Local
- This week we continue to pray for people in hospital and for those caring for them, for their families, friends and support networks. We pray for healing, for strength, for hope, for energy, for things to occupy their minds. May they know God’s presence and that they are in the prayers of all of us this week.
- We pray for everyone travelling this week. We pray that they travel safely and return to their homes renewed and refreshed.
- We hold the executives, teachers and staff of our schools in our prayers, in particular those in the schools of Gungahlin. May this fortnight be refreshing, renewing and relaxing, may you be with them as they plan for the coming semester.
- Gungahlin College
- Burgmann Anglican School
- Amaroo School
- Gold Creek School
- Good Shepherd School
- Margaret Hendry School
- Holy Spirit School
- St John Paul II College
- Palmerston District Primary School
- Ngunnawal Primary School
- Franklin School
- Harrison Public School
- Mother Teresa School
- Taqwa Achool
NAIDOC Week Prayer
HEAL COUNTRY
By Alison Overeem, Palawa Woman and UAICC National Executive Member
We praise Country
As we give praise to the Creator
May we all stop
Breath in this day
Breath in this moment
This privelage to stand on the
Lands of the Muwinina people
May we all pause
May we all sit within a moment
Within our moment
With all the moments that we give praise for
For creation
For all that is
And all that will be
All that is our faith
All that is our discerning and reflecting
For the creator
Forever present on these Lands
We praise the Creator
For the gift of First Peoples
For the resilience, we praise the Creator
For the rich stories that sit on and with country, we give praise
For the gift from the Creator of the Palawa Pakana people of Lutrawita, we give praise
We seek that justice from within self to speak to the praise the creator is calling us to
Calling us to praise the lands and people and cultural practices of sovereignty never ceded
Praise through our hearts of justice as people of the Uniting Church to give thanks through a lens of justice
To praise the creator for justice , for our own discerning , learning and unlearning, truth telling
We praise the justice narrative
We praise the truth narrative
Heal Country is the theme this year for NAIDOC
May we speak this praise together
Heal Country
Heal all that is the truths and untruths of this country, of these lands
To heal Country
For Country to heal
Praising the survival of the oldest living culture on Earth
And the healing of that spiritual and continual connection
Creator you have gifted us First Peoples wisdom , history and knowledge for over 60 000 years
We praise elders, past and present
We provide our shared justice with the sounds of of the didg, the sounds of First Peoples – the celebrating in the knowing, that we are peoples of justice
May we praise you for that
May we know in that praise for you, that Mother Earth calling us to justice and truth telling
Calling is to be immersed in the stories of injustice that heal Country
We praise you for the gift of a call to justice
Of a call to see the land holds the healing for First Peoples and for us all
In the creation
Every tree
Every branch
Every waterway
Every part of Country
And the deep and rich connection of First Peoples to place
We praise you for the stories
For all that is the healing
Country heals
And we all together heal Country
Through the knowing
Through the showing
Through the being
Through the praise to the Creator
For Country
For First Peoples connection to Land, seas, skies and waterways
We praise you creator for these gifts – that we too may be part of the healing and the stories of First Peoples abounding and surrounding us
We praise you for the challenge
For the call to walk a justice pathway
To be present with us
As we all seek the call to praise the justice within
We praise all that you have given us Creator
To be and see and feel and see and feel
The call to all to see and be and heal Country
May the sounds of the clap sticks, of song lines and story lines ,
And the crackle, warmth and invitation of the campfires of generations, be the resounding voices of praise we give today and every day
Regional
- We join with the Canberra Region Presbytery as we pray for the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress
- As we approach NAIDOC week 2021 (4-11 July), we connect to the theme of ‘Heal Country, Heal our Nation’
- We reaffirm in our prayers the commitment of our denomination in the statement: “The Uniting Church hopes for a nation that acknowledges the rights of Indigenous Australians as the first people of this land, respects the land on which we live, and is committed to empowering Indigenous people to take control of their own lives and destinies.”
- We pray for justice and truth telling in our nation, our congregations, and our communities.
- We share in the words of Brooke Prentis, CEO of Common Grace: “Country is all lands, waters, sky, trees, plants, animals, birds, fish, rocks, mountains, and all peoples.” Country is all of God’s wondrous creation. It is a sense of identity, belonging, groundedness and home. We live on wounded, blood-stained country. Jesus understands, having shared our suffering and pain. Jesus provides hope for country to be healed, restored, loved and set free. Jesus calls us as his hands and feet to take an active role in healing country by protecting and restoring God’s beautiful earth. We pray and call for Treaty and Truth Telling for healing Country.”
National
We join in prayer with the UCA National Assembly as we pray for…
- A deepening of relationships as First and Second Peoples in this land and in our Church.
- The members of the 16th Assembly as they prepare for the meeting and gather online in community groups for the first time this Sunday.
- Those working to contain the spread of COVID-19, those who are sick with the virus, people who cannot work and all those feeling afraid, anxious and alone.
World
This week we join with the World Council of Churches as we pray for Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda
We are thankful for:
- how the churches in Sudan and in South Sudan, as well as Ecumenical Network Sudan, have consistently pursued peace processes, healing and reconciliation in these war-ravaged countries
- those who work to bring justice for the victims of genocide and war crimes, including the International Criminal Court
- the many who carry out humanitarian work in these countries and who settle those who are displaced
- the economic progress and peacebuilding that has occurred in Uganda, and for effective measures to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS.
We pray for:
- a cessation of ethnic animosities and violence, and increased understanding between ethnic and religious groups
- an end to the rape and practices of genital mutilation of girls and women
- governments to respect the will and best interests of their people and the human rights of all
- natural resources to be preserved and the land saved from further desertification.
Continue praying with the World Council of Churches in their weekly prayer cycle here