background information prepared so that members of the church at large will more fully understand the positive intentions and hopes of those participating in the Mardi Gras Parade

Extract from the New South Wales Synod General Secretary’s February 1998 Newsletter

During the 1997 Synod, a proposal was presented requesting that Eastside Parish not enter a float in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The proposers acknowledged the genuine desire of the parish to show pastoral care to gay and lesbian people who feel hurt and alienated but also referred to the pain, hurt and embarrassment that the entry of a float would cause to many in the Christian community.

Rev Rod Pattenden of the Eastside Parish assured the Synod that the float was not being entered by the Eastside Parish but by a group of gay and lesbian members of the Uniting Church and their supporters from different congregations. He stated that the organising committee for the float was examining the various ramifications of entering such a float.

Following lengthy discussions, including several alternative proposals and one adjournment, and an assurance to the Synod that the concerns which had been expressed about the proposed entry of the float would be conveyed to the organizers of the float, the Synod permitted the sponsors of the original proposal to withdraw the proposal. Rev Rod Pattenden agreed to take these comments back to the organising committee. He re-stated that although the float was not being organized by Eastside Parish, the Parish was providing support to the organizing group.

Shortly before Christmas people representing sponsors for the float sought a meeting with officers of the Assembly and the NSW Synod to provide background to the decision to sponsor a float for Uniting Church members. The following points emerged from the discussion.

The float is not a formal entry by the Uniting Church and is not endorsed by the Synod or any other council of our church. The float is being entered by a group of people who are members of several Uniting Church congregations. Wording on the float will seek to make this clear.

It is not the intention of the organisers of the float to give approval to all other floats in the parade nor to support the promiscuity flaunted by some groups and selectively covered by the media. The majority of floats is made up of groups such as the parent support group P-Flag, the AIDS support group Ankali, and church related groups such as the Quakers, and groups of Anglican and Catholic people.

Those planning to march behind the float wish to express solidarity with gay and lesbian people who feel they are forced into silence in the church. Some wish to show support for church members who feel unable to acknowledge that their family members - sons and daughters - are gay and lesbian. Some want to show their support for a more inclusive form of community within parishes in which gay and lesbian people share in membership and leadership

In that same meeting, Assembly and Synod officers indicated that the entry of the float did not have the endorsement or support of any council or committee of the Assembly or Synod, or their officers. It was further indicated that, if a float was entered, it should not be presented in a way in which could be perceived that it was representing or endorsed by the Uniting Church.

The organizers have stated that it is not their wish intentionally to give offence to the wider Church, but they acknowledge that participation itself and some reporting of the event will cause offence to some.

In recent weeks and days many expressions of concern have been received in the offices of the Synod and Assembly. Many have affirmed the right of members of the Uniting Church to participate in the parade, at the same time asking (or demanding!) that the float not be presented as representing the Uniting Church. These concerns have been conveyed to the organisers.

The background information in this letter has been prepared so that members of the church at large will more fully understand the positive intentions and hopes of those participating.

However, it also seeks to indicate that the entry of a float with reference to the Uniting Church has not been endorsed by any council of the Assembly, or of the NSW Synod, or of Sydney Presbytery. In fact, officers of the Assembly and the NSW Synod have discouraged the identification of the Uniting Church as planned by the organizing group, believing that the proposed action will further polarize the Church at a time when the Assembly, Synod and other sections of the Church have committed to the ongoing dialogue on the issues of sexuality remitted from the Assembly.