I am writing this article (in early May) the day before travelling to Bendigo for a regional meeting of the Walking Together in Covenant Committee.
We’re travelling there as part of a program of visits around Victoria and Tasmania to encourage local membership of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (all First Nations members of the Uniting Church are automatically Congress members), and to encourage efforts towards covenanting and relationship building.
God gives us a vision of the reconciliation and renewal which is the end in view for all creation.
Congress has helped the Church to begin unpacking what reconciliation and renewal means in these lands where, as we recognise in the Preamble, God’s love and ways were being revealed before the arrival of the colonists.
I have had the uncomfortable privilege of being a witness at a Yoorrook Justice Commission hearing on behalf of the Uniting Church.
The Commission has the powers of a Royal Commission, and was established to investigate injustice against First Peoples in Victoria since colonisation.
The Commission is focused on truth-telling.
It aims to establish an official record of the impact of colonisation on First Peoples in Victoria, and to develop a shared understanding of that impact as well as of the diversity, strength and resilience of First People’s cultures.
It was a privilege to be a witness before the Commission because this is an historic moment for Victoria, and an important step in the recognition of the history of these lands, waters and people.
It was also rightly uncomfortable, because colonisation was brutal, and churches came with the colonisers.
While there were good intentions and efforts, church leaders often shared in paternalism, racism, and complicity in the injustices.
Injustices have been perpetuated through generations.
As a church, we acknowledge that we are beneficiaries of the dispossession of land from First Peoples.
Preparing for Yoorrook allowed for a review of the history of the missions of the churches prior to the formation of the Uniting Church; and for a review of our engagement with First Peoples and with advocacy for justice, voice, truth and treaty.
The Synod has provided a substantial submission in response to a series of particular questions by the Commission, which is likely to be published on the Yoorrook website.
Yoorrook has also encouraged us to encourage others to make submissions too, which can add to the stories of how colonisation has impacted First Peoples; the strength and resilience of First Peoples; and the survival of cultures, knowledge and traditions.
Local stories from congregations or families are welcome, and submissions can be made until November.
Yoorrook, which is First Peoples-led, will make findings and recommendations towards a more just future for First Peoples before it concludes in mid-2025.
In the meantime we continue with relationship building, learning, and working towards a more just future.
Through Yoorrook’s website, or by other research, please know something of the history of the land on which we are now found, and heed the request from the Congress to offer an Acknowledgement of Country when we meet together.
In following Christ we are called to be people of reconciliation.
With courage, grace, humility and hope, may we hear God’s call to walking together faithfully towards the future that God invites.
Rev David Fotheringham
Moderator
