Every couple of months my column in EN just consists of reporting news from Australia. April’s is of significance – not only for Australians…
Evangelicals Now – News From Australia – April
The Floods – Having gone from drought to bushfires, then plague and war; many Australians were caught up severe floods in New South Wales and Queensland. It is little wonder that some Christians feel that this has an ‘endtimes’ feel. The floods were the greatest for 40 years. But there are other seismic events shaking Australia as well.
Ordination in Perth – On Thursday 24th February Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy of Perth Anglicans presided over an
ordination of four new deacons. One of those was of a man who had been living in an unmarried relationship with a woman for several years (they have children); and the other was of a man in a civil partnership with another man. This was done in contravention of both the Anglican and biblical teaching on marriage. Meanwhile in NSW Bishop Rod Chiswell is being taken to court because he asked a gay organist in a civil marriage to desist either from playing the organ, or his ‘marriage’. https://ap.org.au/2021/10/15/the-final-stone/
(For more info on the Perth ordination – see this – https://davidould.net/archbishop-of-perth-set-to-proceed-with-ordination-that-will-split-the-diocese/
Victorian Laws – In the State of Victoria the ‘Change and Suppression’ bill has come into place. This is a deeply disturbing and authoritarian law. For example, under this Act a Christian pastor meeting one-on-one with a member of their congregation would break the law if he encouraged them to be celibate and thus suppressed their feelings of same sex attraction. A parent who refuses to support their child’s request for medical treatment to enable them to ‘gender transition’ would be breaking the law. And a Christian leader who tells a member of their congregation that they will be excommunicated if they continue their same sex relationship, will also be breaking the law. We have now moved to the situation where the State tells the Church how we should pastor, what we should teach, what we can pray, and who can be members of the Church.
Upcoming Election – The Australian general election will take place this May. The pollsters and pundits think that the Labor opposition will win (mind you they thought that last time – one suspects that the wish is father to the thought!). This will have significance for the church particularly on the issue of religious discrimination. A bill was supposed to have been passed by the government before the election was scuppered, largely by progressives within the Liberal (i.e. Conservative in UK terms) party – largely because of fears about transgender students being discriminated against. It appears that in order to protect the transgender ideology which is reaping havoc in so many areas of Australian life, the political class are prepared to sacrifice the Christian ideology on which this nation was built.
We Need a New Generation of Prophetic Preachers – Evangelicals Now