Respect your parishioners
ANGLICAN CHURCH SALES
GREAT that the Anglican Church wants to redress wrongs — of course victims of abuse should be assisted. But it seems that the Anglican Church will do further wrongs to another group of vulnerable people — the people who attend church, the people who have loved ones buried in their grounds etc.
It might be one thing to sell a church hall or vacant church ground but why are churches with burial grounds on this list (and some of them, very active burial grounds)? What about people who plan to be buried next to their already deceased child, their wife or husband? What happens now?
Find middle ground Anglican leaders, consult with people, do your research better. Don’t blindside small and vulnerable communities. You’ve already done that so many times before. Be respectful. Please.
Ageist
SO Bishop Condie only intends to sell churches that aren’t “more contemporary”, ergo, those with a younger congregation. What about the elderly, who were raised in a traditional congregation and have lived their whole lives within it? The Bishop himself describes the “safe” churches as those with, upbeat music, no robes, and lively qualities. I can see this offending many elderly churchgoers.
Those who are not comfortable in such an environment won’t be able to go elsewhere, as there won’t be anywhere else left to go. In the past few years, the Anglican Church at Lutana has closed, now the only one left in the Northern Suburbs is in Glenorchy. Will that also close because it’s not “contemporary” enough? I thought the primary function of any church was to minister to its congregation’s spiritual needs. Sadly, it seems that it’s actually to achieve popularity with it’s younger patrons, at the expense of the elderly (again).
Inevitable
REGARDING the sale of Anglican Diocesan property, I think that there are two relevant points:
1. If the National Redress Scheme liability is to be met by the Tasmanian Anglican Diocese, which I regard as right and proper, then the finances have to be raised. Such a large financial liability can be funded only by drastic measures; this is indisputable.
2. The current Anglican parish system dates from the settlement of Tasmania, which in turn harks back to the Church of England parish system.
Times change and an organisation A new way to have your say themercury.com.au readers have a new way to have their say. It’s free to use, just register and have your say. For more details and to register, visit the website. which hopes to survive and maintain its influence, carrying its best features into the future, must be flexible. A rethink of how the Tasmanian Anglican Diocese is organised, and the implications of this for church buildings, has been brought forward by the need to fund the NRS liability but is an inevitable change in the long-term.
Honesty
I AM amazed at the political speak coming from Bishop Condie and the Anglican Church. For the Bishop to justify (blame?) the sale of 120 church properties to compensate victims of abuse is misleading. If 100 per cent of proceeds were going to the victims, or even 60 per cent, maybe he could claim it was for abuse victims, but only 25 per cent of the money raised will go to victims. Please be more honest in describing your reasons for selling churches.
Dissent shock
LIBERAL politicians on many occasions have boasted when encountering internal differences in their party, that unlike the Labor Party, theirs is a broad church allowing and welcoming such differences of opinion. With Sue Hickey’s win as Speaker, the faces of Will Hodgman and colleagues, as seen in the Mercury, tell a different story!
History’s lessons
RICHARD Herr was quite prescient in his March 21 statement that Rene Hidding was no certainty for the Speaker’s job. Professor Herr stated history could well repeat itself, apparently the only ones to learn from history were the Opposition parties and Sue Hickey, the Liberals didn’t, and Mr Hidding was outmanoeuvred.