"I believe in conversion" was the first thing Archbishop Kanishka Raffel said in his Presidential Address to the crowd of more than 700 delegates gathered for the Sydney Anglican Synod.
"I believe in conversion because the first recorded words of Jesus’ public ministry are words that call on his hearers to be converted," the Archbishop said. "Mark records: “… Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:14) For the first time in Mark’s narrative Jesus speaks, ‘Repent and believe the gospel’."
(For the full address - Watch or Read or Listen)
Recalling his own conversion from Buddhism forty years ago, the Archbishop described "Reading the Gospel alone in my room, not because I was on a search for God, but because God was on a search for me. Not knowing, despite having been told, that another friend who had been converted by the Lord when we were fourteen, had started to pray for the conversion of his Buddhist friend, and hadn’t stopped."
"I believe in conversion because Sydney needs to be converted."
Can we not, and should we not, recover the trust of Richard Johnson in the power and promises of God ...
Archbishop Raffel then said the latest figures showed "nearly one in ten church goers in NSW and ACT are attending Sydney Anglican Churches. But the population of the diocese, which is roughly Greater Sydney and the Illawarra was about 5.5 million at the 2021 census. That means that more than 5 million people in the Diocese of Sydney were not attending any church."
"Can we not, and should we not, recover the trust of Richard Johnson in the power and promises of God and be moved by the plight of those millions around us who are without the knowledge of God ..." he said, remembering the reluctant journey of the first missionary to Australia, First Fleet chaplain Richard Johnson.
The Archbishop foreshadowed a motion to come before Synod, in response to the report on church attendance patterns.
"First, to invite all parts of the diocesan fellowship to join in a special five-year focus to prayerfully seek to grow our attendance in churches by five percent for each of the next five years, through conversion of the lost through faith in Jesus. And second, to encourage all parishes to increase their allocation of resources to ministry with children and youth each year for five years."
He stressed that the motion was an invitation, not an instruction.
"You know how to evangelise your community, and I’m grateful for every effort you make to do so. But this is an invitation to all of us to agree and join together to pray and plan in an intentional and sustained way about the progress of the gospel through each local church. Second, the 5% number is not a way of telling God what to do, it is a way of making every local church ask, what should we do? The answers will be as different as the churches."
"McCrindle has reported a renewal in the spiritual search among Australians and that Gen Z (those who are now between the ages of 13 and 28) are more likely that any of the older generations to have spiritual conversations, thought about the meaning of life, thought about God, prayed or read the Bible. We should not acquiesce in a narrative that young people are uninterested in faith in general, or Jesus in particular. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary, just as there is evidence of a battle for the soul of young men, especially. "
As Sydney grows, we can no longer take for granted that space will be allocated for an Anglican presence in expanding suburbs. We must be proactive if we are to reach our city.
After the concern expressed by falling numbers at last year's Synod, the Archbishop announced a recovery. "The Attendance Patterns report presented to Synod last year showed that in the 2022-2023 year, there was a post-covid recovery in attendance of 11%. We are praising God that this has continued in the last year, and total attendances across the diocese have gone up by a further 4.5%. Of the 18 Mission Areas that decreased in attendance between 2013-2023, 14 increased in the last year."
The Archbishop also spoke of the continued need to plant churches in developing areas.
"By 2050, the population of Sydney is expected to be over 8 million according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That’s at least another 2.5 million people, with more than half living west of Parramatta. But more than 70% of our buildings and ministries are located east of Parramatta. We currently hold eight sites in the greenfields areas, where we hope to plant new churches in coming years."
As Sydney grows, we can no longer take for granted that space will be allocated for an Anglican presence in expanding suburbs. We must be proactive if we are to reach our city. There is an opportunity to release funds from property assets for investment in future ministry needs, just as in so many case around the diocese, past generations made decisions that benefitted us, rather than themselves."
The Archbishop also spoke of progress with training pathways developing for Indigenous ministry in the Diocese as well as support structures for Indigenous churches, including succession and church planting.
We must not be silenced or intimidated from teaching God's good plan for human sexuality and relationships. We will insist on the freedom to do so, respectfully but without fear. We will obey God. We can do nothing less.
On the subject of government legislation, the NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024, the Archbishop said the Synod had already expressed its opposition to so-called 'gay conversion therapy'.
But he said, the Act "purports to give churches, schools and parents permission to teach about sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual activity and religion. But, respectfully, we do not need the permission of the government to teach about such things."
However, he continued "a one to one conversation or a pastoral meeting for the purpose of studying God’s word; or prayer for the work of the Holy Spirit to bring self-control, to overcome temptation to sexual sin and pursue godly living. Such things may be unlawful even though the participants are adults, and even if the meeting and prayer has been requested."
Calling it a 'poorly conceieved law', Archbishop Raffel said "We must not be silenced or intimidated from teaching God's good plan for human sexuality and relationships. We will insist on the freedom to do so, respectfully but without fear. We will obey God. We can do nothing less."
Finally, the Archbishop returned to his theme.
"Conversion – bringing people to repentance from their sins and faith towards Jesus – is God’s sovereign work, from eternity to eternity – electing, calling, converting, sealing, glorifying those upon whom he has settled his love from before the world began. But Scripture also teaches that God uses means. People are called into relationship with his Son through repentance and faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit as the gospel is proclaimed and in response to the prayers of his people."
"I believe in conversion – I see the evidence all around that you believe in it too. Under God, that is the work in which we share and to which we commit ourselves again as we meet in this Synod."
