Living the Covenant into the future

Leaders within the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) have shared their hopes for the future of the Covenant with the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA), as we prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the Covenant on 10 July, the eve of the 17th Assembly meeting.  

National Chair of Congress Rev Mark Kickett acknowledged that in celebrating the powerful significance of Covenant we are also reminded that the aims of the statement are yet to be fully realised. “We need that continual groundswell of support that rallies people together to say that for us to be the Church that we want to be, let’s celebrate the First Nations People who are a part of it and take us into a new relationship journey,” Rev Kickett shares in this month’s Crosslight magazine from the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. 

For Congress leaders, central to the future of the Covenant will be justice and reparation for First Peoples. This includes truth-telling about the wrongdoing that has taken place. As Nathan Tyson, Head of First Peoples Strategy and Engagement with the NSW/ACT Synod outlines: “The Covenant for the Uniting Church represents a really important truth-telling document in the life of the church. It's one of the church's most critical public documents. It acknowledges the role of the Uniting Church and of the churches that came together to form the Uniting Church. It acknowledges their role in treatment of Aboriginal people and communities, particularly around things like [the] Stolen Generations.” 

The words of the Covenanting Statement, read by Dr Jill Tabart, former President of the Uniting Church, say:

UnitingCare Queensland’s Kym Korbe, Wakka Wakka woman, perceives justice as facilitating the flourishing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: “Justice for First Peoples, for me, looks like families being given the wraparound, intersectional support that they require to thrive. In too many instances we are healing wounds without treating the deep wounds within the heart of people, within the heart of community. I think we need to slow and think about what is the intersectional response that we can do as peoples on the journey together.” 

As this journey continues, the commitments of the Covenant relationship equip the church with a mission to ensure the sustainability of Congress into the future. Indeed, the statement, in the words shared by former Congress Chair Pastor Bill Hollingsworth, recognises the need for a sharing of resources:

For Palawa woman, Ayla Williams from UAICC Tasmaniagrowing self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is crucial: “[The Covenant is] what gives First People a place within the church, to basically do Church and serve how they wish.” A genuine Covenant relationship requires Congress to be equipped for mission, and to be listened to across all councils of the Church. 

For these aims to be achieved, it is vital that the Covenant is not only recognised and lived out by the wider-reaching councils of the church, but also at the grassroots level, within congregational life. For Rev Will Pickett from UAICC in Victoria, this looks like, “[educating] members, at a Presbytery and congregational level, about the Covenanting Statement and retelling the story around it and what it can achieve.’ 

Living the Covenant Locally is a grassroots movement within the Uniting Church, seeking to practically embody the Covenant relationship through church, faith and mission. The movement provides resources across three phases: Listen & Learn, Going Deeper, and Action. These steps reflect the range of levels of interaction with the Covenant across the Uniting Church. Awareness of the statement and its aims is key, but for the Covenant to remain relevant and to have a tangible impact, hearts and minds must be challenged.  

Despite the challenges which lie ahead, UAICC Leprena Manager Alison Overeem holds hope the Covenant can be more deeply lived out in church, faith and mission, into the future: “I believe we have enough good champions out there to be celebrating a 60th anniversary in 30 years’ time. We’ve got some work to do as the Uniting Church, but what we need to hold on to is the hope that sits in the great stories that are already there.” 

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Covenant, this is an opportunity for the Covenant to be drawn more closely to the heart of the Uniting Church. 15 years ago, the revised Preamble sort to wrestle with the question of what it means to follow Jesus on Aboriginal land. Our church’s mission continues to be one of justice, and living the Covenant relationship into eternity. 

After all, Moderator of the Northern Synod Rev Tony Goodluck reminds us of the destiny that ties us together: “When I think of the Covenant, I think of a sacred contract, sacred relationship. Perhaps one way to think about a sacred contract is like a marriage contract, where it's not just a legal agreement, but it brings people together and they become family. And so for me the Covenant is about the sacred relationship that reminds us that we are family together.”