Bernard Stewart, one of St Georges’ lay representatives at the Diocesan Synod (Mon to Wed of this past week plus Mon and Tues this week) reports that on Wednesday afternoon, our rector Geoff made a great contribution in lifting the vision of Synod beyond any concerns limited to the Diocese. Geoff partnered with Rev Dr Michael Jensen (Rector, St Marks Darling Point) to move the Synod in relation to immigration policy and child detention: specifically to ‘call on the government to remove children from all forms of detention under Australian jurisdiction’ and ‘to pray for the Prime Minister and for the Minister for Immigration’. Geoff delivered a great speech in so doing. The motion that Geoff is seconding reads (draft version as of Thursday 16th):
That Synod should note-
i) The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for us, compels us to love neighbours and even enemies, and
ii) the difficulty of framing a just refugee policy in a war torn and poverty stricken world, and
iii) the intention of political leaders to achieve a just outcome in trying circumstances, and
iv) the concern of bodies like the AMA for the mental health of children of asylum seekers in detention, and
v) that there remain many hundreds of such children in detention, and
vi) recognising that, as with the lawyer’s question to Jesus, our sinful evasion of responsibility for siblings and neighbours continues –
a) calls on the government to remove children from all forms of detention under Australian jurisdiction, and
b) commits to pray for the Prime Minister and for the Minister for Immigration in their work.