Statement on anti-racism

Leichhardt Uniting Church (LUC) acknowledges that we meet on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We respect their profound spiritual connection with country, and we pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.

Second Peoples at LUC stand in solidarity with Australia's First Peoples. We believe and affirm that “the First Peoples had already encountered the Creator God before the arrival of colonisers; the Spirit was already in the land revealing God to the people through law, custom and ceremony. The same love and grace that was finally and fully revealed in Jesus Christ sustained the First Peoples and gave them particular insights into God’s ways” (UCA Preamble to Constitution, 2009).

We hear and honour First Peoples’ repeated calls for Treaty and changing the date of our National Day, and we advocate for the centring of their voices in the national debate. We lament and actively protest the mass incarceration of First Peoples, deaths in custody, and the continued oppression and discrimination they face daily.

LUC stands in solidarity with Black, Indigenous & People of Colour (BIPOC) communities in Australia and around the world. We lament all expressions of racism and white supremacy that exist in relationships, communities, institutions and law. Further, we name with sorrow the Christian Church’s complicity and participation in colonisation, and denounce the use of Christian traditions and the Bible to oppress BIPOC communities throughout history and around the world. We join our voices with the growing number of people demanding an end to discrimination and violence on the basis of race and skin colour.

LUC is proudly part of the Uniting Church in Australia, which “believes that Christians in Australia are called to bear witness to a unity of faith and life in Christ which transcends cultural and economic, national and racial boundaries” (Basis of Union paragraph 2).Diversity is a gift from God, and reconciliation is the work of the Church. Part of the work of reconciliation is agitating, challenging and dismantling the racism, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiments that are pervasive in Australia. LUC is committed to advocating for more compassionate and humane policies around asylum seekers, refugees and international students, including ending mandatory detention and offshore processing of refugees.

We believe and name all this in the name of the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus, whose message was of reconciliation and justice. We firmly proclaim: Black Lives Matter. We worship the Triune God who loves justly, and shows preferential treatment for the poor and marginalized.

LUC encourages our members and the wider community to recognise and be a part of the movement of the Holy Spirit in these times – by continuing to educate ourselves, by listening and amplifying the voices of BIPOC individuals and communities, by protesting and taking a stand against injustice, and by working towards a future free from racism.

As a church, we commit ourselves (among other actions):

-         To acknowledge the traditional owners on the land upon which we gather for any gathering

-         To amplify BIPOC individuals in worship, preaching and teaching

-         To seek to build collaborative relationships with local and other First Peoples communities

-         To continue to commemorate the Day of Mourning in worship each year, on the Sunday before Australia Day, to lament the ongoing struggles of First Peoples in Australia

-         To regularly discern how our financial, property and human resources can be utilized to support First Peoples and BIPOC people and communities

-         To regularly continue this conversation in small groups, worship, and as a standing item in Church Council meetings

Approved by Church Council - June 2020