Free Republic

The Uniting Church in Australia's Assembly voted Saturday to change the denomination's definition of marriage and allow ministers to officiate weddings for same-sex couples. In a statement posted on the Church's website, Uniting Church in Australia President Deidre Palmer announced the changes that were made by the 265-member assembly that gathered in Melbourne, saying: "To honor the diversity of Christian belief among our members, we will hold two equal and distinct statements of belief on marriage." The first statement of belief regarding marriage is one that the Uniting Church has been following for a long time. "The existing statement of...

Jesus was not Palestinian, the Uniting Church of Australia said after an umbrella Jewish group objected to a news story that called Palestinians "the living descendants of Christ." The saga began when two Palestinian Arab members of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, which has links with the Uniting Church of Australia, wrote a story that appeared last Tuesday in the leftist political publication New Matilda.The article, which was penned by Samah Sabawi and Bassam Dally, stated: "An official delegation representing our country in Israel has added fuel to the flames of extremism abroad by applauding proven human rights violators and...