We are holding a second conversation on the Doctrine Commission essays on marriage, same-sex marriage and the Anglican Church of Australia. They will be held on Friday 16 July for Clergy and Saturday 17 July for Laity.
On 19 and 20 March 2021 the Diocese held two Open Space events as a respectful dialogue about the Doctrine Commission’s essays. In July we will hold two more such events.
You can access the resources page of two events that comprised the previous conversation here.
Diocesan Council has carefully considered the feedback from participants whilst preparing for the next. Although a few people expressed a desire for a combined conversation, the overwhelming majority of the laity wanted another opportunity for a laity only dialogue and so we plan to hold separate Open Space dialogues once again.
The previous session resulted in 42 conversations and participants generally expressed a wish for more conversations and more time.
When:
Friday 16 July 2021 from 9.00am to around 4:00pm – for Clergy Synod representatives
Saturday 17 July 2021 from 9.00am to around 4:00pm – for Lay – for Synod representatives
Where: The Junior School of St Peter’s College
If you wish to attend you must register for this event.
You may access the Doctrine Commission essays “Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage and the Anglican Church of Australia”, here.
More details will be provided as they become available.
You can access the Book of Proceedings of the first conversation here.
Resources
Doctrine Commission essays, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage and the Anglican Church of Australia
About the event
The Adelaide Synod is in the process of conducting a respectful dialogue about the Doctrine Commission essays on marriage, same-sex marriage and the Anglican Church of Australia.
As Archbishop Geoff noted in his Pastoral Address to the 2019 Adelaide Synod. “This is a missional question. How do we minister, how do we enact the good news of the kingdom of God in a society where two thirds of voters voted to change the Marriage Act? How do we enact the good news in a Church where there is a very significant difference of opinion? Those are difficult questions and we will need the grace and leading of God as we seek to work them through, and we will need to offer grace and self-giving love to each other in the process of discussing and deciding these matters.”
In Adelaide, we have already held two separate conversations for members of Synod – one for the Clergy and one for Synod representatives among the Laity.
Participants generally found the experience rewarding, constructive and wished to extend the conversations.
As with the previous events, the next conversations will be held under the principles of Open Space Technology, which is designed to provide a respectful and safe place for people to discuss issues of importance to them, and for all voices to be heard. More detail is provided below.
We have engaged an experienced Open Space Facilitator, The Rev’d Bronwyn Pagram, to lead us into the process and help us hold the space to ensure all our conversations remain respectful and productive.
We will gather to listen to each other and the movement of God’s Spirit as we ponder the issues.
As Synod representatives we continue to contemplate how we share in Gods mission, so these opportunities to listen carefully to each other through the Open Space process are incredibly valuable.
Registrations will required. We will provide Eventbrite links closer to the events.