Bishop John Parkes has hit back at the Melbourne Anglicans who criticised his proposal to bless same-sex couples who are already married.
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New Cranmer Society president Kimberly Smith wrote an open letter this week, accusing the Wangaratta bishop of promoting a liturgy and threatening the unity of the church.
Bishop Parkes responded with his own open letter, saying he was misquoted by Mr Smith.
"I accept that the marriage of two persons of the same sex cannot take place within the Anglican Church of Australia," he said.
"What we will put to the Wangaratta Synod has nothing to do with the doctrine of marriage.
"It concerns the blessing of persons who are in a civil marriage under Australian law."
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"I simply do not accept that the kind of pastoral response I am proposing for persons who are in civil marriages can reasonably be seen as posing that sort of risk to our continued life as a church," Bishop Parkes said.
"I have arrived at the point of declaring that the proper treatment of LGBTIQ people by this church is a matter of biblical justice.
"What I propose is a small step but one which I consider cannot be delayed any longer."
Same-sex attraction is the subject of what Bishop Parkes called scholarly disagreement within the Anglican Church and among Christians more broadly.
"Our church has been paralysed on this issue for almost 20 years," he said.
"It is LGBTIQ people who bear the real cost of our inability to get our act together.
"The mental health outcomes especially for young people as identified by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists are truly shocking."
The proposal will be considered by the Synod of the Diocese of Wangaratta - also made up of members from Albury, Wodonga and Corryong - when it meets on August 30 and 31.