What a same-sex marriage vote reveals about the Anglican Church of Australia

May 14, 2022 by Jill

by David Robertson, Christian Today:

The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia met for the first time in five years this week. It was also the first Synod to be held since same-sex marriage was legalised in Australia. The Synod revealed a number of things about what is happening in the Australian Church.

The largest diocese is in New South Wales where Sydney Anglicans are almost uniformly biblical Christians, and there are growing numbers of evangelicals in other dioceses. However, there are others in positions of power in areas such as Brisbane and Perth who would be styled as ‘progressives’.

The Synod was much anticipated in the secular press, who tended to frame it as conservative Christians vs moderate progressives. The headline in one of the main papers during the Synod cried “Conservatives crushed in same-sex marriage Anglican vote”. On a casual reading, that would imply that the liberals won, but the real story is very different.

The Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, brought this motion to the Synod: “The solemnisation of a marriage between a same-sex couple is contrary to the teaching of Christ and the faith, ritual, ceremonial and/or discipline of this Church.

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