Vale Rev Dr Gondarra
We pay tribute to one of the architects of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and to his trailblazing, visionary life
June 26, 2024
written by Bethany Broadstock with Stuart McMillan
Please note the name Rev Dr Gondarra OAM and his image have been used in accordance with the wishes of his family. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware this story contains images of a deceased person.
With profound sadness, the Uniting Church Assembly mourns the passing of Rev Dr Gondarra OAM, a giant in the life of the Uniting Church and Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC) and a revered Yolŋu leader.
Rev Dr Gondarra was instrumental in the founding of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress and provided visionary leadership to Congress, the Uniting Church and the global church for over four decades.
He died last Tuesday night at home on Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island), surrounded by family. He was 79.
Rev Dr Gondarra was instrumental in the founding of the Uniting Aboriginal Islander Christian Congress and provided visionary leadership to Congress, the Uniting Church and the global church for over four decades.
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“The loss of the Reverend Doctor has seen the curtain close on one of the most extraordinary men of our time,” said UAICC National Chairperson Rev Mark Kickett.
“When the book of Hebrews talks about the heroes of faith in Chapter 11, so too the Reverend Doctor can be numbered amongst them as a hero of faith and a giant in the journey and life of the UAICC and the Uniting Church in Australia.”
Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis said, “Rev Dr Gondarra OAM was a tireless advocate for his people and their right to sovereignty and self-determination."
“He showed us how Indigenous culture and spirituality can inform and enliven theology. His writing and teaching was my first introduction to Indigenous theology and I give thanks for this gift.”
In a statement from the Uniting Church Northern Synod, former moderator Rev Thresi Wohangara remembered his words to her when she took up her leadership role in 2015.
“During my first meeting with him, Rev Dr Gondarra said to me: ‘In order to bloom, you must start from the bottom. If you want to be close with your brothers and sisters, you must touch the land. Come! Eat and drink with us. You will become part of us, and we will become part of you!’. All your words Ŋathi will stay in my heart forever.”
“Rev Dr Gondarra’s legacy is far reaching,” said a spokesperson for the Northern Regional Council of Congress. “It challenges us all to work toward a brighter future with justice for all, including First Nations Sovereignty and full recognition of Yolŋu Rom (law).”
God’s call came early for Rev Dr Gondarra, whose young adulthood was a time of rich theological and ministry formation. He began training as a Sunday school teacher and youth worker in 1960 at the age of 15. He would later undertake lay preaching training in Australia and then Christian education training in Papua New Guinea.
Through this early formation a two-fold calling emerged. Firstly, to ministry amongst his people and to be a ‘minister of reconciliation’ with First and Second Peoples within the church. Secondly, to be a passionate advocate for justice for his people and for First Nations people more widely.
Highly respected among his own people, he undertook necessary training in Yolŋu Rom (law) to eventually be chosen as the senior lawman for his Clan/Nation, Golomula, and for his Rriŋgitj, a political, legal, economic and social alliance of four clans/nations.
Rev Dr Gondarra was ordained at Galiwin’ku in 1976 and became the first Yolŋu minister appointed to a congregation. Only three years after this, a revival began at Galiwin’ku which spread across the top end of Australia and further south.
Former Uniting Church President Stuart McMillan was deeply shaped by his close relationship with Rev Dr Gondarra OAM. Stuart and Rev Dr Gondarra worked closely together for many years providing consultation to the Australian Government on the Native Title Act.
Mr McMillan recalls Rev Dr Gondarra telling him that his time at Raronga Theological College in PNG had ignited a life-long commitment to contextual theology.
“He travelled and read extensively,” said Mr McMillan. “He was deeply influenced by theologies of empowerment and justice coming from the African American communities and by liberation theologies from South America.”
“He spent time with First Nations Peoples in Canada, took to heart Minjung theology emerging out of the Korean context, studied Japanese Buffalo theology and Coconut theology with his Melanesian sisters and brothers.”
Rev Dr Gondarra represented the Uniting Church on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and was engaged with the Christian Conference of Asia. These experiences and the relationships he developed further shaped his own authentic Indigenous theology for Australian First Nations peoples.
With Rev Charles Harris, Rev Dr Gondarra visited and spent time with Māori peoples in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Their encouragement sparked the first national gathering of First Nations Christian leaders from across Australia in 1982 at Crystal Creek in North Queensland. Here the dreaming began for a First Nations congress within the Uniting Church.
These leaders gathered again the following year at Galiwin’ku, resolving to form the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress.
Rev Dr Gondarra later credited his wife, the late G. Bukalatjpi, and Dorrie Harris, wife of Charles Harris, with successfully advocating for the UAICC to be formed within the UCA rather than as a separate organisation.
In 1982 the Uniting Church national Assembly resolved not to celebrate the Australian bi-centennial unless there were significant changes for First Peoples in the advancement of land rights and justice more broadly. Lamentably, the next national Assembly in 1985 reversed this decision, causing much pain and disappointment.
However, it gave rise to the idea for a covenant between the UAICC and UCA. Rev Dr Gondarra and Rev Charles Harris believed a covenant would bind First and Second Peoples of the Uniting Church in a relationship under God and this would contribute to a more just church and nation.
Rev Dr Gondarra became the first Indigenous Moderator when he was installed as the Moderator of the Uniting Church Northern Synod in 1985. In the same year the 4th Assembly resolved to establish the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. He served as Moderator until 1987.
His dream of a Covenant was realised at the 7th Assembly in July 1994, 30 years ago next month. It was his Rriŋgitj (Clan Nation alliance) which presented the sacred covenant painting to then-President Dr Jill Tabart. He preached at the opening of the meeting on the covenant relationship which David had with Jonathan (1 Samuel 18). This was the depth of relationship he and other UAICC leaders sought to grow with the UCA.
In 1995 two significant things happened: he was awarded the Order of Australia medal for ‘service to the Uniting Church and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress’, and he became the Chairperson of the UAICC. He served in this role for five years.
During this same period, from 1997-2000, he represented Yolŋu Peoples, the UAICC and the UCA on the Council for Reconciliation.
He was among the leadership of the historic march of some 300,000 First and Second Peoples across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Another 300,000 walked for the same cause over the following six months in other parts of the nation.
From 1998-2001 he was Chief Executive Officer of the Aboriginal Resource and Development Services and the Northern Regional Council of Congress.
The Uniting Church’s reconciliation journey continued in 2009 when the Assembly made the historic decision to include a new Preamble to the Uniting Church Constitution, recognising First Peoples, the failures of the Church in the past, and the ancient presence of God in the land.
Rev Dr Gondarra continued his advocacy for his people into the 2010s, travelling to Geneva to attend an International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination where he was able to highlight the terrible situation First Nations Peoples faced in Australia.
He later travelled to London and gave a speech outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He met with the Commissioner to discuss the injustices and tragic consequences of the so-called Northern Territory Intervention.
For more than 30 years, he was the chair of the Arnhem Land Progress Association (ALPA) until his retirement last year.
“When the 2018 Assembly meeting affirmed the Sovereignty of First Nations Peoples this made his heart sing,” said Mr McMillan. “His passionate advocacy now becomes his legacy for others, for all Australian governments to similarly recognise the Sovereignty of First Nations peoples.”
In grieving this profound loss, President Rev Sharon Hollis shared her hope for the legacy Rev Dr Gondarra leaves us. “May his life’s work continue to inspire us to learn from Indigenous people and work for the recognition of the sovereignty of First Peoples.”
The UCA, the UAICC, First Nations peoples and Australia as a nation have all been deeply enriched by Rev Dr Gondarra’s humility, passion and Christ-like example. We give thanks to God for his incredible contribution to our journey of reconciliation, his unwavering advocacy and compassion for his people and his spiritual insight.
May he rest in love.