Australian Christian Lobby does not represent all Australian Christians, nor all Christian viewpoints

I am a member of the Executive of the Victorian Council of Churches, which last night unanimously approved this press release. [All following comments are my own and do not represent the VCC or any other organisation.]

This statement has been motivated by a growing frustration at the ACL’s positioning itself as the authoritative voice on Christian opinion in this country, when it is simply one of the most strident voices. In the past week, a few of my friends (mostly ministers in the Uniting Church) have reported being censored or blocked from commenting on the ACL’s website, and have gathered around the Facebook group Australian Christian Voices.

The Victorian Council of Churches is an organisation that acknowledges and celebrates the diversity of Christian practice and belief, but as a product of the post-WWII ecumenical movement, we perhaps suffer from an institutional mentality and lack of flexibility and have not responded proactively to groups like the ACL (or, indeed, Australian Christian Voices). Recent comments and actions by ACL have finally provoked the VCC to speak out, and challenge us to consider how we can re-establish our voice in the public sphere.