The splintering that culminated in this week’s rupture of the Australian church began 20 years ago, when an openly gay, non-celibate man was elected as a bishop in the United States | JordsBaker
Angry, orthodox Anglicans began a rival church, just as Australian rebels have now done. The American split led to protracted legal fights over millions of dollars, accusations of schism and heresy, and a war over which side’s adherents were the true Anglicans.
The chair of GAFCON Australia, Richard Condie, who is also bishop of Tasmania, says the issue is, at heart, about the authority of the scriptures. “Innovations” around same-sex marriage are forcing people “who [listen to their] conscience on the authority of the Bible” to leave their churches, like Palmer did.
Some believe the seeds of the Diocese of the Southern Cross were sown three decades ago, during the fight over the ordination of women. There were threats of a split then, too. Back in 1992, Laurence Scandrett – who is a secretary of the new Diocese of the Southern Cross – and two other Sydneysiders took the bishop of Canberra-Goulburn to court over his plans to ordain 11 women. The matter went as far as the NSW Court of Appeal, which said it had no power to stop it.
“The Sydney people, and this new diocese, claim their interpretation of the bible is not only right, but it’s the only one possible,” says Lee. “They will not engage with the scholarly world in disputed texts. That hubris really troubles me from a Christian point of view.”Sydney priests reject accusations of religious uniformity.
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