As Australia discusses Voice, Treaty, and Truth, the same urgent task faces each local church. A call to the local church to pursue reconciliation with local First Nations people comes in a speech Sandy Grant, Dean of Sydney’s St Andrews Cathedral, gave at the Sydney Anglican Synod (church parliament)in 2022.
The key to this motion [that called each church to have a reconciliation action plan] is giving every parish [local church] a concret’ step they can take towards “recognition” of indigenous people locally. [Other Synod motions supported financial support for Indigenous churches and for church members to give “generous consideration to the case to vote ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum.]
History is in the news with the end-of-era-defining death of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Many of us pay fascinated attention to English history and its intersection with us in Australia … the circumstances of her father’s accession, her long marriage, Prince Charles’ year of formative education outside Geelong in Australia Her Majesty’s faithful devotion to duty, numerous royal visits and tragedies, the 15 and 16 PMs of UK and Australia that served under her, alongside her sense of humour, her corgis and race horses and so forth.
But Australian history did not begin with the English. The 17th chapter of Acts reminds us that the Lord of heaven and earth who made the world and everything in it does not need our service, but rather he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. In particular, Acts 17;26 says “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”
Now there has been a varied, often sorry engagement of colonial settlers, and later arrivals with the original inhabitants of this land. That history also has joyful and positive moments and contributions, not least the coming of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus does not require anyone to become British to be saved.
How beautiful that our Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters can call it the “coming of the Light”.
But we heard on Saturday at Oran Park a local account from our dear colleague Rev Michael Duckett, who is not a descendant of people local to that part of south-west Sydney, of the dispossession and massacre of the original Aboriginal inhabitants, such that very few of their descendants survive today.
One can quickly see how identifying that history is significant to those who live there: to the few surviving Gundungarra (or Dharug) descendants, to Aboriginal people who have settled there from other localities, and to those who trace our ancestry to later aland’ss in Australia, even if they and we have now lived here for many generations.
One of the fundamental Christian virtues is truth-telling. Honesty is enshrined in the Ten Commandments. That should include honesty about our land’s history. It includes honesty about how people move around and migrate, fail to get along and hurt one another, and sometimes also find new opportunities.
We won’t always have complete clarity about all that happened or agreement about precise details or interpretation of events. But it is simply respectful of past and present inhabitants of this land to make an honest attempt at identifying the Indigenous history of the area in which your parish is situated. It’s also a matter of common human courtesy in our community, and often of justice, to identify any current Indigenous community, ministry or other significant er Indigenous concern in your area to take into account.
This cay be done by talking to your own congregation members, by inquiring with a local land council or another Aboriginal community group, or by seeking advice from your local studies section of your doesn’tibrary.
We realise that a full Reconciliation Action Plan is not a realistic step for many parishes, even though Synod urged it eight years ago.
These are sometimes more appropriate to larger organisations. But paragraphs 39-56 in the Synod report, found in Book 2, on ministry to and reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, has some great suggestions.
The Rector doesn’t have to do it all. Perhaps a small group led by a Parish Councillor or other ministry leader can get or keep the ball rolling.
The other part of the motion’s heart talks about local recognition. Again, there is flexibility here. It is not simply about inserting a formulaic “acknowledgement of country” at the start of every church service. Sometimes a succession of dignitaries at a special event all parrot off a similar formula before they speak. I agree that can unintentionally undermine meaningful engagement. Even though each one means it with respect, it can develop the feel of a “tick-a-box”. We, who have experience with frequently repeated liturgy, know both its value for prayer and spiritual formation, and also the danger of mere lip service while the heart is elsewhere. So we know we can do this recognition thing better.
There are a variety of recognition statements that can be used. We have a couple used before services at our Cathedral. The Bush Church Aid Society has another one. Sometimes they’re expressed as prayers rather than statement’s
If the official default secular format causes you difficulty, | have found a polite and listening discussion with Aboriginal people, both Christians or other local leaders often finds other acceptable ways of expression. That’s what |I did before we put up our statement at St Michael’s Cathedral in Wollongong, and I am grateful for the points Michael gave me back then.
Both there and now in the Sydney Cathedral, we print a statement in the bulletin and on the rotating slides before each service. But we only read or pray an acknowledgement before significant state or church services, like an ordination, or in Reconciliation and NAIDOC Weeks. These are themselves great occasions for recognition in other ways too. I also like to use it for our AGM. And as I said, I like to try and vary them a little.
“Before the last ordination, I rang Michael personally knowing he had only been ordained recently himself and asked if | had his goodwill to pass on his greeting in the Acknowledgment at the start of that service. He warmly agreed.
But it doesn’t just have to be formal. When I copied from MBM [a multi-cultural church in Blacktown] the idea of a welcome sign in many languages for the big car park wall at St Michael’s, we made sure that one of the other language words for “welcome” came from a language that had been spoken in our part of the world far longer than English.
l am not sure we used the most local language, but even ten years ago, the revival in resources of Indigenous languages was not as rich as it is today. It makes me think we should check and update our multi-lingual Cathedral welcome A-frame signs as well.
Friends, the [Sydney Anglican] Social Issues Committee along with the [Sydney] Standing Committee, believes identification of local Indigenous history and current connections, followed by locally appropriate recognition is a small step to take, helpful to greater understanding of each other, and sometimes even to reconciliation in relationships. It can be done Christianly. It’s a practical step. It’s a step with considerable flexibility in it. It’s therefore an achievable step for every parish.
Sandy Grant
Dean of Sydney