Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

Brisbane Archbishop, Dr Phillip Aspinall has been the head of the country's Anglican community for the last two years and he's had to answer tough questions on a range of subjects - from the Government's plan for Aboriginal communities to the detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay - but still nothing prepared him for the questions of Year 12 students from Mansfield State High School.

Four students from the school prepared questions for the Anglican Primate of Australia as part of Madonna King's Student Press Call.

"I was absolutely terrified by what they might ask," admitted Dr Aspinall. "By the time young people get to Year 12, they really are starting to think very intelligently about very complex matters, so it's a terrifying prospect that they might quiz me about all sorts of things."

With one child at university and the other in Year 12, Dr Aspinall knows a bit about young minds, respects their abilities. He says that the Anglican Church is now focusing more on younger people when recruiting ordained ministers.

"For a long time - for the last 20 years or so, when young people have put up their hands to say, 'I feel called to serve God as a priest,' the church has mistakenly said 'Go away and get some life experience and come back later'.

"Of course, young people go away, they train in another career, they get commitments, they get married, they get mortgages and so they don't come back and I think part of the shortage of young ordained people has been the church's own policy, so we're changing that now and we're encouraging young people to put their hand up," he says.

The students from Mansfield High weren't quite ready to take that step, however - they're not yet planning a career in the church. "No, not at this stage," confirmed student Elizabeth Connor.

Elizabeth had a challenging question for the Archbishop. "You undoubtably at times must have views that must differ from the views you must voice on behalf of the Anglican church - how do you deal with this situation?" she asked.

"It can be a tricky one," Dr Aspinall conceded. "People sometimes joke that if you get five Anglicans together in one room, there'll be six opinions about any question you ask, and there's some truth in that.

"The Primate can't give the impression that his view is the only view that exists in the church. Sometimes being primate involves recognising that there are arguments and differences of opinion about particular issues, and representing both sides of the debate, and sometimes I will express my own view, but acknowledge that other people think differently..."

The students didn't shy away from difficult questions, with Adrian Andrews asking about the separation between church and state. "What role do you think the Anglican Church should play in state and federal issues, for example, stem cell research?" he queried

"All churches, not just the Anglican Church are concerned about people, and they're concerned about community life and quality of life, so all the issues that touch on how we live together and how we arrange our shared life are things that the church should have their say about," said Dr Aspinall.

"I don't think the church has the right to dictate to the rest of the community how the rest of the community should live its life but the church has a very valuable contribution to make I think that comes from a long tradition of thinking carefully about what's valuable and what's good in human life."