To Get Involved

• Join the Walking Together as First and Second Peoples FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/walkingtogetheruca/
• Organise your local congregation or community to support a campaign for tangible improvements to the lives of First Peoples such as
  • Allies for Uluru (in response to the Uluru Statement from the Heart) https://alliesforuluru.antar.org.au/
  • Raise the Age https://raisetheage.org.au/
  • Write to your MPs asking them to take action on stopping Aboriginal deaths in custody https://www.commongrace.org.au/letter_aboriginal_deaths_in_custody
  • If you would like assistance joining these campaigns, please do not hesitate to contact Assembly Policy and Advocacy Officer, Raul Sugunananthan, at enquiries@nat.uca.org.au
• Seek partnership with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities or organisation such as Land Councils
• Consider Paying the Rent https://paytherent.net.au/
  
  

Our Vision for a Just Australia 2021

One of seven foundations in this vision document expressing the Uniting Church vision for a Just Australia is to have First Peoples at the heart of our church and nation.

A First Peoples Heart - Our Vision:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, nurtured and sustained by God before invasion, are celebrated at the very heart of what it means to be Australian. First Peoples’ sovereignty is affirmed, First Peoples have a voice in the decision making of our country and are living out their right to self-determination.

As First and Second Peoples, we walk together, creating socially just and culturally safe relationships, listening and learning from one another.

This resource is suitable for discussion or for election forums with candidates and as an advocacy tool. The full Vision for a Just Australia document covering other justice concerns of the UCA can be found here.

Worship resources

Day of Mourning 

Across the Uniting Church we observe a Day of Mourning on the Sunday before Australia Day to lament the ongoing effects of the invasion and colonisation of Australia’s First Peoples.
The Day of Mourning is an observance that was endorsed at the 15th Assembly in 2018 at the request of our sisters and brothers in the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC)

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Acknowledgement of Country

Acknowledgement of Country is an ancient protocol of respect. For the UCA it is an important expression of:

• the Covenant between the UAICC and the UCA
• the Preamble to the UCA Constitution
• the affirmation of the Sovereignty of First Nations Peoples by the 15^th Assembly 2018

Included here is a general resource with various suggestions for Acknowledgement of Country. On this link you can also find 10 different language versions together with English for Acknowledgement.

Destiny Together 2014

In 2014 the UCA call the whole Church to a week of prayer and fasting for justice for First Nations Peoples. There was a particular concern for the negative impacts of the Federal Government’s NT Intervention. Many 100’s met together on the lawns of the Parliament in Canberra and were led in a prayer vigil and the Eucharist by the President Rev Prof Andrew Dutney and Rev R Garrawurra, Chairperson for the National UAICC. These resources provide greater detail and offer prayer that continue to be important as the Church lives out this destiny and advocates for justice for First Nations Peoples.

Common Grace 

With a core team of thought leaders, creators and campaigners, Common Grace delivers a range of services including events, consulting, education and practical resources designed to bring Jesus and justice to the centre of everyday life. Collectively, and through its leadership, the movement is raising a generous Christian voice in the public conversation.