Why I marched: a personal reflection

by Rev Hee Won Chang, Minister at Hope Uniting Church, Maroubra

On the weekend, the Uniting Church in Australia joined the March for Humanity. As a Church, we heard the call and we responded.

People from Hope, Pitt St, Leichhardt, Engadine, Revesby, Balmain, Willoughby, Parramatta Community, Glenbrook, Epping, Pittwater and Roseville Uniting Church congregations were there - and probably many more.

We marched with Rev Faaimata Havea Hiliau, Moderator of the NSW.ACT Synod, Jione Havea, Climate Catalyst from the Uniting Mission and Education, Sureka Goringe, National Director of Uniting World, and Paul Goh, President-Elect of the Assembly. We marched under the banner of Palestinian Christians in Australia, an act of solidarity deeply embedded in the ecumenical DNA of the Uniting Church.

I walked wearing my clerical collar, carrying not just my own convictions but the prayers of many who longed to be there but could not. At my ordination, the Uniting Church charged me to:

“…announce the good news of God in Christ to those beyond the community of faith, stand alongside those who suffer, and work for justice and peace in the world.”

So, I marched.

In the rain.
In grief.
In hope.
In prayer.
As an ordained minister.
As a Korean woman shaped by ancestors who resisted empire and tyranny.
As one who believes the Gospel is not just personal salvation, but liberation for all.

As I walked, I thought of the 1988 Bicentenary protest and the Walk for Reconciliation in 2000. I thought of the footsteps of Martin Luther King Jr. I thought of my own ancestors in the March 1^st Movement for Korean Independence. In each of these, the Church walked and often led, called to bear witness to the suffering and hopes of their time.

Some will say this is too political. But I firmly believe this is what discipleship looks like when it walks out the church doors and into the world. The cross, after all, was a political tool used by empire to silence. And resurrection teaches us that even death making powers do not get the final word.

Still, I want to acknowledge the deep pain and complexity that surrounds the Holy Land.

I grieve the hostages still held. I grieve the lives shattered on 7 October 2023.

I deeply grieve the silence that has surrounded Palestinians for too long. And I lament the ongoing genocide in Gaza where now, starvation is used as a weapon. The scale of violence defies words.

To march for Gaza is not to dismiss Israeli suffering. It is to say that the lives of Palestinians matter just as much. It is to say that no liberation is just when it comes at the cost of another’s destruction.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus walked with two disoriented grieving disciples. They were deep in conversation, talking and discussing, trying to make sense of the things that had happened. From the horrors of the crucifixion to the disbelief of the resurrection. They couldn’t believe what had happened.

And Jesus draws near as a stranger and walks with them. And they see him and proclaim: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road…” (Luke 24:32)

In the pouring rain, huddled under umbrellas, I found myself beneath the covering of Jewish siblings. And I thought…how courageous…how difficult it must be for them…and yet they were there, walking, witnessing, and hoping.

I believe Christ walked with us that day, burning in our hearts the gentle whisper: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).

Attending such events grows our faith too, because it moves us from worship to witness, from belief to embodiment.

So, we walked and marched, for hostages, for Gaza, for every person oppressed who longs to be free.

And as we walked, we met Christ Jesus walking beside us. On the road, waiting for us.

Read more about the Uniting Church Assembly's support for the March for Humanity