NAIDOC Week celebrated with yarning circle and deadly tucker

First People’s Church is a new initiative for Sydney started by Uniting and Aboriginal Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).

Members of the community celebrated NAIDOC week at First People’s Church at The Uniting Church Sylvania in Sydney, on Sunday July 10.  The Uniting Church Synod of NSW and the ACT Moderator, Rev. Myung Hwa Park attended the gathering and spoke of the importance of building community and sharing relationships about the culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

First People’s Church is a new initiative for Sydney started by Uniting and Aboriginal Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).

The NAIDOC celebrations included didgeridoo music and deadly tucker. UAICC’s Rev. Garry Dronfield, from Bundjalung Nation in the North, encouraged everyone to share their story, dance, sing and worship together around the “indoor fire”.

Across the Synod of NSW and the ACT, Uniting Churches celebrated NAIDOC week with prayers and worship. The following words were written by Arlene McInherny (Birpai woman) for Church services celebrating this year’s theme Songlines.

Songlines are the foundation
Laid down by the creator
Reflections of the land are in the stars for all to see
A vibration gifted to country
Songlines shape the land, the country, resources, food, the language, the relationship between everything
Songlines are within the land and contain the lore
To give back, we dance and sing songs to keep our songlines alive.
We remember the story and it keeps strong
Country hears us
We used to be able to walk our songlines, today there are fences and buildings; obstacles
Yet, we are still strongly connected, the songlines can never go
Our narrative is deep within the land, and is written in the stars
Let us honour the songlines as we share country together.

First People’s Church is run by Aboriginal men and women monthly at Uniting Church Sylvania.

The next gathering is on Sunday 7 August at 5.00 pm at the corner of Princes Highway and Yeran Street, Sylvania. Everyone is welcome.

Watch the video to find out more about UAICC

(Pictured) Rev. Ivan Roberts, Fred Logan, Rev. Myung Hwa Park and Leena Logan