Revitalised Congress renews focus on Aboriginal ministry
Walter Fejo and Liesl Homes want to inject new life into the New South Wales Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress.
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And Charles Harris is partly to blame.
Congress is the Aboriginal arm of the Uniting Church, formed by resolution of the Uniting Church Assembly in 1985, due in large part to the vision of the Rev. Charles Harris, an Aboriginal minister in Queensland.
As a young man, the Rev. Walter Fejo had a chance meeting with Charles on Palm Island which was to be instrumental in determining much of Walter’s life. Charles encouraged Walter in his mission work and Bible studies and eventually persuaded him to become a candidate for minister of the word.
Walter’s involvement with Congress grew, culminating in his current position, the Development and Outreach Officer for New South Wales Congress.
His colleague Liesl Homes’ involvement is more recent. In January 2002 her interest in Aboriginal language and culture led her to Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island) with About FACE 5 (Faith and Culture Exchange), a Uniting Church program where non-indigenous Australians are placed in indigenous communities with the aim of fostering relationships and understanding between the two.
Liesl and Walter have only been in their jobs for 11 months, but already they have a firm fix on their roles and that of Congress. Walter is responsible for supporting ministry, developing current ministers, and developing new ministry centres. He also provides a link between Congress and the Uniting Church.
He sees the two organisations as complementary, with the New South Wales Congress being a grassroots organisation whose job is to make the Aboriginal voice heard in the Synod. He sees his role as two-fold — encouraging young Aborigines to follow the path of ministry as well as bringing more Aborigines into the mainstream church structure, working in the New South Wales Synod itself.
He said, “I want to work myself out of a job. I want to see behind me at least three to four upcoming young leaders I want to see these carry on a leadership role within Congress. For me it’s a challenge, because already there’s potential in what I’ve been able to observe in six to eight months.”
Liesl’s role as Resource Officer is to support New South Wales Congress and assist Walter in his work. For her, Congress is an integral part of the church and she believes that it needs to consolidate itself and start reaching out to Aboriginal people.
She wants to teach congregations how to be supportive of Aborigines in their area, and of Congress people who are ministering. “When this happens it will be an incredible growth on both sides,” she said. She would like to see an Aboriginal person in her role after her, and ideally a Uniting Church and Congress where relationships are strengthened to such a degree that her job is redundant.
Neither, however, is wearing rose-tinted spectacles and both see a number of challenges in the immediate future.
Due
to staff deaths and illness, Congress decision-making in New South
Wales has been handled by the National Executive of Congress for
the last two years. Liesl said, “A lot of people were going
their own way ... In New South Wales we are trying to develop a
cohesive group of people who have a vision for ministry expansion.
“Accountability is an issue. You need to be accountable both to God and the people who fund you.”
Walter sees the danger of falling into a welfare mentality: “I’m not accountable, therefore I’m not responsible ... [but] Christian experience and Christian life is being responsible. It’s a difficulty which will be overcome and the outcome will be a better relationship. Congress staff need to understand the bigger picture of where Congress sits in the Uniting Church. It’s a difficult job but it’s a challenge and we’re up to that.”
Walter believes that Aboriginal people and Congress can offer the church much through Aboriginal beliefs about land and spirituality. For him this is about two cultures growing, sharing and journeying together.
He told how Aboriginal culture and that of Jesus had much in common: “A lot of stories, songs and dance ... The parables that Jesus told not only give information but they’re parables about life, the law, land, the Spirit who made everything. It is about sharing our Aboriginal spirituality with the wider church, to discover the face of Jesus within our culture. The Uniting Church is open to this.”
“We want to share with the church that the land is very important. When humans were made, it was from the ground. It plays an important part in relation to sacred places, identical to what the Old and New Testaments have to say about sacred places in the life of God’s people. We want to share that spirituality.”
Another issue which the two cultures must reconcile is the injustice done to Aborigines in the past. Liesl compares National Sorry Day to ANZAC Day in terms of its significance to Australian culture. She said, “The Bible talks about a healing of relationships; the story needs to be told and heard. It’s a healing, becoming one and journeying forward together. Where there’s a hurt there needs to be recognition of that hurt before you can journey on.
“There’s a lot that needs to be told for the healing of Aborigines and for the growth for the rest of the community.”
Walter was emphatic: “I think it’s a must in relation to recognising part of the history of what happened within Australia; things need to be healed.”
Walter and Liesl are tremendously enthusiastic about getting indigenous and non-indigenous Australians together and have very positive and practical methods for achieving this.
Walter wants to see Uniting Church employees and congregations getting out to Aboriginal communities, meeting with people and understanding them. He goes on regular speaking engagements, encouraging people to meet with Aborigines and learn and understand their culture.
He says that it’s all very well sitting in an office, but to really achieve your aims you’ve got to go and see what you’re writing about.
Let’s hope that the newly revitalised New South Wales Congress will achieve Walter and Liesl’s aims, to realise the dream that Charles Harris inspired in a young man years ago on Palm Island.
Mark Lee works for UnitingCare NSW.ACT Ageing and Disability Service. He is also an editor and journalist and new dad to Julian.
Visit the Congress website at http://nat.uca.org.au/uaicc/index.htm. For further information, or just for a chat, ring Walter on 8267 4357 or email walif@nsw.uca.org.au.