Memorial service makes space for love and grief after suicide
The President offers this pastoral reflection following the Wesley Mission LifeForce Suicide Memorial service in Canberra on Monday evening
November 27, 2025
written by Uniting Church President Rev Charissa Suli
I had the privilege of representing the Assembly at the Wesley LifeForce Memorial and Sunflower Ceremony in Canberra on Monday evening. It was an honour to lead the final blessing and lead the sunflower ceremony and to stand alongside families, Elders, frontline workers, and communities who continue to carry the deep grief of losing someone to suicide.
As part of the ceremony, each of us placed a sunflower in memory of those we have lost. I laid mine for loved ones whose absence I still feel — including members of my Tongan community whose lives ended far too soon. In many Pacific families, grief is held quietly within the fale of our homes. As I placed my sunflower, I was reminded again that suicide is never distant. It touches our families, our congregations, our cultures, and our hearts.
What moved me most was the extraordinary courage of those who spoke, and those who held their silence with equal strength. Each sunflower represented a story and a life deeply loved. Grief may change over time, but love remains. As President, I am deeply aware that the Assembly carries a national responsibility to hold space for this grief, to lift up these stories, and to advocate for a society where every person is supported, valued, and seen.
"As part of the ceremony, each of us placed a sunflower in memory of those we have lost. Each sunflower represented a story and a life deeply loved. Grief may change over time, but love remains."
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Across our Church, we hold a shared commitment to supporting people in crisis and walking with those impacted by suicide. I want to acknowledge the vital work of our agencies — UnitingCare Australia, Uniting NSW.ACT, Uniting Vic.Tas, Uniting WA, UnitingCare Queensland, and Uniting Communities in South Australia — who provide mental-health support, family services, aged care, community outreach, and frontline crisis care every day.
At the Assembly, we continue to strengthen this work through our relationships with UnitingCare Australia, our chaplaincy networks, our justice and advocacy commitments, and our partnerships with organisations such as Wesley Mission and Lifeline. The Assembly also plays a crucial role in national advocacy, ensuring the voices of families, carers, First Peoples, CALD communities, and frontline workers inform our engagement with federal government, peak bodies, and national mental-health strategies.
In the Christian story, we follow a God who is light — not a light that denies suffering, but a steady, faithful light that walks with us through every shadow. This is the hope we carry as a Church: that God’s love is present in our deepest valleys, holding us even when words fall short. This visit reaffirmed for me how essential it is that the Assembly continues to lead our Church in shaping compassionate policy, strengthening partnerships, and resourcing ministries that respond to mental-health challenges in every corner of the nation.
May God’s light surround every grieving family today.
May Christ hold those who wake with heavy memories.
And may the Uniting Church — across every congregation, council, agency, school and through the Assembly — continue to be a community of compassion, courage, and connection for all.
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