From the Chaplains
Honouring NAIDOC week
This Sunday we will celebrate 48 years of the Uniting Church in Australia. As a proud school of the Uniting As we celebrate NAIDOC week I wanted to share with you a prayer that was written by Mikenzie Ling, proud Aboriginal Christian woman of the Wiradjuri nation from Narromine (NSW), for NAIDOC Week 2025. I have adapted it slightly for our school context.
Mikenzie is the First Nations Peoples Strategy and Engagement Consultant for the Uniting Church Synod of NSW and ACT. She holds a Masters of Theology focusing on Indigenous Land Theology. If you would like to hear more from McKenzie, there will be a free forum of First Nations theologies on Saturday 9th August at Thornleigh Hillcrest Uniting Church from 9am-1pm ‘Walking the Way: Discerning Spirit, Telling Truth, Seeking Solidarity’. Further details follow the prayer.
Let us Pray
Creator God,
From the first hovering, you have dwelt in this place.
Since the empty deep was spoken into light, and there was evening and there was morning, you have been present.
As darkest nights have slipped into soft dawns, and as proud dancing has seeped gently from mourning, you have been here with us. You have been good.
Creator God,
Where could we go from your Spirit? We know your presence all too well.
Your faithfulness has stayed near, sustaining us like gum leaves sweeping the dust before our feet.
Our delight is in you, and we rejoice in the lore you have passed into our hands.
We have been made as trees planted by the stream – come fire, flood and famine, still we are unyielding green, fruit unfailing in the seasons, and your grace lingering as quiet inner strength.
Creator God,
You appointed the First Peoples of these lands, marking and entrusting your creation into our care.
May we continue to encounter you here, as our Old Ones have down all our generations, meeting you in Country and perceiving you through the wonder of our created kin.
Our legacy reaches far into the past and it envisions the future, without fear. In you Lord, we laugh at the days to come.
Creator God,
As we look to the next generation, we pray they would be strengthened by the groundwork of their Elders and rise to honour the shared vision of our communities.
As they carry the torch and now shape the future, Lord let them be guided by the wisdom you have passed down through our ancestors, and continue to build a legacy of unity, respect and self-determination.
Creator God,
In loving-kindness you have dwelt and still dwell, in this place.
Bind us ever closer as we now walk forward together, honouring where we have come from and looking boldly to the next generation.
Amen.
Rev. Danielle Hemsworth-Smith
College Chaplain