Baptism of fire

By Shaun Inguanzo
A DANDENONG church is under fire from angry war veterans and a grieving family after it disallowed a local RSL to hold a service at the funeral of a World War Two veteran.
The family of James Arthur was then forced to rearrange his funeral to accomodate the war honours after the Dandenong Presbyterian Church refused to allow the RSL ritual to be held in its chapel, because the RSL was not a Presbyterian group.
But Mr Arthur’s daughter, Denise Arthur, was shocked and said the ex-serviceman has devoted his life to the Potter Street church, and that he ‘helped build it’ when it broke away from the Uniting Church about 1990.
Mr Arthur died on 11 January and was eventually buried on 16 January after Dandenong’s Le Pine funeral parlour accommodated the RSL service involving the laying of an Australian flag and poppies on his casket by fellow RSL members.
Dandenong RSL, of which Mr Arthur was a member, was so outraged by the Presbyterian Church’s gesture that it sent an urgent letter of complaint to RSL Victorian president Major General David McLachlan, requesting his attention to the matter.
Labelling it a disgrace, Ms Arthur said her father would have been shocked by the church’s decision.
“I think (Dad) would be really upset about it, especially since he had done so much for the church,” she said.
“It is so ironic, the Uniting Church he chose not to go to were the ones who ended up doing (the service) in the end.”
But the church has denied it did anything wrong, stating it would not allow any secular or non-Presbyterian community groups, not just the RSL, to hold services in its chapel.
Dandenong Presbyterian Church reverend John Rickard told the Star that Ms Arthur approached the church soon after her father’s death to arrange a service.
“In this case the young lady (Denise) asked for a funeral in the church and that wasn’t a problem,” Rev Rickard said.
“She then asked if there could be an RSL service in the church, and I said no, not in the church.”
He said he had told Ms Arthur the family could invite an RSL member to speak during the eulogy, but would not allow the sub-branch to host its traditional ritual.
“Military service is an important part of Australian culture and it needs to be remembered,” he said.
“I am happy for an RSL representative to speak during a eulogy, but I am not happy to have an RSL service inside the church.”
He added: “I am not happy for any secular organisation to do ceremonies inside the church.”
Rev Rickard said he offered to make other arrangements if the family could not find another location, but never again heard about the Arthurs’ situation until the Star contacted him.
Rev Rickard said he was not aware that Mr Arthur had been a committed church member, having only been the reverend since the veteran could no longer physically attend sermons.
But he said prior knowledge of Mr Arthur’s church involvement would not have changed his stance.
Dandenong RSL spokesman John Laughton said the sub-branch was disappointed the incident happened, and hoped it wouldn’t occur again.
“We hold RSL services for any members so we can honour those who have served for our country,” he said.
“Generally we have been accepted at all types of funeral parlours and churches over the years and there is no reason why it could not have occurred on this occasion.”