As a follower of Jesus and an Anglican minister in Sydney, I was shocked and grieved by the pain experienced by the women interviewed in the 7:30 Report, focussing on domestic violence in the church . I also recognised the upset of the principal of Moore College and the chair of the task force dealing with domestic violence.
I trust in the days and weeks ahead, we, as a church in Sydney, do not shoot the messenger, Julia Baird, who introduced the report and did the interviews. Rather I trust we will look squarely at who we are as a church and what we have done, or more precisely not done, to address domestic violence and support its victims. As we learn more of domestic violence, we must constantly resist any attempt to silence the victims of such atrocious behaviour.
The program highlighted for me the need within Moore College to allow an alternative voice to be heard. A voice, which presents a biblically based egalitarian understanding of relationships in marriage, church and society, must also be heard by the students within the College preparing them for ministry. Male headship is just one way of reading scripture. Mutuality is another; a better way.
Paul Perini
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