Resources to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Covenant
Banner artwork by Grace Williams, Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (Tasmania)
This year the Uniting Church marks two significant anniversaries in our church’s journey seeking justice and healing as First and Second Peoples in this land.
10 July marks the 30th anniversary of the Covenant between the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) and the Uniting Church in Australia, while mid-July marks the 15th Anniversary of the revised Preamble to the Uniting Church Constitution.
To mark these historic events, the Assembly has released some key resources, inviting the church to both celebrate our covenant relationship and to take the opportunity to fully commit to the work that must still be done to honour this commitment.
The first resource is an interactive presentation* that tells the journey thus far, and invites Church members to think about how we can truly live out the covenant commitment in our faith and mission, locally and across the church nationally.
The resource can be viewed as a presentation, explored individually, or different elements could be shared as part of your worship or small group studies.
The second resource is two anniversary edition posters of the Covenanting Statement and the Preamble. We encourage you to print these and display them in your communities to begin a conversation about what the Covenant means in your place.
We’d love to hear the different ways that you are marking the Covenant and Preamble anniversaries. Please get in touch to share your stories and photos. Email comms@nat.uca.org.au.
* Please note that you can navigate to different date milestones in the presentation either by clicking on them or using the arrow keys on your keyboard. You can reset the presentation by clicking the Home and Back buttons on the right side. There may be a slight delay until the presentation fully loads, so depending on your connection, you might see some empty boxes when you start.
Conversation questions
You can explore this resource on your own or with a group of people.
There are a couple ways you can use the timeline in a congregational setting. You could use the slideshow function to present a section or the whole resource during a worship service. Or, you could have the resource available on an iPad or laptop after a service for congregants to engage with. Here are a few conversation starters to make it a group activity:
- What stood out to you?
- What are you interested to learn more about? The Uniting Church Assembly website and Illuminate platform have plenty more resources to share.
- Who are some of the key leaders of the Covenant?
- How might you personally respond to the Covenant? How might your congregation respond to the Covenant?
- What is your prayer for the UAICC and the Uniting Church? Share it with us here.
Anniversary Posters
Covenanting Statement and Uniting Church Preamble
Click on the image to download and print to display in your community.
Other events and resources
We will continue to add to this list over the coming weeks
- Preamble Conference, 15 years on, What is it still saying to the UCA? An exciting Conference to mark the 15th anniversary of the Preamble to the Uniting Church Constitution will be held from 8-9 July. Hubs are planned in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and online. Find out more
- Yanakanai – Come and gather, let’s sit together (Adnyamathanha). The Covenanting Committee of the South Australian Synod is hosting an evening of reflection, commemoration, and celebration to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Covenant between the Uniting Church of Australia and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. Information here
- Crosslight magazine (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania) - major feature on the Covenant Anniversary in its June edition
- Revive magazine (Synod of WA) included an article by Rev Dr Alison Longworth on the Covenant Anniversary in its April edition.