Celebrate Our 7th Anniversary

Good News Update 210 - 7 July 2017

Let's Celebrate Our 7th Anniversary

Dear Friend,

You are warmly invited to take part in celebrating the 7th Anniversary of the Canberra Declaration on Sunday 23rd July 2017.

It was the imminent threat to redefine marriage in the 2010 Federal election that inspired a cross-section of Christian leaders to quickly draft and release the Canberra Declaration.

Even though marriage is still very much under attack, we thank God that the definition of marriage has remained unchanged over the past seven years. To date over 74,000 have signed the Canberra Declaration.

Now we make a special request of you. Please watch this video clip.

https://youtu.be/_y_vA-UWTQc

This is the first time we have actually 'celebrated' the anniversary. We thank God that plans are moving ahead with these three ways to mark and celebrate this occasion.

1. For the Canberra Declaration community (those who receive these Good News Updates), we encourage you to write a personal email to three other people to tell them about the Canberra Declaration. Ask them to READ & SIGN the Declaration (you can refresh your memory of what you signed by clicking the image). If you want more information to help you, click here. If you want to share with more than three that would be welcomed! Our F aith Goal - to reach 100,000 signatures and have 1,000 active volunteers.

2. For Church Leaders, who are on a separate mailing list compiled by our volunteers, we are asking if they would be willing to commit at least 7 minutes of their service on Sunday 23 July. The purpose of this time would be to thank God for the the Christian values that have made Australia a great place to live and to pray for their protection. We will provide digital resources to help them do this.

We encourage you to pass on this same invitation letter to your own church leader. You can download it here. You might even volunteer to lead this 7-minute spot! Faith Goal - to have at least 70 churches registered to do this.

3. For Parliamentarians, we plan to send a hard copy of the Canberra Declaration and our brochure under a covering letter to every Federal, State and Territory Parliamentarian in Australia. Faith Goal - to make every Parliamentarian aware of the Canberra Declaration and the community behind it.

We sense God's timing for celebrating this anniversary with the release of the results of the National Census on 27 June. The 2016 Census showed that only 52 percent of the population identified as Christians. Sadly, this is well down from the 61 percent in the 2011 Census. Because of this atheist, PC, Marxist and other groups are celebrating the decline of Christianity.

But just this week, on the last day of the three days of prayer and fasting for Australia, The Australian newspaper printed an excellent article by Jennifer Oriel called Faithless Australians May Lose More than Just God. In helping us interpret the 2016 Census results, she powerfully expresses the core messages of the Canberra Declaration. Jennifer states, for example, that "the foundation of the free world rests on a Judaeo-Christian value system."

She also asserts that "the Christian idea of the preciousness and equal worth of every human life, by virtue of being created by God in His image, is the basis of Western civilisation". Indeed, "Australian society and the values we cherish are the fruits of a civilisation built on the word of Christ".

We thank God that this article spurs us on for such a time as this. We are encouraged to continue to protect Christian values through informed prayer and action. That is why we celebrate and that is why we need your on-going support for the Canberra Declaration.

Looking forward to celebrating this anniversary with you,

David Rowsome & Warwick Marsh

PS Please send this email on to three friends with a personalised message asking them to READ and SIGN the Canberra Declaration.

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