Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis has offered a prayer for use in worship on Sunday 15 October and beyond following tomorrow’s referendum on an indigenous Voice to Parliament.
It has been written to be used in the event of either a YES or NO result or in the event the outcome is not yet known by Sunday.
The prayer is inspired by the language of the revised Preamble, a change to the Uniting Church’s own Constitution passed by the 12th Assembly in 2009.
God, ancient of days,
we give you thanks
for the ways in which First Nations people
have cared for Country since creation
and for their unbroken Sovereignty over their lands and waters.
We give you thanks
for the ways in which they encountered you
through law, custom and ceremony
and for their particular insights into your ways.
We give you thanks
for the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress,
for the ways it nurtures Indigenous spirituality
and shares holistic ministry with First Nations People.
We pray for all First Nations People today,
acknowledging all they endure as a result of colonisation
and lamenting the racism and vitriol experienced across the Referendum campaign.
We pray for our nation,
that following the Referendum we might seek unity
in reconciliation, justice and truth telling.
We pray for our Church,
that we might grow into our Covenant more fully
and continue walking together as First and Second Peoples.
In the name of Christ, our lodestar.
Amen.