The Diocese of Gippsland, at it’s recent synod, has voted to change it’s own version of Faithfulness in Service, the national church’s guidelines for standards in ministry, to remove the classical definition of chaste relationships (marriage between a man and a woman) and replace it with a more ambiguous definition of “committed and monogamous relationship”. […]
The Bendigo Advertiser is reporting that Rev Noel Richards, a priest on the staff of St Paul’s Cathedral Bendigo, is to enter into a same-sex marriage in October. When Drew Reid proposed to Father Noel Richards, it was an evening like any other for the Bendigo couple. … Drew and Father Noel, who have been […]
Australia’s chapter of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion (EFAC) publishes a quarterly print magazine, Essentials. The Winter 2016, just released in print but not yet available online, includes a page 1 article by Bishop Gary Nelson of North West Australia reporting on the recent Australian Bishops’ Conference. Nelson points out that …below the warm greetings […]
The website of the Anglican Church of Australia currently has the following text on it’s page that normally lists the Bishops’ Protocols: The Bishops’ Meeting of 2016 has initiated a review of all the bishops’ protocols to ensure that they properly reflect the collegiality and fellowship of the bishops of the national Church and have […]
In an article, that the more I look at it the more I think is a huge moment in our national church life, the Bishop of Newcastle Greg Thompson has branded both the Diocese of Sydney and its Archbishop Glenn Davies as “divisive”. FRACTURES in the Australian Anglican Church on the issue of gay clergy […]
Wednesday night’s synod ended with the passing of a robust motion responding to the actions of Bishop Kay Goldsworthy and Bishop John Parkes in undermining the Biblical doctrine of marriage and human sexuality. The final motion, which was passed overwhelmingly, reads as follows: Synod – (a) praises God for the godly leadership of the Australian Bishops’ […]
Long-time readers will remember we reported back in 2012 on the appointment of Rev. David Head in the Australian Diocese of Gippsland. The appointment caused controversy at the time since Rev. Head was known to be living in a long-term homosexual relationship and a picture of he and his partner was published in the Diocesan […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
