Anglican Church apology to gay man ‘a cop out’

A gay man who says he was forced to give up his role at an Anglican church has branded an apology from the diocese’s Dean as ‘remorseless’ and ‘without compassion’.

Peter Grace, left, and Peter Sanders in Armidale last year after they left St Mary’s. Picture: Simon Scott

A gay man who says he was forced to give up his role at an Anglican church in northern NSW has branded an apology from the diocese’s dean as insincere and “a cop out” after he was told to separate from his husband and remain celibate to keep his position at the church.

Former St Mary’s music director Peter Sanders complained to the Anti-Discrimination NSW earlier this year, calling on the Dean of the Armidale Diocese to apologise for discriminating against him and his husband, Peter Grace, who also held a leadership role at the church.

Mr Sanders, 58, claimed Reverend Christopher Brennan unlawfully terminated his job as music director and church organist on the grounds of his homosexuality and living in a same-sex marriage.

A private settlement between the Armidale couple and Reverend Brennan was reached early in September. In an apology to be published in Church Family Matters on Sunday, Reverend Brennan wrote he was sorry for the “hurt caused to Peter Sanders and to Peter Grace and to the congregation of St Mary’s”.

However, the dean rejected the central claim that he had given instructions to the church’s management committee to tell Mr Sanders he could not continue as organist unless he separated from Mr Grace, 62, and remained celibate.

“I did not give the management committee these instructions, but I accept that the member of the committee ­believed that I had,” he wrote.

Mr Sanders, who severed his connection with St Mary’s last year during the furore, said the apology was a “cop out”.

“This is really an apathetic ­response to a serious matter of prejudice. And it wasn’t much of an apology to the management committee who have also been impacted by this,” he said.

“I do think people will see this apology for what it is and that is without compassion and remorse.”

Peter Sanders said the apology was an ‘apathetic response’ to a serious act of prejudice. Picture: Simon Scott

In a series of documents submitted to the Anti-Discrimination Board in March, a former member of St Mary’s congregation provided explosive testimony of the events leading up to the couple’s departure from the church.

Jan Clark, who was one of five members the church’s management committee, said Reverend Brennan instructed the committee in April last year to tell the couple they were living in an “unbiblical manner” and they should “end their marriage, be celibate and just live as friends”.

According to Ms Clark, Reverend Brennan did not want the couple to leave the congregation, but insisted they could not return to their positions unless they ended their marriage.

“I regret I did not act sooner to prevent Peter (Sanders) becoming such an integral part of St Mary’s worship … People who do not live biblically cannot have leadership roles in congregations … My neck is on the block because I could be fired for allowing this to happen,” the dean is alleged to have told the committee.

When asked what would happen if they did not convey his message to the couple, the dean is alleged to have said: “I will be forced to bring in the jackboots”, referring to the Bishop of Armidale, Rod Chiswell.

Ms Clark said she conveyed Reverend Brennan’s message to Mr Sanders and Mr Grace. She quit the committee three weeks later and left the congregation.

Following the settlement Ms Clark told The Australian that Reverend Brennan’s apology was “not an apology at all”, but only reaffirmed in her mind “his failure to confront the truth”.

“After six hours of discussions, I fell on my sword and thought, ‘OK, just go with your own delusions, you stupid man’. It’s the worst scenario for me, but it’s finished now.

“He [Brennan] has said from the start that I went off and said this to the two Peters on my own, which is a straight-out lie.

“I’m absolutely clear that I did not misunderstand him or say something that was not part of his agenda.”

Mr Sanders said he was pleased many members of the St Mary’s community had moved to a breakaway church in the area, St Francis, where they are “happy living a different version of the gospels”.

The Australian contacted Reverend Brennan and Bishop Chiswell, who declined to comment.