So it begins...II

You may have missed it. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the Australian Church Record released issue 1901. And inside the ACR published two more editorials with advice for the next election for the Archbishop of Sydney. In 2013. Peter Bolt comments that:

"Rumour has it that groups of interested parties have begun gathering to discuss the next Archbishop, and shopping lists are being compiled."

Which isn't very surprising. There's been a buzz about the election for a couple of years now. According to the ACR, 'it has the potential to mark a turning-point in the story of Sydney Anglicanism.' What is remarkable is the openness with which these discussions are taking place, following the lead of the ACR when they first laid the issue before the public in May 2010.

The focus of the two editorials might be summarised as "It's Time." Time for generational change. Time to pass the leadership of the diocese from the baby boomers onto which ever generation comes next. With this call for change comes a warning that the next archbishop must be present in the diocese now. The election of someone from outside the Diocese of Sydney will stand, argues Peter Bolt, not only as a rejection of the past 30 years the diocese trajectory but also as a symbol of the failure of the Baby Boomer leadership to provide training and prepare for the changeover of leadership.

"If the leadership of the last 30 years has failed to train someone who can act as Archbishop for the next generation, then that ‘leadership’ has failed abysmally."

Strong words from Peter Bolt. And we can only expect more over the next two years. Even Peter Jensen's Presidential address at CMS Summer School last week felt as though he was starting to establish his legacy - expect a post on this in the future. Do you agree with Bolt's assessment about the Baby Boomers? And is he missing anything from his Archbishops shopping list (which you'll find here)?

The ‘Desacralisation’ Of Politics

"But secular authorities are no longer in the fullest sense mediators of the rule of God. They mediate his judgments only. The power that they exercise in defeating their enemies, the national possessions they safeguard, these are now rendered irrelevant by Christ’s triumph. This is what might properly be meant by that misleading expression, the ‘desacralisation’ of politics by the Gospel. No government has a right to exist, no nation has a right to defend itself. Such claims are overwhelmed by the immediate claim of the Kingdom. There remains simply the rump of political authority which cannot be dispensed with yet, the exercise of judgment." - Oliver O'Donovan

Through Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension he has been given all power and authority in heaven and earth. And if he has all power and authority, than our governments have been stripped of their power; they have been reduced to providing justice (Romans 13). To do anything else would be a dangerously idolatrous encroachment on Christ's rule.