Archbishop Defiant On NSW Conversion Laws

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel has vowed to obey God ahead of the laws of the New South Wales (NSW) government, when it comes to Biblical teaching on sexuality and gender identity.

In a presidential address to the Diocese of Sydney Synod the archbishop promised to stand beside any church member accused of breaching the Conversion Practices Ban (CPB) Act in NSW.

“The Act purports to give churches, schools and parents permission to teach about sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual activity and religion.”

“But, respectfully, we do not need the permission of the government to teach about such things.” 

“I want to say this clearly and publicly to you all, that I will stand by any clergy person or church worker who finds themselves brought before a tribunal or court because of this poorly conceived law,” the Archbishop declared.

“WE MUST NOT BE SILENCED OR INTIMIDATED”

“We must not be silenced or intimidated from teaching God’s good plan for human sexuality and relationships.”

“We will insist on the freedom to do so respectfully, but without fear, we will obey God. We can do nothing less.”

Archbishop Raffel made it clear his support extended to lay people caught up in tribunal hearings as well.

He had previously given a similar assurance to his clergy as the new law was enacted in April.

CHURCH ACCUSES NSW PREMIER OF BREAKING PROMISE TO PROTECT PRAYER

The church accuses State Premier Chris Minns of breaking a commitment to protect prayer in relation to the laws.

Mr MInns had promised before the last state election that under a Labor government: “an individual of their own consent seeking guidance through prayer will not be banned.“

That pledge has since been undermined by Anti-Discrimination New South Wales.

A packed Synod applauded the Archbishop’s vow to stand beside those caught up in what he called “grave intrusions into the lives of families, individuals and religious communities.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME ANGLICAN CLERGY MAY HAVE TO BREAK THE LAW TO DO THEIR JOB

The Synod later passed a resolution thanking the Archbishop and calling on the NSW government to uphold the Premier’s election commitment.

In moving the Synod motion, Bishop Michael Stead explained that for the first time he could be breaking the law in carrying out his Christian ministry “for doing nothing more than teaching people what the Bible says about human sexuality, encouraging them to live in accordance with this, and praying to that end.”

“A group of faith leaders worked extensively with the government to arrive at the legislation so that it would not capture ordinary religious practices, and we thought that we had achieved that through a series of exemptions in the Act.”

WHY THE NSW PREMIER’S PROMISE WAS BROKEN

“We were led to believe that the Act, unlike the Victorian Act, distinguished between sexual orientation and sexual activity and that it was not a change or suppression practice to teach someone to abstain from sexual activity contrary to the Bible’s teaching,” Dr. Stead continued.

“The government told us at the time: “Our bill has powerful protections for people of faith, that it protects the rights to prayer, that it does not stop you telling someone not to have sex before marriage.”

“However, the implementation of the Act, which is in the hands of Anti-Discrimination New South Wales (ADNSW), does not deliver on these promises.”

“The ADNSW website says that teaching or prayer directed to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity is a conversion practice and will be unlawful even when a person asks for it themselves.”

NSW ANTI-DISCRIMINATION AGENCY IS JUST WAITING FOR COMPLAINTS TO TEST THE LAWS 

“We have been engaging extensively with ADNSW [over] whether certain religious practises were conversion or suppression practises.”

“They said they cannot answer our questions, they cannot give us guidance because there is no case law.”

“Until this happens, they intend to give the maximum interpretation to the definitions in the Act, for the benefit of those for whom the act was created – the LGBT community.”

“This means that they will accept all complaints that fall into the unknown, the grey area – and wait for these complaints to work their way through the systems of tribunals and courts to ultimately discern what is a suppression practice.”

“THE PROCESS IS THE PUNISHMENT”

Dr. Stead said that although many of the practices won’t actually turn out to be conversion or suppression practices, the result would be a sustained legal process for people of faith and “the process is the punishment.”

The Synod resolved that it “encourages Christians to be unafraid to proclaim the truth of God’s word in matters relating to sexuality, marriage, identity and gender, and to provide prayer for those who seek to live a godly life in obedience to God’s word and aligned with God’s purposes, notwithstanding that they may be subject to a complaint under the CPB Act for doing so”.

It also “commends to parishes and organisations the work of Living Faith, as it seeks to provide Biblical teaching, encouragement and support to Christian men and women who experience attraction to the same sex or gender incongruence as they seek to express their sexuality and gender in accordance with the historic Christian faith, and to assist parishes to welcome and love these men and women.”

Sources: Anglican Ink, sydneyanglicans.net