Geoffrey Smith elected as Primate of Australia

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The General Secretary of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia has written to confirm that Archbishop Geoffrey Smith of Adelaide has been elected as the next Primate of Australia.

Archbishop Smith was elected by a reconvened election panel who met by video conference earlier today. The full text of the letter is as follows:

The Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide, has been elected Primate by the Board of Electors.

He received the requisite majorities in each order of bishops, clergy and lay and has accepted this office in writing.

Archbishop Smith commences in the role immediately, given that Archbishop Philip Freier’s term as Primate concluded on 31 March 2020.

The Board of Electors commenced the voting process at a face to face meeting on 14 March 2020 and concluded the election process with an electronic ballot which “opened at 4.00pm AEST on Monday 6 April and closed at 4.00pm AEST on Tuesday 7 April 2020”.

Voting was as follows:

davidould.net understands that the election of Smith follows a decision to abstain by a number of those clergy who had previously voted for Bishop Condie of Tasmania.

The new Primate’s first task was to have been chairing the General Synod. That meeting has now been postponed until 2021. Attention will now turn to the Appellate Tribunal who will make a ruling on the Wangaratta and Newcastle dioceses’ decision to approve a blessing of persons in a same-sex marriage.

image: AdelaideAnglicans.com

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This Post Has 14 Comments

  1. Greg Colby

    Very good news

  2. Nat

    The best option by far

  3. Jonathan Sargeant

    Terrific. Geoff is a well respected leader.

  4. chris russell

    Is he a believer, or is he just another speaker of the language?

    1. Geoff Fletcher

      More to the point – is he an obedient doer of the Word? A question every one of us should ask oneself every day?

  5. Richard

    I’m so disappointed to hear this news. Since going to Adelaide Geoff has appointed heterodox clergy to a number of key positions. I have little faith in his ability to hold the line on biblical authority and teaching.

    1. Nat

      Richard i think this all comes down to what one believes to to be Godly and true.
      I have not seen anyone appointed who would full under the label of being heterdoxical.
      However i would say the other contender being the leader of the “Fellowship of confessing Anglicans” in Australia may be.

      1. Richard

        Nat, do you mean you have not seen anyone appointed by Geoff in Adelaide who holds heterodox positions? Or no one appointed as Primate falling under that label?

        1. Nat

          Sorry i have not seen anyone appointed who falls under this.

      2. David Ould

        Nat, you write,

        I have not seen anyone appointed who would full under the label of being heterdoxical.
        However i would say the other contender being the leader of the β€œFellowship of confessing Anglicans” in Australia may be.

        That’s quite a charge. Can you point to a public statement by Bishop Condie that is heterodox, please?

  6. Will Mackerras

    Hi David, regarding your comment ‘Attention will now turn to the Appellate Tribunal who will make a ruling on the Wangaratta and Newcastle dioceses’ decision to approve a blessing of persons in a same-sex marriage’. Let’s say the Tribunal decides that blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the Fundamental Declarations, would that mean that such blessings would then, in effect, be the official doctrine of the Anglican Church of Australia? Would an amendment to the Constution then be necessary then to change that? thanks! Will

    1. David Ould

      hi Will.
      Yes, I think that technically that would then require an amendment to the Constitution to clarify the matter. But, frankly, I imagine that such an utterly erroneous decision by the Appellate Tribunal would prompt a number of outcomes:

      1. a massive lack of confidence by many in the national Church in the Tribunal, who would (rightly) see such a decision as evidence that the body had become a political vehicle
      2. a very quick move by a number of liberal dioceses to legislate for same-sex blessings and to carry them out
      3. a fundamental split in the Anglican Church of Australia, catalysed by 1&2
      1. Will Mackerras

        Oh! I don’t know much about the particular members of the Appellate Tribunal, but it seems strange to me that such a momentous decision would be made by such a small number, who were (I’m guessing) chosen without this particular issue in mind. Surely better for the decision to be made by a large and representative group. Anyway thanks for your reply David!

  7. Tim Hargreaves

    Can someone tell me – is the new Primate of the Anglican Church, Geoffrey Smith, a genuine Bible believing, full Gospel Christian?

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