At 4.06pm, less than 30 minutes before Synod rose for the year, the first count of this year’s meeting was held on a proposed amendment during a debate on church planting (the establishment of new congregations across Melbourne and Geelong). This time, the amendment was carried.
Synod called on the Diocesan Council to review how the living requirements of clergy in the Melbourne Diocese were met, including the setting of stipends, recompense for travel costs, housing, superannuation, benefits, stipend continuance insurance and retrenchment.
A senior clergyman, the Revd Dr David Powys of St John’s Cranbourne, said in his mover’s speech that the fundamental way in which clergy remuneration and provisions were conceived had not changed very much in 30 years but “very many other things” about ordained ministry had changed very substantially. These included the dwindling proportion of clergy who were vicars, a reduction in ministry households where the stipend was the main source of income, the decline in clergy living in vicarages and church-owned accommodation, the increasing number of clergy in part-time appointments and the fact that women now made up a significant proportion of clergy ranks.
[blockquote] “Over the last 30 years, the total number of licensed clergy in the Diocese has remained the same, if not slightly increased, even though the number of people attending Anglican churches and the number of churches have been falling,” Dr Powys said.
The proportion of attending Anglicans in the paid workforce is also falling. The same number of clergy are being supported, possibly more and more generously by a group with less and less capacity to do so.” [/blockquote]
This is what happens when a diocese flirts with liberalism, which Melbourne has been doing for many years.
No doubt it seemed trendy, not like those conservative sticks in the mud up in Sydney or over in the North West or along The Murray.