Sunday morning encouragement
After an exhausting week for General Synod members (and those watching the stream of reports), we thought it might be a good idea to post this. With thanks to Emu Music.
General Synod Wrap-Up – The Anglicans Who Don’t Want to be Anglican?
“Friday saw day 5 of General Synod as we wrapped things up and then made our way to the airport and began the long trip home to our various dioceses.
I’m sure each of us will have had our own thoughts as the plane lifted into the early evening sky. Is it too melodramatic to suggest that as a beautiful sunset washed across the horizon we had also witnessed the sunset of the Anglican Church of Australia?
I wouldn’t go so far myself. But one burning question would not leave me be:
Why did some Anglicans not want to be Anglican?
One debate on the last morning crystallised much of what we had experienced over the week. …”
– David Ould shares his final report on General Synod 2022.
Anglican Church on brink of revolt, says Primate
“The ‘green light’ for same-sex marriages to be blessed by Anglican priests could cause boycotts of national church meetings and parishes to split, Primate Geoff Smith warned, as the fallout from this week’s General Synod showdown deepened. …”
– Story by Jamie Walker in The Australian. (Subscription.)
General Synod calls on MPs to oppose euthanasia
“The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has reaffirmed its principled opposition to euthanasia or physician assisted suicide.
The strong statement came as the NSW Parliament considers a Bill to allow for such a practice. …”
– Story from Russell Powell at SydneyAnglicans.net.
(Photo: James Levingston via SydneyAnglicans.net.)
An interview with Archbishop Kanishka Raffel
From SydneyAnglicans.net –
After this week’s debate at General Synod on marriage, we asked Archbishop Kanishka Raffel about the vote and its implications.
Can you explain what you meant, when you told the Synod the refusal of the House of Bishops to pass the statement on marriage leaves the church in a perilous position?
Archbishop Raffel: What we had at the session was a clear affirmation from the majority of people in the room that they continue to hold to the biblical and historically Anglican position on marriage. The houses of Laity and Clergy expressed that very strongly and by a small margin the House of Bishops failed to do it. That leaves us in a position where it is unclear that the leadership of the church is united around a common understanding of Scripture and Anglican formularies. That’s perilous for a church. …”
– Read the whole interview at this link.
See also:
Bishop of Newcastle’s pastoral letter on General Synod 2022
Dr Peter Stuart, Bishop of Newcastle, has this afternoon released this Pastoral Letter at the conclusion of General Synod 2022. (PDF file)
General Synod Day 4 – The People Speak. Will the Bishops Listen?
“Thursday morning arrived with one pressing question for the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia – what would be the immediate response to the rejection by a majority of the House of Bishops of basic orthodoxy on the doctrine of marriage?
The answer came at almost the very beginning of business. Following morning prayer and an excellent exposition of 1Cor. 6 synod settled down to what should have been routine administrative matters.
Should have been. Instead we got something that I understand has never happened before at a General Synod…
Now that the holy people of God have once again affirmed the faith that was once for all entrusted to their forebears so long ago will all the Bishops, as the Petition asks, affirm those same truths?
And what will happen next if they don’t?”
– David Ould reports on Day 4 – another remarkable day at General Synod.
Do read it all.
Anglican General Synod votes ‘yes’ & in so doing discredits controversial Victorian Law
“While the bishops’ decision to block the motion on marriage is grievous, other and related issues have been discussed and decided, and these have ramifications beyond what the General Synod may realise.
Two motions have been adopted by an overwhelming majority. …
What makes these two motions interesting is that their application in the State of Victoria is illegal.”
– Murray Campbell watches the developments at General Synod from the State of Victoria.
Anglican TV Interview — David Ould on General Synod
From Anglican TV, recorded late last night:
“Kevin Kallsen and David Ould talk about the Australian General Synod and some very important votes taking place this week.”
– Watch here.
Waiter, can I get some more ‘Anglican’ in this activism?
“In what sense is an Anglican school that rejects Anglican teaching in order to keep non-Anglican families happy still an Anglican school?
That’s the question Sydney Anglicans are wrestling with as opposition to Christian teaching on sexuality and gender grows.…”
– James Macpherson at The Spectator Australia responds to reported comments in a recent Sydney Morning Herald article. (Subscription, but several free views allowed for non-subscribers.)
Image: A sketch of Richard Johnson’s schoolhouse in Sydney.
Petition: Pray the House of Bishops will be clear on Christ’s teaching
“The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has been petitioned by the majority of its delegates, expressing regret that the House of Bishops failed to clearly affirm the teaching of Christ on marriage.
The rare move follows the statement in support of Jesus’ teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, which received majority support of clergy and laity yesterday but did not receive the support of the majority in the smaller House of Bishops. …”
– From SydneyAnglicans.net which also has the text of the Petition.
Photo by James Levingston, via SydneyAnglicans: Lay delegate Fiona McLean presenting the petition.
General Synod Day 3 – Bishops Out of Touch?
“A momentous day has closed at the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. In a key vote to affirm a Statement on Marriage as the union of a man and a woman a majority House of Bishops showed themselves to be in a very different place to the overwhelming majority of the rest of the Synod. …”
– David Ould summarises Day 3 of General Synod.
Image: From the service of the consecration of a bishop, An Australian Prayer Book.
A valuable moment for clarity has been lost
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel has tonight released this Public Statement –
Public Statement on the General Synod discussion on marriage
May 11, 2022
I thank God that the Synod discussion of this sensitive personal matter was conducted with deep mutual respect and care. We are conscious that the discussion takes place in some sense ‘in public’, and that there is a risk of some feeling hurt or left out. We rely on, and rest in the sustaining love and grace of Jesus for all.
The doctrine of our church has not changed. The previous Synod carried two separate motions affirming the teaching of Jesus on marriage. Today, the majority of the House affirmed the teaching of Jesus on the subject of marriage and its expression in historic Anglican rites. That is why I am deeply disappointed that a majority of Bishops voted against making a clear statement. A valuable moment for clarity has been lost.
Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.
‘Fundamentally awry’: bishops block move to reject same-sex marriage
“A statement from the evangelical Bishop of Tasmania, Richard Condie, said ‘many people were visibly shocked. There were tears and confusion in the room … a number of orthodox bishops are concerned about the implications for our common life and work in the days ahead.’
Straight after the vote, a shocked [Archbishop Kanishka] Raffel said the failure to support the statement left the church in ‘a perilous position, and no-one should be mistaken about that’…”
– The Sydney Morning Herald’s report by Jordan Baker includes these reactions to the failure of the House of Bishops to uphold clear Biblical standards.
Photo: Richard Condie, Bishop of Tasmania.
Bishops block marriage statement
From SydneyAnglicans.net:
“3 votes in the House of Bishops prevented General Synod from passing a motion expressing support for marriage according to Scripture.
The motion was in response to an opinion in 2020 by the Appellate Tribunal, a church legal body, that the blessing of same-sex marriages was not inconsistent with the Fundamental Declarations of the Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia. But it made the point that it was up to General Synod to determine Church practice and to express its view about the blessings of same-sex marriages. …
House of Laity 63 yes 47 no
House of Clergy 70 yes 39 no
House of Bishops 10 yes 12 no.
Archbishop Raffel had earlier described that the re-statement of Christian doctrine on marriage as ‘unremarkable’ and that something would be ‘fundamentally awry’ if it were not supported.
‘Failing to make these affirmations has left us in a perilous position and no one should be mistaken about that,’ the Archbishop said after the vote.
The vote does not mean church doctrine has changed.
The last Synod, in 2017, twice supported statements affirming marriage as between a man and a woman.”
Related:
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Here is the amended text which failed to pass in the House of Bishops –
Pursuant to the authority recognised in s.4 and s.26 of the Constitution to make statements as to the faith, ritual, ceremonial, or discipline of this Church, and in accordance with the procedures set out in Rule V, the General Synod hereby states:
- The faith, ritual, ceremonial and discipline of this Church reflect and uphold marriage as it was ordained from the beginning, being the exclusive union of one man and one woman arising from mutual promises of lifelong faithfulness, which is in accordance with the teaching of Christ that, “from the beginning the Creator made them male and female”, and in marriage, “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Matt 19:4–5).
- In 2004 (Resolutions 62/04, 63/04) General Synod did “not condone the liturgical blessing of same sex relationships” nor “the ordination of people in committed same sex relationships” recognising that both matters were subject to “ongoing debate in this church and that we all have an obligation to listen to each other with respect”.
- In 2017 the Commonwealth Parliament amend the definition of “marriage” in the Marriage Act (1961) to mean “the union of two people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”, thereby making lawful the marriage of two persons of the same sex and presenting this church with a profoundly altered missional and pastoral context.
- The solemnisation of a marriage between a same-sex couple is contrary to the teaching of Christ and the faith, ritual, ceremonial and/or discipline of this Church.
- Any rite or ceremony that purports to bless a same-sex marriage is not in accordance with the teaching of Christ and the faith, ritual, ceremonial and/or discipline of this Church.
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What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…