Archbishop Glenn Davies has used his Presidential Address, delivered within days of the 500 year anniversary of the start of the Reformation, as a rallying call to stand firm in proclaiming the gospel….
Dr Davies started his address with the traditional acknowledgement to aboriginal people and the told the Synod “While we have much to regret in the establishment of a British colony that dispossessed the Aboriginal people of their land, and led to the destruction of Aboriginal culture, we do rejoice in the ministry of people like Richard Johnson and Thomas Hassall, who reached out to the indigenous population of their day with the gospel of God’s love. That task continues to be our first priority—a gospel for all people.”
“I am not sure what activities were taking place in the Sydney basin 500 years ago, but in another land and among a foreign people far removed from Australia’s shores a young monk was nailing 95 propositions on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. He too was concerned with the gospel of God’s grace, which he saw as being distorted and corrupted by the teachings and practices of the Roman Church.”
The Archbishop went on to congratulate Sydney churches for celebrating the Reformation anniversary. “We cannot assume that our own people, let alone the general population of Sydney, fully understand the significance of the Reformation upon the church of God, grounded in the rediscovery of the authority of the Word of God. Every opportunity that we have to shine the light of the gospel into the darkness of our society ought to be welcomed with open arms.”