The doctrine of marriage in the Anglican Church of Australia – has it changed?
by David Ould:
As the dust begins to settle over last week’s announced formation of the Diocese of the Southern Cross attention has naturally turned by some to the question of whether such an action was actually necessary. Has the doctrine of marriage actually changed in the Anglican Church of Australia? If it hasn’t, then why such an allegedly unnecessary and radical course of action?
The Primate of Australia, Archbishop Geoff Smith of Adelaide, issued a statement [pdf] on Thursday 18 August, the day on which Bishop Glenn Davies was formally commissioned as the first bishop of the new diocese. Smith’s core complaint is clearly expressed:
The meeting of the General Synod held in May this year clearly affirmed the view that marriage is between a man and a woman, and declined to affirm same sex marriage. It is perplexing therefore that the leaders of this breakaway movement cite the reason for this new denomination as the failure of General Synod to explicitly express an opinion against the blessing of same sex marriages.
In order to properly assess this claim it is necessary to retrace the key events in the last few years that led us to this moment.
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