Tag: First Peoples

Congress National Gathering: Trauma and Healing

Post author By revivewa
Post date February 4, 2018

Aboriginal and Islander members of the Uniting Church have boosted resources for youth work, mission and evangelism at the triennial United Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Congress) National Conference, held from Saturday 13 to Thursday 18 January in Geelong, Victoria.

Congress will employ a full-time National President and a full-time youth worker for the next three years, to build on the strong work being done by young Indigenous church leaders in local communities around the country. Congress also rang in a number of generational leadership changes, electing Rev Garry Dronfield to the new role of National President.

Garry is a Bundjalung man in placement at Sylvania Uniting Church in Sydney, who served as Deputy Chairperson on the previous Congress National Executive. Garry is well known for his association with the God Squad motorcycle group. At his installation service, Garry preached on Daniel 3:1-30, The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace, urging Congress members to stand firm in their faith and be confident in their belief in Jesus.

Tags First Peoples, Ministry, Youth

Stories & Feature Articles

From the Archives: Noonkanbah 1980

Post author By revivewa
Post date June 25, 2017

This year the Uniting Church in Australia celebrates its 40th anniversary. Throughout 2017, Revive will feature significant events in the life of the church during that time.

The Uniting Church is often talked about for its commitment to social justice. Over its 40 years, the Uniting Church WA has spoken and acted on a range of issues. In recent years, members of the Uniting Church have marched for refugee rights, action on climate change, marriage equality, pride and more. Church members have also spoken out on Indigenous rights and even the right to protest itself.

One of the earlier involvements of the Uniting Church WA in political actions was to protect land from mining at Noonkanbah Station, in the Kimberley, WA. In 1976, the land was pegged for oil exploration, causing tension with the State Government and the traditional owners of the land, the Yungngora people, over the desecration of sacred sites.

Members of the Noonkanbah community had asked the church to support them in their cause, resulting in the Uniting Church working closely with the Yungngora people during this time. A number of rallies were held in WA in support of the traditional owners of the land.

Tags First Peoples

Stories & Feature Articles

Are they home yet? 20 years of Bringing Them Home

Post author By revivewa
Post date May 26, 2017

On Saturday 15 October 2016, speaking over the sound of a grumpy portable generator, I stood on the worn and creaking floorboards of the Mogumber mission church, reading a letter. It was a statement of support on behalf of the Uniting Church WA, to the people assembled that day. It was a difficult letter to read aloud.

The words of the letter are fairly simple, but they spoke some truth, pointed to justice and, for those present, brought a little bit of healing.

Mogumber, or what was previously known as the Moore River Native Settlement, became part of Methodist Mission in 1951, when the government handed over control of the site, until 1974 when it reverted to the Aboriginal Lands Trust.

For the people who came to Mogumber mission on that sunny October day last year, there were many mixed emotions. Some of those present had originally been taken there without choice, and in that event they lost their families, language, culture and country. Others were Uniting Church members who had faithfully served or worked there as part of their Christian service.

Tags First Peoples

News & Announcements

Sorry Day: learning form culture and deepening faith

Post author By revivewa
Post date May 24, 2017

Sorry Day is a time to mend relationships and acknowledge hurts. Sorry Day is held annually on 26 May to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of Australia’s Indigenous people.

It is an important moment, to remind ourselves of the importance of building respectful and honest relationships. For myself, as a member of the Second Peoples of Australia, Sorry Day is also a day to remind myself of the importance of learning from the First Peoples of this continent and its islands. There is much we can learn about relationships with others, about living in Australia, and about faith in God.

In February, I commenced in the role of director of Education and Formation for the Uniting Church WA. A large part of my brief is to encourage the people of the church, and especially the lay leaders, lay preachers, pastors, and ministers of the church, to commit to being lifelong learners. And there are many ways that we can learn: through reading, attending seminars, enrolling in courses, serving people in need, reflecting on experiences you have had or working with people who come from cultures or backgrounds which are different from our own.

Learning is something that we can always undertake. As we deepen in our relationships with the First Peoples, we can learn much. Our land is greatly blessed by the long and faithful heritage of these people. For millennia, across this continent, and in the adjacent islands, the First Peoples have cared for the land, nurtured their law, and showed resilience. They are gracious enough now to seek continued relationship with those of us whose forbears have invaded, colonised, and decimated their lifestyle.

Tags First Peoples

Stories & Feature Articles

Experiencing Perth through the eyes of Mowanjum’s youth

Post author By revivewa
Post date April 5, 2017

The January school holidays were a special time for 16 students from Derby District High School who spent 11 glorious days in sunny Perth. The students were members of the remote, Indigenous community of Mowanjum.

This is the fourth time Derby students have travelled from the West Kimberly to Perth to experience a different way of life, away from the bush. Their journey to Perth is a long one – 4 500km on a bus with several stops, which included an overnight stay at Port Hedland Uniting Church and Karalundi School in Meekatharra, before reaching their destination: Ern Halliday campsite at Hillarys, Perth.

The excursion was hosted by the Boab Network based at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church, which have been running school holiday programs in Mowanjum for 10 years. There are many reasons why the trip is important for Mowanjum.

Tags Church and Community, First Peoples

News & Announcements

A celebration of ministry, leadership and unconditional love

Post author By revivewa
Post date December 21, 2016

Rev Sealin Garlett celebrated his retirement to a packed room on Sunday afternoon 18 December, at Len Packham Hall in Coolbellup. Sealin officially retires on 31 December 2016.

Sealin trained at both the Perth Theological Hall and Nungalinga College, a ministry college for Australia’s First Peoples in Darwin. He was ordained in 1991 to serve at Coolbellup Uniting Church, now Maaman ‘O’ Miya Uniting Church.

Throughout his ministry, Sealin has served with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC), both nationally and in WA. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the UAICC WA’s Beananging Kwuurt Institute.

One of Sealin’s passions has been strengthening the covenantal relationship between the UAICC and the Uniting Church in Australia – a journey of working together to bring about reconciliation and forgiveness between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Australia.

After a welcome to country from Nyungar elder Uncle Ben Taylor, Rev Dennis Doust introduced a range of speakers from many walks of Sealin’s journey in ministry.

Rev Dr Ian Tozer, acting general secretary of the Uniting Church WA, said that Sealin’s use of Indigenous stories and traditions has helped introduce many people to Jesus Christ.

Tags Church and Community, First Peoples, Our People and Agencies

News & Announcements

Uniting Church WA urges Premier to stop work on Roe 8

Post author By revivewa
Post date December 15, 2016

The moderator of the Uniting Church WA, Rev Steve Francis, and the chairperson of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress WA, Rev Sealin Garlett, have written to the West Australian Premier urgently asking that the preparatory work on the ‘Roe 8’ site be stopped immediately.

Tags Environment, First Peoples

News & Announcements

Hope and healing for Mogumber

Post author By revivewa
Post date November 23, 2016

In October, those with a connection to the closed Mogumber Native Mission site gathered to share stories of the past and hopes for the future of the site. The site closed in 1974, but prior to this was a government settlement housing Indigenous Australians, many who were part of the Stolen Generations.

Bev Port-Louis, one of the main organisers of the gathering, is a Nyungar elder with strong connections to the site at Mogumber; her grandmother is buried there. Bev is a member of the Bringing Them Home Committee WA, of which the Uniting Church WA is also a member.

“The area where Mogumber sits is in Yuet country and that’s where I grew up,” Bev said.

Bev was approached by Rev Dennis Doust, a retired Uniting Church WA minister, and others who had previously worked at Mogumber, about holding a day for healing. She felt that many of the staff who worked at Mogumber also needed healing, as some felt concerned that they had been part of a hurtful past.

“A lot of the staff now are in their 60s and early 70s and they were teachers there and had other positions. I didn’t want them to have a conscience to think that they did anything wrong because it’s not their fault how the place got set up,” she said.

Tags First Peoples