The gloves are on!

from w

from the Uniting Church of Australia website a few days ago as news from Synod.

Remove offensive signs and offer apology, says church

The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania voted today to request St Michael’s Uniting Church to remove freeway signs and other media related to its “new faith” advertising campaign because it causes “deep offense to many Christians, Jews and Muslims”. The proposal also called on the moderator and general secretary of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania to express its concern to St Michael’s congregation.
The proposal asked St Michael’s to apologise for any offence that the signs may have caused.

The proposal said the Synod should communicate the substance of this resolution to the Victorian and Tasmanian Council of Churches and the equivalent statewide bodies of the Jewish and Islamic faiths. Lively discussion and debate followed the presentation of the proposal, but it was passed by an overwhelming majority of the delegates.

Below is the actual Synod resolution:

To request the Moderator and the General Secretary convey to the church council of St Michael’s the deep concern of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania at:
1. - The offence caused to many Christians, Jews and Muslims by the signs and other media referring to the Ten Commandments, and
- the potential damage to ecumenical and interfaith relationships and to the Uniting Church’s commitment to respectful relationships and communications.
2. To request St Michael’s church to remove the signs and other media forthwith and to issue an apology for any offence caused.
3. To communicate the substance of this resolution to the Victorian and Tasmanian Councils of Churches and the equivalent statewide bodies of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.