November 20, 2024
#UCADayofMourning
Sunday 19 January
For 30 years the Uniting Church has been in Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. Made in honesty about our history and in hope for the future, the Covenant commits us to work for a just church and nation.
Bound together by shared faith, witness and a dream for God’s justice and healing, we walk together as First and Second Peoples, sharing in solidarity, joy and sorrow on the path to reconciliation.
As part of this enduring commitment and in this spirit, you're invited to mark the Uniting Church Day of Mourning on Sunday 19 January.
Since 2019 the Uniting Church has marked a Day of Mourning on the Sunday before 26 January to reflect on the dispossession and ongoing injustices faced by Australia’s First Peoples, acknowledge our shared history and renew our commitment to justice and healing. The Uniting Church has acknowledged our nation's history through its Preamble to the Constitution, Covenanting Statements and at many other times through its covenanting journey.
We are delighted that the 2025 Day of Mourning liturgy and resource is being developed by Muth arrak, the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress in Queensland. This is the first significant update to the resource since 2019. The Assembly is deeply grateful to Kym Korbe, Executive Officer UAICC and Covenanting in the Synod of QLD, Aunty Rev Roberta Stanley, Rev Brian Hoole and the committee who together are undertaking this work.
We invite your community to hold a worship service on this day to mark the occasion as we pray that truth, justice, healing and hope will shape our life as First and Second Peoples and the Covenant we share.
The 2025 resource will be released in mid-December. You can now sign up to receive the resource as soon as it is available.
The Assembly is also inviting Uniting Church congregations to advise us of your planned Day of Mourning services so we can develop a national register. Email us here.
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Save the Date: live public event
We are excited to announce that a national public event will take place to mark the Day of Mourning, hosted by the Synod of Queensland in partnership with the Assembly.
Save the Date: 5:30pm on Friday 24 January, beginning in King George Square and moving into Albert Street Uniting Church in Brisbane. The event will be live-streamed with more details to come.
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