People of many homelands –
will you join us beside the river
and bring your memories of place
your wisdom of country
to this place and this time
in the hope that this land
might become more truly
our shared home?
Yes, we will come
People of many languages –
will us join us beside the river
and bring your stories of old
your dreaming wisdom
to this place and this time
in the hope that today’s telling
might become more truly
our shared story?
Yes, we will come
People of many customs –
will you join us beside the river
and bring your ways of living
your lore and learning
to this place and time
in the hope that we might learn
to live more truly into
our shared kinship?
Yes, we will come
People born of water and earth –
will you join us beside the river
and bring your hearts and hands
your discernment and desire
to this place and time
in the hope that together
we might become one
in Spirit and in truth?
Yes, we will come
Words by Craig Mitchell, 2024
Today, Sunday 26th May is Reconciliation Sunday, and it’s a significant annual event at Blackwood Uniting Church where I am currently doing supply ministry part-time. Each year there is a community walk down to Colebrook Reconciliation Park and an afternoon of truth-telling and cultural activities organised by the Blackwood Reconciliation Group who meet in our church. It is of course also Trinity Sunday.
Screenshot
For the service, the church ususally invites a guest speaker. This year we have invited Aboriginal singer / musician Vonda Last. Vonda is a proud Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara (Western Desert) singer-songwriter, born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, now living on Kaurna (Adelaide) land. She has over 40 years’ experience as a songwriter and performer. The church service is usually attended by a number of visitors, including First Nations people, some of whoim may have been residents at the Colberook childrens home after being taken from their families.
Vonda has written and recorded a number of songs, a couple of which mention rivers. So as worship curator I decided that we would meet around a waterhole and a riverbed. So we created a river in the church. I also created a soundscape with recordings of bush sounds, a river running, and frogs calling – four iPods and speakers around the church.
I drew on my friend Amelia Koh-Butler’s excellent book Wide and Deep for inspiration with the words.
Pre-Service
River movie loops from Pexels with music – Asian River by Brian Eno (from Eno Box), The River by Brian Bennett (from Nomads of the Wind), and River Song by Archie Roach (from Looking for Butterboy)
Prelude by band: Deepest River by Palangi from the NCYC 1997 album
Welcome, Acknowledgement of Country and from the lands on which we live
Song: Spirit of Dreaming by Alison Campbell Rate
Prayer of Praise
As we look out across the hills
and plains of this land,
its rivers and seas, its desert heart,
we see that love has been poured out
upon this land
in its making and in its care
since time beyond measure.
We honour the Maker
and give thanks for the peoples
who have come before us
As we hear the cries of magpies and gull
and see the tracks of kangaroos and lizards,
we see the creative Spirit who formed this land
and the care of the First Peoples
We honour the Maker
and give thanks for the peoples
who have come before us
As we hear the languages of many people –
we give thanks for the rich diversity
of the First Nations
We acknowledge that even in the
deep and ongoing pain
caused by colonisation
the First Peoples of this land
offer welcome and generosity towards
those of us who have come to this land
We honour the Maker
even in time of sorrow
and we give thanks
for this shared homeland
Creator Spirit,
flow within, among and around us today
with your healing, restoring, life-giving presence
Give us the courage to listen and learn –
to speak and receive difficult truths
to lament the wrongs of the past,
to acknowledge the injustices of the present
and to act for reconciliation with justice into the future.
Amen.
Scriptures
Version 1.0.0
Genesis 1 excerpt from “The Rainbow Spirit in Creation” by Norman Habel and Jasmine Corowa
Amos 5:8-11, 14-15, 21-24 (Contemporary English Version)
Prayers of Lament
Today we take time to listen and to lament.
We invite you to share in silent reflection or prayer as we recognise and remember.
Spirit of Truth
We pause today to remember the shameful lie of terra nullius
– that this land was empty
The lie which justified colonisation
when in truth this land was tended by a wise and proud people
whose culture and lore are a rare and remarkable gift
We recognise that the First People did not cede their sovereignty
We lament that the history of colonisation is still justified today
and that too many of us here continue to benefit from past wrongs
May we have the courage to face the truth of our shared history
Spirit of mercy, hear us
Spirit of Truth
We pause today to remember that churches participated
in the brutal history of colonisation
justifying it as being part of God’s will
We recognise that despite the good will
and compassion of faithful people,
this was a distortion and denial of your truth
– your desire for the dignity and freedom of all people
to be treasured
We lament the wrongs that churches helped
to create and perpetuate
May we have the courage to seek restoration
Spirit of mercy, hear us
Spirit of Truth
We pause today to remember the pain
brought to so many through the recent referendum
To First Peoples who heard that their voice didn’t matter
To Councils and Elders who heard that their wisdom wasn’t sufficient
To communities who heard that they couldn’t represent themselves
We recognise our own unwillingness to hear the truth
or respect the wisdom of others
May we have the humility to trust the voices of elders
Spirit of mercy, hear us
Spirit of Comfort
As we sit by these waters
May heavy hearts be calmed
May clenched hands be opened
May reluctant minds be enlightened
Wash us with healing and hope
Pour on us a new sense of compassion and understanding
Give us the persistence and courage
to make a new way together in this land.
Amen
Vonda shared her songs and stories from the heart. Wonderful.
Song: How Long? by Robin Mann
Song: Cry Out for Love by Gerry Holmes. I slightly adapted the last verse to suit the event.
God seeks community
Ever since time began
We share our humanity
Together let us stand
It is also Trinity Sunday, and we’ll be sharing Rev Dr Garry Deverell’s trinitarian “Affirmation of faith for the blak church” as a take home reflection.