Anglican leaders and laypeople have slammed the Diocese of Sydney's decision to donate $1 million to the "no" campaign in Australia's same-sex marriage survey.



BuzzFeed News revealed on Monday evening that the diocese had donated the sum to leading "no" group, the Coalition for Marriage, last month. It is the first significant church donation to come to light in the campaign thus far.

The Diocese of Sydney is a founding member of the Coalition for Marriage, along with the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and political activist groups Marriage Alliance and the Australian Christian Lobby.

In his address to the 51st Synod of the diocese on Monday afternoon, archbishop Glenn Davies said "the stakes are high and the cost is high" in the marriage debate.

"Yet the cause is just and it is a consequence of our discipleship to uphold the gift of marriage as God has designed it — a creation ordinance for all people," he said. "By so doing, the wisdom of God is made manifest."

But many within the church disagree.

Reverend Andrew Sempell, rector of St James King Street in Sydney, told BuzzFeed News he thought the donation was "an unhelpful action" and "a poor use of church finances".

"I think this suggests we are more interested in politics than people, and I think that may be a bad thing for us," he said.

"What we should be doing is humbly trying to persuade people of a point of view rather than judging and condemning them. We’re doing too much judging and condemning — and by putting our money into this sort of political process, we seem to be on the wrong side of grace."

The donation was approved by the standing committee — a body of church leaders with decision making power — and drawn from the Diocesan Endowment fund.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Sydney told BuzzFeed News the fund is generally used for "the administration of the church".

Asked if such a significant donation had been made to a social cause or political campaign in the past, the spokesperson said: "There were drawdowns of up to $20 million for the diocesan mission in 2007 — most of which went towards the development of church facilities."

Sempell said the fact the donation was a decision of the standing committee, rather than the Synod, signalled a "bad attitude to governance".

"I’m surprised this action would be taken," he said. "Certainly the Synod can express an opinion and what have you, but to use the diocese funds is going further than that. The diocese should be for everybody, not just those who hold power."

Sempell, who is part of the Diocese of Sydney, said he would stand up and express his concerns if the donation is debated during the current Synod session and knew of "a number of clergy" who would do the same.