St John’s At A Glance

BIBLICAL

We hold to the unique authority of the Bible as “God’s Word written” so we are careful to give the Bible its rightful place as the primary source of our knowledge of God and our faith.

EVANGELICAL

We preach the good news of the Lord Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on the cross, and triumphant physical resurrection from the grave which justifies all those who trust in Jesus as their saviour and submit to him as Lord.

SACRAMENTAL

Christ is alive and with us now in resurrection power by the Holy Spirit and ministers to us each time the supper is celebrated. We should think of the bread and wine as coming to us by the hand of Christ himself with his guarantee to us in love that he will nourish us spiritually forever through the Holy Spirit.

REFORMED

We are committed in our belief in the sovereignty of God and the other doctrines of grace rediscovered in the Reformation of the 16th century.

CREEDAL

We stand with the historic church in accepting the summary of this Biblical faith as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

CONFESSIONAL

We subscribe to the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, and hold to The Jerusalem Declaration as a statement of contemporary orthodox Anglicanism.

LITURGICAL

We use forms of service that are consistent with the teaching, principles, and practice of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. We mainly use liturgies from the APBA, the BCP 1662 and some liturgies from the BCP 2019.

Leadership

Ministry At St John’s Tamworth

Ministry ought not to rest on the shoulders of one person alone. We each have a purpose to work out as a part of Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Therefore each of us should have a place to belong and serve at St John’s.

Whilst each of us has a place in the life of the Church, the responsibility for overseeing and pastorally caring for the clergy belongs to our Bishop. Likewise the responsibility for local spiritual oversight belongs to our Vicar who is licenced for this role by our Bishop.

The general role of all ministers is leadership by service and shepherding. The Lord Jesus set the tone when he said about himself: “for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The job of ministers cannot be about directing attention to the self, rather it is about pointing people continually toward the person and work of the Lord Jesus: his life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension, and soon return. The means of directing people to Jesus see ministers carefully studing, expositing, proclaiming, and applying God’s written word — the Bible.

Parish

The Reverend Joshua Bovis
Vicar - Anglican Parish of Tamworth

  • Joshua is married to Melanie and they have four adult children. Whilst they aren’t exlusively a dog family, they currently have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who are constantly hungry. Joshua is a graduate of Sydney Missionary & Bible College (Bachelor of Theology) and Ridley College in Melbourne (Master of Arts in Ministry). He has previously served as a minister in New England, Upper Hunter, Newcastle and Falkirk (Scotland). To relax Joshua enjoys weight training, fitness, and reading (History, Theology, Biographies). He aspires to visit the coast for a surf whenever possible as waves are rather scarce in Tamworth despite the existence of the local “surf club”.

Diocese

The Right Reverend Rod Chiswell
Bishop - Anglican Diocese of Armidale

Governance

Wardens

Katherine Wood
Vicar’s Warden

Harry Pallett
People’s Warden

Chales Tindall
People’s Warden

Parish Councillors

David Batho

Nick Clark

Melissa Cutler

Karyn Murphy

Stuart Wood