Sydney is playing host to numerous friends in the Anglican Communion this week. Two Chilean clergy and a bishop from the Democratic Republic of Congo are taking part in Mission Hour at Synod this year as part of their visit.

At the very beginning of The Living Church John Stott reminds us that to be a Christian is to be committed to the body of Christ, despite its imperfections. "I trust that none of my readers is that grotesque anomaly, an unchurched Christian," he says.

How many newcomers or visitors come to your church in a given year? If you have any above zero then what I am about to say is of vital importance to you. Because it is not the number of newcomers or visitors that is the important figure, it is the number who come back or with whom we keep in contact.

Russell Powell is celebrating 30 years in the media this year with the decision to bring that experience full time to the mission of Sydney Anglicans.

Heres your experiment. You travel towards a new planet knowing that, of the two races, one is friendly towards humans and the other very angry. Which is the friendly one, the Lamonians or the Gataks?

The funding strategy for Sydneys Connect 09 campaign has divided Sydneys Synod, with an alternative means-based charging system narrowly defeated at Wednesday nights session.

After hearing that a pilot study of six church sites found that four had loose asbestos, Synod yesterday voted unanimously to pass a new law which will help clean up the risk.

Sydney Anglican parishes are set to pay "the price of a movie and a Big Mac" every week for the next three years to fund the resources for Connect 09, Synod heard last night.