About the Society
The New Cranmer Society is:
A movement within the Anglican Church in Melbourne encouraging the promotion of the Good News of Jesus and advancing the diocesan vision to “Make the Word of God Fully Known”.
The New Cranmer Society promotes:
- Effective church governance which responds to the demands of today but is consistent with the teaching of Scripture / New Testament.
- Contemporary Biblical Anglicanism
- Orthodoxy
From the President – Jenny George:
Welcome to the New Cranmer Society website.
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556) believed strongly in the power of Word and Sacrament to transform lives. He sought to make sure that ordinary people throughout his society were able to access the Good News in language that they could understand. We believe that aim is still relevant today.
We try to encourage our leaders and institutions – particularly in the diocese of Melbourne – to uphold orthodox teaching and practice and to be mission-minded in reaching our own culture with the Good News about Jesus. There are many different organisations that exist for this purpose and who play their own part. We welcome and partner with organisations such as EFAC and GAFCON and seek to complement their work by engaging with diocesan and Anglican church structures, Synod, General Synod and Synod committees such as Archbishop in Council, to foster debate about the strategy of the diocese and encourage orthodox Anglicans to participate in these processes.
You’ll see our principles and objectives below. We welcome all those who share our aims to join us and we welcome anyone who wants to hear more to attend an event or join our mailing list.
Jenny George
Principles
The New Cranmer Society adheres to the constitutional position of the Anglican Church of Australia with its historic declarations applied in their orthodox sense.
As well as upholding orthodox Christian belief, the New Cranmer Society seeks to adopt and apply in a renewed and current form the strategies used by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer including:
- Working for continuous reform of the Church and its institutional structures to bring them into greater consonance with the Scriptures while responding to the demands of the time;
- Proclaiming the gospel in idiom that will be “heard not only with the ears but also heart, spirit and mind”.
Objectives
The objective of The New Cranmer Society is to unite in one association members of the Anglican Church in the diocese of Melbourne who wish to promote:
- The presentation of considered contributions to Synod, Synod related bodies, the Archbishop and Council of the Diocese and other diocesan councils and committees and governing bodies of Anglican organisations in the diocese of Melbourne generally.
- The identification and encouragement of the election and appointment of qualified and committed persons to membership of incumbency committees, and the bodies referred to in (1) above.
- Co-ordinated co-operative action by parishes and extra parochial organisations on matters of common concern.
About Thomas Cranmer
Who Was Thomas Cranmer?
Thomas Cranmer was summoned to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. Later he said, “there never was a man who came more unwillingly to a bishopric than I did to that.” He was a man of the Bible, a preaching theologian and a superb liturgist.
From 1534 he worked with others for the authorisation of an English Bible. With his fellow reformers, Cranmer was eager to promote biblical preaching and specially the doctrine of justification by faith alone through the grace of Christ.
The 1552 Book of Common Prayer was full of scripture and upheld the Bible’s authority. It was for common prayer, involving the congregation.
Cranmer is recognised for his commitment to helping ordinary people understand the Good News of the Gospel of Christ and to participate fully in their worship of God in a form they could understand.