December, 2020 - Australian Church Record

Corrimal, Covid, and Christ

December 29, 2020December 29, 2020 by Dave Esdale

Heading into 2020 there was a lot of hope for what God might do amongst us. Over a number of years we have been developing our ‘engage ministries’. These were ministries which gave opportunity for our church community to engage with our area and…

ACR Journal

Losing Community and Gaining Opportunity

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by Michael Figueira

What is happening in the Australian soul? One of my lecturers at Moore Theological College would ask this question of many of those he met in the local community in order to understand our culture. A common response that he heard from those in the…

Christian Living

How did we get here?

December 22, 2020December 22, 2020 by Daniel Clark

This Christmas, I’ve found myself in a hierarchical, litigious (and in an odd way), communally isolated Australia. How on earth did we get here? Western culture is built upon freedom and individuality. We value our own goals, our own expression,…

Christian Living

Power and pride

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 by Kylie Yip

In recent years I have become downwardly mobile, that is to say I used to be able to do more than what I can do now. Two words: small children. I mean I used to be able to go to the shops and even to the bathroom whenever I felt like it. Now there are very…

Christian Living

The journey of a lifetime: An interview with Ruth Baker

December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 by Ruth Baker

Ruth, thanks so much for speaking to us. I’ve heard you say before that you are a very ‘unlikely’ Christian. Can you tell us a bit about who you are and how you came to trust Jesus? I grew up in the 1970s in the north of England with wonderful hippy, anti-establishment,…

ACR Journal

A Theological Account of Blessing

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020 by David Höhne

At the recent Synod of the Diocese of Wangarratta (Aug 2019) Dr Dorothy Lee mounted a case for the possibility of Australian Anglican churches blessing same-sex unions in keeping with the general practice of blessing civil unions and the local…

Christian Living Ministry

Pastoral care for the sluggish

December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 by Ben George

One of the saddest conversations I have ever had is with H. H was a skilled evangelist, a natural conversationalist, highly intelligent with infectious energy, and, most importantly, was on fire for the Lord Jesus. Yet in this conversation,…