Practical and Pastoral – Ted Curnow
Faithfulness in Babylon
Walking the line of being faithful to Christ, but being aliened with a church you strongly disagree with can be a hard place. Here some helpful key thoughts are gathered especially for those who feel isolated in their own congregations.
by Rev E.A. Curnow (Download PDF version 3 pages)
UCA where are you?
This is a series of papers that reflect on the course of the Uniting Church. Tracing the personal journey and reflections of Rev Ted Curnow they bring together a wide range of statements and insights related to the position of the church and Christian marriage. Cultural context, lead up stages, Assembly 2018, the aftermath and sorting out substance and myth.
UCA Where are you? Number 1 (PDF 9 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 2 (PDF 8 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 3 (PDF 5 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 4 (PDF 7 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 5 (PDF 12 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 6 (PDF 9 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 7 (PDF 9 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 8 (PDF 4 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 9 (PDF 10 pages)
UCA Where are you? Number 10 (PDF 10 pages)
These papers are also available on tedcurnow.wordpress.com
Further Reference: The Story of Colliding Worlds. The Church is caught in a remarkable period of rapid cultural change. Many Christians grieve over the loss of the past. Others are passionate about moving ahead. This resource explains two very different world-views and ways of thinking, the colliding of two worlds. It calls the church to face change, to faithfully discern the truth and with courage to be loyal in following Christ into the future.
Contending for the Faith
Contending for the Faith
Through the Christendom period our lives have been shaped by the impression of the institutional church being the most stable, enduring institution of society. The Scripture and Christian history warn us that the church will be both persecuted from outside and deceived from within. Rev Ted Curnow reflects that 'nothing is new under the sun', and provides encouragement to continue to contend for the faith today. Download as a PDF (four pages)
Prayer for the 15th Assembly
Rev Ted Curnow offers a prayer for the 15th Assembly of the Uniting Church to be held in Melbourne 8 - 14 July 2018.
Quest for a Lost Identity
Like Israel of old, the pre-reformation period and the church of 18th century England, there have been periods in history when the people of God have lost their way and been morally and spiritually seduced by surrounding cultures. This has resulted in and a loss of identity, a compromised gospel and mission momentum, but the love of God never lets his people go.
Has God Changed Marriage? Pre 2018-Assembly Reflection.
Ted Curnow surveys Christian denominations in Australia and views on same-sex marriage.
Easter 2018 Allsorts No. 9
A helpful bag of resources for Easter 2018.
Cooking Church and Culture
Rev. Ted Curnow reviews The Gospel and Neo-pagan Culture by Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson,
Prayers for the New Year
A Christmas Blessing
Joy to the world the Lord Has come
As we sing Isaac Watts carol this year, the question is, “Do we sing about joy in a way that ignores the reality of the turmoil of our time, or does Jesus coming envelop us and our broken world in an even greater reality?”
In the year of the anniversary of the Reformation, one of the themes of the Reformers has impressed itself upon me. “In Christ alone.” I have realised again how often we are distracted from a focus upon the unique person of Jesus Christ. As the church in Luther’s time had lost its way, so today we need to de-clutter our lives and institutions to refocus on (1) Who Jesus is, (2) What he did, (3) How He lives within His people.
Luther understood that righteousness is not just a demand that God makes on us, but a gift God gives us. God has assigned Christ’s rightness to us and assigned to Christ our sins as he suffered on the cross. 2 Cor. 5:21, Phil 3.9. God forgives, makes peace with us and comes to live within our hearts. In an amazing grace God makes us His own.
Join us in looking upon God’s unlimited grace, believe it with all your heart, and you will experience a ‘Joy to the World’ this Christmas that will send you to serve others.
Ted and Beryl Curnow: Christmas 2017