A group of Christian bikers who work on the streets of Western Sydney say local youth involved in ‘gang culture’ want to hear about Jesus as a result of Scripture classes in local high schools. The Street Level Christian Community and its ministry arm, Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club, have joined forces with local Anglican churches to build a long-awaited drop-in centre as a base for their outreach work, which is designed as a stepping-stone to establishing local young people and biker club members in Bible-based youth groups and churches.

Next month the Rugby World Cup (RWC) erupts at different venues across Australia. Inspired by the successful evangelistic initiatives that flourished with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, many Christians are preparing to take the gospel to rugby fans from home and overseas.

Charles Spurgeon, the great 18th century English preacher and evangelist, described prayer as the ‘engine room’ of his ministry. Whatever else he was doing, for Spurgeon, serving God began with prayer. For us – whether it’s our Christian lives, ministry in our local church, or the bigger picture of the diocesan Mission – the fundamental starting point must be to pray.

While you are reading this, Bishop Reg and Dorothy Piper will be in (or just returned from) Sabah, Malaysia, leading a team of 15 people from around the Wollongong region on a ministry trip.

It is every woman’s nightmare. Lois Rabey has never forgotten the day 23 years ago when the hot-air balloon holding her husband and his two friends caught on fire. All three men were killed instantly in front of her and her two young daughters. “At that moment, I had a positive experience of heaven, that it is real, and those men were entering it,” she said. The story received broad news coverage, in part because Mrs Rabey’s faith in Christ led her to testify that her Christian husband and the two men killed with him were in heaven. Despite having never spoken in public before, she was soon in demand to share her experience, including an invitation to speak at a Billy Graham crusade in front of 14,000 people just weeks later.

Sydney Diocese’s ten-year Mission plan puts church planting right at the heart of its strategy. With this in mind, over 40 ministers and interested parties from around the Diocese and beyond met last month, to discuss how to develop a ‘College of Planters’.

France, the nation that once led Christendom, has morphed into a secularist state. To speak about the claims of Christ, except in an academic context, is banned in French schools. Religion rarely makes it into the public domain, and Protestant churches have such a low profile that are often labelled as cults. However, a dedicated band of European Christians have sought to make a dent in French secularism by claiming 2003 as the ‘Year of the Bible’.

The Episcopal Church in the USA has voted to accept Gene Robinson, a minister living in a long-term homosexual relationship, as a bishop. GEORGE CONGER, a conservative minister and journalist from Florida, reports exclusively for Southern Cross from Minneapolis.

A former Latin teacher from Bulli near Wollongong retired recently as Bishop of North West Australia. Bishop Anthony Nichols, also at different times in his life a missionary in Indonesia, a tutor at Moore College and the Principal of a college to train Aboriginal ordinands in Darwin, acknowledges that his appointment, nearly 12 years ago, was ‘fairly unusual’.

Last month’s Cell Church Summit in Brisbane gave many Australian ministers their first taste of a church growth strategy that has swept the world.

The Malula family are living proof that the bold move to combine the gifts of Cabramatta Anglican Church and Anglicare has paid off.

All Saints’, Cammeray made history on 27 July when it opened its doors for a new 9am service.

Prime Minister John Howard bought into the debate on homosexuality last month when he stated that traditional marriage was necessary for the ‘survival of the species’.