Church same-sex split
ONE of the Gold Coast’s biggest churches has all-but split with the nation’s third largest Christian denominations over same-sex marriage.
Newlife Uniting Church at Robina is threatening to leave the Uniting Church of Australia because Newlife does not agree with the decision to allow ministers to marry gay couples.
On November 4 Newlife announced it had scrapped Uniting from its name and removed all Uniting Church signage from its Robina building and social media pages.
It has not yet left the denomination but has not ruled out doing just that.
Newlife is the largest of the Uniting Church of Australia’s more than 2000 congregations, raking in more than $3.2 million a year in revenue.
More than 1700 people attend its weekend services and it has 3000 in its congregation.
In July, the Uniting Church of Australia’s 265-member group voted to allow ministers to marry gay couples.
A splinter group of eight ministers from separate congregations, led by Newlife head reverend Stu Cameron, has begun a push to retain the “traditional’’ notion of marriage only being between a man and a woman.
“This proposal is not made lightly or out of anger or reaction. It is a response made with humility and prayerful, tearful concern for the Uniting Church – a movement we love and have much to be thankful for,” a statement for the rescission reads.
“It is made in the recognition that our motives will be questioned and misunderstood. More importantly, it is made recognising that it will be seen as divisive.”
The Uniting Church has banned individual ministers from speaking to the media.
The splinter group wrote they would continue to agitate and possibly leave the denomination unless the Uniting Church reversed the decision.
Uniting Church Queensland Synod moderator David Baker said they were working with Newlife on its position and it was the only congregation so far to remove its Uniting Church branding.
“At Newlife, they have done what the assembly wanted them to do and they have expressed their mind on it,” Rev Baker said.
He said the church was full of differing views and the decisions being made now were only a small part of the long history of Christianity.