[Editor´s Note: This item is posted on the website of the WRF because its author is an individual member of the WRF and because the item will have considerable relevance to our many members in Australia and, indeed, to ALL of our members in various denominations around the world.]

Readers of The Australian may be puzzled by the announcement of a new Anglican Diocese of the Southern Cross. Claims of schism in the Anglican Church of Australia and even the absurd claim that the new Diocese is a cult, by one retired bishop, have only exacerbated the confusion.

I distinctly remember an incident that happened in my Worship class over 30 years ago.   I was teaching in an evangelical and Reformed seminary.   The seminary stressed the importance of the Bible as the Word of God, and an appreciation of the Westminster Standards and the Reformed tradition.  If my memory serves me correctly, I was, on that cold, winter day (unheated classrooms) in the late 1980s, teaching the Genevan order of worship used by Calvin.  

In modern day Christianity the integral relationship between sharing the good news of the gospel and pursuing biblical justice has been eclipsed. There are many people today, including many Christian pastors, who are calling for justice. But rather than allowing God to define what justice is, what it entails, and how we are supposed to pursue it, they redefine it to suit their own purposes.

Today we hear a lot about ‘divine child abuse.’ That’s what some people call Good Friday, when Jesus died in our place on the cruel cross, taking upon himself his Father’s judgment on our evil lives. Isn’t it a lot better to think of it this way, they say, that God just loves us so much that he makes everything better for us through Jesus? Do Easter without Good Friday.

This is a preliminary report on our ongoing survey of how churches that are connected to the WRF have responded over the last 10 months to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The preliminary report only brings you the direct data (distribution of responses) and analysis will come once the survey is completed.

One of the big ecclesiological questions that arises as Christians have moved into isolation is whether communion can be served via live-streaming. While it is an understandable pastoral desire, this introduces some major questions about the nature of the sacrament.

Should a Local Church Session Administer the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper During the Present Lock-Down Situation?

What follows is not intended to be a scholarly paper, exegeting Scripture and drawing on learned sources, it is rather a more or less spontaneous reflection on the challenge of whether or not Reformed Protestant Christians should seek a cyber experience of the Lord’s Supper.

Isn’t abortion just terrible? Babies are human! If you don’t think they are, then you’re buddying up with those Nazis who were glad to slaughter Jews, since they’re Untermenschen, subhuman. Yes, it’s terrible, so what can we do about it?

“Complementarianism” refers to the Bible’s teaching that men and women are created with equal value by God and have “complementary” roles within the church and family.

 For me, the function of a denomination has been especially hard to understand since I have worked almost all of my life in trans-denominational seminaries.

I remember one year when we had students from 80 denominations and 40 countries!  When I talked with a student I was definitely not aware of his denomination.

 Saying ‘No Thanks’

to the Nashville Statement