Recently a young man studying at Moore called me out of the blue. He was seeking to do a paper on my father Bishop Peter Chiswell and his impact on our diocese, the Anglican Diocese of Armidale. The young man’s name was Andrew Marrett, and early in our conversation I asked him if he were related to the Reverend Charles Marrett. He told me he was his grandson. I found it heart-warming, as Charles was one of my pin-up clergymen in the Armidale Diocese. He joined the team along with a handful of evangelicals late in Bishop Moyes’ time. It was a time of change leading up to the election of Bishop Clive Kerle, the first in a line of thoroughly evangelical leaders who moved the diocese from being middle high church to lower church evangelical. Charles, to me, was the model of a hardworking country clergyman. A godly man and a fine Bible teacher who shepherded congregations in a number of mainly small towns in the Armidale Diocese over decades of ministry. Seeing his grandson Andrew now taking on the challenge of full–time ordained gospel ministry reminded me of my own journey, and that of many others who have gone into ministry from the Armidale Diocese. All of us share a passion for proclaiming the crucified and risen Lord Jesus and teaching God’s word faithfully.
The Armidale Diocesan Mission statement proclaims that we are on about “Introducing all people to Jesus and helping them home to heaven”. Such a statement of course is nothing new, indeed it could have been the mission statement of the apostle Paul. But this mission statement reinforces an ongoing solid commitment to proclaiming the gospel boldly and preaching God’s word passionately. Foundational to this work of making and growing disciples of Christ is our belief that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Since I began my time as Bishop in late February 2021, I have been delivering a simple but important stump speech about what makes us who we are as God’s people in our diocese. My text has been 2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
From passages like this one, we believe that the Holy Scriptures are God–breathed, that is, every word is inspired by God. We believe that when we hear the Bible read, we hear God Himself speak. This seemingly unremarkable message is vital at this point in time, as many churches in Australia have lost sight of the importance of upholding the authority of the Scriptures. The result is that they have begun to drift with the tide of our culture and embrace the wisdom of our time, particularly with regard to matters concerning human sexuality. Thankfully, a high view of the authority of Scripture has been a hallmark of churches in the Armidale Diocese for many decades now. The history of Armidale moving from being middle high church to a lower evangelical church is now well documented. The effect of having strongly evangelical bishops for over 60 years is that they consistently recruit from colleges like Moore, who train leaders to proclaim the gospel boldly and teach the inspired word of God faithfully. The result over time is unity in gospel ministry right across the diocese.
Over the years the Armidale Diocese has become a beacon of hope for evangelicals in other Anglican dioceses around Australia. I was speaking to a clergyman recently in a diocese currently divided over the issue of blessing same sex marriage. He spoke of the hope he has for the transformation that happened over time in Armidale: from there being just a handful of evangelical clergy scattered over a largely middle high church diocese, to the current situation where there is an evangelical clergyman in every parish ministering to laity who are fully on board with a lower church evangelical style of ministry, where reading, studying and applying the scriptures prayerfully to daily life is central to church life. Of course, Armidale is not the only example of it nowadays, with Tasmania, North–Western Australia, Northern Territory, Canberra/Goulburn, Bendigo, Bathurst and most recently Rockhampton all with evangelical bishops now in place.
Going forward here in Armidale, we plan to continue to faithfully uphold the authority of Scripture and to speak the truth in love to a nation that is largely lost and turning its back on God’s word and way. We want to support and encourage other evangelicals in more difficult circumstances than our own, in whatever way we can, to do the same.
Another way in which I am hoping that we will be able to encourage evangelical churches around Australia is in the area of reaching out to Aboriginal people with the life–transforming good news of Jesus. The front yard gathering model that I learnt some 25 years ago from our Indigenous brothers and sisters out west in Mungindi is one that we have sought to establish and develop over the past 10 years in Tamworth. The Coledale Frontyard Church, which began as a Bible Study group of five meeting in an Aboriginal man’s home, has now grown to become a weekly Wednesday outdoor gathering of about 100 people, 80% of whom are Aboriginal.* Our goal is to plant similar gatherings in at least three other centres in our diocese. We are also seeking to identify, support and train indigenous men and women for leadership in gospel ministries that centre on faithfully teaching God’s word to make and grow disciples of Christ. For I am convinced that Jesus is the only answer to the many problems facing Aboriginal people in Australia today. My prayer is that, as we persevere in this work on our patch, we can encourage and train others in evangelical churches around Australia to have a go at similar long term, committed Indigenous ministry initiatives.
In the end only God knows what lies in the future for the church in Australia, and only He knows the contribution the Armidale Diocese will make to shaping that future. The reality is that we are a very small fish in a very big pond, but even a small fish, if it is determined to keep swimming in the right direction according to God’s word, can play a part in encouraging the rest of God’s church. May He strengthen us by His Spirit to do so.
Originally published in Moore Matters Winter 2021
