CREDIT: Photo IsraGarcia18, via Flickr.

At this year’s Sydney Anglican Synod, we were again reminded about the tragic damage in the lives of people affected by domestic abuse.

Back in 2017 we approved a draft policy on responding to domestic abuse, but last night we were able to lock in some important, final details.

One of the important things to note was the reality that the people who commit domestic abuse will sometimes ‘groom’ people in our churches so that their sin is hidden and impact of the abuse is underplayed.

Another problem was the risk of us showing “cheap grace” in misreading the difference between remorse and repentance.

After all, it’s not enough for an abuser to show they feel unhappy about the way they have treated their spouse: they need to genuinely repent of the sin, and show their commitment to making concrete changes to stop the harm.

To help church leaders better care for victims of domestic abuse, the Synod members were reminded to make sure that victims were not only initially helped to be made safe, but that they would continue to stay safe into the future.

Furthermore, the Synod announced that a special fund has been established to help support spouses of ministers who are victims of domestic abuse whose marriages fail, providing assistance in housing and other areas of need.

Archdeacon for Women, Kara Hartley, fought to hold back her emotions as she shared the impact of domestic abuse in our church:

“As I have been preparing for tonight, I’ve been struggling to capture my own feelings at the evil that is done when God’s precious word is twisted and used to excuse violence. I feel sadness and then I get so angry. To act violently is evil in itself but to falsely claim divine sanction is so outrageous.”

JODIE McNEILL

CREDIT: Photo Brian Kelly, via Flickr.

One of the great treasures of the Christian faith is the collection of prayers found in ‘The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions’.

It contains two hundred or so prayers written nearly five hundred years ago, and their timeless words capture some deep reflections on the Bible’s teaching.

I first became aware of these prayers when an album was released by Sovereign Grace called ‘The Valley of Vision’, where several of these prayers were put to song, including ‘Let Your Kingdom Come’ and ‘O Great God’.

Yet it is the first song of the album, which is based on the first prayer of the book, that has been a great blessing to me in my Christian walk.

Here are the first two stanzas:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Let us pray that we will find God’s glory in our valley.

JODIE McNEILL