In 1994 the Uniting Church entered into a Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress to walk together as First and Second Peoples in order to create a more just church and nation.
Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC)
The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Congress (UAICC) was established in 1985 as the indigenous arm of the Uniting Church in Australia. Congress is an independent body within the Uniting Church and determines its own goals and objectives and decides its policies and priorities. It is dedicated to seeking the spiritual, physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing of indigenous Australians.
In 1994 the Uniting Church entered into a Covenant with Congress to walk together as First and Second Peoples in order to create a more just church and nation. On behalf of the Second Peoples of the UCA, the Uniting Church’s 7th President Dr Jill Tabart read a statement acknowledging past wrongs and making a new commitment to the relationship. On behalf of First Peoples of UAICC, Congress Chairperson Pastor Bill Hollingsworth responded acknowledging past pain and looking to the future with hope. To read a copy of the Covenant Statement go to the Uniting Church in Australia site – Covenanting Statement
In 2009 the Uniting Church added a Preamble to its Constitution acknowledging that Aboriginal and Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia and as such the traditional owners and custodians of this land; the tragic colonial history of injustice, violence and dispossession of First Peoples and the Church’s complicity in this history; that the First Peoples had already encountered the Creator God before the arrival of the colonisers and the Spirit was already in the land revealing God to the people through law, custom and ceremony. It commits the Second Peoples of the Uniting Church to pray and work together with First Peoples for reconciliation in Christ. To read a copy of the full Preamble to the Constitution go to the UCA resources here.
In 2018 the Assembly resolved “to affirm the First Peoples of Australia, the Aboriginal and Islander Peoples, are sovereign peoples in this land”. In recognising this fundamental truth, the UCA affirmed sovereignty as described in the Statement from the Heart, as a “spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land…and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”. Likewise it acknowledged that this sovereignty “has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.”
All Uniting Church congregations, schools and agencies are called to live out the Covenant locally by building respectful relationships with the members of UAICC and other First Peoples, acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which they meet at all gatherings, and working together with First Peoples for reconciliation and justice in this land.
Congress WA – UAICC WA
The ministry of Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, WA Regional Committee is particularly active through the ‘Maaman ‘O’ Miya’ Coolbellup and Waroona congregations, and the worshipping community in the Tammin Uniting Church.
The ministry of Congress extends broadly into the Nyungar community and beyond supporting people in times of need. WA Congress Ministers provide pastoral care and practical support when they have family members pass away, enter hospital, enter the justice system or find themselves in other situations of crisis. Sharing God’s love through faith and culture.
Benanging Kwuurt Institute (BKI)
Beananging Kwuurt Institute (BKI), established in 2007, arose from a vision of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, WA Regional Committee, led by the late Rev Sealin Garlett, for a social and community service agency assisting vulnerable people, and especially Aboriginal people from its base on the former site of Sister Kate’s Home. The establishment of BKI was a reflection of the Uniting Church in Australia’s Covenant with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. It was constituted as an instrumentality of the Synod of WA and incorporated under s28 of the Uniting Church Act, 1976 (WA) on 23 September 2007.
‘Beananging’ is Nyungar for the beginning of a new day, the part of the day when the sky begins to lighten, but before the sun has risen. ‘Kwuurt’ is Nyungar for heart. ‘Beananging Kwuurt’ represents ‘A new day for Aboriginal people’ a place for healing, caring and nurturing.
BKI and UAICC WA has recently entered into a partnership with the WA Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation (WASGAC) trading as Yokai Healing Our Spirit to support initiatives relating to truth, justice and healing at the former site of the Sister Kate’s Children’s home in Queens Park. You can read about recent developments in the Revive article ‘A Renewed Vision for a Place of Healing and Hope’.
The Covenanting Commission
The Covenanting Commission strives to keep the Church in close connection with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, WA Regional Committee. The Commission provides an interaction between the work of the Congress, the Synod and Presbytery. They encourage and assist congregations, agencies and other activities of the Uniting Church to be involved in the ministry of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Islander people and the other parts of the Uniting Church and the community.
To contact a member of the Covenanting Commission please email [email protected] and your enquiry will be directed to the most appropriate person.
Covenanting Resources
Resources for congregations to support Covenanting in their local communities can be found on the Social Impact – First Peoples page.