This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An Anglican rector has penned a strongly worded letter criticising the decision of the Sydney diocese to donate $1m to the no campaign in Australia’s postal survey on same-sex marriage, saying it is akin to an earlier era when the church “sought to control political processes in concert with government”.

“We are on the wrong side of grace,” the Rev Andrew Sempell, rector of St James’s in Sydney, wrote in a letter circulated on Facebook on Tuesday.

On Tuesday prominent LBGTI advocate Kerryn Phelps said the Sydney Anglican diocese’s $1m donation should trigger a review of their tax exempt status, in a growing backlash at the church’s political involvement.

Archbishop Glenn Davies announced the donation on Monday in his address to the 51st synod of the diocese of Sydney, telling the church that “removing gender from the marriage construct” would have “irreparable consequences” for society.

“Brothers and sisters, the stakes are high and the cost is high,” Davies said.

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The donation is the largest publicly declared by the no campaign. Neither the yes or no campaigns have publicly declared donations but the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, personally donated $1m to the yes campaign last month.

But Sempell said the decision was a case of “politics and religion being ‘hand in glove’.

“... this behaviour is more akin to a church of earlier era that sought to control political processes in concert with government,” Sempell wrote. “Indeed it is the behaviour of ‘christendom’, where the church believed that it had a duty to manage (or even control) society for the good of all.”

He said the decision was not made by the synod of the diocese “but rather the more exclusive and secretive standing committee”.

He objected that there was no wider consultation and no open debate about the decision.

Sempell said in light of the church’s “failure in dealing with child abuse, domestic violence, and its treatment of divorcees, LGBTI people and others with whom it disagrees”, the move would further alienate young people from the church.

“In this respect, the church is seen more to be a political player rather than a place of welcome, faith, hope and reconciliation for those who are in need,” he wrote.

“I would argue that this is a time when we should be humbly persuading people rather than judging or condemning them,” Sempell said.

Sempell said the donation “could be construed that this is a questionable use of charitable trust funds for political purposes”, which he said suggested poor financial management and fiduciary duty.

He said the decision was an example of “questionable governance and poor missional priorities in the diocese”.

“It is one thing to encourage people to donate to a cause (either religious or political) but it is another thing to take funds that are there for the benefit of all and apply them to the interests of the majority at the expense of a minority,” Sempell wrote.

Phelps, a councillor of the City of Sydney and former Australian Medical Association president, suggested the donation amounted to “political lobbying” and suggested it “surely must trigger review of their tax exempt status”:

Prof Kerryn Phelps (@drkerrynphelps) Decision to spend $1million on political lobbying surely must trigger review of their tax exempt status #Anglican #marriageequality #VoteYes https://t.co/4xNQHHW3Il

Phelps is one of the leading advocates in the Equality Campaign and starred in their first television advertisement in the survey period.

Religious institutions in Australia are tax exempt because advancing religion is presumed to be of public benefit within the Charities Act 2013. Political parties are not exempt from tax. A Treasury inquiry is considering changes to the rules on which organisations can claim deductible gift recipient status.

In September Sempell warned that the church’s activist approach on same-sex marriage “may well backfire” and lead to calls to remove privileges currently enjoyed by churches, such as exemptions from tax laws and anti-discrimination laws.

Announcing the decision on Monday, Davies said he made “no apology” for encouraging Australians and Anglicans to vote no.

“I believe that a change in the definition of marriage is unwarranted, not just because it is in opposition to the teaching of scripture ... but because I believe marriage, traditionally understood as a union of one man and one woman, is a positive good for our society, where marriage and the procreation of children are bound together as the foundational fabric of our society, notwithstanding the sad reality that not all married couples are able to conceive,” he said.

“Moreover, I consider the consequences of removing gender from the marriage construct will have irreparable consequences for our society, for our freedom of speech, our freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.”