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The Fellowship (Australia)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pavani (talk | contribs) at 13:59, 17 February 2010 (Adding notability tag - the quotations about the Society are not from independent sources). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see The Fellowship.

The Fellowship is the name of a group within the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Located in Melbourne, its membership is estimated as involving between 300 and 400 people.[1] The Fellowship has been labelled by opponents as a "secretive cult". [2]

History

The Fellowship was started by Ronald Grant and Alan Neil, who had both served as missionaries with the South Seas Evangelical Mission in the Solomon Islands. Influenced by holiness teaching, they started fellowship meetings in their homes in the late 1930s. Members of the group were dissatisfied with aspects of the churches they attended (mostly Presbyterian or Anglican) and were described as "[feeling] persecuted by the evangelical world of the time"[3]

Alan Neil died in the late 1960s, and Ronald Grant led the group until his death in 1995. During the following year, members were left their current churches and joined one of three Presbyterian churches: Clayton, Mount Evelyn and Trinity Presbyterian Church, Camberwell, reportedly at the direction of the Fellowship.[4] In 2002, members of the Fellowship were removed from membership of the Mount Evelyn church.[5]

Characteristics

The Fellowship is a group associated with the holiness movement.

The Fellowship is strongly opposed to Freemasonry, and members have been directed to refrain from listening to Mozart, due to his masonic connection. A theory of "generational curses" is taught, which encourages repentance if a member's ancestors were Freemasons.[2]

Criticism

The Fellowship has been criticised for broken relationships between Fellowship members and their families. Allegations have been made that non-Fellowship people have been refused contact with their grandchildren, and that Fellowship people have refused to attend funerals of non-Fellowship family members.[4] Fractured Fellowship makes this case based on primary sources, including private letters, that have never been published.

Actions by the Presbyterian Church

In February 2006, the Presbytery of Melbourne East excommunicated all 15 elders of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Camberwell because of their handling of a complaint of emotional abuse against an elder. [6]

This decision was appealed to the State Assembly, which upheld the decision of the Presbytery at its' meeting in October 2006.[7] Some members of the Victorian Assembly then appealed the decision to the General Assembly of Australia on the grounds that the Victorian Church had set up its' own processes for discipline rather than operating under the General Assembly's Code as required and that the decision of the Victorian Assembly was made based on information that was not available to the Presbytery of East Melbourne when making its' the original decision, against its' own process of discipline.

These appeals were upheld by the General Assembly of Australia at its Commission in August 2007. [7] The clerk of the General Assembly, Dr Paul Logan, said that many felt that natural justice had been denied by the processes used. [7] As a result of this decision the elders were reinstated, "[b]ut members of the Victorian assembly, which excommunicated the 15 elders of Trinity Camberwell, were not too downhearted, saying the Fellowship had won the battle but lost the war." [7]

The General Assembly of Australia established a committee to investigate material published about The Fellowship, including allegations of errors in doctrine and behaviour, promising to re-hear complaints. [7]

The Victorian State Assembly was instructed by the General Assembly of Australia to take several actions including withdrawing from publication Fractured Fellowship: A Presbyterian Case Study and temporarily moving the parish of Camberwell from the Presbytery of Melbourne East to the Presbytery of Melbourne West until the matter could be settled. At its Commission in May 2008 the Victorian Assembly handled the private report of the committee of the General Assembly in public session, rejecting its instructions to retry the matter. Rev. Douglas Robertson from Scots' Church in Melbourne, who at the same meeting was elected the next Moderator of the Victorian Assembly, accused the General Assembly of Australia of censorship and unconstitutionally exceeding its authority. [8] [9]

References

  1. ^ Zwartz, Morag. Fractured Families: The Story of a Melbourne Church Cult. Boronia: Paranesis. pp. vi. ISBN 0958795517.
  2. ^ a b Zwartz, Barney (2006-03-04). "Breaking the Fellowship: a bittler-sweet crusade". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  3. ^ John Stasse, ed. (1999). Fractured Fellowship: A Presbyterian Case Study. Melbourne: Presbyterian Church of Victoria. p. 72.
  4. ^ a b John Stasse, ed. (1999). Fractured Fellowship: A Presbyterian Case Study. Melbourne: Presbyterian Church of Victoria. p. 8. Cite error: The named reference "FracturedFellowship2" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Barney Zwartz (2006-03-04), Breaking the Fellowship: a bitter-sweet crusade, The Age
  6. ^ "Church excommunicates 15 for cult membership". The Age. Fairfax. 2006-02-25. Retrieved 2008-08-03. The Presbyterian Church's Australian head, Moderator-General Bob Thomas, said yesterday the presbytery removed the elders because it considered they discharged their duties unsatisfactorily and not in accord with the code of behaviour expected of elders.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Cult elders back in church fold". The Age. Fairfax. 2007-08-03. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  8. ^ "Presbyterian church split over cults fate". The Age. Fairfax. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  9. ^ "State Presbyterian Assembly rights the national wrongs". The Age. Fairfax. 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
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