Great turn out for the Preamble
About 20 people turned up on 15th April to hear Al Macrae
tell us about the history behind the Preamble to the Basis of
Union. And they came back on 22nd to discuss the Preamble in
more depth. Perhaps it was the great coffee, supper and other
beverages that brought people along, but I think it was actually
the challenging story and an appreciation of the way the UCA
and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress are
exploring new possibilities with this document. Overwhelmingly
the Preamble has been accepted by UCA Synods & Presbyteries
and the Brunswick people who came to these sessions now
have a much better understanding of what it is about. Thanks,
Alistair.
Meg Orton
Preamble Study Group
As noted above over two Mondays in April approximately
20 people gathered at the home of Alistair Macrae & Clare
Boyd-Macrae to learn about the Preamble to the Uniting Church
Constitution. Alistair shared his concern about the low level
of awareness of the existence of the Preamble among Uniting
Church people. He told us that the Uniting Church is the only
denomination in Australia who has gone in this direction in terms
of its Constitution.
After the presentation of the Preamble to the Assembly in
2009 Alistair (then President of the Assembly) and Ken Sumner
(then President of the United Aboriginal and Islander Christian
Congress) went on a road show around all six Synods and many
Presbyteries commending the proposed preamble and inviting
and urging their support.
We explored the history of the relationship between indigenous
and white people, the effects of colonization and the notion of
‘Terra Nullius’ (empty land) and its devastating consequences
- dispossession, displacement, massacres, assimilation,
protection. Alistair spoke about the resistance, survival and
resilience of the First Peoples of this land.
Alistair then shared with us some church history starting with
the 1979 revival in Elcho Island where ‘the Spirit rolled in across
the ocean and swept everybody up, starting a new way of
thinking. This was an influence, in 1985, for the formation of
the United Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).
At the 1994 Assembly the formal apology to First Peoples was
offered.
At the 2003 Assembly discussions about sexuality issues
led to a crisis of relationship in which Congress questioned
their place in the Church. The outcome of this crisis was a
desire to discover new ways of relating and debating issues
and subsequently the formation of a group to review the
Constitution.
After six years of work the new Preamble to the Constitution
was presented to the 2009 Assembly. During debate the
Congress walked out the meeting in response to the ‘nit-picking’
approach taken
by some people
during debate.
After discussion
Alistair and Ken
returned to the
meeting with
everyone following
in together after
them. Ken invited everyone to kneel and after a lot of tears,
things started to shift and move. There was a clear moving the
Spirit and the bringing together of two cultures.
At the end of the first study we read through the Preamble
together, commenting on key words and phrases. Alistair noted
that the third clause occupied the larger part of the debate.
At both study evenings we sang ‘O Lord Jesus Markapmir’.
Alistair outlined the process required for constitutional change:
1) Passed by Assembly, 2) Passed by a majority of Synods (of
which there are 6), 3) Passed by two-thirds of the Presbyteries
(of which there are 43). The Preamble was passed by all 6
Synods and 41 Presbyteries. He noted that the VicTas Synod
passed the Preamble by unanimous consensus.
He shared a story about a seedling that he received at a
Reconciliation service which became root bound despite the
love and care he showered on it. The seedling was gifted to
Nararna, Geelong and while thriving now, the tree still bears the
signs of neglect. Alistair said that he saw this as a metaphor
of the damage that can be caused and how the signs of abuse
remain even when efforts for healing and reconciliation have
taken place.
The focus of the second study evening was clause 3 - ‘The
First Peoples had already encountered the Creator God before
the arrival of the 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.’
Alistair said that indigenous people have an immediate affinity
with the Old Testament where the Jewish people’s deep
relationship with law and land is very similar to their own.
Clause 3 affirms the particular insights and wisdom that the First
People bring from their ‘custom, law and ceremony’. It also
affirms that God has definitively self-revealed in Jesus Christ.
We looked at a series of Bible Readings that undergird the
theology of Clause 3.
John 1:1-4, every created person carries the spark of God, John
names the struggle between the light and the dark.
Romans 1:19-20, all people are in need of God; people know
something of God because of creation.
Romans 2:12-16, it is possible to respond to God without
knowledge of the Gospel, the law is written in people’s hearts,
God is out there doing God’s thing - self revealing
Acts 17:22-28, whether or not we know it we have our being in
the life and presence of God.
Kirsty Bennett, who attended the 2009 Assembly, commented
on the gift and graciousness of Congress and the remarkable
moment of having the whole of Congress on its knees as
discussed on the first study night.
Sharon affirmed the difference that the Preamble made to the
2012 Assembly in relation to discussion and debate around the
topic of same-sex marriage, a difficult topic for Congress. They
made it known that they stayed because ‘you listened to us’. It
was a clear lesson in listening and waiting for things to unfold.
Alistair showed us a series
of photos that demonstrated
how Christian and Indigenous
traditions have been integrated.
To conclude we looked at the ‘front translation’ of the Preamble.
The purpose of the front translation is to put the legal words into
more concrete language which will then allow for translation
into four main indigenous language groups. Alistair commented
that the people of Elcho Island are excited that the Preamble is
written down in our ‘law book’. He noted that although the front
translation is more approachable Congress both want and value
the constitutional language because they have a deep respect
for law. He observed that, in contrast, our congregations, by
and large, are not excited about the Basis of Union - a document
which spells out who we are and what we believe. Alistair
hopes that over time more and more people will develop an
interest in and understanding of the significance of the Preamble
and the Basis of Union.
You can read the Preamble and Basis of Union on the Assembly
website at: http://assembly.uca.org.au/resources/
preamble and http://assembly.uca.org.au/resources/
Saide Cameron
regulations respectively.