Former University of Otago queer support co-ordinator and Christian Neill Ballantyne is unequivocal about the thinking behind St Matthew’s decision to leave the church.
"This is bad, mean and lazy theology which is being used primarily for the political purpose of moving his flock towards disaffiliation," Mr Ballantyne said.
"It shows none of the love, grace and inclusiveness of God which Jesus spent his whole life teaching about, and arguably was executed for."
Mr Ballantyne was referring in part to St Matthew’s vicar the Rev Stu Crosson’s use of Old Testament verse from Leviticus in his writings this year on the issue.
"To bless something that God calls an abomination and what the apostle Paul describes as inviting the wrath of God seems destined to invite the judgement of God upon the church," Mr Crosson wrote in an article that features on the St Matthew’s website.
The passage referred to says: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
Leviticus, much of which consists of God’s speeches to Moses, also includes God’s rules concerning mould on clothing and the quality of animals to be used as burnt offerings.
In May, the Anglican Bishop of Dunedin, the Rt Rev Steven Benford, called for calm on the issue, asking clergy and lay members not to leave the church after a national decision allowing the blessing of same-sex marriages.
That appeared to have quelled dissent in the church until last week, when St Matthew’s voted to disaffiliate.
Since then, responses in the Otago Daily Times’ letters to the editor have ranged from descriptions of Mr Crosson’s views as "hate speech" to those calling "deviant behaviour" unacceptable in the Bible.
Mr Crosson this week responded in part to questions from the ODT.
In a letter to the parish he said he had been misquoted in the newspaper in terms of saying homosexuality was an abomination, although he did not take the opportunity to expand on that when given the opportunity.In the letter he said he was a "conservative on Christian marriage and believes God ordained this to be between a man and a woman for the gift of life".
"That is why I won’t be following the Anglican Church in New Zealand down the path it has chosen of blessing homosexual marriage."
"I know what a hard road it is to walk apart from God."
Asked if his decision sent a message to the gay community the church was closed to them, he responded God "loves us too much to leave us in our sin, (any sin) because sin mars the image of God in us all".
"A commitment to greed, adultery, homosexual practice, idolatry, theft, drunkenness all exclude us from the Kingdom of God, Paul tells us.
"The church I lead is open to all people: gay-straight, old-young, rich-poor. However, to love God meant "we obey God’s word, even his hard words and this applies to everyone".
Mr Ballantyne said he had worked hard to build a bridge between the LGBTQ community and Christians.
"The Anglican Church has held a plethora of hui over the last 10-plus years on this topic and so very little progress has occurred.
Asked if he was concerned about the gay community feeling uncomfortable in the Anglican Church, Dr Benford said he was "very concerned about any members of the church who feel less comfortable or safe".
He said he did not believe Mr Crosson, or the majority of those choosing to leave the Anglican Church, thought of any individual as "abominations".
On the issue of quoting Leviticus, he said it was difficult "to respond in a sentence or two where scholars have written many books".
"I believe the Bible should be read as a whole and not ‘cherry-picked’ to support single-issue matters.
"The book of Leviticus is a part of the Bible very dependent on its time and culture, but at heart it reminds us of the holiness of God and the mercy of God," Dr Benford said.
"It’s just so disappointing stuff like this continues," she said.
She questioned Mr Crosson’s writings that promote "the gift of singleness and celibacy".
"To speak about the idea that the best way to be queer is to be celibate, or to embrace singleness, just falls so sorely short of what it means to be a pastoral leader and a friend and an ally for the queer community.
"I hear this so often, the idea you can love the sinner, hate the sin, but it’s just not possible if this is the way you go about it."
She said his use of Leviticus had "definitely been one of the scriptures that’s been weaponised for the kind of homophobic discrimination that we’ve seen in our churches".
Mr Crosson resigned as a priest on November 14, and the future of the St Matthew’s parish remains unclear.
Dr Benford said conversations were "ongoing" with the 21% of the parish who voted against leaving.
There had also been discussions about the future of the church, but he was not prepared to discuss specifics.
For Mr Crosson, the future is outside the Anglican Church.In a blog post he wrote: "The Anglican Church’s decision to bless gay marriage set a path that [wife] Mary and I in good conscience could not follow.
"In the new year we will be planting a church in the city called Hope Church, Dunedin.
"We will, like Christ’s church universal, be guided by God’s word written, the Bible."
The plans will not be supported by Mr Ballantyne.
"[The] decision of St Matthew’s to disaffiliate is on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of science, and the wrong side of basic church teachings around love and grace.
"This is the true abomination."
