More than half the people aged over 55 in the Blue Mountains would go to church if a friend invited them, according to a recent doorknock and phone survey conducted by Springwood-Winmalee Anglican Churches. Churches in the lower Blue Mountains have now decided to bring church to their neighbours instead, in a series of moves to reach the growing number of retirees and families attracted by lower real estate prices and the semi-rural lifestyle.

The task of reducing the Bible's message to a neat, three-hour presentation may seem daunting, if not impossible. But one minister in Sydney has taken on that task in the hope of helping others to understand how the message of the entire Bible fits together.

Are ethics a distraction from the ‘main game’ of gospel preaching, or a natural outworking of the gospel in people’s lives? asks Amy Butler.

We had been sitting down in an Indian Restaurant, enjoying a meal, chatting with each other non-stop for well over half an hour. We kept noticing this couple in front of us, who had barely said a word to each other over this whole time. In years past, both of us may have been tempted to think such a couple were sadly lacking, with no evidence of spark or chemistry or compatibility.

In 1943, at the age of 25, the poet/mechanic Ernest Lalor Malley was born. His unusual conception and birth brought forth one of the greatest literary hoaxes in recent history.

Do I really recommend a book of nearly 800 pages and costing over $80? Certainly I do. Bishop Tom Wright's Resurrection of the Son of God is one of the most significant books on the resurrection and the heart of the Christian gospel published in my lifetime. It has an important message to Christian liberals, to us evangelicals, and to unbelievers as well.

A group of Christian bikers who work on the streets of Western Sydney say local youth involved in ‘gang culture' want to hear about Jesus as a result of Scripture classes in local high schools. The Street Level Christian Community and its ministry arm, Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club, have joined forces with local Anglican churches to build a long-awaited drop-in centre as a base for their outreach work, which is designed as a stepping-stone to establishing local young people and biker club members in Bible-based youth groups and churches.

The major business of the coming Synod is the Mission that we have been talking about since the last Synod. The Presidential Address will explain the Mission. The debate on the first evening will centre on the Mission and will give Synod the opportunity to accept the Mission as the major task of the Diocese, or to reject it. If the members accept the Mission, it is my hope that the Synod will make further opportunity later in the week to discuss the details of Mission strategy at considerable length. On the second evening of Synod we will debate the budget, which has been prepared in line with the strategy of the Mission.