In his Presidential Address to the Synod (annual meeting) of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland (ACSQ), Archbishop Phillip Aspinall stated that “the biblical presuppositions no longer stand therefore the moral rules based on those presuppositions and rationale no longer must be regarded as prescriptive” (p 26, quoting Dr William Loader). This is a serious departure from Anglican doctrine expressed in our Constitution (especially paragraph 2), the 39 Articles (especially article XX) and the Ordinal. Other leaders within the ACSQ have denied not only the authority of the Scriptures, but the Virgin Birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the historic creeds, and the substitutionary atonement of the cross (see, for example, The Once and Future Scriptures by Dr Greg Jenks ed.)
It became clear that, in Brisbane, a choice needed to be made between being theologically Anglican and being structurally Anglican. Southside was born from this sad choice – to walk away from the structure in order to uphold the theology.
Southside is theologically Anglican, grounded in the Scriptures and upholding the 39 Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Southside is part of the Diocese of the Southern Cross – a structure not part of the Anglican Church of Australia but in fellowship with the majority of Anglicans around the world through the GAFCON movement. As such, Southside also affirms the Jerusalem Declaration.