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 […]
Kevin and I discuss where we’re up to at General Synod.
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 […]
The 18th Session of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia is finally upon us after numerous delays. Delegates from all 23 dioceses will gather together for 5 days on the Gold Coast to consider a range of matters but it is clear that a long-awaited debate on human sexuality is the topic […]
The Archbishop of Perth, Kay Goldsworthy, is set to proceed with an ordination later this week that, according to sources in the diocese, is set to “split the diocese”. On the evening of Thursday 24 February 2022 Archbishop Goldsworthy will preside over the ordination at St George’s Cathedral where four candidates will be made deacon. […]
The synod of the Diocese of Newcastle which met this past weekend has taken a decision that will only further exacerbate the already very high tensions in the national church. As we reported last week, the synod was due to consider 2 controversial pieces of legislation. The first is an ordinance to remove the possibility […]
At it’s annual synod, meeting this last weekend, the Diocese of Perth has approved changes to Faithfulness in Service (the Anglican Church of Australia’s national code of conduct) that remove the expectation for clergy and church workers to refrain from sex outside marriage. The amended text provided to synod, showing the effect of the change, […]
The same-sex marriage blessing liturgy presented to the Wangaratta synod for their approval (and due to be presented to the upcoming Newcastle synod) is not a new piece of work but, rather, heavily dependent upon other similar liturgies first developed more than 20 years ago in the 1990s and earlier. Students of this topic will be aware of […]
The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Peter Stuart, has written to his diocese outlining plans for the upcoming synod including a bill for a liturgy for the blessing of persons in same-sex marriages. Bishop Stuart notes the ongoing tensions in the Anglican Church of Australia over this issue and also reminds the diocese that the matter […]
update 18 September 2019: St John’s Toorak has removed both the offer of blessings for same-sex marriages and their statement of “deep regret” from their website’s “Weddings FAQ” page. Whether the parish is still offering such blessings is unclear. The quote below of the original offer of such blessings includes a link to a screen […]
