(Transcribed from a video uploaded on Facebook) In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. This is Bishop Mari Emmanuel addressing our beloved faithful. Whoever you are and wherever you are, we need to understand that we need to be always thankful to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. For whatever trials and tribulations we go through, we are carrying the cross. Let us not forget that at all. The Lord Jesus said to us, if you do not carry your cross every day and follow me, you are not worthy to be my disciple. We thank the Lord Jesus for what ..read more

An extended period of negotiation with the NSW State government over Covid restrictions brought faith communities together and laid the basis for the Faith Affairs Council set up by the Minns Labor government. Monica Doumit, the Director, Public Affairs and Engagement for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, told the Notre Dame Religious Liberty conference that the former Liberal government had asked religious bodies to work together after the Covid lockdown. The lockdown of religious worship had happened swiftly at the start of the Covid response. The Health Department had been fully enga ..read more

A warning that changes to discrimination law in NSW and Queensland will restrict religious freedom, was delivered y Associate Professor Neil Foster from Newcastle University at the Notre Dame University religious liberty conference last week. “One of the themes of recent agitation in relation to discrimination laws is ‘let’s add extra stuff in, let’s add extra requirements, let’s add extra grounds on which to complain.'” Foster said. And, of course, there comes a point where when you add these things you impair other people’s rights.” In his talk, Foster outlined changes in NSW and Queensland ..read more

Uplifting news: Rapture prophecies are like buses, you are waiting and then several come all in a row. Whether it is the eclipse playing on American minds or not, currently there appears to be a season of rapture timelines. Here’s a one report which will give you time to prepare. Don’t say Obadiah is not helpful! Find the gory details here ### Out to get us? Not always: Do some Christians need to feel persecuted? There’s an meme on Facebook – old enough to have been written up by Snopes as false – that posting the Lord’s Prayer is banned on Facebook. It’s not. But testing it by posting the pr ..read more

Leaders of the Christian school lobby groups have struck a positive note after a meeting withe the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. on Friday. “It was really great,” Mark Spencer Director of Public Policy for Christian Schools Australia (CSA) said on a video uploaded to Facebook. “We got commitments from the Prime Minister that people of faith and faith communities won’t go backwards. Well, he’s the Prime Minister of Australia which I think was really reassuring.” Vanessa Cheng from the Australian Association of Christian Schools (AACS) was also reassured ..read more

If Christian news obeyed the rules of AFL, then we saw a star player kick the ball out of bounds on the full this week. That gets a free kick to the other side. The star player is Richard B. Hays, a highly regarded theologian, and the kick is an announcement of a forthcoming book written with his son Christopher  The Widening of God’s Mercy: Sexuality Within the Biblical Story, out in September from Yale University Press. The publicity blurb sent out with previews book centres on Richard B. Hays changing his mind on LGBTQIA issues. “The authors — a father and son — point out ongoing ..read more

A guest post by Lance Lawton, an Anglican Minister retired to Crookwell, NSW As the Islamic fast of Ramadan ends for this year, now might be a suitable time for Christians in particular to reflect on how we engage and relate to other faith communities in general and the Islamic community in particular. Every year the news media at the very least acknowledges the start and perhaps also the end of Ramadan which plays a central part in Islamic observance and cultural life. Increasingly too political leaders take opportunities to wish the Muslim community well as the fast approaches and/or ends. I ..read more

By Jon Here from Selling Jesus You’re at church and it comes time to pray together. The person assigned to pray has decided to recite a lovely piece by another author. They display it on the screen for everyone to read. At the end of the prayer you notice the following: “How Great Our God Is” words by Tom Christie  © 2004 Wondrously Made Prayers  Used by permission. PPLI License #12345 You’re a bit confused by this, so you decide to ask the pastor about it after the service. He explains that the church has signed up for an annual license to be able to legally recite prayers during ..read more

Gender change theory, surrogacy and abortion are included in a list of violations of human dignity in “Infinite Dignity,” a 20-page document from the Catholic Church’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith – a Vatican office charged with defending the doctrine of the Church. The 20-page document was approved by Pope Francis on March 25 after five years of preparation. A Vatican announcement explains that the document attempts to draw together many violations of human dignity that are often treated separately by Christians concerned with issues like abortion and euthanasia or on the other han ..read more

More Anglican schools have vanished, some existing for decades, than exist today. That’s part of the complex history of Anglican Schools in Sydney, which was revealed by historian David Hastie at a Moore College library showcase event last week. The new wave of Anglican schools since the 1980s that have contributed to the shift towards non-government schooling, and a previous long period of Anglicans backing the public school system for all but a few students, featured in Hastie’s story of policy reversals instigated by a couple of visionary Bishops in particular. Hastie, the Associate Dean of ..read more