Save the Date: 30th Anniversary of the Covenant

This July the Uniting Church will be marking two significant anniversaries in the life of the church and our relationship with First Peoples.

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. 

The Covenant was a result of years of discernment and planning from Aboriginal Christian leaders within the Uniting Church who held a prophetic vision for a more just and healed future.

Within the tradition and practice of the Christian faith, a covenant is a commitment, an intentional promise of mutual understanding, listening and service within a shared life. 

In May 1988 when the 5th Assembly met, Rev Charles Harris and Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra with other UAICC leaders called for a 'Covenant' to bind the UCA and the UAICC together in relationship. This was endorsed by the full Assembly by acclamation. Six years later, the Covenanting Statement was formally signed at the 7th Assembly, on 10 July 1994.

In the Covenanting statement read at the meeting, then President Dr Jill Tabart formally apologises for the church’s role in colonisation and dispossession of Australia’s First Peoples and commits the church to a new relationship. In response Pastor Bill Hollingsworth, then National Chair of UAICC, offers an inspiring challenge to the church to honour this commitment. The statement continues to serve as a formational part of the Uniting Church’s commitments to walking together as First and Second Peoples and to self-determination for First Peoples. 

Current UAICC National Chair, Rev Mark Kickett, says, "The Covenant helps us to express the relationship we have as one church, as we seek to live out issues of justice, reconciliation and unity."

In a significant milestone in the covenant journey, the Uniting Church’s Constitution was revised to include a Preamble at the 12th Assembly (15-21 July 2009). Significantly, the Preamble affirms that, ‘The First Peoples had already encountered the Creator God before the arrival of the colonisers; the Spirit was already in the land revealing God to the people through law, custom and ceremony’ (Preamble, para. 3).  

Both anniversaries fall in NAIDOC Week (7-14 July), a national celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culture and knowledge. The origins of NAIDOC Week are attributed to Aboriginal Christian leader, William Cooper, who called churches to platform, recognise and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in worship services. 

The National Assembly will soon be releasing resources to equip Uniting Church communities to mark and celebrate these anniversaries in worship and reflect on their history and ongoing significance. Sign up below to receive these resources when they are available.

One of these resources will be an interactive timeline tracing important events in the history of the Covenanting journey. There will also be stories and reflections on Congress in the present day, and actions for the wider Church can support its work going forward. You will be able to use the timeline resource in multiple ways, whether that be during a service, as an exhibition in a community space or at home.

With these significant anniversaries on the horizon, we pray that 2024 will serve as an opportunity for Uniting Church communities to grow deeper in friendship with Australia’s First Peoples, learn from our history and recommit themselves to pursue reconciliation and justice. Learn more about Living the Covenant Locally here.

Images below: The Covenanting Statement is signed by 7th President Dr Jill Tabart and Chairperson of the UAICC Pastor Bill Hollingsworth.