Sydney Star Observer reports of an interstate spat that has erupted between Anglicans, when David Ould expressed outrage at a gay Anglican priest being appointed to a parish. The situation escalated when the Sydney-based evangelical Anglican Church League (ACL) attacked the Diocese of Gippsland in Victoria, calling for the priest's resignation.The ACL called on Gippsland Bishop John McIntyre on February 12 to rescind the appointment of the Reverend David Head as Hayfield parish priest, calling the decision “dismaying”.
The ACL claimed the appointment conflicted with a resolution made at the Anglican Communion’s 1998 Lambeth Conference and the views of the General Synod of the Australian church.
“Appointments like this put unwanted strain and tension upon relationships between the various dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. It also contributes to the fragmentation of the Anglican Communion,” the ACL statement read.
However, McIntyre told the Star Observer that Head’s appointment was not in breach of the Lambeth ruling or the General Synod, neither of which condone the ordination of gay clergy, because he hadn’t ordained Head.
“I have not ordained anyone ‘involved in same gender unions’ to quote the [Lambeth] motion,” McIntyre told the Star Observer. “I have appointed a priest in good standing from the Diocese of Melbourne to a position in the Diocese of Gippsland.
“He was ordained over 30 years ago, has exercised good and faithful ministry in that diocese up until January this year, and he fulfils all the current criteria to be determined canonically fit to be licensed in an Anglican diocese anywhere in the world.
“The same can be said in relation to the suggestion I have ignored the advice of the resolution of General Synod 2004 which states ‘this general Synod does not condone the ordination of people in open committed same sex relationships’. I have not done that.”
McIntyre said his diocese never asked about the sexuality of clergy before ordaining or appointing them.
“Accordingly, I did not ask that question of David before appointing him. He was appointed by me on the request of the people of the parish in which he now serves because they believed his ministry experience and gifts made him the right priest for the job, and they believed him to be called by God to that ministry, as do I.”
McIntyre said he took Lambeth Resolution 1.10 very seriously as it also calls on Anglicans to condemn homophobia, minister sensitively to homosexual people, and assure that homosexual people know they are loved by God.
Sydney Archbishop Peter Jensen is the vice-president of the ACL and leads the global faction within the Anglican Communion which has threatened to split the church over the issue of homosexuality.
Say Ennis... maybe Changing Attitudes Australian can get a group of LGBTI people together to attend a church service at the Anglican Church in Neutral Bay... it's an approach that's being used in Newcastle !
It is ironic that Sydney is known as one of the world's most gay-friendly cities, whilst, in its midst, the Jensen Sect is the world's most homophobic group. No doubt David Ould believes himself maligned for upholding biblical "truth".
ReplyDelete("If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first". John 15 v18). Sadly, David Ould alienates thousands of his fellow-citizens pushing them further away from Jesus. And now he does it in Gippsland! Why won't he be quiet?
The Bishop of Gippsland will soon have a website dedicated to himself - written by David Ould. Bishop John McIntyre has flagrantly disobeyed the orders of Deacon David Ould and refuses to be persecuted by a junior minister from another Diocese.
ReplyDeleteYes that scenario sounds familiar. I'm amazed at the amount of power David Ould weilds within the diocese. He seems to be more powerful than the Jensens and is becoming the public face of the diocese. He must be getting groomed as the new archbishop.The man is irreplaceable.
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