Anglican Communion News Service

It is hard to avoid controversy when you are effectively the Anglican Bishop for the Olympics. Christians seem divided on the most appropriate way to respond to the Olympics. Some feel the primary Christian voice needs to be ‘prophetic’, responding to the dark side of professional sport. Others see the Olympics as an unprecedented marketing opportunity for Christianity. On top of that, the media seek you out for comment, hungry to fill another Olympic headline.

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Early this year, the Clare Community at Stroud, in the Diocese of Newcastle (NSW) closed down, following the departure of Sr Angela Solling to the United States and the move of Sr Andrea Sutherland to the Community of the Holy Name in Melbourne.

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The Rev Richard Hurford is extremely tired. He is one of six chaplains co-ordinating the efforts of 80 volunteer chaplains to the 23,000 people in the Sydney Olympic Village.

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With the Olympics less than a month away, Sydney's Anglican schools are preparing for key roles in the Olympics. Excitement is building at St Andrew's Cathedral School. Beginning with the torch relay, where Year 12 students Melissa Hopwood, Miriam Wyzenbeek and Matthew Wells will represent their fellow students and the city's youth, the School will be heavily involved in festivities come September

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Sydney Anglicans are busily preparing for the Olympic Games that commence on September 15. A 'cocktail event' hosted by Nick Farr-Jones, captain of Australia's 1991 Rugby World Cup winning team, opens St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, comprehensive Olympic Games ministry program on September 11. Drawcard for the event is Joe De Loach, who won the 200m at the 1988 Seoul Olympics

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J L Pearson designed St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, in 1888, and construction began in 1906. Building work is currently estimated to be completed by 2006 if a further AS$13,660,882 can be raised in time. Already over AS$11 million has been pledged since March 1997. The Cathedral is a popular pilgrimage site, with more than 1,000 visitors each month from all over the world. A troop of scouts from North London recently paid a visit, presenting a photographic collection of J L Pearson's English churches to the Cathedral's Precentor, the Revd Jo Pyeroft. The leader of the group, Bill Davies, is a member of St Augustine's, Kilburn, which is also a Pearson designed building.

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The Revd David Noble from Perth, Australia, is attempting to cycle 3,592 miles (5,747 km) round Australia in a Life Cycle 2000 project to raise funds for the Anglican Board of Mission (ABM) of Australia. The ride also celebrates 150 years of ABM's mission work. His slogan of GO M.A.D. stands for "Go Make A Difference".

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Church leaders in Australia are maintaining the pressure on the federal government for a national apology over the issue of the "stolen generation" of Aboriginal children who were removed from their parents and communities [see ACNS 2110].

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This is the title of a new Anglican Media Sydney TV programme. The first of twenty episodes will go to air for the first time on the 7Network throughout Australia on Sunday 26 May at 6.30am.

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In the northern autumn of 1562 an Antwerp cloth merchant was unpacking a consignment of cloth which had recently arrived from Turkey. In amongst the bails of cloth he found a small brown paper package, which he assumed must have been sent as a gift from the fabric supplier.

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The Diocese of Sydney is running a Fresh Start initiative to spread the Good News. One city church operated a "drive through" church as part of its outreach in the week before Easter.

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A project begun in New South Wales in 1996 has seen 54,000 new mothers presented with a copy of Luke's Gospel. The scheme, run by the Mothers' Union and the Bible Society in Australia, has now been extended nationwide to mark the Millennium.

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The Bishop of the Northern Territory in Australia has issued a pastoral letter addressing concerns relating to the former practice of separating Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander children from their families.

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St Andrew’s cathedral in Sydney was the focus of a celebration of the leaderships gifts of children. The event, which took place on 1st April, included a church service led by children for children.

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Bishop Ted Mosby, a Torres Strait Islander who was Assistant Bishop of North Queensland responsible for the Torres Strait region, died suddenly from a heart attack on Friday 17 March.

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Many churches face the problem of what to do with old, beautiful, culturally important but often impractical buildings. For one church in the Diocese of Melbourne the answer was to convert their old 19th century schoolhouse into a restaurant.

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The Diocese of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has appointed Dr Ned Wallace as medical missioner to work in Swaziland.

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The Anglican Task Group 2000 in the Australian diocese of Brisbane has organised a Year of Christ 2000 Hymn Competition.

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The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Revd Harry Goodhew, has joined Cardinal Edward Clancy, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sydney, in urging people to think twice about supporting the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to be held in Sydney on 4th March.

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A study has been set up to look at ways of measuring the health and performance of a parish that don't rely purely on financial measurements. The Northern Regional Council in Western Australia has been asked to look at a wide variety of measurements and report back by the send of September 2000.

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The Most Reverend Peter Carnley AO, Archbishop of Perth was elected Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia on Thursday 3 February. He was elected by a Primatial Election Board comprising all Diocesan bishops and twelve members of each of the Houses of Clergy and Laity who were elected by the General Synod

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Anglicare - the welfare arm of the Anglican Church of Australia - has played a leading role in co-ordinating the Northern Territory's disaster response to the unexpected numbers of refugees flooding into Darwin from East Timor. Anglicare Top End in Darwin has helped with the distribution of clothing and personal items.

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(CT) The Australian General Synod has begun moves to open the episcopate to women. It will also look at alternative forms of episcopal oversight for those who would not accept women on the bench.

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(Credit to Paul Osborne. "Focus". Brisbane)The General Synod of the Australian Anglican Church this week unreservedly apologised to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the part the Anglican Church of Australia played in the hurt and trauma caused by the unjustified removal of children from their families.

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Muriel Porter, the Melbourne Anglican)A number of parishes in the former Diocese of Carpentaria have seceded from the Anglican Church following a long-running dispute over the appointment of a Torres Strait Islander Bishop.

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 Lay and diaconal presidency is in agreement with the Australian Anglican Church's Constitution, says the Appellate Tribunal, the Church's highest court. But, it goes on, a canon of General Synod is required to authorise the change: a diocesan ordinance is not enough. The tribunal's finding, announced on 11 January after two years' deliberations, took many in the Anglican Church of Australia by surprise.

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The national Anglican paper in Australia, Church Scene, ceased publication at Christmas after 25 years of publication. The weekly paper provided news and comment on the very diverse Anglican dioceses in Australia and preserved its editorial independence. It had to close because of financial difficulties.

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The Anglican Church in three dioceses has been on the alert after bushfires across New South Wales last week. Archbishop Harry Goodhew, Metropolitan of NSW, has reactivated his bushfire relief disaster fund.

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Church leaders in Australia, criticising the Federal Government's plans to limit Aboriginal land-rights in rural areas, have sparked a national debate about the role of Churches in politics.

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Sydney Diocesan Synod has rejected a move to suspend any debate on women priests until at least the year 2002. Synod members will meet as a conference to discuss the role of women, probably in March next year.

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