Letter to Reforming Alliance

[David and Olivia Neilson]

My response to the request to have a referendum on resolution 84 in my congregation 112 Rusden St, Armidale NSW 2350, ph: 6772 7437 21/10/2003 The Reforming Alliance, PO Box 968, Newtown NSW 2042 Dear Sir/Madam, I have received the questionnaire from your organisation. I have also heard that the meeting you referred to in that letter specifically denied entry to anyone who did not agree with you (eg Dean Drayton). I have problems with what you are doing: 1] You are selective in the passages of the bible you think of as divine and legally-binding. Eg. Paul specifically requires women to keep silent in church and to ask their husbands should they have any questions. Yet I find your organisation headed not only by women, but by women who have been ordained. Clearly not by the Presbyterian churches or the Anglican Diocese of Armidale, who teach that the ordination of women contravenes clear biblical teaching. 2] Women and homosexuals, despite the alleged teachings of the bible, are lead by the Holy Spirit to do her work. Therefore, as Peter found when the Spirit was poured out on unbaptised gentiles, they have been blessed by God and so deserve to have that gift of God recognised by church, to keep the church in touch with what God is doing. 3] I applaud you enthusiasm but feel it is misdirected. There are so many other issues that need your time and money. This one is dead in the water. Churches that persecute someone because of their sexuality, when they are living in stable monogamous relationships, are the churches of yesterday. The Presbyterians are irrelevant to my local community. The Anglicans, with their conditional love and condemning attitudes, may be strong today, but by acting like a sect, they will soon become one. 4] This whole issue is cultural, not theological. You don�t like homosexuals, and so find ways of denying them God�s grace. I will not aid you by disseminating these materials. The churches I have worked with think this issue is irrelevant. As do I. Yours in Christ,     Rev Dr David Neilson