Welcome to what may be, according to some people's reckoning, the last ACL AGM of this century.
Thinking of the turn of the century reminds me that it is approaching 100 years since the ACL was founded. Bishop Donald Robinson many years ago wrote a very important paper on the origins of the ACL in which he showed how the ACL came into being and was functioning as an autonomous body around 1909. For those 90 years the ACL has worked to defend the reformed and protestant character of the denomination and our diocese.
That our organisation is so old highlights the fact that it has been effective in its mission. Otherwise it would have folded long ago. The fact is that the League has been decisive in the maintenance of the evangelical character of the diocese, much to the chagrin of the rest of the Anglican church in Australia. Go back to the 1930s. The ACL played the decisive role in bringing to Sydney both T.C. Hammond and Archbishop Mowll. So much that happened in this diocese since can be attributed to the influence of these men.Of course other leading figures in our diocese in the past 90 years were committed and active members of the League, that situation exists today as well.
As with any human institution, we cannot claim perfection. We have made mistakes, but taken over all, the balance sheet is overwhelmingly in favour of the ACL as an instrument for preserving what is best in our heritage and successfully supporting people to leadership who themselves have advanced the reformed, protestant and evangelical principles we hold dear.
Speaking of focusing on a new century, we are all aware that the coming of the new century will coincide with the election of a new Archbishop. Already we are in that period when people are more and more thinking and talking about the possibilities.
New Archbishop
Being Archbishop of Sydney is such a daunting task that it would not be surprising to know that many of the people who would grace that office don't actually want it. That too is a quality much to be admired. Nevertheless the needs of the times may well demand that somebody of outstanding calibre will have to sacrifice his own interests and to take on this complex and demanding task.
The office of Archbishop of Sydney, involves not simply the leadership of this great diocese but the de facto leadership of evangelical Anglicans across Australia and the world. We need a man who will fit that role with distinction and strength.
The Archbishop of Sydney needs to be a person with the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of David, the gospel passion of Paul and the kindness of the Apostle John. He operates in the context of a crumbling national church and in a society edging further and further away from its christian roots. He leads a fellowship of christians in the diocese who hold to the authority of scripture as the determinate in matters of policy and strategy and he has the task of giving expression to their aspirations.
He needs to be a person of transparent integrity and godliness. He needs to be someone of outstanding intellectual capacity and theological steadfastness. He needs to be a skilled diplomat, an able administrator and with the capacity to make hard decisions, even at the risk of offending friends. That is the curse of leadership. He needs to be the object of trust and respect. He needs to be accessible yet removed from the hurly burley of diocesan intrigue. He needs to be passionate for the gospel and open to new ways to deliver it.
These and other factors will be on our minds as we move into this period of consideration.
We in Sydney have been blessed with great archbishops throughout this century and we need to be praying that God will raise up the man for the hour, that he will be recognised and supported by the diocese on a whole so that we can move forward in a united way.
If it was possible for the diocese to move towards a greater degree of unity and co-operation that would be a good thing. The ACL is committed to this outcome, qualified only by its commitment to gospel truth and gospel growth. People who show that commitment, even when they differ on the details of implementation, will find the ACL willing to talk and work together.
Regionalisation
Looking at the diocese, the most significant feature of the last three years has been the establishment of regionalisation, in the form of regional councils and a regionally elected Standing Committee.
It is probably too early to give a call on whether this system has produced results in terms of improved services to the parishes or improved performances in the parishes. One thing that we can say in its favour is that regionalisation has halted the decades long tendency towards centralism in the diocese. Also the new regional councils have contributed to the development of expertise on a whole range of administrative matters, especially in the regions themselves. It would be foolish to throw this away. I would expect that the ACL will be seeking to support the vast majority of sitting members in the elections. Certainly that was the mood generally expressed in the recent regional members meetings.
To conclude I want to say that I believe that the aspirations of the ACL, in the end, centre on the vitality of local churches and their fidelity to gospel truth. What would be the point of so called political action if it made no difference to what happens in the churches week by week? The task of planting and assisting local churches should be the end product of everything we do at a diocesan level. The centre exists to serve the churches and not the other way round.
The development of local church work involves the necessity to explore new forms of contemporary worship, new strategies to share the gospel and the need to create better structures that facilitate real fellowship. This is our core business as biblical christians in this diocese and we join together as a league to work to advance these outcomes.
The ACL believes it has an important role to play in the work of this diocese and I hope that we will enter the new century with a renewed passion to fight for gospel truth in our denomination and work towards gospel growth in our churches.
Rev. Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM
President
Canon Bruce Ballantine-Jones OAM is President of the ACL and Rector of the Sydney parish of St. Clement's Jannali.
(Copyright Anglican Church League)
Document added 6 August 1999.
Anglican Church League, www.acl.asn.au