EChurch Relaxes

Birth Control Restrictions

From a Port Moresby Correspondent Restrictions on birth control were relaxed by the Anglican Church in Papua-New Guinea in August. The decision came out

of synod meetings held by the

church at Dogura, Papua, in con nection with the mission’s 75th

anniversary.

THE church decided to approve limited use of birth control in cases of ill-health or extreme poverty.

Previously the Anglican Church has opposed the use of birth control methods in the territory.

The synod said that many people throughout the Pacific were con cerned with the problem of birth control. It was something which Christians could only view against the background of the Christian understanding of marriage. Nothing ought to be done to weaken the traditional Christian standards of sexual morality.

Possible Abuses

Synod recognised that sometimes birth control was needed. However, as some methods of birth control were not acceptable to the Christian conscience, these matters should be discussed with Christian doctors, nurses and pastors, “so that God’s will might be known and done in each case”.

Synod also urged Pacific govern ments, when advocating family plan ning, to beware of abuses by un married people which might be en couraged through widespread birth control campaigns.

The delegates hoped that there would be continuing talks on these matters with other churches in the Pacific.

About 80 native and European clergy spent five days discussing a wide variety of subjects including education, Christian unity, liturgy and a new constitution for the diocese, which is expected to come into force next year.

One of their other important de cisions was to implement a large-scale stewardship scheme, aimed at making the church self-supporting.

The scheme will be based on a

system already successfully introduced in one of the Papuan mission areas, where this year the community has raised enough to support itself, give away $l,OOO and still have something left over.

Synod discussions gave way to celebrations on St. Laurence’s Day —August 10—the 75th anniversary of the landing of the first Anglican missionaries in the territory.

Among the guests at the celebrations were official representatives from the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Papua Ekelesia churches. The Archbishop of Brisbane and acting Primate of Australia, the Most Rev. Philip Strong (who

was Bishop of New Guinea for 26 years) preached at a special service when four New Guinean deacons were ordained.

Later he led a pilgrimage to the shrine at Kaieta, a couple of miles from Dogura, where the pioneer mis sionaries landed. Appropriately, the sermon there was given by 87-year old Canon Peter Rautamara, the last remaining Papuan who can remember those first missionaries and who later became the first Papuan to become an Anglican priest.

On his return to Port Moresby Archbishop Strong dedicated the foundation plaque for the new St.

John's Church being built there.