29 August 2012

For Immediate Release

St Matthew’s Doesn’t Care Who’s on Top

St Matthew-in-the-City is installing a new billboard Thursday morning in support of the Marriage Equality Act presently before Parliament. It portrays the top of a wedding cake with two women in bridal gowns and states “We don’t care who’s on top.”

The Revd Clay Nelson observes, “It should be of no surprise that St Matthew’s with its long history of supporting the full inclusion of the LGBTQ community in both the church and society endorses the bill. Our question is why would any church not endorse two people making a loving commitment to each other?”

“Through our billboard we are expressing our solidarity with the many Christians in many denominations who are calling on Members of Parliament to support Louisa Wall’s bill.”

Vicar Glynn Cardy points out that St Matthew’s has long been involved in weddings, with about 80 to 90 couples pledging their love each year. “What is important is their willingness to commit themselves to each other, not their gender. It is the joy and risk of giving oneself to another in a bond of mutuality, fidelity, and love that is at the heart of the sacrament of marriage.”
St Matthew’s looks forward to a time when the barrier of sexual orientation will be removed from the requirement for a church wedding. ‘Such prejudice’, says Cardy, “is contrary to the good news of Jesus Christ.”

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>