However, Father Bower said the man's profile on the LinkedIn website still has him as a current ADF member. Also on Anzac Day, Father Bower had written a message on the church's outdoor sign that read "Lest we forget Manus & Nauru", a deliberate echo of the controversial Facebook message posted by engineer and Muslim feminist activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied on Anzac Day last year, which led to her receiving a barrage of abuse and threats, eventually contributing to her leaving the country to work in Britain. The Anzac Day message outside Gosford Anglican Church "The bulk of the [Facebook] abuse, while aimed at what I had written ... said that 'you're just like her,' " Father Bower told Fairfax Media. "It seemed easier for them to abuse me through Yassmin. I found that fascinating. When a white male Christian says that sort of thing, it's bad enough, but when a brown female Muslim does, that's totally unacceptable. Even while abusing me, they still felt the need to channel that through Yassmin."

In a follow-up post on Facebook, Father Bower said: "We have had other occasional threats of arson, always from the extreme right of our nation's political spectrum, ironically from the very same people who warn that Muslims will 'burn your churches down'. "A Muslim has ... never threatened me in any way." In the Facebook post before the threat, Father Bower honoured war veterans, including his own relatives, and called for the "cessation of the degradation of some of the world's most vulnerable people for political purposes". Anzac Day furore: Yassmin Abdel-Magied. Credit:Matt Bedford He wrote that "we must remember what we are doing to refugees and asylum seekers on #Manus and #Nauru".

Father Bower's church, which often posts messages and writes signs calling for better treatment of refugees, the rejection of racism and reconciliation with Aboriginal people, regularly receives threats of violence through Facebook, email and on its answering machine. Father Bower believes right-wing extremists feel empowered by a political environment that promotes nationalism. In August 2016, about 10 members of the anti-Islam, anti-immigration group Party for Freedom stormed the church in mock Muslim garb, disrupting a sermon by Father Bower. The intruders said mock prayers and blasted a recording of the Koran being recited. The far-right group's website calls for the abolition of "state sponsored multiculturalism" and a return to assimilation.

The website features the slogan "Make Australian Great Again". Its founder Nick Folkes has stated his support for Pauline Hanson and One Nation. Father Bower said the threats and abuse would not stop him from communicating his views on behalf of the church. "I have some serious concerns about the shift in culture in Australia, towards a more nationalistic, exclusive culture that marginalises the vulnerable," he said. "It's the job of the church to scream at the top of our voice: 'Don't forget the poor.' " The Defence Department has been contacted for comment.