Fundamentally it is no longer valid or viable to see ourselves as purely an open door, operating an ‘attractional’ model. We need therefore to shift our thinking to become a missional church...

2008 is already shaping up as a year of new initiatives for Georges River Region.

I can now say that I have been to Khartoum. Well, almost!

As the Lord draws people from all nations to himself, we must pray we will recognise and implement changes needed to be part of it.

As Easter rolls around again, it is easy to get caught up in the trappings of commercialism – the eggs, the bunnies and the buns. These are undoubtedly nice things to enjoy as we celebrate with our families, but they can cause us to lose sight of the true meaning of Easter.

Christmas is the perfect time for people to remember the importance of repairing relationships and forgiving others. We must learn to be accepting of those who are different and willing to help those in need.

As a child I remember Mum getting me to take my younger brothers’ Christmas presents around to our auntie’s house to be hidden and collected on Christmas Eve. Mum would also often hide our presents in our house. Most times we found them and we gradually perfected the art of unwrapping them, playing with them, then re-wrapping so that Mum would not find out. We actually thought that we could outwit our Mum!

This December the congregations from Bexley and Bexley North Provisional Parish will combine their services for the first time with St James’, Carlton. The amalgamation of the two churches is a historic moment, but it is even more so for those present who will hear echoes of an almost forgotten event that changed the course of the region almost 100 years ago.

One hundred sit-ups. Sixty push-ups. Running two-and-a-half kilometres in ten minutes, and at least six chin-ups. Not exactly the normal requirements for a pastor and Bible teacher. And we haven’t even mentioned jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet! Meet the Rev Tim Booker, the latest recruit into the ranks of chaplains to the Australian Defence Force, and a man who will soon be doing all of the above on a regular basis.

In the Bishops’ Statement of 19 June, 2003 on sexuality and the Anglican Communion issued by the Archbishops and Bishops of Sydney, reference was made to Canon Gene Robinson, the Bishop-elect of New Hampshire.

Bishop Peter Tasker, Bishop of Liverpool in the Diocese of Sydney, has issued a statement expressing the grave concern of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney over the decision of the Uniting Church Assembly, which today voted to permit the Church’s presbyteries to accept and ordain practising homosexuals for ministry in their congregations. Bishop Tasker spoke on behalf of the Diocese of Sydney in the absence of Archbishop Peter Jensen who is overseas until the end of the month.

A handful of millimetres of rain a year; dry; hot; high pollution levels; one of the highest densities of people per square kilometre in the world; driving a car is like being in the chariot race in Ben Hur! This is the wonderful city of Cairo.

Archbishop Peter Jensen and the five regional bishops of the Diocese of Sydney have released a statement on the 'crisis in the Anglican Communion'. They refer to the appointment of a gay activist to be Bishop of Reading in the UK, the blessing of same sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the election of the Rev Gene Robinson, a clergyman living in a homosexual relationship, to be a bishop in New Hampshire Diocese, USA.

Statement from the Archbishop of Sydney and the Regional Bishops of the Diocese of Sydney on developments in the Anglican Communion