The Diocese of Sydney’s synod has eliminated a controversial 2019 provision of its governance policy that required lay officials of diocesan-affiliated schools and aid agencies to profess their belief in a traditional ethic of sex and marriage.
An attempt to retain the policy was defeated by the synod’s House of Laity by a vote of 114 to 272 on September 26, during extended debates on policy changes. Because the vote was lost in the House of Laity, House of Clergy votes were not counted.
Elected or appointed governors and leaders in the Anglican Church of Australia’s largest diocese will still be required to sign a statement of personal faith. It includes adherence to the faith as set out in the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds, and belief in the Scriptures as the “supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.” Officers are expected to resign if they no can longer agree with the statement.
The conservative evangelical diocese’s new governance policy creates a tiered system for diocesan institutions, with different levels of faith commitment required of leaders, depending on the degree of affiliation. Board members at some Anglican schools now need not profess the Christian faith, but are asked instead to affirm that they remain “called to organizational faithfulness.”
The revised policies dial back a series of changes introduced in 2019, just two years after Australians supported same-sex marriage by wide margins. The 2019 policy required officeholders to affirm, “In particular I believe … that this faith produces obedience in accordance with God’s word, including sexual faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman, and abstinence in all other circumstances.”
A 2023 diocesan report advocating the policy revisions said the requirements had created “relational difficulties” in some schools. “This may create a barrier for the recruitment of governors and leaders, who, while personally agreeing with the statement, may face sanctions from their employer or be prevented from taking up these voluntary roles,” it said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported in August 2023 that the governance policy had complicated principal searches at St. Catherine’s and Illawarra Grammar School, two elite schools with an Anglican affiliation. St. Catherine’s, the oldest girls’ school in Australia decided to delay its search for a principal until the end of 2024 because it expected a policy revision. Parents at Ilawarra Grammar School complained to its governing council that the diocesan policy does not “align with the values of mainstream Australia.”
The synod later reaffirmed its commitment to traditional marriage “in keeping with the teaching of Scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and previous resolutions of this synod and of the General Synod.” The Very Rev. Sandy Grant, dean of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, said his motion was to make it clear that Sydney’s synod had not changed its mind on marriage.
There are 31 Anglican schools within the diocese, and nine of these are directly affiliated with the diocese. Unlike public schools in Australia, they charge tuition fees to parents, and fees range from “low fee” schools, charging less than $10,000 a year, to elite institutions (around AUD$42,000 a year, or US$30,000). Thousands are employed by schools, welfare services, and aged-care homes that will be affected by the governance policy.
Australia has for some years been debating a religious freedom law that exempts religious institutions from anti-discrimination laws, allowing them to choose employees who conform with their faith practices. Sydney’s Archbishop, Kanishka Raffel, issued a public statement in support of the bill when it was introduced in 2021.
While the vote may have come as a surprise for the drafters of the policy, Australians in general have made it clear they don’t look kindly on churches prescribing their sexual relations.
A vote on to extend legal marriage to same-sex couples was held in late 2017. The Sydney diocese donated (AUD) $1 million (around US$700,000) to the No campaign. Nearly 80 percent of Australians voted in the postal survey, and 61.6 percent said Yes. By December 9 of that year, the Parliament of Australia removed references to the sex of parties in a marriage.
Brisbane’s Archbishop Jeremy Greaves spoke to the Australasian Religious Press Association (ARPA) last week about the future for churches.
While making no comment on the Sydney decision, he began by describing the Australian community’s decline in trust for churches. Two public events have contributed to that decline, he said: the churches’ responses to child abuse in its institutions (notably the royal commission findings of 2017) and the plebiscite on marriage the same year.
Young people in particular mentioned many churches’ opposition to same-sex marriage, which contradicts their passion for “tolerance, diversity, equality, and inclusion.” They are leading the reaction against an institution that sets itself up as the “purity police,” he said.
Churches need to show they are “places of life and love,” the archbishop said. “They have to embody the faith in practices which demonstrate love, hope, care, and truth.”
Early Christians were known as people of “the way” for their dedication to caring for their neighbors, in their engagement and authentic relationships with others, “not being bound to doctrines,” in the archbishop’s understanding.
His vision for the future is of a church that “does not build walls even higher, but [is] called to be in the world engaging as salt, light, and leaven.”
That will require listening and some humility, “a church that pronounces less, listens more, and prepares to be transformed,” he said, calling for the courage and creativity to imagine a future more vital than being simply a social club.
The comments were poignant for ARPA, which after 50 years has voted to disband, due to the decline of member church publications — not just Anglican, but across denominations.
This story was substantially altered. Thanks to Russell Powell of Anglican Media Sydney for his assistance.
