AusLeisure

Andrew Thorburn has resigned from his role as incoming Chief Executive of the AFL’s Essendon club as a result of his links to a church that condemns homosexuality and abortion - deemed by the Bombers’ board as being in “direct contradiction” to the values of the club.

The Bombers announced this afternoon that Thorburn, despite reportedly not holding the same personal views as the City on the Hill movement for which he is Chairman, felt he could not serve in both roles and had offered his resignation.

Essendon President, Dave Barham advised in a statement “as soon as the comments relating to a 2013 sermon from a pastor at the City of the Hill church came to light this morning, we acted immediately to clarify the publicly espoused views on the organisation’s official website, which are in direct contradiction to our values as a club.

“Essendon is committed to providing an inclusive, diverse and safe club, where everyone is welcome and respected.

“The board made clear that, despite these not being views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally and that were also made prior to him taking up his role as chairman, he couldn’t continue to serve in his dual roles at the Essendon football club and as Chairman of City on the Hill. The board respects Andrew’s decision.”

Announced on Monday as the Bombers' successor to Xavier Campbell, immediately after his appointment Thorburn promised to lead an "inclusive" club, advising in his first interview after being appointed to lead Essendon, that he understood some of the church's views "are offensive and upset people".

Thorburn told Melbourne radio station SEN on Tuesday morning “my faith is a very personal thing, and my faith has helped me become a better leader.

"At the centre of my faith is the belief that you should create community, care for people, help people's faith and respect them as humans."

A City on a Hill article from 2013, titled Surviving Same Sex Attraction as a Christian, advises those who “struggle with same-sex attraction” to “speak to a mature Christian whom you trust, so you can receive the support and accountability you will need in the long term to survive these temptations”.

Those views were reiterated in a 2016 sermon stating “practising homosexuality is a sin, but same-sex attraction is not a sin”.

Another sermon, published in 2013 and titled What Should Christians Think About Abortion, stated “whereas today we look back at sadness and disgust over concentration camps, future generations will look back with sadness at the legal murder of hundreds of thousands of human beings every day through medicine and in the name of freedom.”

The church reaffirmed this position in a 2018 sermon stating that “even women who have raised children conceived through their rape have not regretted aborting their child”.

City on a Hill, which has equated abortion with concentration camps and claims “practising homosexuality is a sin”.

Immediately after Thorburn’s appointment, Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, described the Church’s views as “absolutely appalling”, while the Deputy Mayor of the City of Port Phillip, Tim Baxter, said he would rescind his club membership because as “a bisexual man I cannot feel welcome in this club”.

Thorburn, a former National Australia Bank chief executive who resigned in 2019 after his leadership was criticised by the Banking Royal Commission, joined City on a Hill in 2014.

Essendon’s acting Chief Executive, Nick Ryan will continue in the role while the club commences the process of appointing Campbell’s successor.

Image: Andrew Thorburn. Credit: Essendon/Twitter.

Related Articles

4th October 2022 - Cain Liddle launches website introducing the Incrementum Advisory Group’s consultancy services

30th September 2022 - Players Association reveals AFL players unhappy over racism response

25th September 2022 - AFL Grand Final’s MCG return welcomes largest crowd since 1971

21st September 2022 - AFL’s Hawthorn hit by ‘disturbing historical allegations’ of racism and bullying

20th September 2022 - AFL announces multi-year content deal with TikTok video platform

14th September 2022 - Telstra unveils Australian-first 5G innovation for visually impaired AFL fans at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium

7th September 2022 - AFL reveals new all-time club membership record

2nd September 2022 - Former Canberra AFL coach sentenced to 20 years in jail for child sex offences

24th August 2022 - Disputes at AFL’s Essendon sees resignation of club Chief Executive Xavier Campbell

15th August 2022 - Demand for tickets sees inaugural AFLW match between Essendon and Hawthorn moved to Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium

23rd August 2021 - Essendon’s AFLW licence to revitalise the Windy Hill precinct

16th October 2019 - Melbourne media cast doubts over ASADA’s handling of Essendon doping scandal

13th October 2016 - Essendon players lose Swiss Federal Tribunal appeal over doping bans

29th January 2016 - Essendon fined $200,000 after pleading guilty to WorkSafe charges over supplements program

13th January 2016 - AFL Players’ Association head says Essendon players victims, not perpetrators

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.