Editing The Fellowship (Australia) (section)

==Actions by the Presbyterian Church==
In February 2006, the Presbytery of Melbourne East [[excommunicated]] all 15 elders of the Camberwell congregation because of their handling of a complaint of emotional abuse against an elder.<ref name="Excommunication">{{cite news |title= Church excommunicates 15 for cult membership|url= http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/church-excommunicates-15-over-cult/2006/02/24/1140670265693.html|work= The Age|publisher= Fairfax|date= 25 February 2006|author=Barney Zwartz|quote= "The Presbyterian Church's Australian head, Moderator-General Bob Thomas, said yesterday the presbytery removed the elders because it considered they discharged their duties unsatisfactorily and not in accord with the code of behaviour expected of elders."|access-date=3 August 2008 }}</ref>

This decision was appealed to the [[Presbyterian Church of Victoria|State Assembly]], which upheld the decision of the Presbytery at its meeting in October 2006.<ref name="Backinfold">{{cite news |author= Barney Zwartz |title= Cult elders back in church fold|url= http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/cult-elders-back-in-church-fold/2007/08/02/1185648061404.html|work= The Age|publisher= Fairfax|date=3 August 2007 |access-date=3 August 2008 }}</ref> Some members of the Victorian Assembly then appealed the decision to the General Assembly of Australia on the grounds that the Victorian Church had set up its own processes for discipline rather than operating under the General Assembly's Code as required and that the decision of the Victorian Assembly was made based on information that was not available to the Presbytery of East Melbourne when making its original decision, against its own process of discipline.

These appeals were upheld by the General Assembly of Australia at its Commission in August 2007.<ref name="Backinfold"/> The clerk of the General Assembly, Dr Paul Logan, said that many felt that natural justice had been denied by the processes used.<ref name="Backinfold"/> As a result of this decision the elders were reinstated.<ref name="Backinfold"/>

The General Assembly of Australia established a committee to investigate material published about The Fellowship, including allegations of errors in doctrine and behaviour, promising to re-hear complaints.<ref name="Backinfold"/>

The Victorian State Assembly was instructed by the General Assembly of Australia to take several actions including withdrawing from publication ''Fractured Fellowship'' and temporarily moving the parish of Camberwell from the Presbytery of Melbourne East to the Presbytery of Melbourne West until the matter could be settled. At its Commission in May 2008 the Victorian Assembly handled the private report of the committee of the General Assembly in public session, rejecting its instructions to retry the matter. Rev. Douglas Robertson from [[Scots' Church, Melbourne|Scots' Church]] in Melbourne, who at the same meeting was elected the next [[Moderator of the General Assembly|Moderator]] of the Victorian Assembly, accused the General Assembly of Australia of censorship and unconstitutionally exceeding its authority.<ref name="Splits">{{cite news |author= Barney Zwartz |title= Presbyterian church split over cult's fate |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/presbyterian-church-split-over-cults-fate/2008/05/09/1210131265843.html |work= The Age|publisher= Fairfax|date= 10 May 2008|access-date=3 August 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Rights&wrongs">{{cite news |author= Barney Zwartz |title= State Presbyterian Assembly rights the national wrongs|url= http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/state-presbyterian-assembly-rights-the-national-wrongs/2008/05/11/1210444242985.html|work= The Age|publisher= Fairfax|date= 12 May 2008|access-date=3 August 2008 }}</ref>