David Robertson, a Presbyterian Scot now ministering in the Hamilton that is a suburb of Newcastle only made it to lunchtime when attending Nexus, a conference attended by evangelical ministers mostly of the Sydney Anglican variety. His account of why he left early is widely commented on in that section of the internet inhabited by those ministers.
From all accounts, they were examining responses to the attendance drop in Sydney Anglicanism, frankly facing up to their problems. For a overview of the stats a good place to start is the passionate speech by Dominic Steele complete with graphs that slope down, down that he gave at the Sydney Synod (church parliament) – he happens to host the Nexus conference at the Annadale Village church he leads. Robertson, jocularly known as the “wee flea,” a reference to his church background Free Church of Scotland (the wee frees), has spent a few days unpicking what disturbed him about the conference.
“There was much that [the speakers] Braga, Colgan and Jensen said that was helpful and instructive,” Robertson noted. But overall, I felt that the message was like that of a defeated political party which says, ‘The people are not getting our message, we just need to repackage it and carry on doing the same thing’”.
Here are some of the questions he raised from the talks he heard – what the speakers said is in bold, with Robertson’s thoughts in normal text.
“Ministry is tough. Yes, it is. But we need to ask why? And we need to ask why so many ministers crash and burn – and why there appears to be a relative reluctance for pastors to become senior rectors in the Anglican system.
“Never let evangelists be in charge of the church – Why? The implication seemed to be that evangelists would be so concerned to get people in by any means that they would let theology, or ecclesiology slip. Yet it was Paul who stated that he became all things to all people that he might win some (1 Corinthians 9:20) ….and it was to Timothy, the pastor, that Paul said he should do the work of an evangelist in order to fulfill his ministry ((1 Timothy 4:5). I realise that in the context of the ecclesiology of Sydney Anglicanism this comment makes sense – but I just think that it is the ecclesiology that is wrong
“In order to do effective evangelism, we need proclaimers rather than apologists? Churches with most conversions see minimal apologetic detours. It’s almost become a cardinal doctrine amongst Sydney Anglicans that apologetics is somehow a hinderance to evangelism. The irony is that one of the people most responsible for this doctrine, Philip Jenson, is himself one of the best apologists in the business!
“The most likely places for adults to be converted is on courses – and also personal one to one evangelism. This is often stated – but I would love to see the evidence for it. I once spoke to an Anglican church leader who told me that he thought the purpose of his Sunday services, as regards non-Christians, was to get them into one of his courses. That seems to me the complete reverse of what should be. This also seems such a narrow and mechanistic methodology. What about the foolishness of preaching? The Holy Spirit? Hospitality? Prayer.”
Not having been there, The Other Cheek can’t attest to whether Roberston gives a summary that others would recognise.
But it is lilkely that someone from a different church culture is well placed to spot possible gaps.
Steele responded in a private group where Robertsons’ article was discussed by inviting readers to listed to the Nexus talks (which are available at https://www.nexusconference.sydney) to the effect that iron sharpens iron.
An emerging response was that we are in a new cultural moment and perhaps a shift in how we evangelise is required. A response involving Jordan Peterson came from Steven Chavura, author and academic: “I’m looking at all this discussion of the Nexus conference and David Andrew Robertson’s critique. I love the Sydney Pressies and the Sydney Anglicans. God bless them all. Im also a big fan of David’s. This comment is meant as a constructive way forward in thinking about reaching the current generation.
“I’ve met many people over the past five years who’ve either come to Christ through Jordan Peterson, or have become rather interested in the Bible because of him. None of them have Christian backgrounds. They all need proper church discipling.
“Has there been such widedpread interest generated in Christianity since the hight of the Billy Graham crusades? Isnt that quite incredible!
“My question is, at all the Anglican or Pressy conferences, is there ever any sustained discussion of why this might be, and how our churches can learn from the Peterson phenomenon? Or do they literally proceed as though none of this is even happening outside the walls of the conference centre?
“What is Peterson tapping into that our churches seem to have difficulty finding? A whole conference on that question could pay dividends!”
Main Image: Jordan Peterson. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore