Bridging Now to Next … Keep Walking Together!

Reconciliation is a journey we are all on together. We can walk with our First Nations brothers and sisters in a spirit of friendship and understanding.

Our Church calls us to treat every person with dignity and respect as we are all created in the image and likeness of God. So in this regard, reconciliation is responsibility.

Simple acts including just being with people, sharing stories and listening well can help build our trust, confidence and respect.

“Our responsibility is to keep walking, to sit and rest and yarn along the way, and to be grateful for how we are held together by this Spirit-led task.… I believe we must turn statements from the heart into actions. We talk, we walk, we love, we act together. Yes, I’ll keep walking. See you along the path.”

(Rev Dr Steve Bevis, Minister at Burwood-Croydon Uniting Church in Sydney, the Chairperson of UnitingWorld, and a founding Director of the Alice Springs Meeting Place Foundation.)

And here is a reflection from Nathan Tyson, Anawan and Gomeroi man, Head of First Peoples Strategy and Engagement for the Uniting Church Synod of NSW & ACT. It’s a message for our Australian church.

“So a message to the Australian church would be that as Aboriginal people, we need you. We need the church. We need the church to be the church. We need the church to be Jesus followers and to understand that loving your neighbour includes loving our people. It includes loving people who are different to you, people who have different languages, different cultures.

We need our Australian church to understand the value of our humanity, to understand that we are all created by God, Aboriginal peoples are created by God, and therefore the church has to stand with us for justice.”

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During classroom visits to speak about National Reconciliation Week I am really impressed with the children’s knowledge, understanding and interest. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures in the Australian and NSW curriculum is designed for all students to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures, and we are ensuring that this is embedded in our teaching programs and practice at St Kevin’s.

Let’s all keep walking together on the reconciliation journey.

Nginowa (Goodbye, see you later – in Awabakal)

Yaluu (Later – in Gamilaraay)

Phil Taylor