Chapter 30: ANZAC Day 2015 - recolonisation ofdecolonized Australia?

As we celebrate ANZAC Day 2015 we recall past sacrifices in past wars, pray for a positive outcome of current conflicts, and remember soldiers serving today. In the emotion of personal remembrance, questions about whether wars are just, or not, tend to fade into the background. Yet today we are ever more painfully conscious of the difficulties of our troops serving in harm's way, and the post-war suffering of returned soldiers.  ANZAC Day is important because it not only brings us face to face with striking examples of heroic mateship, but also with the cold-blooded, mortal violence that is enacted in extended wars. Christian churches and chaplains have played an important pastoral role in wartime, not only as comforters, but often as moral and ethical arbiters consulted by governments. Yet in decolonised Australia, the ties between Church and State have noticeably diminished, along with the moral influence of the Churches over wartime decisions. Some Australians think that the only way to restore moral credibility to Australia in wartime, is to reconnect the country to Church systems by recolonising it. Is this possible or desirable?

Australian Churches are asking themselves why their moral authority has diminished, and what can be done to restore it. Right, wrong, justice, judgement and doomsday have been grist to Church mills for centuries. Sad to say, some Churches have misused their moral authority in the past to inspire extreme fear of God in order to extort  "indulgence" fees from guilt-ridden parishioners eager to buy God's favour (the sin of simony). Clerical corruption and abuse has caused many Australians to reject and abandon unrepentant churches. An unhealthy, grasping obsession with the splinters of other people's sins, while ignoring the proverbial log in the Church's own eye, has also cost Australian Churches dearly. Yet all Australian Christians (church attenders or not) know that discerning right from wrong in good conscience under God is an essential moral skill. Australians generally, Christian or not, can judge what is right and wrong in human society. They know that discerning how to remedy wrongs with good judgement guided by God involves much more than greed for personal salvation.

In the past, Churches allied with various governments filled an active role as the moral gatekeepers of European, Miiddle Eastern, African, American, Asian and colonial societies, In our decolonised time this is rarely the case. Western law was grounded in basic Christian moral codes (e.g. the Ten Commandments), so the colonial churches endorsed most civil and criminal legal judgements and penalties, and could reverse unjust decisions. When clergy delivered sermons, people listened carefully, because (despite the claim that Church and State were separate, with God as the higher power), clergy were invested with certain powers as officials of "the Establishment", i.e. the combined Church and State. In England, Scotland and Australia in the 1940s and 50s, church clergy, vestry members and office bearers had many government record keeping responsibilities. Some of these tasks still survive, but the Parish Roll is no longer a comprehensive Census, and licensed lay officials now perform many tasks formerly reserved to Christian clergy. Australians who enjoy nostalgic memories of "the good old days" would like to rewind the clocks back to the British Empire, but time marches us inexorably on into a globalised multicultural future.

So who, and how, in our multicultural Australian society where Church alliance with the State is tenuous, and multilingualism is a serious barrier to quick communication, do Australians determine what is right, what is wrong, what penalties will be imposed for which crimes and misdeanours, and how our community reacts when our government wants us to wage war on other peoples? Leaving moral decisions and laws to secularised, irreligious politicians and lawyers has produced an unwieldly, painfully slow legal system that obstructs justice, is only available to the affluent, and is slow to react to crises. Yet it is now possible for alert, responsible Australian Christians to exert a powerful influence on moral and political decisions through the Internet. At this time Australian Christians have a responsibility to remain aware of current legislation and social justice issues, and take concerted, calm, well considered peaceful action when necessary. Speaking up peacefully and clearly in the Australian media to reform inadequate laws, maintain humane moral standards, eliminate bullying and enforce justice for neglected victims has never been more important.

Chapter 29: Institutional Churches and Emerging Churches in Australia

After a busy two years in senior student ministry, my church work is morphing into an online music and prayer ministry with fuzzy edges, rather than a clear and conventional parish clergy role. This, I am told, is called "emerging church", and many of my student ministry colleagues are facing similar challenges. When I observe the unremitting work load of those ordained to a parish, I cannot help thinking that God would prefer the load to be spread a little. As for my activities in my "emerging church", ecumenical prayer with members of other Christian denominations is a great way of building up the local church.

Since the Internet has broadened our religious horizons, cosy village parish churches are seen as outdated, and have become increasingly difficult to maintain. But in adapting to these rapidly changing circumstances, Australian Church communities have invented many new forms of church gathering and worship. Innovations suggested by overseas "mother" churches have often  been adopted in city churches, but there has never been any dearth of uniquely Australian ways of celebrating Christ in our far-flung Great South Land. 

After all, Australian churches have always been "emergent" and "messy" churches. From the very beginning of non-indigenous settlement in Australia, Christians were faced with the need to adapt their worship and Christian lifestyle to the harsh realities of a land devoid of homeland comforts. Our churches began with perfunctory, enforced military ceremonies, policed by drunken redcoats. Our colonial ancestors had no venerable clergy, few ornaments and vestments, and no church buildings except those they built from scratch, with hard labour. Spat out by mother England, these illegal immigrant settlers built fortress parishes and took refuge in them, while Australia's many indigenous peoples looked on in wonder at the mad ghost people who insisted on staying in one place and destroying the bush and its creatures, instead of sensibly and cleanly following seasonal food sources. The European invaders believed that they could reproduce the churches of their homelands, but this was impossible. Australia and its indigenous peoples have influenced and shaped every Australian immigrant Christian church community in subtle, unforeseen, powerful ways. As a result, Australian churches have acquired superb resilience, and a well developed capacity to adapt to change.

Chapter 28: Trial, nourishment, and growth in the Parable of the Sower

Trial, error, and growth are part of human life, and in nature this is reflected. As Jesus tells us in the Parable of the Sower, seeds grow according to the conditions they find themselves in; some grow well and bear fruit, others grow for a time, but die, and some do not grow at all. It all depends on where they fall. 

Lately, I’ve been growing alfalfa sprouts in my kitchen. In order to grow, the seeds need to be washed with fresh water twice a day. The growth occurs in stages. The watered seed first swells, then bursts, then sends out an exploratory root, to test if there is sufficient nourishment and protection for the tender shoot to grow. Only when the root senses that the environment is friendly and supportive, will the shoot appear and begin to grow into a sprout. Stop watering, and the shoot never appears. Starve the sprout of water, and it wilts and dies.

Human beings seeking a community, test to see if the right conditions are present for them to grow and flourish happily. We speak of putting a feeler out, or testing the waters, to explore new ventures such as a property or business deal. Usually our testing is tentative. It’s like testing bath water – we put a toe or an elbow in to find out if it’s too hot or too cold. We don’t jump straight in, because we might get burnt. We taste food as we’re cooking it, to see if it’s too bland, too sour, too sweet, or too salty. We like the taste balance to be just right. We test church communities, too, to see if we can fit in and serve God well in that place. When we find the right conditions, we put down roots, and up comes a shoot. Like the alfalfa root’s explorations, our testing is completely legitimate. Like the alfalfa seed, we know that we are mortal and have human limitations: we must seek and find a generous supply of fresh water to flourish and grow.

Human beings begin as a tiny seed, gifted by God with life and the potential for growth. Despite a tendency to sin, the growth potential of a human seed is so great that scientists call it toti potenti – an unlimited potential to grow progressively into its destined form. The human blueprint is written (by God, Christians believe) into the DNA of our human cells, together with a marvellous, but circumscribed, ability to adapt to new environments. 

As Christian human beings we grow towards God through Jesus Christ, but how does that process start? The Church teaches us that Christian baptism begins our journey to God, and confirmation provides us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us for mature Christian mission. We say that in baptism we experience death to sin, and gain the ability to turn to Christ for forgiveness from sins that recur. In this sense, immersion in baptismal water symbolises death to sin and rebirth into Christ. But since we all began as toti potenti seeds, and are now at various stages of growth, it is also meaningful to think of baptism as immersion in the water of life that nourishes the seed and enables it to send out an exploratory shoot. Indeed, human seeds are produced by mature human plants that bear and raise their children, brand new human seeds that need a reliable supply of generous nourishment, as well as gentle guidance, to grow. May God grant that all children of Christian parents will find nourishing Church communities where they can grow, flourish, and produce good fruit in the Kingdom of God.

Chapter 27: Extraordinary Student Ministry Inthe Sydney Anglican Diocese

Recently many people have asked me about what it is like to be a female Anglican student minister discerning a vocation for the Anglican priesthood, and living and working in the Sydney Anglican Diocese in 2014. Apparently no one else is doing this right now - if there is some other brave soul out there, please contact me. Some think I am tempting fate, treading the radical Patricia-Brennan-cum-Muriel-Porter path. My path is actually much more conservative and cautious, though equally as committed to the cause of Anglican women's ordination, which I believe to be God's will and desire.

My situation is extraordinary for an Anglican student minister in Sydney. Leaving aside the fact that I am mature aged, have four adult children and one grandchild, and have completed a BA, DipEd, BTh, BPhil, STB, Musicology studies in Gregorian chant, and an Anglican Cantor's Certificate, the most unusual aspect of my situation is that because of my female gender and my declared priestly vocation, no Sydney Anglican Ministry College is properly equipped to supply me with appropriate or complete Anglican ministry discernment and training for Anglican priesthood. This being the case, I took action to address this deficit, namely enrolling as a distance education student (on the advice of a senior Anglican minister) in the Advanced Diploma of Ministry and Theology at St Marks National Theological College, Canberra ACT, applying for discernment of ordination vocation with a friendly diocese, and negotiating a local parish field placement. Hopefully, in 2014, under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Andrew Cameron, and with Bishop Stuart Robinson's oversight, St Marks NTC will continue to supply this Anglican Orders course at an equivalent standard and with equivalent curriculum content to Melbourne's Trinity College Anglican Orders course.

Apart from my ministry studies, there are many positive aspects to my female Anglican student ministry situation here in Sydney. For a start, Anglicans (even so-called "Low Church" Sydney Anglicans) are a lot more comfortable with, and accepting of, women ministers of all ranks, than my former denomination, the Catholic Church. Among Anglicans it is common practice to praise and encourage women ministers, while praise and encouragement is exclusively reserved to males in the Catholic Church. Being received into the Anglican Church by Bishop Robert Forsyth in 2013, after a sojourn in a Church where women are "protected" but also hugely oppressed, overworked, and often ridiculed and thoughtlessly insulted by male priests and their assistants, was a joyful liberation for me, and an exciting opportunity to follow God's call to fuller and happier Church ministry. My Anglican parish mentors, for whom I thank God, have provided me with many ministry opportunities that were deliberately denied to me in my former denomination.

Of course I knew about the current Sydney Anglican Synod ban on women's ordination to the priesthood well before I was received in 2013, but that does not negate the fact that God is calling me, and is slowly but surely equipping me, to be an Anglican priest. God has healed and strengthened me for my ministry journey, and has blessed me  in my family life, academic studies, spiritual formation, and music ministry. My vocation discernment and student ministry receives support from my family, my friends from several Church denominations, sympathetic parish colleagues, and extra-diocesan sources. So while I am conscious of local barriers to my ministry, I am also a global citizen with a global online ministry. It is clear to me that while the Anglican episcopal hierarchy maintains traditionally confining structures for ministry location and governance, it also allows fresh expressions of Church, and so God's broad vision for my priestly ministry will not necessarily be totally confined within a specific geographical boundary.

I was delighted to discover that in Sydney, female Anglican licensed lay ministers and deaconesses vastly outnumber male lay and diaconal ministers. Instead of exclusively male head servers, both male and female servers and lay assistants happily cooperate. Instead of authoritarian clerical managers and minions inspecting the troops and reporting doctrinal errors, I found Anglicans freely engaging in healthy debates and discussiions on current issues. Visitors to any Sydney Anglican Church will see both unvested and vested women buzzing around doing all sorts of work, not only "housekeeping" tasks. However, the push to fast-track an army of young Anglican men into priestly ministry (accompanied by Christian marriage to a trained female minister) is also creating team ministries and domestic church plants based on the complementarian model. For many Anglican women, the complementarian ministry model is sufficient, but for women called to priesthood, a co-ordination model of ministry is required.

I hope and pray that God will provide the Anglican women of Sydney who have heard God's call to priesthood ( and I am convinced that there are many) with a means to fulfil their call to ministerial service.

Chapter 26: Anglican Women Bishops approved by Church if England General Synod

After a lengthy debate chaired by Archbishop John Sentamu the Church of England General Synod has approved enabling legislation that opens the way to the nomination and election of women to the UK Anglican episcopate. Thank God for this landmark decision, which begins a new era of peaceful and cooperative relationships between diverse Anglican communities who are all members of the Body of Christ.

Chapter 25: St Marks National Theological College Ministry Intensive, Canberra, July 11-13 2014

Last week I attended the Advanced Diploma of Ministry and Theology Ministry Intensive at St Marks National Theological College, Canberra, conducted by Bishop-Elect Rev. David Robinson, who will be consecrated as Bishop of Rockhampton on September 2, 2014. Rev. David has been guiding my distance studies in Anglican ministry since January 2013. I spent an enjoyable and relaxing week before the Intensive at a family reunion in Adelaide, catching up with my Ridge, Speer, Wilson and Baitup relatives, and also fitted in visits to some of my former church communities, St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, St Ann's Anglican University College, and Clearview Uniting Church. 

Clearview Uniting Church, Central Ave, Clearview. This church was originally founded as a Presbyterian congregation by my father George Melville Simpson, who was Vestry Clerk of the founding Committee in 1954. Following the Union of the Presbyterian, Congregational and Methodist communions it became a Uniting Church, and is now led by Rev. K. Colliver and Committee Chair Doug Amey.

St Ann's Anglican College, North Adelaide, my home during my BA student years.

It was particularly good to share family history research and ministry experiences with my cousin Rev. Keith Ridge (4th from left below) and his wife Wendy, recently retired from ministry with the Church of Christ, but (as most retired ministers are) still very active in parish life.

I flew to Canberra from Adelaide on Thursday 10th July, and spent Friday 11th and Saturday 12th July at St Marks College, Blackall Street, Canberra. The well equipped College is set among pleasant native gardens overlooking Lake Burley Griffin, close to the Charles Sturt University Centre for Australian Culture and Christianity. We engaged in sessions on Evangelism, Leadership and Change, discussed and presented our term assignments, and were treated to delicious home-cooked meals while sharing our parish ministry experiences. My student colleagues come from diverse educational and occupational backgrounds, both urban and rural locations, both traditional and evangelical Anglican parishes, and all ages: I was pleasantly surprised to find many other mature age students attending. Some are just beginning theur studies, and others are well advanced, with a few attempting Masters level studies. We attended Morning and Evening Prayer (using APBA Daily Prayer with Psalm and Gospel readings) in the College Chapel each day.

On Sunday morning (July 13th) we attended a delightful Christmas in July Service presented by a St Marks student team at Grace Chapel, set in the grounds of the Meredith Burgmann Anglican School at Gunghalin. The style of the well attended family Service was informal and welcoming, with carols, a Kidspot session, and "show bag" children's gifts, which kept the children happy and occupied during the sermon. Several St Marks students are training for Defence Services Chaplaincy, and the sermon was preached by Craig, who provided insights on combining family life with army chaplaincy. After the Service we went to the school library, where the incoming St Marks Director, Rev. Andrew Cameron, was introduced to us. Rev. Andrew then listened to and commented on each student's account of their ministry studies, community, vocation and progress, and invited us to continue engaging with him for vocation support and feedback.

After Sunday luncheon at a local restaurant we drove to Goulburn for a hospitable winter evening prayer service at St Saviour's Cathedral, organised by another St Marks student team, and hosted by Bishop Stuart Robinson and the Rev. Archdeacon Caroline Campbell. The weather was freezing, but enthusiastic singing of Hillsong-style praise songs led by Ruth and Susan, a brilliant sermon on the parable of the sower preached by Tim Williams, warm knitted blankets and piping hot minestrone and pumpkin soup and rolls following the service broke the ice. It was great to meet the Canberra-Goulburn Anglican Diocese students and reconnect with the Bathurst Diocese students, who from now on will be attending Intensives at St Marks Canberra. Thanks to Michelle and Dan for helping me with transport, and for the warm welcome provided by St Marks staff.

Chapter 24: Church Community Polarity Analysis

In academic Church community studies, the latest theory to hit the podiums is Roy Oswald's Polarity Analysis. This method claims to be a foolproof circuit breaker for factional warmongering within a congregation. The trick is to identify critical factions and thought leaders within your congregation, and harness energy wasted on destructive competition into positive cooperation focused on common interests. When kept on track, this process produces mutual benefit and community growth. If your Church community has tied itself up in factional knots, unravel them and increase goodwill with a unifying community project such as a fundraising fair, regular community Church music days hosted by Choristers who Care, or an outreach program such as organising Welcome Dinners for newly arrived immigrants. Taking this approach is putting the apostle Paul's advice into practice - my mother's favourite Bible quotation in Philippians 4:8 - "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (King James Bible)).