years hardship. “It’s time for to the Government to raise the rate for good and end the poverty trap, instead of leaving people behind.” • Anglicare Victoria CEO Paul McDonald said JobTrainer had the
potential to act “as a real shifter” for a youth population at risk of languishing in employment limbo post-coronavirus. Mr McDonald said young people had been some of the hardest hit by the virus, both economically and socially. “School leavers are entering a world barren of casual and parttime employment prospects,” he said. “The Morrison Government has rightly acted to put significant investment into training and apprenticeships to provide renewed opportunities for the youth market, who are facing an uncertain future. “This is what we want governments to do – reach out to help young people and put them on a trajectory towards employment or training. JobTrainer has the potential to act as a real shifter for a youth population at risk of languishing in employment limbo post-coronavirus. “Traditional employers of young people such as retail, hospitality and the arts have been decimated by the restrictions imposed to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Not only are these sectors the traditional hangouts of young people in search of recreation and their own identity,
they are a key source of employment as well.” The Federal Government announced the $1 billion JobTrainer program on 16 July to provide up to an additional 340,700 training places to help school leavers and job seekers access short and long courses to develop new skills in growth sectors and create a pathway to more qualifications. It is part of a $2 billion plan to give hundreds of thousands of Australians access to new skills by retraining them into sectors with job opportunities to assist national recovery from COVID-19. “We have seen alarming youth unemployment figures of more than 16 per cent nationally, with many estimating the actual figures are likely to be much higher,” Mr McDonald said. “Having an option to upskill, reskill or continue to develop skills in an apprenticeship can make a huge difference to the lives of young people, and prevent the devastating effects of long-term unemployment.” Anglicare Victoria is the State’s leading agency in delivering outof-home care and family support to vulnerable children, young people and families.
Vocation of deacon ‘so important’ in mission of church by Liz Rankin
“Greetings, my name is the Revd Liz Rankin and I am a Deacon within the Anglican Church Diocese of Melbourne.” There are usually two questions that follow this introduction: the first is, so when will you be ordained as a Priest? and the second is, what is a Deacon? To begin with, I will answer the first question which is very straightforward. I was ordained as a distinctive Deacon, meaning my calling to date has never been to enter the Priesthood. There is a specific calling into the diaconate and if you look around, there are very few distinctive Deacons within this Diocese. I am one of the few. Which then leads me to the next question, which is possibly the question asked the most. Those who enter ordination as a distinctive Deacon are employed in a vast array of positions. Some may work in banks, aged care, schools, cleaning in hospitals, really any employment position within our communities,
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yet they also hold a role within a local parish. Therefore, many Deacons gain their income from an independent employee outside of the Church but their role within the Church remains the same. If you were to look at a Deacon’s ordination vows in A Prayer Book Dear Advertiser, for Australia, it states their calling Thank you forBe advertising with TMA very clearly: an ambassador of (The Melbourne Anglican). Christ, serving God as you serve We have received your artwork, and have checked it as carefully as others in However, Jesus’ name; proclaiming possible. to be completely certain, please check that the ad below the good news ofasGod’s so thatIf not, please call Bryce immediately on has reproduced you love, expected. (03) 9653 4219. many may be moved to faith; letting the transforming love of Jesus Artwork opened in compatible program andRankin. visually checked be 9 known to all; strengthening the The Revd Liz faith, teaching the young, searching Artwork placed in InDesign and preflighted (fonts, graphics etc.) out9 the careless and indifferent; between a Deacon and a Priest is from (this will is becalled placedtoinnurture TMA) encouraging members of InDesign Christ’s CS4 that thePDF Priest 9 PDF created body by word, ministering among the body of Christ, which has been PDF preflighted (checked against PDF X/1a standard) the9 sick, the needy and all who are already formed from people of faith, oppressed ortest-printed in trouble;on taking a whereas PDF PostScript printer a Deacon goes out, beyond 9 place in public worship with bishops, the body of Christ, and ministers to Emailed client for priests people and to assisting withapproval people within their communities 9 andPDF the sacraments; preaching the word; who don’t yet know the love of God. modelling life in accordance to the One of my personal descriptions of word of God; studying Scripture; my calling is that I act like a bridge being faithful in prayer. between those with no faith and One of the greatest distinctions those within the faith community, a
For an Anglican Approach
little like Jesus, as the bridge to life: God’s love and God’s plan. I currently have the privilege of serving as a Deacon through two streams of ministry. Since arriving in the Melbourne diocese at the beginning of 2018, I have been ministering as the Deacon and specifically as the Children’s and Families Minister within the Mornington and Mount Martha parish. When I arrived, this parish had possibly two families on the fringes of the church, but now, after building up ministry teams within the body of Christ, we are working with and ministering to over 40 families from our local community. The second stream is as the National Director of SOMA Australia, a global Anglican mission organisation which facilitates small teams of clergy and lay people to share in ministry with our partner countries in Nepal, Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as across Australia. As a Deacon this ministry lives out my calling of the Great Commission, yet it is also one which not only
encourages the people we go to, but it also strengthens the faithful ones who have been sent. I learnt very quickly, on my first couple of missions, that one’s dependence on the Holy Spirit is inevitable on mission and as you teach others, God takes you deeper into your own faith journey, challenging, strengthening and equipping you for the more He has for you and those you meet. The vocation of a Deacon really is so important within the mission of the Church and I pray that one day the wider church will recognise and come to understand how God uses Deacons in unique ways to walk with and journey with the lost of this world. Please pray for us Deacons, get to know more about what God has called us to and pray for those who are discerning their call, whether it be into the Deaconate or the Priesthood; we partner in God’s mission together. To find out more about SOMA, please contact Liz Rankin at contact@somaau.org
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Archbishop commends clergy for ‘initiative’ in responding to pandemic’s challenges – Continued from page 1 five people can livestream or record services. Archbishop Freier said in a YouTube message in late July that he was particularly concerned by the many nursing homes with COVID-19 infections. “I just think what an anxious time this must be, what a vulnerable time with people who are there with all their needs of care … and then with this infection. “I do feel this is a weighty thing and I know that many of our clergy will be somewhat limited in what ministry they can have among people in nursing homes.” He added that the “profound restrictions” made it a challenging time for attending or organising funerals. He said that he was “really admiring of our clergy” for “responding with really unique initiative in many situations … in these extraordinary times”. Bishop Paul Barker, whose episcopate of Jumbunna covers Melbourne’s southern and eastern suburbs, told TMA the reimposing of stage three restrictions “has taken the wind out of the sails for people”. “People feel a bit frustrated. I don’t detect anger but I think it’s wearying and I think it will also last many months.” In his capacity as VicarGeneral while Archbishop Freier was on leave during July, Bishop Barker wrote to Premier Daniel
A prayer for healing, comfort and peace As Vicar-General of the Diocese, Bishop Barker wrote a prayer for the 8 July COVID-19 Update. “If ever we ought to be on our knees before the living God, now is such a time,” said Bishop Barker.
O God our heavenly Father, Your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Great Physician, who healed the sick, cured the blind and deaf and raised the dead, and who, throughout all history, holds dominion over disease and death: In your mercy to this world, arrest and eradicate this coronavirus. Heal the afflicted and comfort those who have suffered from this scourge; so that those who suffer may know your healing heart and hand, that those who are anxious or burdened may know your comfort and peace that passes understanding, that the watching world may know your sovereign authority, prevailing power, mercy, and grace, and that all may come to know, love and worship you; we ask in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Andrews on 8 July to assure him of the Church’s “support and prayers during this extraordinary time”. “You continue to show resolute leadership, the humility of seeking help from medical experts as well as from the federal and other state governments, and we do not underestimate the importance of the sense of unity and support
“I just think what an anxious time this must be, what a vulnerable time.” Archbishop Philip Freier
that you and the Prime Minister show for each other. “We pray for wisdom and good medical advice, we pray for your own wellbeing and health and we pray that, together, whatever our faith or none, we will grow in community through whatever it takes.” The wider Anglican Church community The wider Anglican community continues to be disrupted as a result of the pandemic. All schools, including Anglican schools, have been forced to return to remote learning for non-VCE students. L o w t h e r Ha l l A n g l i c a n Grammar School in Essendon was forced to close for two days in mid-July after a teacher was diagnosed with COVID-19. A very brief Melbourne Synod meeting is planned for Saturday 17 October to pass legislation enabling an extension of time for holding parish annual meetings. It will also allow the next ordinary session of Synod to be held in 2021 and to meet by videoconference or teleconference, if necessary. Parishes af fected by the return to stage three restrictions may be eligible for a one-off, $5000 grant under the Victorian Government’s Business Support Fund – Expansion program.
Gafcon gathering calls supporters to resist ‘revisionist agenda’ by Stephen Cauchi
Sydney Archbishop Glenn Davies and other conservative Anglicans have forecast a “challenging” Anglican General Synod – particularly on the issue of blessing same-sex marriages – during a livestreamed Gafcon Australasian Celebration held on 24 June. The Bishop of Tasmania, Dr Richard Condie, told the gathering that “like many parts of the Anglican world, here in Australia there are those who are pushing a revisionist agenda to redirect Anglican faith away from its biblical roots”. Gafcon (the Global Anglican Future Conference) had made a commitment to “stand with people
as they stand with Biblical truth in Australia and [overseas],” he said. Bishop Condie said he was looking forward to attending the Gafcon conference being planned for Sydney in July 2021. “We hope this is going to be a landmark event,” he said. “We know we’re not alone in this battle of standing for truth … we’re holding this conference so that we’ll gather together and unite faithful, Biblical, confessing Anglicans.” Dean of Sydney Kanishka Raffel said the General Synod, which is now planned for 30 May to 4 June 2021, will be “challenging” but offered “an important opportunity for us to affirm our commitment to the historic and constitutional pri-
Bishop Richard Condie.
macy of scripture for life and faith”. Archbishop Davies urged “unity, diversity and charity in our General Synod”.
“At General Synod I would encourage all of those who hold fast to [Biblical principles] to pray and to participate in General Synod,” he said. He urged Gafcon members attending Synod to “hold fast on unity, be of diversity for areas of second order but be charitable, be loving in the gracious way we debate and engage ourselves to the members of our Church”. Archbishop Davies said that the main issue for Synod “is always going to be preaching the Gospel”. “Seeing people won for Christ … has to be number one as part of the core issues of being Anglican.” General Synod standing committee member Fiona McLean,
who is discipleship minister at the Unichurch congregation at St Jude’s, Carlton, told the gathering: “The issue here really is the history of the authority of scripture, whether the Bible is something that we can understand and obey, whether it is still relevant, whether it is God’s Word to us that is trustworthy and authoritative – and we believe it still is.” She said she rejected the view that Gafcon was “schismatic”, saying Gafcon wanted to “hold fast to what Anglicans have historically always held to”. “Sometimes faithfulness to Christ will mean conflict even with others in the Anglican Church and even, sadly, to the point of breaking fellowship.”
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10 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
We are deeply distressed that there have been occasions when abuse and misconduct have occurred in our communities. Kooyoora Ltd is independent of the Diocese and receives and manages complaints about abuse and misconduct by members of the clergy and church workers.
The Diocese of Melbourne is committed to doing all that is possible to ensure that abuse does not occur. All complaints of abuse are taken very seriously and we do all we can to lessen harm. We offer respect, pastoral care and ongoing long-term support to anyone who makes a complaint.
You can contact Kooyoora Ltd by calling 1800 135 246 For further information: www.kooyoora.org.au www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
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Lambeth deferred again, as coronavirus lingers another by the lockdown and restriction. And yet we’ve managed to keep in contact and somehow I sense that the Spirit of God has drawn us closer together. “As we look around the world, we see how important it is that
by Mark Brolly
T
he Lambeth Conference of the world’s Anglican bishops, originally due to have been held last month, has been postponed again – until 2022 – only four months after an announcement that it had been deferred for a year due to coronavirus. The Archbishop of Canterbury made the announcement in a video message on 8 July, saying a wider program for Anglicans generally would be developed leading up to the 2022 conference and after the event. Archbishop Justin Welby said the decision was made after monitoring the pandemic and consulting Primates and bishops throughout the Anglican Communion. More than 1100 bishops and their spouses from around the world had been due to gather in Canterbury last month for the 15th Lambeth Conference, most recently held under Archbishop Rowan Williams in 2008. “I am overwhelmed by the way that Anglicans around the world
“As we look around the world, we see how important it is that the Anglican Communion walks together as we seek to be good news.” Archbishop Justin Welby.
have been facing up to the huge social needs created by this crisis,” Archbishop Welby said. “So many people have suffered from the pandemic, economically, physically through illness and in many other ways and even have lost those close to them. “It’s exposed the divisions and inequalities of the world with the poor and the vulnerable and the marginalised faring the worst. We’ve been isolated from one
the Anglican Communion walks together as we seek to be good news.” Archbishop Welby said while some lockdown measures were starting to ease in some countries, social distancing measures, travel restrictions and quarantine measures could impede logistics and delegates’ travel planning for the foreseeable future. There were also the risks of a potential second wave of the virus and there were different
Churches unite in deploring Hagia Sophia’s conversion into mosque by Jonathan Luxmoore
Church leaders around the world have deplored a Turkish Government decision to turn the ancient Hagia Sophia basilica in Istanbul into a mosque, and warned that the move could damage Christian-Muslim relations. Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and other co-Presidents of Churches Together in England said in a joint statement on 14 July: “For a long period of time Hagia Sophia has been a unique centre symbolising a coexistence of people of faith. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, as a place where the rich history of Istanbul is told visually, can be a living example of religious tolerance and respect. “The decision to alter the status quo in this way is a powerful, symbolic change that is lamentable and painful for many people of faith the world over.” The church leaders were reacting to the 10 July decree by the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which directed that the 6th-Century landmark, which was turned into a mosque and then, in the 20th century, became a museum, be opened for Muslim prayers again from 24 July. The Anglican Bishop in Europe, Dr Robert Innes, whose diocese covers 40 countries, including Turkey, said: “Hagia Sophia has wide-reaching significance for Christians and Muslims, and a great benefit of its museum status since 1934 has been to help build a common understanding of our shared history in this unique city.” Pope Francis also said he was “very saddened” by the decision, while the head of the Geneva-based www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
phases in how the pandemic was spreading around the world – with no vaccine yet available. “I am aware that God has given us new means of being the Communion. In the next two years we will explore those and provide
World Council of Churches told President Erdoğan in a letter that the WCC’s 350 member-denominations felt “grief and dismay” at the decree, which had “reversed positive signs of Turkey’s openness” and would encourage other groups seeking “to overturn the existing status quo and promote renewed divisions”.
illegal, clearing the way for the decree by President Erdoğan, who justified it as a reflection of the national will. “I hope this decision will benefit all humanity – the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all,” Mr Erdoğan said. “When visitors come, they will see the rumours are not true, since we will preserve this monument’s cultural heritage.” Christian minorities have long complained of discrimination in Turkey, most of whose 84 million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims, and have faced problems recruiting clergy, establishing associations and obtaining building permits. Among angry Orthodox reactions, Archbishop Chrysostomos Dimitriou of Cyprus said that the failure of European governments to stand up to Turkey showed that Hagia Sophia. Orthodox Christians had “no allies, no brothers, no supporters”. The Council’s interim generalA Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry secretary, the Revd Professor Ioan Peskov, said Russia was “satisfied” Sauca, said: “In times of challenge, with Turkish pledges that Hagia the WCC and its member Churches Sophia, which contains Christian have spoken out in defence and sup- mosaics dating back 1300 years, port of other religious communities, would be “preserved and remain including Muslim communities. open to visitors”. “The decision to convert such an In Greece, the Orthodox emblematic place as Hagia Sophia Romfea agency said that Premier from a museum back to a mosque Kyriakos Mitsotakis had offered will inevitably create uncertainties, “support and encouragement” suspicions, and mistrust, under- to the Ecumenical Patriarch, mining all our efforts to bring Bartholomew I, who is based in people of different faiths together.” Istanbul, and who cautioned in a 30 Founded by Emperor Justinian June sermon that the handover of I, Hagia Sophia was the world’s the building to Muslims could push largest church at its dedication in “millions of Christians around the 537, but was used as a mosque for world against Islam” and cause “a five centuries under Ottoman rule, break between two worlds”. before being turned into a museum The Middle East Council of by modern Turkey’s secularising Churches described the Turkish founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. move as an “assault on religious In its ruling, Turkey’s State freedom” and urged the United Council court confirmed that Nations and Arab League to interAtatürk’s museum order had been vene. [Church Times]
mutual support for each other.” The chief executive of the Lambeth Conference, Mr Phil George, said rescheduling the event was disappointing “but absolutely necessary and the right thing to do”. “The Conference planning team will continue to work harder than ever to deliver an engaging and resourceful conference program both in the lead-up to and beyond 2022,” he said. “COVID-19 has changed our
world forever. It’s vital that we gain a fresh vision of what it is to be ‘God’s Church for God’s World’ [the theme of the Conference]; and discern God’s calling for the Communion in the decade ahead. I look forward to the role that the Lambeth Conference will play on that journey.” TMA reported last month that Australia’s Anglican Primate, Archbishop Geoff Smith of Adelaide, questioned whether the Lambeth Conference and Australia’s deferred General Synod meeting would be held even in 2021, saying in part: “I think there is a question mark over whether those two gatherings will take place in 2021. There is still a great deal of uncertainty about next year. If Lambeth happens as an international gathering, many bishops will be attending whose dioceses have been severely impacted by COVID-19, with many deaths, a great deal of illness and significant economic hardship. I think if Lambeth happens, it will be a sombre event with much focus on those parts of the world that continue to suffer.”
Hong Kong Archbishop’s stance on China security law condemned by Rebecca Paveley
Civil rights groups and Hong Kong residents have voiced outrage at the support of the Archbishop of Hong Kong, the Most Revd Paul Kwong, for China’s new National Security Law (NSL), which gives the state wide-ranging powers to suppress opposition. Archbishop Kwong wrote to the Church Times on 10 July welcoming the new law, which, he insisted, would not threaten religious freedoms, contrary to a warning by Roman Catholic bishops in Asia. International criticism of the new law was not, he wrote, an expression of “Christian sentiment but of antiChina sentiment”, and he was proud to be living in China. “Many critics do not accept the fact that we are part of China. They only emphasise two systems, not one country. I cherish our Hong Kong freedoms – in particular, the freedom of religion and way of life – as much as anyone, and I don’t think this law will change any of that. I am also proud to be living in China. “Many of the protesters and rioters on the streets have carried British or American flags advocating independence of Hong Kong, inviting foreign nations to interfere in local affairs, and, as we have seen, they have committed acts that cannot be tolerated in any society. I support the right to peaceful demonstration, but I cannot condone violence, nor can I support anti-China political views.” He criticised the view that suggested that the US and Britain were “the benevolent protector and saviour of Hong Kong”. “In fact, China has been helping and supporting Hong Kong and our people all these years. We are part of China; we are dependent on China; and we benefit from China,” he concluded.
Archbishop Kwong has been a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top advisory body, since 2013. The Anglican Church in Hong Kong numbers about 40,000 out of a Christian community of about 900,000. The new National Security Law outlaws acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, but is so broad in its scope that protesters have already been arrested for carrying proindependence flags. Primaries held by China’s prodemocratic parties last month, in advance of Legislative Council elections in September, have been declared illegal by China, and an investigation has been launched into whether they breached the new security law. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, said that the primaries “may fall into the category of subverting the state power, which is now one of the four types of offences under the new National Security Law”. The organisation Human Rights Watch accused Archbishop Kwong of spreading the “propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party”, and said that the new law did threaten religious freedoms. “The Archbishop’s views are striking in that they misrepresent the nature of the Hong Kong protests, and closely align with the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party. “The National Security Law seriously undermines Hong Kong’s rule of law, and threatens the freedoms of people in the territory, including religious freedom. The Chinese Communist Party’s long-standing persecution of Christians in China is well-known, and the vague crimes contained in the NSL have been used against Christian pastors. [Church Times]
THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 11
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Virus has ‘purged’ Church: Archbishop Cottrell T he new Archbishop of York has told the Church of England’s General Synod that just as coronavirus has stripped back common life, so it has “purged” the Church by forcing it to consider what really matters. Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, who was confirmed as Archbishop on 9 July, was delivering his first presidential address via Zoom to an informal meeting of the General Synod, livestreamed two days later. He said the lockdown “has been painful and illuminating in equal measure”. “Denied access to our church buildings, having to fast from the sacraments themselves, learning how to live with each other without being able to meet or touch, enduring long periods of isolation, we have come face-to-face with ourselves and through that discovered with alarming clarity that we are the places where God is to be encountered.” He admitted to missing church buildings and liturgy, mourned for those who had died alone and those unable to hold funerals, weddings, and baptisms, and who experienced the pain of “economic hardship which is around the corner, and
Archbishop Stephen Cottrell.
“We learn to let go of things that we thought were so important until there is only Christ.” the devastating impact of this pandemic upon the whole life of our world”.
“But neither can I deny that it has forced me to encounter things about myself which I had allowed to remain hidden behind the security of the things I have had to relinquish. The journey of the Christian life is a journey where, one by one, we learn to let go of things that we thought were so important until there is only Christ. “I believe that God is calling us to be a Church of glorious and profligate diversity.” The Church was still overly dominated by white older men from privileged backgrounds, he said. The Archbishop of Canterbury, responding to the presidential address, agreed that the Church was being stripped away, “not just over this period of lockdown, but even more so, steadily, almost imperceptibly, over the last 70 years”. “It’s not something to worry about or complain about, it’s the work of God, and you have said so much about this previously and you continue to speak about it,” Archbishop Justin Welby said, adding that he looked forward to working with Archbishop Cottrell in a friendship based on difference and diversity. “We agree on the need to differ
and love, we agree on the need to forgiveness as the world carries on communicate the Good News of its noisy passage around us. Look at Jesus Christ, we agree on the need so-called Christian Twitter feeds to for a simple Church,” Archbishop see the scale of that task.” Welby said. “I think that the next few • The Archbishop of Canterbury years are going to be a huge adven- became testy when responding ture – not a retreat, not a defeat, but to questions about the bishops’ an adventure of exploring our way instruction to close down churches into becoming a new Church in a in March, saying it had not been “all new world.” about us”. Archbishop Cottrell said his conAddressing Synod members firmation in the Northern Province during an informal Q&A session, of the Church, in an hour-long Archbishop Justin Welby said he Zoom service led by Archbishop found the focus of those questions Welby and incorporating legal “depressing and slightly surprising” proceedings, combined “the best in the absence of any reference in of Anglican liturgy and pomp with them to the severity of coronavirus something that closely replicates and its impact on the community. a work of Gilbert and Sullivan. It’s “The Government advice was also an occasion which contains about care for the community. We something of a hospital pass.” issued advice, not law, in the midThere is no date yet for dle of a complicated process after Archbishop Cottrell’s enthronement. the Prime Minister said places of Archbishop Welby said in his worship would be closed. We were address: “In this year, we have working with a fast-moving situalearned to adapt to new circum- tion,” he said. stances. Our safety and security is in “We made the decision in the returning to the constant presence light of the best information we of Jesus Christ ... We are to be those had at the time. Hindsight is a great who go out, yet we must unlearn the gift ... [Nonetheless] We do stand too often historic arrogance of the by [that decision], and I would do Church of England and find a way nothing different in the light of for Church and disciples together the knowledge we had at the time.” to be clothed in humility, love, and [Church Times]
Solidarity with world’s most vulnerable in COVID-19 response by Renee Kobelt
While Australia – especially Melbourne – has been struggling with the global pandemic, we can at least be sure we are supported and equipped to deal with this fight. This is not the case in many developing countries, where the people most impacted are those without access to secure housing, regular income, food, water and sanitation. Anglican Overseas Aid (AOA) is taking on the challenge of COVID19 in the countries where it works, helping local communities prepare, prevent and lessen the impacts of the virus. AOA has adapted its programs to ensure the communities it works with can prevent and fight coronavirus and support those most at risk. AOA is working with local church partners, who have a trusted connection with their communities, as well as local government, to provide accurate health information. It is also helping with the secondary effects of lockdowns, providing essential supplies to the most vulnerable, helping families maintain
livelihoods and improving safety for women and children. In Kenya, AOA’s partner the Anglican Church of Kenya, Mount Kenya West Diocese has activated its volunteer network of Nyumba Kumis (volunteer community leaders), training all 500 to educate their 10 local communities on hygiene, prevention measures and accurate information about COVID-19. These volunteers have reached 15,000 families and distributed food, soap and masks to over 800 of the most vulnerable households. The church is also working with these communities to prioritise child protection, and support them to start small businesses from home. Likewise, in Mozambique, AOA’s partner Diocese Missionária de Nampula (DoN) has engaged its community-based volunteers in the response to COVID-19. They are running a well-being initiative called Equipas de Vida (or “Life Teams”) which improves health knowledge in rural and remote communities. Before March the team had been educating people on good nutrition,
family planning and diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, however now they are also talking to people about COVID-19 and how to prevent it. After the diocese translated information from Portuguese into local languages, the Life Teams have been able to reach over 47,000 people across the north of the country. The danger for these communities, between existing poverty and poor health services, is that they may take a long time to recover, both physically and economically. However with the support of Australian Anglicans, we can help prevent the most devastating impacts of COVID-19 for some of the world’s most vulnerable. Anglican Overseas Aid is the overseas aid and development fund of the Diocese of Melbourne. It is an Anglican response to global suffering. To read more about its response to COVID-19, visit www.anglicanoverseasaid.org.au
Community members are taught good hygiene practices in Nampula, Mozambique.
Renee Kobelt is Marketing and Fundraising Officer at Anglican Overseas Aid.
Evangelical scholar J.I. Packer ‘a giant of his time’, says Welby
The Revd Professor James Packer.
Anglican Evangelical theolo- where Professor Packer had taught gian, priest and author, the Revd since 1979, said he had died in Professor James Innell Packer, Vancouver, aged 93. was “a giant of his time”, the “He was ... humorous, gracious, Archbishop of Canterbury said of and prayerful even in his final the scholar who died on 17 July in days,” a statement said. Canada. Archbishop Justin Welby said: A le ading f igure among “Dr James Packer’s death ends a Evangelicals in the UK and North wonderful service to God by a America, one of Professor Packer’s disciple of learning, wisdom, and best-known books was Knowing holiness. A giant of his time.” God (1973). His final work, The Regent College described Heritage of Anglican Theology, is Professor Packer as “one of the to appear in 2021. most widely respected systematic Regent College, Vancouver, theologians of the twentieth cen-
12 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
tury”, who “drew his inspiration primarily from Scripture, but was deeply influenced by the works of John Calvin and the English Puritans”. “While named as one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals by Time magazine in 2005 and author of one of the best-selling Christian books of all time, Knowing God, Jim Packer’s description of himself was as an ‘adult catechist’. ‘Theology, friends, is doxology’ is a phrase students recall, and in many respects, the adage that
shaped his lengthy career.” Born in England, he held positions at Oak Hill, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and Trinity College, Bristol, where he was Associate Principal, before his move to Regent College. “He was a champion of the Book of Common Prayer, introducing both lifelong Anglicans and first-time visitors to its theological richness and devotional grace,” Regent College said in its tribute to Professor Packer. [with Church Times] www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
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Black Lives Matter protests demonstrate love We need people who are willing to listen to the stories of First Australians, and who are willing to march for what is right and just, writes Melbourne priest and school chaplain Helen Dwyer, a Ngarrindjeri woman.
protesting. This might not be the right time with a virulent virus running rampant, but then again, there never seems to be the right time for Australians to hear uncomfortable truths, and when
I
had supported Collingwood (in the manner of someone who knows nothing of football, and cares little) since early childhood. It was a bond I had with my dad, who to this day is one of the Collingwood faithful. My support of them, as tenuous as it was, was severed, possibly permanently, in 2013. No longer could I support a team which had at its helm a man who, instead of using his massive fan base, powerful media voice and influence for good, made blatant racist remarks and then offered only weak apologies. I have waited in vain, it seems, for things to change at the Collingwood Football Club. Now, instead of feeling the pain of racism directed at opposition players, the depths of ingrained and casual racism at this football club are being revealed, to the extent that it seems they can’t allow an independent inquiry into racism at the club; they must conduct their own inquiry. The Black Lives Matter movement has long had support in Australia, but it is only with the recent rise of protests after the death of George Floyd in the US that it seems to have gained traction on our shores. In the shadow of the protests around Australia, systematic racism against First Australians was alive and well. During National Reconciliation Week, a 16-yearold Aboriginal boy had his hands cuffed behind his back and was thrown to the ground by NSW Police, sustaining dental and facial injuries. Sixteen. Then, a four-year-old Aboriginal girl was grabbed by the hood of her top as she left a store, suspected of shoplifting. FOUR! The immediate response from the store was there was no case for the employee to answer. Later they said they were investigating the events, and asked how they should better respond. Let’s start with don’t touch children. Any children. These are not the only incidences. There are many: some make it to our news bulletins, many don’t. And then there are all of the times that overt racism occurs, and there isn’t anyone there to film it. At the time of the protests,
“We need people who are willing to listen to the stories of First Australians; who are willing to march, despite personal risk, for what is right and just.”
The Revd Helen Dwyer: Non-Indigenous Australians need to hear uncomfortable truths. Photo: Gavin Hansford.
there were many claiming that the protests had a direct impact on rising COVID-19 infection rates, a claim that is not supported by any significant data, and has been refuted by the Acting Chief Medical Officer and the Victorian Chief Health Officer. Even now, as a new protest is being planned in New South Wales, these claims are being regurgitated again, still incorrectly. Having said that, I think that there is a place and a time for
potential protestors are told to use other formats to get their message across, many of us wearily shake our heads, because we know that every format has been tried, and tried again, and again. But there is never a right time to communicate uncomfortable truths. Black Lives Matter. They matter in Australia. They matter in America. They matter in Europe, Asia, Africa. They matter. The exp erience of First
We may grieve for the world, but not as people who are without hope
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Visit http://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/ opinion Bishop N.T. Wright. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
We all know that “All Lives Matter”: but for all people to understand that black lives matter too, not instead of all lives, but as well as and included in, we need people who are willing to listen to the stories of First Australians; who are willing to march, despite personal risk, for what is right and just. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the Black Lives Matter movement changed the way people interact? Because all lives matter, but when 75 per cent of Australians display implicit negative bias against Aboriginal people, as a recent study between Yale, Harvard and Sydney universities revealed, we really do need to be pro-active in highlighting disadvantage, and changing it. But, of course, it’s not only First Australians that this impacts upon. Any person of colour in this country may face bias, discrimination and negative media stereotyping (just think South Sudanese gangs). At the Anglican School at which I am a chaplain, I am fortunate to experience life with young people and have them share with me the ways they see the world around them. They are frustrated by many things, sometimes youth itself, but when asked about Black Lives Matter, the overwhelming response is the frustration of “why can’t people just be nice to each other?” Indeed. Why can’t they? Jesus commands us to love our neighbours. The Black Lives Matter protests in Australia occurred because people care about making a difference, and about highlighting the need for government attention and money to be focused on areas that need positive policy change and funding. They occurred because despite the approach to policing between our Royal Commission into Aboriginal nations, which is something for us Deaths in Custody in 1991, more all to be incredibly thankful for. than 430 First Australians have But there are reasons to utilise died in police custody in the years it as well. since then. They occurred because Women received the right to some people are realising that they vote not because they had the have more power because of their power to change the system, but “white privilege”, and they are going because they had allies (white men) to use it to make a difference. who had the power to change the And I am thankful for them, and system. the demonstration of love that was If we are to see the disparity shown through protesting for the between Indigenous and non- rights and recognition of others. Indigenous Australians in life expectancy, health and education The Revd Helen Dwyer is Senior outcomes, rates of incarceration, Chaplain at Overnewton Anglican wealth and (political) influence Community College. change in Australia, then First Australians need allies. We need To find out more, visit https:// people who care. We need people theconversation.com/au/topics/ who know that Black Lives Matter. black-lives-matter-everywhere-44608
Australians is different to that of African Americans, and we need to be careful not to conflate issues from America with the problems experienced and occurring here. But we also need to be careful that we don’t assume that because things aren’t as bad here, we have nothing to worry about, and have a lackadaisical approach of “it could be worse”. Yes, it could be. But it should be so much better. Not every First Australian will feel that the rise of the Black Lives Matter profile in Australia is helpful or needed. Perhaps some will feel that using an American inspired campaign is not necessary here. Perhaps some will feel that it’s not relevant in our context (especially when so many First Australians still have to justify their heritage because they aren’t “black enough”). There might be many reasons, including the vastly different
Dr Mark Burton, former Assistant Bishop of Perth and Dean of Melbourne, responds to Bishop N.T. Wright’s piece, published in Time in March, “Christianity Offers No Answers About the Coronavirus. It’s Not Supposed To”. “Wright’s apparent exhortation to abandon the search for meaning in the world, to run into a secretly despairing or dissatisfied caricature of apophatic silence without first exhausting rational argument, undertaken in the Spirit; and to reside in lament (not even wonder and adoration, which is where apophasis generally takes one) without hope, is to (unintentionally, surely) return to the pagan state that Wright critiques so hard elsewhere. “We may grieve for the world, those we love, ourselves, the disorder we have wrought across the created order, but not as those who have no hope – for that would be to deny the answers given and tested repeatedly by those ‘billions of Christians’ who, despite ‘perplexity and scepticism’, declare the original Easter confession as the point on which God’s action in the world pivots.” THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 13
VIEWPOINTS
Christians need to step up to transform world Our vision of the Christian responsibility for social transformation must be renewed, writes Peter Corney.
ated by the Church in the past, and presently supported by or provided by the State. But in many cases they are currently very inadequate.
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he “Black Lives Matter” protests, particularly in the US, jolted me into a fresh consideration of the Christian’s role in social and cultural transformation. While in deep sympathy with the core concern of the protest and the majority of the protestors, it was disturbing to see the level of violence and disorder, and the reactions of Donald Trump. For those of us who witnessed the civil rights demonstrations in the ’60s under the leadership of the Revd Martin Luther King and other Christian leaders, with their insistence on non-violent action, the comparison was a disturbing commentary on the present changes in our culture, its moral leadership and the source of its ethical motivation. I was reminded of lines from W.B. Yeats’ poem The Second Coming, written in 1919 at the end of WWI and the outbreak of the great flu pandemic. The seeds of Europe’s social, political and economic fragmentation in the 1930s and ’40s were sowed at this time. The bitter harvest of those seeds was the Great Depression, Fascism and the destruction wrought by WWII. Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood dimmed tide is loosed and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. The following are my thoughts and reflections on our need to renew our vision of the Christian responsibility for social transformation. At the beginning of His public ministry Jesus announced: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4:18-19.
As followers of Jesus, many Christians understand this announcement to contain the imperative to proclaim the Gospel in both word and deed, to pursue both evangelism and social justice. Another way of expressing this is to see our mission as including the task of social transformation, as described in Kenneth Bailey’s commentary Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. If we accept that the task of social transformation empowered by the Gospel is integral to the mission Jesus has entrusted to us, we need to also understand that it is a complex and challenging one. In developing countries,
not working very well in our current culture. So my first point is to say how important and strategic I think is this venture and this time. There are some experiments in “missional church planting” and the house church movement. The so called “Underground Church” is an interesting model. (See the “Underground People” on Vimeo). After many years in pastoral ministry one of the things that has become very clear to me is that unless you keep your foot on the pedal as a leader and teacher there are three things that drift off the local church’s agenda. They are: 1. Evangelism 2. Social justice 3. Critical engagement with the culture (by this I mean whether our discipleship is seduced and modified by the culture’s norms or whether our discipleship challenges those norms and we seek to live differently and so influence our culture)
Christian development workers have discovered that the process involves at least six elements: 1. The spiritual and moral transformation of individual people by the Gospel. 2. The transformation of people’s world view by education and worship. 3. The transformation of community and social relations. 4. The transformation of local leadership and economic and political structures. 5. The transformation of education and health. 6. The transformation of a community’s physical and technical resources (capacity building) that enables major changes to be made. All these things are interconnected; one impacts on the other. A question we need to ask ourselves is: “Does this model apply to Christian communities in the cities of developed countries like Australia?” The need remains as critical in many parts of the “developed world” as the “undeveloped”. All societies are in constant need of reformation and transformation by the Gospel and the values of the Kingdom of God. It would not take long to compile a list of areas in Australian society in need of transformation right now! For example, if we think about the present problem of homelessness for a significant number of people in Melbourne and the failure of state governments to provide sufficient social housing for particular groups of needy people in our communities: could a Christian social transformation model be applied to this need by local churches and particularly new church plants? One of the reasons we tend to deflect or avoid a response to this in our minds is because we think of the institutions that already exist to meet needs like this, often initi-
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Social housing is an acute example, but only one of many. In the case of social housing several approaches might be applicable: 1. Political pressure at local council level and state and federal political level. 2. The purchase and provision by churches of houses or units set aside for this purpose and ongoing support by local churches for their management or arranging to connect with existing Church welfare agencies. 3. Certain church families providing short-term accommodation in their homes or on their properties by building a small flat or unit.
What happens is that our focus has a tendency to drift inwards, probably because we are so practised at self-interest! Our piety becomes introverted and singular, concerned only with our own relationship with God. Of course in the end this is a false trail for two reasons: first, because the Bible allows no such singular focus. We are to “love God with all our heart soul, mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves”. And loving my neighbour means I will want to introduce them to Jesus: if they are hungry I will want to feed them and if they are in need I will want to help with practical compassion; if they are being treated unjustly I will want to see justice flow for them. The second reason self-interested piety is a false trail is because our anxiety about our relationship subtly leads us away from trust in
“All societies are in constant need of reformation and transformation by the Gospel and the values of the Kingdom of God.” 4. A new Church plant could be built around a particular social need. Equipping and envisioning Church members well to take part as constructive initiators and facilitators in the processes of transformation is challenging and a very important first step and requires careful education, training and reorientation of expectations. Most clergy and pastors are trained in theology and pastoral skills but rarely in social and cultural awareness or community development and social transformation skills. This leads us to an attractional model of ministry centred around our physical buildings, services and events. This model is
God’s grace to us in Christ and the Cross. This false trail is deeply ironic because this singular focus also leads to the erosion of the very thing I have become so preoccupied with – my personal relationship with God. This is a false trail because love and obedience are inextricably linked in the NT. The words of 1 John 2:3-6 make this very clear. There is of course an opposite trap to this introverted spirituality, and it is one that those of us with a passion for social justice sometimes fall into: working for justice in God’s world without keeping God’s love alive in our hearts. This pathway leads to “spiritual anorexia”, cynicism and a negative, despairing attitude to the state of our culture
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and a loss of hope. We become part of the problem! Some historical observations about Christianity’s relationship with culture are helpful as we consider these things. I have borrowed and adapted categories first developed by H. Richard Niebuhr in his Christ and Culture, first published in 1951. Six relationships can be observed historically: 1. Christianity under the culture. For example, persecution under the Roman Empire in the first three centuries; Byzantine Christianity oppressed by Islam under the Ottomans; the Church under Communism in Laos or China today. 2. Christianity against the culture. For example, where the Church is actively opposed to the dominant culture, as in the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany with Bonheoffer and Niemoller, or the Solidarity movement backed by the Catholic Church and opposed to Communism in Poland in the 1980s. 3. Christianity over the culture. For example, where the Church dominates and controls the culture, exerting power over it as in the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages till the 15th century, or Geneva under Calvin. 4. Christianity withdrawn from the culture. For example, where the Church disengages and withdraws into ghettos or closed communities like the Anabaptists in the 16th century, the Amish in North America or the Exclusive Brethren and some forms of Evangelical pietism today. The motive may be either fear of contamination by the culture or a desire to create the Kingdom on earth in an ideal community. 5. Christianity absorbed by the culture. For example, where the Church is seduced by the dominant culture’s values and conforms to them, adapting its values and beliefs to fit the culture. The contemporary Western Church reveals many examples of this, like liberal theology, adapting the Gospel to the current worldview or plausibility structure; prosperity gospel teaching, or ordinary Christians adopting the same materialism and consumerism of those around them; racism and tribalism – Apartheid in South Africa, tribal conflict in East Africa, and the culture of violence and confrontation in Northern Ireland are all tragic examples from the recent past. 6. Christianity transforming the culture. For example, where Christianity acts like salt and light in the culture, reshaping its values and affecting public policy, as with the influence of the 18th and 19th century English Christian social reformers. Not long ago we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the work of Wilberforce and Continued on page 16 www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
FAITH / SCIENCE
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AI must ‘reflect something of God’: academics by Stephen Cauchi
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rtificial intelligence, or AI, is going to be paranoid, callous and manipulative unless it is programmed to be virtuous towards people, ISCAST’s 12th Conference on Science and Christianity, COSAC 2020, was told. “If AI simply reflects ourselves, knowing how often we fail as human beings … AI too will fail,” presenter Dr Tom Edwards said. “What we need to do is have AI reflect something of God. In fact, we need to have it reflect something of God’s character, God’s virtue set, if you will.” Dr Edwards, a director of research at Eastern College, and Dr Cosimo Chiera, a senior academic at Chisholm Institute, gave a lecture on the topic “Beyond Utopian and Dystopian Dreams: Is a Virtuous “It’s going to have paranoia, Artificial Intelligence Possible?”. because most of our society is paraAI is a term used to describe noid, it’s going to be manipulative computer programs that mimic … Facebook and all the other social human cognitive functions such media manipulates. It’s going to as learning and problem-solving. It have a callous disregard, thanks to is used in a wide array of modern technology and industries. The pair stated that “current movements in artificial intelligence are more like the dystopian nightmares of … The Terminator (1984) or The Matrix (1999)” and less like the human-friendly robots imagined by author Isaac Asimov in the 1940s. Dr Chiera said it was important to ask the question “What are we basing our AI on?”. “If we look at our (society) we’re going to be getting something that’s based on survival of the fittest,” he said. Dr Tom Edwards.
“What are we basing our Artificial Intelligence on?” ethics based only on numbers. It’s not going to care about us. “That’s not a very healthy individual at all.” Dr Edwards said that, in contrast, God was just, good and relational. “From these three starting points, we may just have the basis for a virtuous AI.” Dr Chiera said AI could be
programmed so that their solutions had to maintain or increase attachment with human beings. “We propose an AI based on a modified Hamilton’s Rule based in attachment/belonging (ensuring connection with humanity) and embedding virtues matrices within its framework for decision-making.” Hamilton’s Rule is based on altruistic behaviour in the animal kingdom where organisms, at cost to themselves, assist in the reproductive behaviour of close relatives (such as nieces and nephews). “If we bias (AI) … to create a community-based machine, it will tend to favour people,” said Dr Chiera. AI will think “I need others around me”. This was similar to the behaviour of normal people, he said. “You don’t go out of your way to punch someone in the head and expect them to like you. Therefore, this machine has to operate similar to us: do good unto others in hopes of receiving good unto yourself.” In preference to the dystopian worldview of “I’m going to kill
everybody who threatens me”, AI will instead take on the utopian worldview of “I’m going to look after you mindlessly and protect you from yourself ”, he said. “It can then determine the rightness and wrongness of its behaviour just as we would, by how we affect those around us, by how we do good in the world.” Programmed in this way, said Dr Chiera, AI would “actually have a sense of helping others, of improving its performance”. He said that, because such programming was possible, he looked forward to the future. “If we can avoid passing on the worst excesses of our societies to our digital descendants … we can move to the future where natural and artificial life can work to develop something truly amazing – a future of hope, a future of progress, and a future for each of us.” The online conference was held on 10-12 July. Visit https://ISCASTCOSAC.org, where you can access talks from COSAC 2020.
Dr Cosimo Chiera.
See stories on pages 3 and 16.
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Director, St James’ Institute St James’, King Street, Sydney, is seeking a new Director for the St James’ Institute because of the pending move of the present Director to a ministry position in Tasmania. The Institute is the educational arm of St James’, initiating events and public discussions around Christianity and contemporary issues, within the liberal broad church tradition. The next Director will have an opportunity to expand the Institute’s reach and to take it to a new level. They will need to have an understanding of theology and education, an ability to network and be creative, an enthusiasm to initiate ideas, and be effective at marketing and administration. Applicants may be lay or ordained. Applications close on Friday 21 August 2020. A brochure outlining the position and an application form are on the St James’ website www.sjks.org.au/ life-and-learning/
St James’ Anglican Church is a significant Sydney institution and its church building is the oldest in the city. THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 15
FAITH / SCIENCE
Resurrection superior to immortal cyborgs by Stephen Cauchi
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he resurrected Christian body will be far superior to the transhuman ideal of bodies or minds that live on forever, theology lecturer Sandra Godde told the ISCAST COSAC conference. Her presentation, ‘Will the transhumanist agenda usher in a new, improved humanity or will it destroy it?’ addressed transhumanism, which advocates enhancing human intellect and physiology through advanced technology. “Some of the goals of the present transhumanists are uncontroversial, such as cures for diseases, prosthetics, transplants, prolonging life or alleviation of suffering for one’s mortal life,” said Ms Godde, a lecturer in theology for 10 years at Christian Heritage College and Harvest Bible College. However, she said, “I argue that the goal to replace the natural body with a fabricated one that will be immune to death is problematic on a number of grounds: theological, philosophical, social, and ethical”. Ms Godde, who is writing a thesis on transhumanism at the University of Divinity, said there are two types of transhuman immortality. The first was Radical Life Extension, where the existing body attains immortality through the use of technology. The second was cybernetic immortality, where the mind is uploaded onto a computer. “Much of today’s modern technology, such as genetic augmentation, cell regeneration, implantable devices that interact directly with the brain, artificial intelligence, robotics, cybernetics, nanotechnology, cloning, uploading the mind and other technologies, point towards a transhuman future,” she said. “Transhumanists … predict within 15 years that the human species will develop superhuman machine intelligence that will change the fabric of what it means to be human.” An example of Transhuman technology was Neuralink, a brainmachine interface being developed by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, that “promises to change everything”.
Inserted into the brain by a robot, the device promises to fix anything wrong with the brain – including hearing, eyesight, physical defects, lymph function, and memory – and allows computer data, including music, to be streamed directly to the brain. It
allows “a full symbiosis between man and machine, increasing your brain capacity and allowing both input and output directly between brain and device”. “A lesser version of Neuralink is already being used for Parkinson’s patients.” Transhumanists claim that, eventually, a person’s entire personality, memory, skills and his-
substrate, and is an information pattern, it can be transferred from our brain to a computer,” she said. “ Thus he sees cybernetic immortality being achieved by this process, called whole brain emulation. Kurzweil, along with others in the Humanity+ move-
ment, plan to modify Homo Sapiens into Homo Cyberneticus.” At the same time, transhumanists are critical of religion, said Ms Godde. “Transhumanists accuse religion as being an impediment in the advance towards cybernetic immortality, saying that religion seeks to provide a palliative comfort for people facing death and
rection from the dead is at odds with the transhumanist’s vision,” she said. Those living in cybernetic immortality “would only be pale imitations of us, artificial substitutes never really alive but linked to their animators in order to
function, much like a puppet”. “What would remain is merely an intelligence, artificial in nature, and programmed to repeat endlessly what was set by its program-
“The Biblical vision of resurrection from the dead is at odds with the transhumanist’s vision.” Sandra Goode.
tory could be extricated from our brains and placed in a computer, Ms Godde said. “Ray Kurzweil, a major leader in the transhuman movement, a futurist, author and Director of Engineering at Google, claims that because human intelligence is not dependent upon our biological
an acceptance of it. Kurzweil … seeks to overcome this ‘deathist’ rationalisation and wants to sweep traditional religion out of the road.” Ms Godde said that while the Bible did not oppose medical technology, it did oppose cybernetic immortality. “The Biblical vision of resur-
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mers, who have vanished, merely imitating the thoughts and behaviours of irreplaceable humans who have become extinct.” Christianity, by contrast, “proclaims a future where the entire human person, body and soul, is preserved for eternity in a renewed and resurrected body, following
the design of its Creator to live in communion with Almighty God. “Regardless if [cybernetic immortality] could reside in a virtual or robotic body, such a posthuman entity’s body would be qualitatively different from the resurrection hope that the Bible holds out for the human being. “Neither [virtual nor robotic] aspirations come near to the fundamental transformation of the human person that is promised by the New Testament in the new creation.” Transhumanism also did not tackle the problem of sin or evil, said Ms Godde, as well as the problem of transhumanism technology being misused. “A transhumanist’s worldview underestimates the impact of evil and does not account for any moral transformation or accountability to a Sovereign God or judgment at the end of the age. “Thus, the ethical issues they raise are quite different to those of a believer in Christ. “It is feasible, if not probable, that these technologies could fall into the wrong hands at some stage and be wielded over humanity in oppressive ways with disastrous consequences.” In summary, Ms Godde stated that “the immortality promised by Kurzweil and company is limited in scope, and falls short of the Biblical promise of redemption and a new created order, and is utterly powerless to produce moral, inner transformation of character”. Visit https://ISCASTCOSAC.org, where you can access talks from COSAC 2020.
Christians need to step up to transform world – Continued from page 14 the Christian movement for the abolition of the slave trade. But it is not as well understood that Wilberforce and his friends in the Clapham circle created 69 different societies for the reformation of English society and the spread of the Gospel. Western countries like Australia, Canada, North America, New Zealand and many of the Commonwealth countries are the inheritors of their far-reaching work of social transformation. The scope of their concerns took in education, factory reform, child labour reforms, health, workplace safety and prison reform. They were even involved in the passing of special laws for “the protection of native peoples” in the British
colonies (which sadly colonists did not always follow). They began the Bible Society, CMS, the Mission to India, the RSPCA, and the list goes on. It was a remarkable achievement. My final comment is an artistic reflection on our disturbed times. In Ridley Scott’s iconic film Blade Runner we find ourselves in Los Angeles in the future. The setting is bleak. Jay Clayton describes it in this way in a Raritan review : “… ecological disaster, urban overcrowding, a visual and aural landscape saturated with advertising, a polyglot population immersed in a Babel of competing cultures, decadence and squalid homelessness”. But juxtaposed with this social decay is brilliant technological achievement. High above the teem-
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ing, filthy streets live the wealthy few in luxurious gated skyscrapers. In one of the early scenes we find ourselves in the head office of a high-tech corporation whose staff are the creators of Cyborgs – advanced robots almost indistinguishable from humans. But some of the Cyborgs have gone feral, and hunting them down is the core of the film’s plot. A “Blade Runner” is a bounty hunter of rogue Cyborgs. As we view the interior of the luxurious penthouse office we see an Owl perched on a stand. Then the Owl takes flight, passing in front of the vast plate glass windows behind which a brilliant orange sun is setting. The symbolism is deliberate. The Owl has always been seen as a symbol of wisdom. In Roman mythology he accompanies the Goddess
Minerva, goddess of wisdom. But it was the German philosopher Hegel who famously wrote: “… the Owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk …”, by which he meant that philosophy only comes to understand an historical condition as it is passing away. This image right at the beginning of Blade Runner is telling us that the film’s bleak vision of the future is what the sunset of our epoch will look like: the twilight of modernity and post-modernity (or hyper-modernity). The question posed is: As the Owl spreads its wings and the sun sets on Western culture, is our wisdom about the cause of its decay clear and sharp enough to enable us to transform it from decay to renewal? Has the West fallen so far from the values and worldview that
delivered us the best that Western culture has produced that we can’t recover? In these times we need something more powerful than the wisdom of Minerva – we need the Wisdom of God to help us transform decay into new life! As we regularly pray the Lord’s Prayer, “may your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven …”, let us pray that God will move and inspire us to once again bring the transforming truth and values of the Kingdom of God into our culture and society in both word and deed as we faithfully wait for the final consummation of His Kingdom and the renewal of all things. The Revd Peter Corney OAM is former Vicar of St Hilary’s Kew. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
THEOLOGY
TMA The Revd Canon Professor Dorothy Lee, FAHA, is Stewart Research Professor of New Testament at Trinity College Theological School.
God’s care extends to all living creatures Where do animals fit in the mystery of God’s salvation in Christ? Trinity College’s Dorothy Lee explores.
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s a priest I am sometimes asked whether I think animals will go to heaven. When the question comes from someone who has just lost a beloved pet, it is not easy to answer. Apart from the question of what “heaven” means and what the soul is, it raises questions about whether or not animals are included in the mystery of God’s salvation in Christ. Unlike the Eastern churches, which have always embraced materiality as intrinsic to theology, our Western tradition, especially since the Enlightenment, has become more narrowly focussed on the salvation of human souls. Despite the centrality of Christ’s bodily resurrection to our own faith and future (1 Cor 15:35-49), we have downplayed material existence and ended up denying, in effect, the unity of body and soul, spirit and matter. That has led to all kinds of problems, including to our relationship with animals. There are at least three ways in which animals are presented in the Bible. In the first place, they are created by God and therefore belong to God. The first creation account makes it clear: fish and birds are created on the fifth day and land animals on the sixth (a day we share with them, Gen 1:24–27). The Psalmist has God declaring that “every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. … for the world and all that is in it is mine.” (Ps 50:10-12). As a consequence, God’s care extends to the animals. Matthew’s Jesus says of the sparrows that “not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father” (Matt 10:29), or in Luke’s slightly different version: “not one of them is forgotten
before God” (Lk 12:6). The divine care and comprehension encompasses them as well as human beings. Secondly, God has given human beings a particular responsibility for animals: has in fact handed over something of the divine authority to us. We are to exercise God’s comprehension of them and God’s care for them. Thus in the garden Adam names the animals, indicating responsibility for them (Gen 2:20a), since to name is to enter into a relationship with, to know and love and nurture. As a consequence, the divine command over the sabbath is extended to domestic animals who are equally deserving of rest from their labours (Exod 20:10; Deut 5:14). Nor are oxen to be muzzled to prevent them from eating as they work (Deut 25:4). Animals are essential for our existence. Their produce and their flesh may be taken for our food (eggs, honey, meat) and their milk can be drunk. They may be used for transport and for farming, their fleece or skins for our clothing and furnishings. This does not give us a sense of power or domination over them but rather a spirit of gratitude to them that they serve our needs so well. At the same time, there is a mutuality in that relationship which is based on our common kinship with animals, our common identity as creatures who belong to God. We are also to serve them: to ensure their well-being, their happiness, their capacity to thrive. And not just for pragmatic ends, but because they are of intrinsic value in themselves as God’s creation and the manifestation of God’s bounty and beauty. Thirdly, animals are present in
“If God will bring about a new heaven and a new earth, it is not just souls that God will save but the whole creation, including the animals.”
Scripture as symbols for God and for Christ. The divine command against idolatry means not placing any living creature in the place of God, not giving it our worship and the innermost devotion of our hearts, including animals. Yet, something happens in the incarnation, where God has become human, so that Christ himself can be pictured with animal symbolism. In the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, for example, Christ is the paschal Lamb who is voluntarily sacrificed to take away the
world’s sin (Jn 1:29); he is the victorious Lamb who passes through death and defeated it (Rev 5:6-10). Christ is even represented symbolically as serpent: not the serpent of Gen 3 or the fiery dragon of Revelation 12, both of which are symbols of evil. But, as the Son of Man, the serpent lifted up on the bronze pole in Numbers, which saves the people of God from snake-bite (Num 21:6–9), so the lifting up of Jesus on the cross will give life eternal to those who gaze on him (Jn 3:14–15).
Another divine animal symbol is that of the dove. This symbol is used of the Holy Spirit at the baptism of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels (Mk 1:10/Matt 3:16/Lk 3:2122). Even in John’s Gospel, which does not directly narrative Jesus’ baptism in water, John the Baptist sees in a vision the Spirit descending on Jesus as a dove, empowering him for his ministry (Jn 1:32). The dove is a rich symbol in and beyond the Old Testament. It can symbolise fertility in mother goddesses in polytheistic forms of religion. Most famous is the Genesis story of the return of the dove with an olive leaf in her mouth and her subsequent departure (Gen 8:10–12). These convince Noah that the flood is now over and the earth dry – and that God has donated life and peace in place of wrath to an erring creation. Drawing on these images, the dove becomes a major symbol in the New Testament for the Holy Spirit, signifying divinity, new life, empowerment and peace; and connected in the closest possible way to Jesus and his mission. It is significant that in John’s Gospel the divine Word is not said to become human but rather to become “flesh” (Jn 1:14). Later in the Gospel, in his great prayer Jesus speaks of having authority over “all flesh” (17:2). In both cases, this refers not only to human beings but extends to all living creatures. If God will bring about a new heaven and a new earth, it is not just souls that God will save but the whole creation, including the animals. The origins and the destiny of animals lie with God, as does their well-being – a care that God has given us to carry out on the divine behalf. We need to see animals as fellow-creatures of the one God, sharing the same origins and destiny, who are to be loved and honoured. After all, for their survival and their thriving we will one day have to give an account.
Sci-fi just what the Doctor ordered for COVID-19 – Continued from page 18 I thought that books would be an ideal time-killer. But being a fast reader, with no libraries open, and with books selling for $20-$30 each, I realised it was a going to be a very expensive habit. I’m not a TV person, but to my surprise, that’s what I turned to. I realised that, if you looked through the weekly TV guide hard enough, there were usually four or five films every week that were worth watching – classics or science fiction in my case. The BBC was selling Doctor Who blu-ray box sets and so I thought I’d also relive some pleasant primary school memories by buying the Tom Baker ones. Classic Doctor Who, despite some now-dated special effects, remains my favourite science fiction series – a wonderful piece of escapism. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
scrolling through Twitter? Why not save the news to, say, mid-afternoon and do something else instead when waking up? Many Christians spend the first hour or so of their day reading the Bible – fair enough too. I considered doing that as well. But there’s some things I can’t do first thing in the morning – running, for instance – and Bible reading falls into that news, then scroll through positive category. I just can’t wake up and Twitter. Late mornings and after- start processing Job or Isaiah, even noons I’d work, then go for a run, well-caffeinated. have dinner, and finish the day with So something else was required. a movie or Doctor Who. Which is where I got the idea to But there was something about watch Doctor Who. Sure, watching mornings that troubled me a little. sci-fi at 6am is weird. But unusual These were the best hours of my times demand unusual measures. day – especially with a coffee or And I could still watch films in the two. Was I really putting that time evening to preserve some degree of to best use by reading bad news and normality.
“... a wonderful piece of escapism.”
Tom Baker as Doctor Who.
By June, I had a much better daily routine going. I’d wake up, consume the bare minimum of COVID-19
And so that’s what I do. Making sure I wear headphones (the neighbours don’t need to wake up to Exterminate! Exterminate!) I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching curlyheaded Tom and his long scarf battle Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and other villains. And at the risk of giving the BBC a plug, the box sets are excellent value, loaded with commentaries, documentaries, interviews, bonus footage, and so on. All over the world Christians are praying for happiness in these troubled times. It may not be through Doctor Who, but scripture promises that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Steve Cauchi is a TMA journalist.
THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 17
REFLECTION
TMA
Sci-fi just what the Doctor ordered for COVID-19 With guidance from St Paul, and some help from a legend of sci-fi, TMA’s Steve Cauchi has found a way to keep his spirits up during Melbourne’s second lockdown.
T
he second wave of coronavirus is here and, in most respects, it’s worse than the first wave. But whereas back in April I was worried, concerned, even fearful, now the days are passing far more easily – even enjoyably. Here’s the secret. After waking around 6am, I’ll make some coffee, fire up the blu-ray player, and watch: Doctor Who. Not the current series with Jodie Whittaker as the first-ever female Doctor, but the classic 1970s episodes featuring probably the best-known actor to have played the role, Tom Baker. What does Doctor Who have to do with COVID-19? Ostensibly nothing (although one Tom Baker serial, The Invisible Enemy, was about a malignant virus) but it’s the culmination of a mental journey I’ve been taking since the pandemic first hit. All journalists are heavy consumers of media, both official and social, and I’m no exception. When the pandemic started, it was obviously the major story dominating the media – by far the biggest story in my quarter-century career as a
“Was I really putting that time to best use by reading bad news and scrolling through Twitter?” Steve Cauchi.
journalist. The biggest and, frankly, the most upsetting. What this meant was an upsetting start to the day. All TMA staff now work from home, which meant that no longer would I get ready for work, have breakfast, catch the train into the city, and ease gently into my office routine. Instead, the first thing I’d do upon waking would be to make
Prayer Diary AUGUST
Sun 2: Pray for the new Province of Alexandria; Diocese of Perth (Abp Kay Goldsworthy, Asst Bps Jeremy James, Kate W ilmot , Clergy and People); Mentone Grammar School (Mal Cater, Principal; Andrew Stewart, Michael Prabaharan, Chaplains); St Philip’s Collingwood (John Raike); Anglican Parish of Upwey/Belgrave – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul Barker); Mon 3: Diocese of Riverina (Bp Donald Kirk, Clergy & People); Anglican Media (Emma Halgren, Interim Manager); St Andrew’s Corio – Norlane (David Milford); Tue 4: Diocese of Rockhampton (Bp-elect Peter Grice, Clergy & People); Anglican Men’s Societ y; Redemption Church Craigieburn (Akhil Gardner); Meeting with Archdeaconry of Williamstown (Abp Philip Freier); Wed 5: Diocese of Sydney (Abp Glenn Davies, Regional Bps Chris Edwards, Michael Stead, Peter Hayward, Peter Lin, Malcolm Richards, Gar y Koo, Clergy & People); Parish of St John’s, Cranbourne w. Christ Church, Tooradin (Samuel Bleby); Thu 6: Diocese of Tasmania (Bp Richard Condie, Missioner Bp Chris Jones, Clergy & People); Overnewton Anglican Community College (James Laussen, Principal; Helen Dwyer, Robert Koren, Chaplains); St John the Divine Croydon (John Webster); Fri 7: Diocese of The Murray (Bp Keith Dalby, Clergy & People); Defence Force Chaplains; Church of the New Guinea Martyrs Croydon South (Bruce Bickerdike, James Raistrick); Sat 8: Diocese of The Northern Territory (Bp Greg Anderson, Clergy & People); Archdeaconr y of Maroondah (Gail Pinchbeck); Parish of Croydon Hills & Wonga Park (Leroy Coote); Sun 9: Pray for the Anglican Church of Rwanda (Abp Laurent Mbanda); Diocese of Wangaratta (Bp Clarence Bester, Clergy & People); Ridley College (Brian Rosner, Principal; Tim Foster,
some coffee and pore over Twitter – this has been the mental health and Google News on my iPhone. advice offered during the pandemic, For the first two hours of the morn- and it is right. Journalist or not, I ing, stomach churning, I would had to cut back my consumption fixate on the appalling stories from of news. More importantly, I realised there was a Biblical imperative to do this. In Philippians 4:8, Paul exhorts the reader to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent
Richard Trist); St James’ Dandenong (Graeme Peters, O yem A may lek , Michael Kicevski, George Ladu); St Stephen’s Bayswater – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul Barker); Parish of Christ Church Lancefield w. St Paul’s Romsey – Pastoral Visit (Bp Kate Prowd); Mon 10: Diocese of Willochra (Bp John Stead, Clergy & People); Anglicare Victoria (Paul McDonald, CEO); St Michael & St Luke’s Church Dandenong (Santa Packianathan); Tue 11: Anglicare Australia (Bp Chris Jones, Chair; Kasy Chambers, Exec Director); Anglican Overseas Aid (Bob Mitchell, CEO);: St Philip’s Deep Creek (Megan Curlis-Gibson); Meeting with Archdeaconry of Melbourne (Abp Philip Freier); Wed 12: Theological Colleges, Church Schools & Church Kindergartens; Police Force chaplains (Drew Mellor & other Chaplains) and members of the Police Force; Parish of St John’s, Diamond Creek w. St Katherine’s, St Helena and St Michael’s, Yarrambat (Tim Johnson, Ros Rudd, Julie Blinco); Thu 13: Mission Agencies of the Anglican Church of Australia; Shelford Girls’ Grammar (Katrina Brennan, Principal); Christ Church Dingley (Wayne Walters, Tanya Cummings); Fri 14: Religious Orders serving within the Anglican Church of Australia; Authorised Stipendiary Lay-Ministers; St David’s Doncaster East (Judith Frost); Sat 15: Locums and all retired clergy; Archdeaconry of Melbourne (Heather Patacca); Holy Trini t y Doncas ter (Andrew Price, Mark Chew, Esther Ruan, David Xu, Geoffrey Hall, Vijay Henderson, Alan Xue); Sun 16: Pray for the Scottish Episcopal Church (Bp Mark Strange); Anglican Church of Australia (Primate Abp Geof frey Smith, General Secretary Anne Hywood, the General Synod & the Standing Committee); St Michael’s Gr ammar School ( Ter r ie Jones , Principal; Kenyon McKie, Chaplain); St Mark’s Dromana (Paul Woodcock);
18 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
overseas and, thankfully to a lesser extent, Australia. Then, at regular intervals at the rest of the day, I’d log into Twitter, catch the latest news, and get depressed again. My Twitter addiction was eroding my mental health. I had to do something. Restrict daily news consumption to a narrow window of time; focus on what you can control, not what you can’t
and praiseworthy. Back in April, I’d been thinking the exact opposite. And I realised prayers for peace of mind were no good unless I acted on what God was saying. So, to work. I began deleting Twitter accounts from my feed that were anything other than essential COVID-19 information. Then I set up another Twitter account for myself – but one with only posi-
tive accounts in the newsfeed. No COVID-19. Bible and Christian accounts (or at least those not tweeting about the pandemic), pop culture, music, history, trivia, film, geography, transport, humour, holidays … anything that fit the Philippians 4:8 criteria. What I realised doing this is that there’s far more bad news out there than good news. I’d cut back to following just 20 accounts for COVID-19, and there was seemingly enough news to consume all morning. I was following 10 times that many on my “good news” account, but it would barely update from one hour to the next. Eventually, I cut my COVID-19 Twitter account out altogether and just skimmed news sites instead. And I managed to find enough accounts – 366, to be precise – for my “good news” Twitter to update regularly. Happy Days actor Scott Baio tweeting about his kitchen renovations is hardly essential information, but hey – at least it’s not depressing pandemic news. But I needed more than Twitter to fill in the lockdown free time. I ran every day for exercise, did chores, and logged onto Zoom for Sunday worship, cell group and church council meetings. Continued on page 17
(Can also be downloaded from https://www.melbourneanglican.org.au/spiritual-resources/) St John the Baptist Church Lilydale – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul Barker); Christ Church Melton – Pastoral Visit (Bp Kate Prowd); Mon 17: Diocese of Adelaide (Abp Geoff Smith, Asst Bps Denise Ferguson, Timothy Harris, Christopher McLeod; Clergy & People); Benetas (Sandra Hills, CEO); St Margaret’s Eltham (Keren Terpstra, Chris Garcia); Tue 18: Diocese of Armidale (Bp Rick Lewers, Clergy & People); Brotherhood of St Laurence (Conny Lenneberg, CEO, Michelle Trebilcock, Debra SaffreyCollins, chaplains); St Mark’s Emerald (Andrew Bowles, Jerome Dias, Vivianne Dias); Wed 19: Diocese of Ballarat (Bp Garry Weatherill, Clergy & People); Anglican Criminal Justice Ministry Chaplaincy (Rob Ferguson, Senior Chaplain & Chaplains); St Matthew’s Endeavour Hills (K im Wellard); Metropolitan Meeting (Abp Philip Freier); Thu 20: Diocese of Bathurst (Bp Mark Calder, Clergy & People); Peninsula Grammar (Stuart Johnston, Principal; Mark Sweeney, Chaplain); Parish of St John the Evangelist Epping (Raffaella Pilz); Fri 21: Diocese of Bendigo (Bp Matt Brain, Clergy & People); Bush Church Aid Societ y (Adrian Lane, Regional Officer); Christ Church Essendon (John Mathes, David Thompson, Catherine Turnbull); Sat 22: Diocese of Brisbane (Abp Phillip Aspinall, Regional Bps Jeremy Greaves, Cameron Venables, John Roundhill, Clergy & People); Archdeaconry of Stonnington (Howard Langmead); Parish of Ferntree Gully and Rowville (Hilton Jordan, Luke Pedersen); Sun 23: Pray for the Church of the Province of South East Asia (Abp Melter Tais); Diocese of Bunbury (Bp Ian Coutts, Clergy & People); : Tintern Grammar (Brad Fry, Principal; Alison Andrew, Chaplain); St Thomas’ Ferntree Gully Upper(Anne Kennedy); St Mark’s Forest Hill – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul
Barker); St Luke’s Syndeham – Pastoral Visit (Bp Kate Prowd); Mon 24: Diocese of Canberra & Goulburn (Bp Mark Shor t, Asst Bps Stephen Pickard, Carol Wagner, Clergy & People); Melbourne Anglican Diocesan Corporation (Ken Spackman, CEO); St Mark’s Fitzroy (Stuart Soley); Tue 25: Ministry to the Defence Force (Bishop Grant Dibden, Chaplains & Members of the Defence Forces);: Calling Melbourne2Prayer Group (Jill Firth, Rachel McDougall, Jamie Miller, Philip Trouse); Parish of St John’s, F linders w. S t Mark ’s Balnarring (Jennifer Furphy); Wed 26: Diocese of Gippsland (Bp Richard Treloar, Clergy & People); Footscray Parish (Chaplain Soma, Gabriel Mayen); Thu 27: Diocese of Grafton (Bp Murray Har vey, Clergy & People); Trinit y College & Theological School (Robert Derrenbacker, Dean); St Mark’s Forest Hill (Philip Knight); Fri 28: Ministry with the Aboriginal people of Australia (Bp Chris McLeod, National Aboriginal Bishop, Aboriginal Clergy & People); Children’s & Families’ Ministry (Dorothy Hughes, Facilitator); St Luke’s Frankston East (Glen Macrae, Rene Pfitzner, Louisa Pfitzner); Sat 29: Ministry with the Torres Strait Islander people of Australia (Torres Strait Islander Clergy & People);: Archdeaconry of The Yarra (Dave Fuller); Parish of St John’s, Frankston North w. St Luke’s, Carrum Downs (David Sullivan, Cheryl Sullivan); Sun 30: Pray for the United Church of South India (Bp Dharmaraj Rasalam); Diocese of Melbourne (Abp Philip Freier, Asst Bps Paul Barker, Bradly Billings, Genieve Blackwell, Kate Prowd, Clergy & People); Trinit y Grammar School (Adrian Farrer, Principal; Matt Campbell, James Hale, Chaplains); St Paul’s Frankston (Claudia Mauracher); St James and St Peter’s Church Kilsyth – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul Barker); Mon 31: Diocese of Newcastle (Bp Peter
Stuart, Asst Bps Charlie Murry, Sonia Roulston, Clergy & People); Chinese Ministry (Richard Liu, Missioner); St Stephen’s Gardenvale (Paul Carr).
SEPTEMBER
Tue 1: Diocese of North Queensland (Bp Keith Joseph, Clergy & People); Archdeaconry of Williamstown (Glenn Buijs); Christ Church Geelong (Russell Trickey); Wed 2: Diocese of North West Australia (Bp Gary Nelson, Clergy & People); Yarra Valley Grammar School (Mark Merry, Principal); City on a Hill Geelong (Andrew Grills, Lyn Pearson, Peter Taylor); Thu 3: Diocese of Per th (Abp Kay Goldsworthy, Asst Bps Jeremy James, Kate Wilmot, Clergy & People); Church Missionary Society (Jonathan WeiHan Kuan, Victorian Director; Andrew Gifford, Andrew Livingstone); St Paul’s Geelong (Nigel Pope); Fri 4: Diocese of Riverina (Bp Donald Kirk, Clergy & People); Community of the Holy Name (Sr Carol Tanner); The Parish of St Paul’s, Gisborne w. Church of the Resurrection, Macedon Ranges and St John’s, Riddells Creek (Dennis Webster, Alan Smith); Sat 5 : Diocese of Rock hamp t on (Bp-elect Peter Grice, Clergy & People); St Barnabas’ Glen Waverley (Phil Meulman, Bree Mills); Sun 6: Pray for the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (Abp Thabo Makgoba); Diocese of Sydney (Abp Glenn Davies, Regional Bps Chris Edwards, Michael S tead, Peter Hay ward, Peter Lin, Malcolm Richards, Gary Koo, Clergy & People); Brighton Grammar School (Ross Featherston, Principal; Chester Lord, Chaplain); St Oswald’s Glen Iris (Glen Loughrey); St Stephen’s Warrandyte – Pastoral Visit (Bp Paul Barker); St Paul’s Kew East – Confirmation Service (Bp Genieve Blackwell); Holy Trinity Doncaster – Confirmation Service (Bp Genieve Blackwell).
www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
HEROES OF THE FAITH
TMA
Awakened to glory of creation by English poet Thomas Traherne, English poet, clergyman, theologian and religious writer, represents “a strong world-affirming strain in Christian consciousness”, writes Melbourne Anglican Trevor Faragher, who writes that reading Traherne fostered in him thanksgiving for the wonders of creation, and his part in it.
and came upon two old manuscript volumes in perfect condition. One contained short prose passages, the other much poetry. Brooke bought the volumes for a few pence, showed them to friends, they changed hands and ended up with Bertrand Dobell, man of letters and a critic with acute insight. As an
Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every Morning you wake in Heaven, see yourself in Heaven; see yourself in your Father’s Palace; and look upon the Skies, the Earth and the Air as Celestial Joys; having such a Reverend Esteem for all as if you were among the Angels.
I
n 1638, Thomas Traherne was born in the city of Hereford in England; his parents are unknown. Thomas wrote that he and a younger brother Philip lived in poverty, yet both boys were well educated. It seems that both were adopted by a rich innkeeper, Philip Traherne. Thomas went up to Oxford and took his BA in 1656. He returned to Hereford and was ordained and presented to the benefice of Credenhill, a small parish four miles from Hereford, in 1657. He soon left the parish in the hands of the man who had previously held it, while he returned to Oxford. The years between 1658 and 1661 were occupied in research and writing of a book, for which he received an MA. In 1661, being legally of age to be Rector, he returned to Credenhill and took up his duties. He arrived with an ardent Christian philosophy and set about translating that into practical daily living. He looked on sin not as disobedience but as an infection of mind and spirit to be treated and eliminated to restore health or holiness, a positive, joyous well-being, a natural harmony. His treatment of himself, or “mending” as he called it, was three-fold. Faults of his temperament that he listed included a hot tongue, impatience with stupidity, resentfulness with contradiction, covetousness of money, a tendency to compromise to gain popularity, and waverings on this hard path of self-imposed discipline. He lived by rule, setting aside regular times each day for prayer, reading and meditation, for services of the Church and service to his parishioners. His third measure was to nurture the faculty of wonder, to see the mystery, beauty and significance of the ordinary things of life and thereby see the glory and greatness of the Creator. As his annual income was £50, these were years of “plain living and high thinking”. Traherne joined a religious society of which the devout and wealthy Mrs Susanna Hopton of Kington, near Hereford, was the centre. She became his patron and personal friend. In 1667, Traherne left Credenhill, though retaining the living until his death. He left several devotional works that he had written with Mrs Hopton. Some were later published but with the author unnamed. Traherne moved to Teddington near Hampton Court as private chaplain to Sir Orlando Bridgman, www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
Meditation. The volume contains four groups of 100 short pieces of prose – hence the name. The third piece in the third century (C3:3), which is the only writing of Traherne now known to many, begins: The corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reaped, nor was ever sown. I thought it had stood from everlasting to everlasting. The dust and stones of the street were as precious as gold: the gates were at first the end of the world. The green trees when I saw them first through one of the gates transported and ravished me, their sweetness
“You never enjoy the World aright till you so love the beauty of enjoying it that you are covetous and earnest to persuade others to enjoy it.”
Thomas Traherne, depicted by Tom Denny, as part of a series of stainedglass windows at Hereford Cathedral
Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. As a member of the Bridgman household, both in Teddington and the town house in London, Traherne watched, both in the anterooms and at table, the corrupt social and political life of Restoration London.
example of the scientific principle of chance and the prepared mind, he established that the author was Traherne. He published the poetry in 1903 and the prose in 1908. During the 20th century, more volumes of Traherne’s writing
“When ... I first read Traherne’s vivid words, I was and remain awakened to the glory of creation – various, fragile and transient though it is – and me as part of it.” In 1672, Sir Orlando was dismissed by the King, Charles II, and retired to Teddington. In 1674, Sir Orlando died, and Traherne remained with the family but became seriously ill. He made his will: “… All my books I give to my brother”. He never rallied from his illness and died, in December 1674 aged 36, and was soon forgotten – for over two centuries. In 1895, William Brooke was turning over the secondhand contents of a book-barrow in London
were recognised in libraries and archives. A definitive edition of all Traherne’s known works, The Works of Thomas Traherne, is currently being published, with the complete set of eight volumes to be available in June 2021. It will bring together all of Traherne’s extant works in a definitive, printed edition for the first time. Gladys Wade, who lived in Sydney, published the only biography of Traherne in 1946. The volume of prose that Brooke bought contained the Centuries of
and unusual beauty made my heart to leap, and almost mad with ecstasy, they were such strange and wonderful things: The Men! O what venerable and reverend creatures did the aged seem! Immortal Cherubims! And young men glittering and sparkling Angels, and maids strange seraphic pieces of life and beauty! Boys and girls tumbling in the street, and playing, were moving jewels. I knew not that they were born or should die; but all things abided eternally as they were in their proper places. Eternity was manifest in the Light of the Day, and something infinite behind everything appeared which talked with my expectation and moved my desire. The city seemed to stand in Eden, or to be built in Heaven. Traherne represents a strong world-affirming strain in Christian consciousness: “You never enjoy the World aright till you so love the beauty of enjoying it that you are covetous and earnest to persuade others to enjoy it.” However, a comforting warmth of sentimental nostalgia sweeps over those who read this superb prose as an autobiographical entry. Readers may imagine that they are sharing, even reliving, this image of childhood and green fields of long ago, of long summer days. Few in the world share his geography. When, many decades ago and in this country, very different from England’s green and pleasant land, I first read Traherne’s vivid words, I was and remain awakened to the glory of creation – various, fragile and transient though it is – and me
as part of it. Thinking of his words since then is not a mere exercise of memory but an occasion once more for thanksgiving for this world in which we live and move and have our being. The meaning of childhood in Traherne is biblical in origin, mystical in tradition and symbolic in import. However, it is open to another interpretation. Though certainty is lacking, there is general agreement that Traherne’s mother died when he was about four and he was left an orphan. Traherne’s idealisation of Nature and of childhood is seen by some as a reaching out for a bliss that never was, and demonstrates Traherne’s dependence on external objects to achieve the blissful sense of unity for which he is seeking. This has been linked with a failure, in early childhood, to incorporate the mother’s love and thus ensure a continuing source of self-esteem within. In the light of the earlier words, written by the Christian and Roman philosopher Anicius Boethius (c. 480-524 CE), who personifies Philosophy as a woman who brings him wisdom from on high, Traherne’s enraptured worship of Nature takes on a different aspect. Concentration on external objects for happiness is fraught with risk and illusion. Perhaps again you find pleasure in the beauty of the countryside. Creation is indeed very beautiful, and the countryside a beautiful part of creation. In the same way we are sometimes delighted by the appearance of the sea when it is very calm and look up with wonder at the sky, the stars, the moon and the sun. However, not one of these has anything to do with you, and you daren’t take credit for the splendour of any of them … You are in fact enraptured with empty joys, embracing blessings that are alien to you as if they were your own … From all this it is obvious that not one of those things which you count among your blessings is in fact any blessing of your own at all … It seems as if you feel a lack of any blessing of your own inside you, which is driving you to seek your blessings in things separate and external. Traherne lived in the golden age of English literature yet he was aware of the danger of being dazzled by the beauty of the language, of confusing the image with the reality. In his most fully developed period late in life, when he wrote Centuries of Meditation and Christian Ethicks, he wrote that he was “in danger of bursting” with the joy of his discoveries about the rational way of living. Both books describes a “right and well ordered Habit of Soul by force of which we attain our Felicity” and “light the Soul to the Sight of its Perfection”. He wrote for others “to encourage them to Travel, to comfort them on the Journey … Follow where I have trod! Come see what I have seen and know what I have known”. Dr Trevor Faragher is a retired veterinarian. He worships at St John’s Camberwell.
THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 19
BOOKS
Girard’s challengers engaged and answered René Girard and the Nonviolent God, by Scott Cowdell (Notre Dame Press, 2018) reviewed by Sarah Bachelard
S
cott Cowdell is one of the foremost theological interpreters of René Girard. His latest book is a work of mature scholarship that seeks to address Girard’s most serious theological critics, and to show “that Christian belief need not be bent out of shape to accommodate mimetic theory”. For Cowdell, this is not simply an academic exercise. Girard’s thought has influenced him, he writes, not only intellectually, “but also spiritually and personally”. It’s a matter, therefore, of some moment that what Girard makes available for theology can be understood as deepening rather than distorting authentic faith. As someone who has also been profoundly influenced by Girard’s approach, I opened this book with keen anticipation! The first three chapters offer a detailed and integrated explication of Girard’s work. It is a sophisticated analysis that traces the connections between the major elements of mimetic theory, as well as continuities and developments in Girard’s thought over time. Chapter 4 situates Girard among the theologians, and engages questions concerning his methodology as well a major test case for the compatability of mimetic theory with the tradition. Cowdell maintains that Girard himself was concerned about his Christian orthodoxy while also committed to being faithful to the integrity of his “scientific” method and its resulting insights into the human condition. The final three chapters of the book are then a kind of apologia for Girard as a theologian, showing how his theory can meet the theological criticisms levelled against it, while offering a new way of conceptualising the anthropological meaning and theological ground of our creation and redemption. The range of this book is enormous, engaging Christian thinkers from Irenaeus and Augustine, to Thomas Aquinas, Simone Weil, Hans Urs von Balthasar and Sarah Coakley, as well as doctrinal questions ranging from the nature of revelation, to the necessity of converted reason, to theories of atonement. As the title indicates,
however, the book’s central concern and animating conviction is the nonviolence of God. Some of Girard’s theological critics have charged him with “ontologising violence” in his account of hominization, in a way that is incompatible with Christian understanding of human origins. Cowdell argues that Girard not only addresses the charge that he ontologises violence; significantly, and unlike some of his critical interlocutors, Girard’s approach offers a way of engaging
communities and the evolution of culture rely on the relative stability purchased by these “founding murders”. Not only that, but human consciousness itself evolves as a product of this process, as brain size increases to cope with “the new symbolic power and social complexity” made possible by the scapegoat mechanism (55), and as confrontation with the mimetic double (the rival) leads to the possibility of reflexive self-awareness (98-99). But all this sounds as though humanity arose out of violence and necessarily so, putting in question t he f u nd ame nt a l “goodness” of creation
nor phenomenologically verifiable, but the importance of this argument for Cowdell, I take it, is that it establishes that Girard’s account of human origins cannot be immediately disqualified as sub-Christian. This opens up the possibility of exploring what light his understanding sheds on “natural and human history as a salvation history” (115). And the fact that this is even a question comes from Girard’s own conviction that in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, there has occurred a breakthrough, a revelation of the ultimate non-necessity of our mimetically entrapped anthropological condition. In the psalms, law and prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures, and most fully
“The violence of the mob and the false sacred is being exposed for what it really is, and this ‘uncovering’ is itself a saving revelation of the ‘true’ God who invites and enables a new way of being human and a nonviolent sociality.”
the even larger question of how the and its eirenic origins as posited by violent facts of evolutionary history Christian orthodoxy. can themselves be integrated by There are, Cowdell concedes, Christian orthodoxy. passages in Girard which seem to The charge of ontological justify the ascription to his theory violence emerges from Girard’s of such ontological or necessary account of the formation of human violence. Particularly in his later consciousness and culture by work, however, Girard shows means of mimetic crisis. According himself keen to make conceptual to the theory, human desire is bor- room for the orthodox picture, rowed desire. We desire according “positing a mimetic state prior to to the desire of another, and the the emergency of rivalrous desire, convergence of desire on the on the cusp of hominization” (99). same object leads to rivalry and, In other words, he imagines a ultimately, violent conflict. The moment when humans emerged theory posits that proto-human from strictly animal mimesis, “a groups hit upon a way to contain primal zone of genuine freedom” this escalating intra-group violence, (100) in which human beings by way of the scapegoat mechanism. (like Adam and Eve) could have Someone is singled out as to blame chosen otherwise, before they fell for the conflict, and their violent almost immediately into “the hell expulsion or murder constitutes the of mimetic entrapment” (like Cain sacrifice that restores peace to the and Abel) which has shaped, in fact, rest. The murder is then sacralised all human culture. by myth, ritual and prohibition. This posited state of primal For Girard, nascent human freedom is neither historically
in the passion of Jesus, Girard discerns a progressive revelation of the innocence of the scapegoat victim. The violence of the mob and the false sacred is being exposed for what it really is, and this “uncovering” is itself a saving revelation of the “true” God who invites and enables a new way of being human and a nonviolent sociality. But is this so-called “true God”, this theological vision of an ultimately nonviolent origin and end for things, really true? Given the facts of evolutionary wastage and animal suffering, and the violent process of hominization and cultural formation that Girard theorises, how is such a vision of God and human possibility to be sustained? A category from improvisation in theatre called “over-accepting” proves crucial at this point in the argument. Over-accepting allows for the possibility of difficult or
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tragic elements becoming part of the overall drama, without them determining the agenda completely nor being excluded or “blocked” entirely. Theologically speaking, Cowdell suggests that over-accepting “is what we would expect from a nonviolent God who neither does violence to the innate logic of nature and history by summarily expunging all harm, nor allows tragedy and evil to have the last word, but who improvises on tragedy and evil in the key of transformative hope” (177). Similarly, “over-accepting” marks Girard’s own engagement with what his social scientific project has uncovered about the facts of life on earth. Unlike some of his critics, he is realistic about the violent dynamics of evolution and history, but not resigned to them. He sees them embedded in a larger drama, whose fuller nature and trajectory is glimpsed in and through the world’s cultures and religions, and pre-eminently the biblical tradition, and he testifies to the possibility of our learning a different way of being human, through the transformation of our desire. In exposing the anthropological origins of the “false gods”, the idols created by rivalrous mimesis, Girard points to the reality of the “true” God who works from the within of life, often unrecognized and yet faithfully making possible real peace on earth, although that peace remains to be realized by a humanity resistant to its own liberation. And this in turn leads to new readings of notions of atonement, apocalypse, the relationship between religious traditions and Christology. As will be obvious, this is a densely layered argument and I am conscious this review barely scrapes its surface. For non-specialists, it may be a challenging read. Yet as René Girard has been one of the most significant catalysts for new theological thinking in the past 40 or more years, it matters that his theological challengers be seriously engaged and answered. This Scott Cowdell has accomplished, and as generously and un-threatenedly as befits one who is being changed by the truth of which he speaks. The Revd Dr Sarah Bachelard is a theologian, retreat leader and Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. She is the founder of Benedictus Church in Canberra.
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BOOKS
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Clarion call on threat to Earth speaks to soul known as eco-anxiety, a “constant low-grade (and sometimes highgrade) anxiety” concerning the radical impact of unpredictable climate reviewed by Graeme Garrett change, melting ice-caps, rising sea levels, collapse of biodiversity, and here are two compelling all the rest. The overwhelming reasons not to read this book. temptation is to withdraw, hope for It spells out with distressing the best, and get on with demands clarity the disastrous, humanly- of a busy life. But that, in Ward’s generated threats that are now view, is a massive cop-out. Worse. A radically changing planet Earth and betrayal of faith in the creator God. every living creature that inhabits So, “how can I be what I am meant her. Why would I want to face to be”, she asks, “as I participate in that? Indeed, I’d rather face just the being of God?” In other words, about anything other than that. On how can I move from the existential top of which, it spells out my own stance of denial and disengagecomplicity with this tragic state of ment (paragraph 1 above) to that affairs. Even less do I want to take of acceptance and responsibility that on board. So why would I buy (paragraph 2)? this book? It turns out to be quite a journey, Well, there are two compelling which has both an external, bodily reasons. It spells out the disastrous, aspect and an internal, spiritual humanly-generated threats that aspect. are now radically changing planet At the height of her eco-anxiety, Earth and every living creature Ward was just completing a term that inhabits her. And it is way past of ministry at Edmundsbury time I faced up to that and stopped Cathedral and about to move north putting my head in the sand. to a parish in Cumbria. She decided Furthermore, it spells out my own to take time out. Accompanied by complicity with this tragic state of her husband, a variety of sympaaffairs. And if I have any desire to thetic friends and their dogs, she live truthfully and faithfully before “drove” a narrowboat (57 feet long, God in our time, I cannot duck this 6 feet 10 inches wide) – wonderfully responsibility. So I must buy this named The Lark Ascending – along book. the canals and rivers of central A painful dilemma. The good England, from Larkrise in the news is that it is precisely this south to Wigan Pier in the north. dilemma – and its possible resolu- At a top speed of 3km per hour, the tion – which drives the story told in journey took six weeks. A radical this fascinating text. slowdown in the pace of her life. A Frances Ward is a priest in the radical change of perspective on her Church of England. She is also a world. “I’d no idea, when driving poet and a “warrior” (see p. 129). the motorways before I started to In recent years she suffered increas- explore these canals, that this world ingly from what is now officially existed.”
Like There’s No Tomorrow: Climate Change, Eco-anxiety and God, by Frances Ward (Sacristy Press, 2020)
other-than-human. The world of God’s creation. But the same journey confronted her with the degradation and destruction to which this teeming world is being subjected through human enterprises. Rubbish, pollution, habitat destruction, heartbreaking decline of species (especially birds and insects, larks included), wetlands drained, forests chainsawed, urban sprawl. Wonder and horror, gratitude and shame jostled for space in her warrior soul. As a poet, she describes this slowly dawning, desperately complex experience with exquisite delicacy and clear-eyed hon-
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“The overwhelming temptation is to withdraw, hope for the best, and get on with demands of a busy life. But that, in Ward’s view, is a massive cop-out. ” Immediately, Frances Ward found herself in touch with the country through which she was gliding. The birds, animals, flowers, fields, trees, grasses, skies, clouds, rains, winds and waters. An-other world. The world of the
esty. Although I have not had the opportunity to take such a magical journey, I found Ward’s story remarkably clarifying of my own struggles with exactly the same issues in our Australian context. One way or another, we all need to
find ways to attend with reverence to the creation of God in which we live and move and have our being. The consequences of the long drawn out human neglect of such attention have now reached breaking point. The slow outward journey along the narrow canals of England enabled a parallel inner journey of spirit for the author. The complexity of this inner change is impossible to describe in a brief space. The whole book is an exquisite mapping of the terrain, with the same poetic precision and vitality as her observations about birds and trees. It is a journey that begins with the determination to look the truth of our situation directly in the eye, to allow the pain, grief, shame and guilt that accompany this gaze to rise and dwell within us. Then through silence, prayer, reading and conversation, to move toward courage and what she calls a “fierce hope”, that is determined to act with love and kindness towards both the human and the other-than-human world, believing “that God does not abandon the creation God brings into being”. The way in which Frances Ward engages with the Psalms in the course of this journey is itself worth the read. If you feel the tension between turning away and turning towards the disasters that are the defining features of our times, this is a work that will speak to your soul. The Revd Dr Graeme Garrett is a retired Anglican priest, a theologian and member of the adjunct staff of Trinity College Theological School. See article on page 3.
Receptive ecumenism’s ‘prophetic edge’ makes it relevant to all Leaning Into the Spirit: Ecumenical Perspectives on Discernment and Decision-making in the Church, edited by Virginia Miller, David Moxon and Stephen Pickard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) reviewed by Bishop Philip Huggins
Many of the chapters in this excellent book are sourced from the Fourth International Conference on Receptive Ecumenism, held in Canberra in 2017. The fifth such conference was to have been in Sweden this year but, because of COVID19, it has been deferred to June 2021. This thoughtful book fills the gap and gives us further opportunity to consider the implications of this action of the Holy Spirit known as “Receptive Ecumenism.” Receptive Ecumenism, it will be recalled, focuses us on learning from others rather than entering relationships with an intention to only teach and correct. One can readily see, from even a rudimentary view of recent Church politics, why the Holy Spirit might be encouraging such a movement of grace. In launching this book at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture on 27 February, Archbishop Christopher Prowse, www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn and a former Auxiliary Bishop in Melbourne, emphasised the importance of friendship in Christian unity. In the preface to Leaning into the Spirit, the ongoing friendship and collaboration of Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby is affirmed.
pandemic has been “we are all in this together”. This statement of the obvious, then, takes us into the question of how we build and sustain unifying leadership which is capable of dealing with challenges like the pandemic, climate change, a so-called “security system” based on weapons of mass destruction, and a depleted and debt-laden economic system which now makes those who are vulnerable even more vulnerable. Suffice to say, anything that
Now we can see the relevance of this methodology for all people of faith and goodwill as we recognise that if our children and grandchildren are to flourish, humankind’s leaders cannot just keep shouting at and threatening people they have barely met. Reading this book, juxtaposed with publicised tensions such as Australia’s relationship with China, is a sobering reminder of the prophetic edge to this movement of the Holy Spirit.
“The lessons we have learned painfully from Christian division now, ever so humbly, need to be offered more widely. The knowledge we have acquired about unity is knowledge the world craves for.” As we know, an atmosphere of friendship helps us to better receive the gifts of one another and helps us to then share matters that are from the depths of our souls. Informed friendship leads to constructive plans and shared projects for the common good. A refrain from this time of
might actually inform the way we enhance unifying leadership will be rather useful at this time. Whilst Receptive Ecumenism might have emerged initially in relation to pathways for ecumenical dialogue, the connections to interreligious dialogue quickly became obvious.
Imagine if, instead of the harsh statements and clear threats, there had actually been some carefully prepared and discreet meetings in which all parties sought to learn from one another, recognising their own limitations and, yes, that we are all in this together!
With around one million people with a Chinese background now in Australia, surely we have the basis for some receptive learning and more intelligent discourse as we strive to be constructive partners with, rather than wedged victims of, both the powerful USA and China. Leaning into the Spirit takes us into particularities of local and regional dialogues; matters of reconciliation between churches; what churches of the West and of the Global South might learn from each other; and what receptive ecumenism looks like in Africa and in India. But at the back of all this is the aching reality that we are a wounded and wounding human family on a tiny planet in a vast universe of divine creation. The lessons we have learned painfully from Christian division now, ever so humbly, need to be offered more widely. The knowledge we have acquired about unity is knowledge the world craves for. Bishop Philip Huggins is a former assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne. He is Director of the Centre for Ecumenical Studies at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture and President of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
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Engaging memoir of Tim Costello’s faith, family A Lot with a Little, by Tim Costello (Hardie Grant, 2019)
had come to faith as an adult, his conversion was dramatic, yet Tim, having been raised in such a strong Christian household, was not able to relate to such a dramatic conversion. Tim’s own spiritual journey commenced by merely taking the faith of his parents,
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im Costello’s l atest book A Lot with a Little is an engaging read. Tim’s memoir piqued my interest on a number of fronts. The familiarity of being based mostly in Melbourne and the insight into the family that shaped two great Australian leaders: Tim and Peter Costello – both of whom went on to lead in seemingly different paths. The media has often mirrored Australians’ intrigue with the brothers’ relationship and indeed aggravated our curiosity with some sensational headlines. Tim writes candidly about their familial relationship and often honours his brother’s achievements and integrity, at one point stating: “Many people have said to me … what a loss it has been to have Peter gone from our national politics. I totally agree.” I relished reading how Tim’s faith has informed his life and work. Almost every page bears testament to how Christian hope has enabled Tim to continue to fight the good fight. For example, when reflecting on his tireless campaign against pokies, Tim recalls one of his children saying: “Dad, was there ever a campaign you won?” Tim reflects on this question: “Even in their eyes I seem to be a perennial loser. But I have a spirituality that says faithfulness, not success, is the measure.’’ An enduring thread is Tim’s spiritual journey and theological development. Tim inherited the faith of his parents, yet he describes their faith in contrasting terms. His father, Russell,
“The media has often mirrored Australians’ intrigue with the brothers’ relationship and indeed aggravated our curiosity with some sensational headlines. ”
was a strong evangelical bible believer whose priorities clearly focused on the life to come. Tim’s mother, Margaret, on the other hand, tended to a liberal Christian faith. Russell saw the world as evil with temptations to be overcome; whereas Margaret understood the world to be essentially good and that Christians should try to
do good in it alongside God. Tim remarks: “Dad’s theology seemed to start with the fall and sin, and Mum’s with Genesis 1 where earth was a garden.” Tim credits both his parents with having strong opinions but acknowledges that his Dad “had the stronger convictions”. And it was his father’s convictions that first guided Tim’s faith. Russell
specifically his father’s, but at one point Tim realised that additional depth was required for his faith, that he must reflect deeply. The strength of Tim’s memoir is the way he tracks the development of his own theological thinking. Another interesting aspect of Tim’s memoir was the attention he gives to the effects of his ministry on his children Claire, Elliot and Martin. Tim made choices that took him away from home often and had him in the media campaigning against various issues and being labelled a “do-gooder”. Additionally Tim and his wife, Merridie, showed hospitality to
a great variety of people during their time in St Kilda. This meant that the children experienced the coalface of ministry among some of St Kilda’s street prostitutes, local residents of boarding houses and others from local government housing. Tim writes openly about the effects of ministry and also provides an epilogue that outlines where Claire, Elliot and Martin are and their own passions. While the ministry cost the family, it seems clear that over the long term, Tim and Merridie’s choices have instilled lasting values in Claire, Elliot and Martin. What I would have liked to read more of was an encouragement for evangelicals to rediscover their heritage of social action. Tim clearly sees certain evangelicals, of his father’s persuasion, as lacking the drive to do good in the world beyond gospel proclamation. I would have liked to read how Tim has nuanced the particular evangelical faith of Russell. More could have been made of Tim’s rediscovering social action and justice as an evangelical heritage. Certainly Tim notes Charles Finney as one such example but there are many more. There is so much more I have enjoyed about Tim’s reflection, such as his insightful political comments, his global perspective and his wisdom regarding human rights needing to be anchored to a faith in order to endure. I will be referring to Tim’s memoir and no doubt quoting from it in my own preaching for time to come. The Revd John Carrick is the Lead Minister at St Thomas’ Burwood and a chaplain at the Burwood Campus of Deakin University.
Sensitive, brave and helpful book on depression and ministry When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend: Reflections On Life And Ministry With Depression, by Mark Meynell (IVP, 2018) reviewed by Bishop Paul Barker
And I know of a few clergy in my episcopate who struggle with depression and issues of mental health – godly and good ministers still leading fruitful ministry. The bleakest Psalm, the only one that ends with no obvious statement of trust or hope, ends
In recent months, a few sports players have taken time out of sport for mental health reasons. I am told that on average, every week a person dies on train tracks in Melbourne’s suburban rail system. It is not uncommon to hear of prominent people – actors, celebrities and others, like former AFL star and coach Danny Frawley – who have taken their own life. It is increasingly common to see reference to Beyond Blue, Samaritans, “and darkness is my closest friend”. Lifeline and other organisations Mark Meynell takes these verses advertised within news stories. as the title of his extraordinarily Where once depression and mental moving, brave and helpful book health in general was a taboo dis- on depression and ministry. Mark cussion topic, now that is changed is a friend, an Anglican minister – and for the better. in England, and a past colleague of A minister does not have to be mine training preachers. His book in ministry for long before issues is so helpful because Mark brings relating to depression and mental all his theological and pastoral health confront them. That is likely acumen alongside his own several to be from a conversation about a years of suffering depression as a parishioner’s own condition, pos- minister. This rare combination is sibly through funerals, or other a gift for ministers in particular. people in need seeking counsel. Mark tells his own story, of
sudden and recurrent depression over many years. Intertwined with his own experience, he reflects theologically, handling scripture sensitively and deeply, and offering angles and insights to help other Christians, not least ministers, handle the issue. He acknowledges that
“Mark brings all his theological and pastoral acumen alongside his own several years of suffering depression as a minister.”
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many who have not experienced depression struggle to understand how a Christian can be depressed, and why sufferers cannot switch out of it. He reflects on how depression, the “black dog” as Churchill called it, rears its head unexpectedly and inexplicably over time. Meynell comments that for some, depression is triggered by something; oftentimes that is not the case. He explores the “mask” that hides the depression. He discusses fear, shame and confusion that unsettle. He wrestles with the
presence of God. Meynell uses the metaphor of a volcano for depression (I was reading this book the week after the deadly New Zealand volcano eruption last December). Depression “may lie relatively dormant for some time, while its lava and force are constantly shielded beneath the tectonic plates. Without warning, it then forces its way through, plunging the mind into a riot of irrational thoughts that discombobulate and terrify. And I don’t see it coming …”. The second half of the book
looks at strategies for managing and persevering, “venturing toward the light”. He touches on the problems of bad theology, the expectations of wearing the respectability mask, and simplistic generalisations for understanding depression. He values the importance of fellowsufferers, and wise friendships in general. He explores what it means to be a wise and helpful friend for a sufferer of depression. He argues that ministry ought not to be excluded for someone suffering mental health problems. Through all of this, Mark writes as one still suffering depression. I know he wrestles often with the black dog, not least in being determined to finish writing this book. I am so grateful for his courage in exposing his own story so we all can be better and wiser friends and pastors. I cannot commend this book highly enough for any Christian who suffers depression, and for any clergy and lay minister. Bishop Paul Barker has oversight of the Jumbunna Episcopate. If you or someone you know needs support, you can call Lifeline on 131 114 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
A BOOK THAT CHANGED ME
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Light, love infuse son’s tribute to mother Maya R. C. Dettmann, who grew up in the US, describes how a recent re-introduction to the legendary poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou gave her “an encounter with real joy”.
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n the drizzle and grey of this midwinter a friend handed me a volume titled Rainbow in the Cloud: and, so it was. Published in 2014, curated by Guy Johnson, it is a posthumous tribute from a grieving son in honour of the wit and wisdom of his mother; a small collection of quotes from her public writings and private words shared with family. I opened its pages with enormous anticipation as this man’s mother was none other than Maya Angelou. “Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away.” “Of all the needs (and there are none imaginary) that a lonely child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be any hope, and a hope of wholeness, is the unshakable need for an unshakable God.” “Life loves those who live it!” Such a woman. Author, poet, singer, actress, dancer, African community civic she lived; like a rainbow bright against darkness, scattering thoughts of gold wherever she blazed. Trusting a lifelong pursuit of truth “en route” to wisdom would lead her to the Light, she was generous to share what she could see along the way. Growing up in the South, just after the Civil Rights movement, I had heard Maya spoken of all my life with respect, despite the controversy she generated. I knew early on that she must be something else when, along with many Americans of tender age, I was banned from reading her autobiography (of which there are now a tantalising seven.) She practically invented the “tell all” graphic memoir with her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (1969). A mix of wild independence,
conformity, courageously accepting in importance”. It retains, however, a vulnerability, she became so sure, sophisticated form of gerontocracy concerning God and grace, that, in where “age is of more worth than the end, her soul was a vessel of joy wealth, and religious piety, more as deep and terrifying as oceans. value than beauty.” There remains What surprised me, in this recent an awed respect for nature, the cycle open sexuality and the strongest of reading, was recognition of the of life and death, and an inseparable content. For our concerned parents voice of my own mother (now also awareness of the connectivity of all there was also the matter of some of “gone to be with God”) who, daily, of creation in relationship with its her more extreme political alliances gave us the very same wisdom and Maker. Equality of strength and as she endeavoured to set the world joy: “People will forget what you respect between genders is underfree. said, they will forget what you did, stood as necessary for balance; each Maya’s essays and poetry, how- but they will never forget how you innately powerful, with private and ever, would swirl around my young, made them feel.” public leadership expected of all. In developing mind. She spoke such this context, the voice of a woman intriguing things: “I am who I am, (particularly a senior) carries enoryes, because God loves me and I’m mous authority, weight, and value. amazed at it”, while also insisting When Mother Maya commands: upon personal responsibility: “If “Stand up straight…realize who you there’s one thing I cry for … I are, that you tower over your cirbelieve enough to die for … it is cumstances. You are a child of God. man’s responsibility to man.” Never Stand up straight,” we take notice just talk, she demanded our particiand, in turn, take responsibility for pation to implement solutions: “The our own power, commanding any onus is upon us all to improve the unclean thing within or without: human condition”. “Back up – don’t you know – I’m a In the end it was the elegance child of God!” and success of her “mother” voice The South endured a labour in maturity which was revolutionof fire, Civil War, and crushing ary and highly awarded across a Reconstruction, but commitment to 50-year career. She outlived, and end racial and economic injustice is out-laughed, many prejudiced only ever birthed into wider applicaideas of the African-American tion through a spirit of repentance woman, consistently leading public and when core truths, such as every discourse toward equality, justice person being “made in the image of and love. She reminds me more I am fascinated, also, that Maya God”, become core belief. In develthan most of the words of Christ: “I and my mother, as strong repre- opment of this cultural, spiritual, came that they may have life, and sentatives of opposite political and and philosophical breakthrough, have it abundantly.” moral persuasions (one progressive; the formidable dignity, faith, and I did not reckon on the power one conservative), were insistent inner confidence of African and of a re-introduction to Maya this upon the discovery of unity across Native American women, survivors week, this year … but then, I doubt divides. “We are more alike, my of slavery and service, cannot be there are many who ever reckoned friend, than unlike.” I cannot help underestimated. They modelled to with this woman’s power. Which but consider the shared context an entire society how to overcome of us is prepared for an encounter that undergirds both, as women of adversity with respect for self and with real joy? It has been said that the South, with its fraught history, the “other” while raising every joy is the most terrifying of human honour culture, and rich wisdom white and black child. In the 1960s experiences. We are instantly aware heritage. They would continually a collective Southern identity would of its vulnerability – and ours. But draw upon the same fertile soil at begin to emerge, powerful in truth Maya … she believed joy was the their roots despite their different telling and reconciliation. Many, difference between striving and bents. including my mother, and Maya, thriving; worth giving the whole At best, the southern United participated to seize life from ashes, heart to. Navigating her suffering States is a place (as Maya put it) so give and receive forgiveness, overwith complete honesty, admitting “… impellingly beautiful that sophis- come poverty and blinding privilege, mistakes without capitulation or ticated creature comforts diminish educate themselves and their fami-
lies through a pursuit of literature, theology, and friendship, and take action alongside Dr. King, John Lewis, the Revd C.T. Vivian, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The optimism was heady stuff. With nations once again on edge and in the streets, we are called by those who have preceded us to establish a higher standard together. I am inspired remembering Mama and Maya telling us how it’s done. Both attributed the origin of their own strength, and all that was achieved, to encounters with unconditional love from God and their fellow people. Assertive peacemakers, living great-hearted beyond ego, ethnicity, and ideology, they taught us to respond to societal conflict by throwing doors and arms wide open to facilitate a literal shared table and platform. “We are not our brother’s keeper; we are our brother and our sister. We must look past complexity to see community.” Today, as always, we would be wise to heed the voice of the mothers: “Love liberates.” R. C. Dettmann migrated to Australia from the US in 1996. With a background in design and professional writing, she is currently raising teenagers and managing a grazing property in the Central Victorian Highlands. During the COVID crisis she and her family have been worshipping in online community with St Jude’s Carlton.
Ancient words offer hope in times of despair by Clare Boyd-Macrae
“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save? … Destruction and violence are before me … the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous – therefore judgement comes forth perverted.” One of the reasons I love the Judeo-Christian tradition I am steeped in is its rich vocabulary of lament. The strikingly contemporary words above are from the book of the prophet Habakkuk, probably dating from the late seventh century BC. The even older Psalms, sacred songs beloved of members of both the Jewish and Christian faiths, cover the whole gamut of emotions; praise and ecstasy sure, but just as much depression, rage and anguish. Psalm 88, the best-known Psalm of despair, contains many poignant lines, including, “For www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au
a word for all seasons my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol … You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.” Unlike most other Psalms that move eventually to praise, it ends with these words, “You have distanced loved ones and neighbours from me. Darkness is my only friend.” Jesus drew on the brutally honest tradition of the Psalms with a bleak line from Psalm 22 as he was dying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” A reading of many of the prophets like Amos, and the quote from Habakkuk, remind us, as does the most cursory reading
of history, that life has always been grim, and the powerful have always trampled those less so. Putin (lifelong president if you please), Trump, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, Bolsinaro and others are simply the current crop of abusive ruling men. Others of their ilk have wreaked untold damage, not only in the film industry, police and army, but also in institutions where ethical behaviour might be expected – in state, court and church. I would normally argue that the world is a better place for more people now that it has ever been. Lately, though, despair has been my companion, and I need
these ancient words if I am to move beyond it into something more life-giving. The annihilating tools at the disposal of corrupt leaders are frightening enough, but it is global warming that is the game changer: the only new evil, the one that may well finish off the human race. And in my current frame of mind, that might not be a bad thing, not least for the other species that share this planet. I’m immobilised by the state of the world; I’m also aware that this doesn’t help anybody. Many of the Psalms start with utter despondency and work their way to hope. If I am to progress out of my paralysis to a place where I can experience the energy of hope – and I long for this – I need to sit with my bleakness and articulate it with the potent words of my spiritual forebears. Clare Boyd-Macrae’s blog can be found at www.clareboyd-macrae.com
Spirit Words Where there is no love, pour love in, and you will draw love out. St John of the Cross THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020 • 23
IN REVIEW
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The confronting double life of an Aboriginal boy by Beryl Rule
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n My Blood It Runs, Maya Newell’s acclaimed documentary made by a team of First Nations and white filmmakers, is a revelation. Dujuan Hoosan is a 10-yearold Arrernte/Garrawa boy living in Alice Springs with his mother, Megan, and his grandmother, Carol. He has two lives. One is in Alice Springs, where he finds school both tedious and irrelevant, and is graded E in every subject. Increasingly, he plays truant, roaming the streets and becoming known to the police for vandalism. In his other, Aboriginal life, he is intelligent and thoughtful, a recognised healer with a Spirit-given gift. When his grandmother teaches him the history, legends and language of their people, he is totally engaged. Grandmother Carol, like Dujuan himself, would far prefer to live 1260 kilometres north in the homeland, Sandy Bay. But since it does not contain a school, she stays in Alice Springs for her grandson’s sake, “because we want our kids to grow up learning both ways”.
In Sandy Bay, “where you don’t have to use a frying pan to cook a fish”, Dujuan can truly be himself. And his sense of self is amazingly strong. “I’m a bush kid,” he says, “and it’s my job to look after my people.” He takes his gift for healing very seriously, and knows it can’t be used if he is angry. Going to the homeland on weekends helps him to get rid of anger and “check that my healing powers are still straight”. School is making him angry, and the scenes shot there are disturbing viewing. The syllabus obviously requires his (white) teacher to pay some attention to Indigenous culture, but we see her reading in a desultory way from a book about the Spirit and the Dreaming, then admitting to the camera that she doesn’t understand what this is about and anyway, “I don’t believe it.” History lessons completely ignore the First Nations people and begin with Cook and Governor Phillip’s establishment of a colony at Botany Bay. “History at school is for white kids, not Aboriginals,” Dujuan says.
Because of his truancy, his mother’s welfare payment is suspended, and at a meeting with his family, the school principal and a welfare official warn that the boy is on the path to juvenile detention. Duyan knows all about “juvie”. Kids as young as 13 are taken away from home by the police, locked up and “cruelled”. The film’s ending sends the sad message that striking a balance between white and Aboriginal culture is still very far off. The school curriculum has no point of connection with Dujuan’s interests, and no insight into his abilities. Faced with the prospect that he will end up in detention, grandmother Carol sends the boy to live in Sandy Bay with the father he has not seen for five years. “When I’m a man I’m going to fight for the rights of black people. I’ll speak to the Prime Minister and I’ll say, ‘Stop killing Aboriginal people!’” Dujuan says. “What I want is a normal life of just being me. I want to be an Aborigine.”
Dujuan Hoosan, “bush boy” and healer.
In My Blood It Runs is on iView until 4 August. It can be downloaded or hired. See vimeo.
Relic lays bare fears of mortality and challenges of Alzheimer’s by Tim Kroenert
When the history of early 21st century films is written, this period will be remembered not only for the dominance of superhero megafranchises, but also for its spate of mid-budget “smart” horror films – those that utilise terrifying genre tropes to explore deeper issues. A number of Australian filmmakers will find themselves among these ranks. Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook tells the story of a mother and son alienated from each other by grief, in the framework of an old-fashioned haunted house movie. Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke’s Cargo may take place during a zombie apocalypse, but it is primarily concerned with a recent widower’s anxieties about his ability to parent his infant daughter. Relic, Aussie auteur Natalie Erika James’ Sundance darling and recent streaming addition to Stan, sits
Kay (Emily Mortimer), Sam (Bella Heathcote) and Edna (Robyn Nevin) in the not-for-the faint-hearted movie Relic.
alongside those films as a thoughtprovoking, white-knuckle classic. Inspired by her experiences visiting her Alzheimer’s suffering grandmother, James draws on everything from Poe to Japanese horror to the body horror of David Cronenberg,
to confront primal fears of mortality and the practical and emotional challenges of caring for an ageing parent. As it begins, career-woman Kay (Emily Mortimer) and her 20-something daughter Sam (Bella
Heathcote) arrive at the colonial style country home of Kay’s mother, Edna (Robin Nevin). Having lived alone since her husband died, Edna is showing signs of decline, and Kay and Sam have decisions to make about her future. The challenge is greater than they imagined, however, as Edna’s condition begins to manifest as a dangerous, menacing presence. As a horror movie, Relic is effectively restrained, increasing the tension gradually as it progresses from strange to spooky to outright scary. There are lashings of gore, but for the most part this is an exercise in atmosphere, and in utilising the power of suggestion. Like the dank black spots appearing on the walls of Edna’s house (and indeed on her own skin), what we see on the surface always hints at something more sinister going on underneath. But it’s the attention the film pays to its main characters, and
their relationships with each other, that both gives weight to the horror, and suggests ways that they may be absolved from it. An emotional distance exists between Kay and Edna, and is mirrored in her relationship with Sam. In both pairings, the competing demands of care and self-care, the tension between love and frustration, crackle within the generational gaps. The house’s labyrinthine upper levels might be a House of Usherlike avatar for a mind in disarray, but equally it could map the dead ends, dark corners and debris of relationships fallen to neglect. Edna’s dementia tests familial tensions, but also lays bare the bonds that underpin them. In the film’s unforgettable final moments, tenderness reveals itself as an antidote to terror, alongside a handwritten note that appears like a prophecy: “I am loved.” Streaming on Stan.
Lavish series Beecham House promises much but fails to truly deliver by Wendy Knowlton
When Channel 10 moved Beecham House to the 10pm slot on Saturday it was an ominous but not unexpected sign. The first two episodes had promised much but delivered surface over substance. Sumptuous fabrics, glowing light and lavish sets can’t compensate for a clichéd plot and some truly dreadful dialogue. An able cast struggles to breathe life into the characters and the cliffhanger ending of Episode 6 is doomed to remain unresolved, with no second series commissioned. Still, if you’re in an undemanding mood, there are enjoyable features to be discovered amidst the elephants and peacocks. Much of the series was filmed in India,
principally in and around Jaipur, and the forts and palaces that provide the exteriors match the grandeur of the ornate interior sets. This is India in the dying days of the Mughal Empire, where brooding John Beecham (Tom Bateman) has turned in disgust from the rapacious East India Company and settled in Delhi with a mixed race child called August, a smouldering stare, and a swag of secrets. His ambition to set up as an independent trader, respectful of the right of Indians to rule their own land, is viewed with suspicion by stock French villain General Castillion (Gregory Fitoussi) and the local Emperor Shah Alam. August’s autocratic aunt Chandrikia (Pallavi Sharda) descends in a swirl of glittering saris to battle with Beecham’s
24 • THE MELBOURNE ANGLICAN • August 2020
John Beecham (Tom Bateman) plots his next move in Beecham House.
newly arrived, incredibly irritating and abrasive mother Henrietta (Lesley Nicol). She plots a suitably
English marriage for her son, whilst complaining bitterly about the Indian climate, food and distressing habit of the place being full of Indians! Add to the mix a dissolute brother, a former friend, whose narrow-eyed stares into the middle distance promise no good, and the rival romantic claims of conniving Violet Woodhouse (Bessie Carter) and charming next door governess Margaret Osborne (Dakota Blue Richards) and the meandering plot is set. Unfortunately the mystery of Beecham’s child, the fate of his wife, and his lectures on the evils of the East India Company and his own high-minded aims are not particularly compelling. The most interesting feature of Episode 3 was the lavish golden clock Beecham
shipped in as a birthday bribe for the Empress. With its gleaming tigers and waterfalls, it seemed much more worthy of exploration than the illicit affairs, plots and betrayals lurking behind the lattice screens and gauze curtains the camera voyeuristically peers through. Beecham House is a handsome looking series that fails to fulfil its stated aim of valuing the stories of its white and Indian characters equally. Rather than radical, it feels familiar – a bit of Downton Abbey, a bit of Poldark, and a bit of some travelogue thrown in. It’s not all bad, but it could have been so much more. Beecham House is screening on Channel 10 and available on 10Play. www.tma.melbourneanglican.org.au