Even the dogs

I've just returned from five days in the Amata community in the APY Lands - a township about 100kms south of Uluru. A couple of nights before this photo was taken (communion on the Sunday morning) we had done a bible study on the story of Jesus encounter with the Syrophonecian (gentile) woman (Mark 7). She asked Jesus to heal her daughter and he responded tersely 'let the children be fed first, it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs'. She responds to the racist-sounding comment with: 'yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs'. And here we were gathering around the Lord's Table waiting to be fed the children's bread and the camp dogs were everywhere, hovering under and around the table, poised to pounce on any crumbs that fell. I hardly needed to preach that morning!

It was an amazing week. We gathered each evening in or around the church for bible study. I'd prepared maybe 20 minutes of input but after translation it probably took 45 minutes. Paul Eckert is a brilliant translator. We've worked together a few times now and he has taught me so much about using 'translatable language'. I've realised how much abstract language I use and he has helped me be more concrete - story and image-based. It's actually changing the way I speak and preach generally but that's another story.

After the 'input' time it was opened up for response and sharing. The depth of sharing was extraordinary and often we didn't finish til around midnight. I felt more aware than ever of the vast cultural, social and economic gap between our worlds but the language of faith, aided by excellent translation, at times spanned the distance and afforded glimpses of another world.

Pilgrimage to Living Water

Last weekend I had the pleasure and privilege of leading the very first (hopefully of many nationally) 'Pilgrimage to Living Water' Retreat with members of the Presbytery of the Downs (Uniting Church in Queensland). These pilgrimages have been designed by the Spiritual Direction Network of the Uniting Church in response to the Assembly theme 'Living Water, Thirsty Land'. I was a little apprehensive about leading a retreat with such a theme in that particular context. Within the bounds of that Presbytery are some of the worst-affected areas in the recent catastrophic floods. A significant amount of time had been dedicated in that Presbytery meeting to storytelling and debriefing about the impacts of the floods and also the responses of the church at various levels to help assist people materially and spiritually.

But on advice from the Presbytery Minister we persevered! I am not a trained retreat leader and by temperament I tend to be more of a 'fidgety activist' than a 'contemplative'. But I needn't have worried. They were very open to the theme and to the spaces for reflection, prayer, exercise and rest that the retreat offered. We journeyed through 6 'stations' culminating at a creek at the bottom of the glorious campsite at Cunningham's Gap. The highlight for me was the use of Rob Gallagher's stunning icon specially 'written' for the pilgrimages. I understand that to consecrate an icon it needs to be present at a celebration of the eucharist as it duly was. After a brief introduction to icons and how they might nourish our prayer and reflection (new to many) we then followed the icon from station to station engaging with it in various ways. We used 'lectio divina' (sacred reading of scripture), music, silent prayer, sharing in small groups and at the final station, reaffirmed our baptism. Personally I found it a deeply helpful exercise in experiencing anew the presence of the living God in a way that was deeply personal but experienced in community.

My thanks to our Spiritual Direction Network and also to the wonderful people of the Downs Presbytery for their hospitality and their openness to new (and very ancient!) ways of encountering God.

Now I'm off to the photo place to make multiple copies of the icon. Many of the participants want either to introduce it to their own congregations, or to have their personal copy to aid their prayer.

Northern Territory Intervention

On Monday evening I attended a 'Conversation' with 7 aboriginal Elders from the Northern Territory at the Law School of Melbourne University, organised by 'concerned Australians'. To a packed auditorium (400 people) the Elders shared about the impacts on their communities of the Federal Government Intervention. Earlier in the afternoon Malcolm Fraser and Alastair Nicholson had released an 'eminent persons Statement' calling on the Government to fully reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in order to prevent further pain in these communities. I, along with Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress leaders, was a signatory to this Statement. The Elders also released a Statement of their own. 

Both statements can be found at: www.unitingjustice.org.au 


The Conversation was deeply moving as various Elders, including Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra from Elcho Island (pictured), described some of the social, cultural and emotional impacts of the Intervention. Whatever the original intentions of the legislation, the communities in many cases have experienced it as a return to the old racist and paternalistic approaches of the past.  The main issue seems to be the arbitrary 'template' approach by he Government to aboriginal communities. Some communities have been functioning extremely well while others are struggling. The policies do not distinguish - it's one size fits all. 


The original catalyst for the legislation, we were told, was the 'Little Children are Sacred' Report. Very few of the recommendations of that Report have been taken up and the call by its authors to proceed with a cautious, measured and deeply consultative approach, has been ignored. No-one is denying that some aboriginal communities need assistance. What is being called for is a genuine partnership between government and community leaders in order to find the most effective approaches to health, welfare, employment, education etc in very diverse communities. This does not seem too much to ask!


Perhaps future advocacy in this matter should focus on urging the Government to get the 'Little Children' Report off the shelf, read it and actually follow its recommendations - starting with a commitment to genuine and consultative partnership with communities.

Church response to Queensland Floods

I spent last Friday at the Queensland Synod being briefed about the Uniting Church response to the Queensland floods. It's still difficult to get an overall picture because the church and church people are involved in all manner of responses. Donations to the National Appeal are coming in very strongly from individuals and congregations and other parts of the Church. I just heard today, for example, that the SHARE Appeal of the VicTas Synod is sending $100,000 to the Appeal which is fantastic. Uniting Church agencies like Lifeline are making their singular contribution. Donations to their Community Recovery Program have so far raised over $340,000.This program is designed to provide support to individuals and communites affected by such disasters. Local churches in flooded areas have been used to house people whose properties have been inundated. Congregations have sent clean-up parties to help with the heavy (and smelly!) task of removing sludge and slime from flooded homes. Frontier Services Patrol Ministers have been brought in to badly affected areas to offer their presence and their trauma expertise. Strategies are being developed to make sure the ministry of the church remains in these areas long after the media have left because the recovery and rehabilitation will take a long time. The other message I received loud and clear in Queensland was that material donations at this stage are not helpful. In fact they present more problems than they address. Agencies currently don't have the capacity to collect, store, sort or distribute the goods. So for those wanting to help, financial donations are still the most effective way to do so.

Starting the year with The Law

Fresh back from a fortnight of summer holiday at the beach my first official 'work' function was to attend (and participate in a modest way) the Opening of the Legal Year service at St Paul's Cathedral here in Melbourne. Assorted church dignatories processed in behind the cathedral choir with the congregation consisted mainly of be-wigged judges, lawyers and various members of the legal profession as well as some 'legislators'. I've attended this service a number of times over the past decade or so. In fact a few years back I was the guest preacher -surely one of the most intimidating congregations  your average preacher is likely to experience! Sadly the service conflicts with the secular opening of the Legal Year at Parliament House and the Catholic service at St Patrick's. I understand there is an Orthodox equivalent as well. Time the church ecumenical got its act together on this one! Anyway, the service itself was very formal and dignified, as one might expect, the preaching was erudite but accessible - all good. But it was yet another experience, which I have had with increasing frequency, of anachronicity (if there is such a word), when I wonder what I am doing attending this or that civic function as a church representative. It's not that I have anything at all against praying for those who work in our core social institutions, commending them to God. But the whole 'feel' of such an event was of a bygone age when the church was at the centre of culture and blessed and prayed for the communities life (all good) but also received some sort of validation of its own role and relevance. There can be a sort of social co-dependency develops which the church, at least, needs to wean itself off, in order to re-position itself on the edges of culture, where often, it has done its most faithful work.

New beginnings

The local Uniting Church congregation where I worship has undergone a significant renovation. Presenting a somewhat forbidding and unwelcoming face to the world ('abandon hope all ye who enter here' may be a tad harsh!) and difficult for anyone infirm or disabled to enter, the old church has undergone a transformation. Hopefully the building now more effectively communicates the inclusive welcome of the gospel that community seeks to share. Anyway, yesterday marked the first Sunday back in the church after a few months worshipping in the adjacent Hall. Fittingly, the return to the church building coincided with a service to celebrate one (adult) baptism and four confirmations. A group of us lead an 9 session program (5 week night sessions and one weekend away) for 10 young people. We discovered a paucity of contemporary resources and cobbled together various sessions ourselves (leadership team included four Ministers and a lay Chaplain so something would be wrong if we couldn't come up with something half-decent!) but it's got me thinking - what 'information' needs to be conveyed in such a process? how might such an experience of Christian community offer opportunities to get to know God better rather than merely learn about God...Anyway, it was a great occasion and an encouragement to all present about the call to 'turn to Christ', to reorient, realign our lives regularly to the weird and wonderful way of Jesus.

New government

What a wait, let's hope it will be worth it! It may be true that the Gillard government will struggle to claim a 'mandate' for much but the clear message from the Australian people is that we want principled and consultative leadership from the new government.

Listening to the decision yesterday afternoon and the decision making process of the Independents, I was reminded of the Uniting Church’s inaugural statement to the nation back in 1977. It clearly outlines what we will be seeking from this new government. It encapsulates our social values and indicates what informs our wide range of community services and underpins our advocacy. Amongst other things:

“We affirm our eagerness to uphold basic Christian values and principles, such as the importance of every human being, the need for integrity in public life, the proclamation of truth and justice, the rights for each citizen to participate in decision-making in the community, religious liberty and personal dignity, and a concern for the welfare of the whole human race.

“We pledge ourselves to seek the correction of injustices wherever they occur. We will work for the eradication of poverty and racism within our society and beyond. We affirm the rights of all people to equal educational opportunities, adequate health care, freedom of speech, employment or dignity in unemployment if work is not available. We will oppose all forms of discrimination which infringe basic rights and freedoms.”

That for me sums up our approach. I will be writing to the newly formed government to advise them of our eagerness to work with them on these crucial indicators of health, justice and well-being in the Australian community.