A veteran of the Australian church scene, Bruce Ballantine-Jones, has urged evangelicals to safeguard the gospel by being active and vigilant outside their local parish.
In an address to the annual Anglican Church League Synod dinner yesterday, the former ACL President said it is a "dangerous development' to see some people taking less of an interest in wider church matters such the Sydney Synod, which is convening this week and next.
"Because the essential life of the church finds its expression in local churches than denominational structures this has led some to take less interest in synodical affairs as they can't always see the connection between the two," he says.
"This is a dangerous development as in the end almost everything the Synod does impacts the local church."
"That is why vigilance is always required and why the best evangelical minds must sacrifice their non-parish time to synodical matters to ensure that the Synod, the Standing Committee and the Diocese as a whole always stays true to God's word and serves the gospel mission in local churches.
"This is not always easy but if the best of the evangelical leaders don't do it the worst of the rest will move in and fill the vacuum and within a generation or two the gospel may be lost to our diocese as it has been to so many dioceses in other places."
He acknowledges that the Synod has become a "more intimidating and complex place' due to the increasing complexity of diocesan affairs and the growth of resources.
"We mightn't like this development but it is the nature of things. What we at least have to do is use the forms of the house to hold people and organisations accountable.”
Forty three years of weathering the storms
Mr Ballantine-Jones has weathered the storms of Australian church politics over the past 43 years, having first been appointed to the Sydney Synod in 1963 as a layman at the age of 21, which was then the legal age for an adult.
He retires this year from official ministry capacities, including as long-serving rector of St Clements, Jannali.
He says Synod "has a pivotal role in defending the gospel for our churches' in serving a greater purpose " the gospel growth in local churches.
To a large audience at the ACL dinner, Mr Ballantine-Jones recounted some of his highlights of Synod over the past 40 years.
They included a dramatic debate about state aid for church schools in 1964 when discussions raged for hours, culminating in the Synod voting to reject government funding.
He also remembers heated arguments in the 1960s between then Archbishop of Sydney Hugh Gough and noted critic of the Diocese of Sydney Francis James, then managing director of The Anglican newspaper.
“I had no idea of the turbulence raging beneath the surface as [Archbishop Gough] and the native evangelicals wrestled for control of the Diocese,” he says.
“...It was all very technical but they spoke as if civilisation as we know it depended on the outcome of every amendment.”
Mr Ballantine-Jones says in Synod the "two sides of the equation come together' between the Archbishop and the parishes.
"In Sydney there is a healthy balance which moderates the behaviour of the hierarchy on the one hand and the clergy and laity on the other," he says.
"Of course from time to time tensions arise, but, overall, our system is a good one."
