Eternity, a great monthly Australian church newspaper with online content. have a done a great job following up the Gippsland affair. A “protocol” passed by the Australian Anglican Bishops reaffirms policies against gay priests and bishops passed by earlier Anglican meetings. The “protocol” is written in a form that the ordinary reader will find hard [...]
View Post
I’m getting firm indications from a number of sources close to the Australian House of Bishops that the bishops have agreed to clarify the application of Faithfulness in Service for not only initial decisions about ordination but ongoing licensing decisions. This decision comes in the wake of many objections to the appointment as vicar of a [...]
View Post
The Anglican Church of Australia has produced a very helpful discussion guide [pdf] to accompany Faithfulness in Service [pdf]. Faithfulness in Service (FiS) is the church’s governing document with respect to professional standards of behaviour, not least for clergy. It covers, amongst other things, sexual behaviour. The discussion guide has some very helpful questions which allow a [...]
View Post
John McIntyre, Bishop of Gippsland has granted ABC Gippsland radio an interview. Here’s the full audio. At the time of posting there is no transcript. His tone is somewhat conciliatory but some questions remain and some inconsistencies are obvious. He repeats the “I didn’t ordain him” canard. I’m frankly slightly embarrassed for him on this [...]
View Post