Next week’s Gafcon Conference in Kigali, Rwanda is shaping up to be a momentous occasion in the history of global Anglicanism, as we come together to prayerfully chart a renewed course for the church.

The five-day conference will include around 1300 people from over 50 nations, as we come together to prayerfully depend on the Holy Spirit as we gather to hear God’s word.

Each day will have a special time of repentance, as we gather to express our grief and remorse at how many within our church have wandered from God’s way and have departed from the truth of his word.

Some Anglicans leaders have chosen to bless ways of living that God has told us to reject, and this means that many parishioners and pastors have been forced to submit to bishops who have failed to accept the word of God in all its fulness.

That’s why we need to gather to ask forgiveness for our church, and to seek God’s wisdom about the future for Anglicanism, both globally and locally.

Mandy and I are humbled to be representing our church in Jamberoo, as we participate with the Australian contingent, and we pray that the Lord will give us opportunities to serve and encourage many others during the week.

Please pray for great wisdom for all the delegates as we seek to come to a common mind about the best form of the future leadership of the global Anglican church.

But above all, pray that this conference will lead us to glorify God by proclaiming Christ faithfully, so that everyone will hear God’s call to repent and believe in Jesus as Lord.

To find out more about the conference, and to find a link to the livestream, visit www.gafcon23.org 

JODIE McNEILL

The most controversial thing about Easter is not that Jesus died… but that he came back to life.

That’s why our Easter campaign this year is called ‘Open Day,’ as we highlight Jesus’ open grave… for he is risen, hallelujah!

Many people are not open to the resurrection of Jesus because it seems so unusual—after all, how many times have you gone to a funeral to have the dead body rise from the grave?

Yet, the resurrection is the very thing that makes Easter valuable.

For, if Jesus only died and stayed dead, then the life of Jesus would offer us little more than an impossibly-difficult character to try and imitate.

Plus, when we are unable to keep Jesus’ impossible standard of perfection, we’d be crushed by our failure.

But worst of all, without the open grave, all of the promises of Jesus would fail.

For he made it clear that he would be betrayed, be killed, “but three days later he will rise from the dead.” (Mark 9:31).

What’s more, as the Apostle Paul observed:

“…if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)

We must be open to the truth about the open grave, for it is only by Jesus rising from the dead that we can have any real hope in eternity.

If the grave is not open, then neither is heaven.

That’s why this Easter we’re encouraging people to be open to the idea that Jesus’ grave was open… and that people would be open to the idea of following the risen and living Jesus.

Jesus’ grave is open… are you?

JODIE McNEILL

We are thrilled to welcome a team of fourteen students and two chaplains from Moore Theological College from this Sunday 26th March to Sunday 2nd April.

The ‘mission week’ is an integral part of the training of all the students as they prepare to be ministers in churches and other contexts locally and across the globe.

The theological training at Moore is world-class, and what makes it even better is the deep commitment to pastoral care that is evidenced in the strong connections with the local churches… especially those in the Diocese of Sydney.

To get a deeper experience of the training at Moore, you’re invited to attend a special ‘Ministry Minded’ evening this Tuesday night the 28th March at 7pm in our church hall.

Lionel Windsor will be delivering a theological and pastoral lecture to help stretch us as we focus on gospel ministry… especially as we consider how all of us are Christ’s ambassadors in the many areas he’s placed us to serve.

Susan An, the Dean of Women, will be helping us understand more about how Moore invests in the growth of the students, and will particularly help us understand the many opportunities for women’s ministry, especially as we embrace ‘complementarianism’ in our teaching and ministry.

We’re also going to hear from a number of the students on our team about their own journey that has brought them to study at Moore, and they’ll have an opportunity to share about how they’re praying the Lord will use them in the future.

This is one of our key events as the team is embedded in our church for just over a week… and we’re excited to learn from them and with them as we seek to have each person in our village, valley and region know how to follow Jesus, and why it matters.

That’s why we always love Moore!

JODIE McNEILL