May our footsteps, on these ancient lands,

remind us of creation and connectedness,

in our search for truth.

May the Gum Tree, from its roots to its branches,

remind us to dig deep and reach high,

in our action for justice.

May the Eagle, who soars in the sky,

remind us of the power,

in our call to love.

May the expanse of the lands and seas, of the sky and stars,

remind us of God’s timing

in our faith in hope.

May the Holy three, Creator Spirit, Lord God, Papa Jesus,

remind us of community.

So with grace, mercy, and peace, go in truth, justice, love and hope. Amen

May the God of all wonder who set the stars in the sky,

bless you with relentless unsettledness –

that drives you to seek truth.

May the God of all justice who gave motion to the rivers,

bless you with righteous anger –

that drives you to seek freedom for all.

May the God of all love who placed laughter in the kookaburra,

bless you with the friendship –

that looks like the love where one lays down their life for another.

May the God of all comfort who determined the height of the mountains,

bless you with tears from shared pain and mourning –

that shows you hope.

Now with wonder, righteous anger, sacrifice, and lament –

Go in truth, justice, love, and hope. Amen

Jesus, we pray

For our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and our precious children to be loved without discrimination

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures to be respected, valued, and appreciated

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives to be valued where we see racism, injustice and poverty, replaced with equality, equity, and flourishing

For the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders and peoples to be amplified, listened to, and enacted upon

We cry out to you Jesus as peoples of all cultures, of all generations, across these lands now called Australia.

And we pray as it says in your Word

For friendship where we remember ‘two are better than one, because they have good reward for their toil’,

For community where we ‘encourage one another and build each other up’,

For a nation where we ‘put on love which binds all together in perfect unity’,

For a world where ‘love and faithfulness meet and where justice and peace kiss each other’.

Jesus, we know the friend we have in you, and so to our friend,

Jesus, we pray to #ChangeTheHeart of Australia

Amen

God of Holy Dreaming, Great Creator God, Papa Jesus,

Today we pray together on common ground. Common ground of an ancient land that you created. Common ground of over 65,000 years of peoples and place.

ALL: Lord, we are longing for acknowledgement.

We acknowledge that your creation was disturbed and disrupted in 1788. We acknowledge our failure to break the Great Australian Silence. We acknowledge the true history of the land now called Australia.

ALL: Lord, we are longing for truth.

We grieve the truth of statistics that show we are not equal. Truth of death, sickness, imprisonment. Truth of lack of education and lack of employment. Truth of a gap that isn’t closed.

ALL: Lord, we are longing for justice.

We seek justice for Stolen Land, Stolen Wages, Stolen Children. We seek justice for yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

ALL: Lord, we are longing for love.

Today we stand together on common ground. We come together in the love of Christ and the love of our neighbour. We confess we have not loved one another as you have called us to and promise to do better. We long to embrace unity with diversity. We are longing for acknowledgement, truth, justice, love, and hope.

ALL: Lord, give us

comfort for the pain, in our day of mourning,

courage for the fight, in our day of invasion,

strength for the journey, in our day of survival.

Lord, You, are our hope. Amen.

Great Creator Spirit, Lord God, Papa, Jesus,

We pray together unto you.

From nation to nation.

Right across these lands now called Australia.

From north, to east, to south, to west.

From coast, to forest, to desert, to city.

We are tuning in together on country.

For land and waters and sky,

For trees and plants and flowers,

For animals and fish and birds,

For hills and rocks and mountains,

For all peoples... For Country...

Jesus, we lament the injustice of the past

Jesus, we lament the ongoing injustice in the present.

Jesus, we confess we have contributed to injustice.

Jesus, we confess to having not loved our Aboriginal neighbour as you have called.

Jesus, we thank you for the resilience, survival, and leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Jesus, we thank you that we have the opportunity for relationship and friendship.

Jesus, we know we must do better

Jesus, we know we must make things right.

Jesus, we ask for your guidance as we seek justice in our lifetime.

Jesus, we ask you

To open our eyes to see as you see ;

To open our ears to hear as you hear;

To open our minds to truth as you know;

To open our hearts to love as you love;

We long to embrace unity with diversity.

May the beats of many hearts create a beautiful symphony.

In tune.

In rhythm.

With each other, with all of creation, and with Jesus.

As we pray for justice to roll like the waves of the oceans that surround these lands now called Australia

We pray to #ChangeTheHeart of Australia.

Amen.

Great Creator Spirit,

We gather together from across these lands now called Australia.

We acknowledge you as the Creator of all things.

We humble ourselves before you in prayer.

We have answered your call to prayer and so we pray:

For your forgiveness – as we acknowledge the lack of relationship between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal peoples.

For your grace – as we acknowledge the times we allow our differences to separate us.

For your courage – as we acknowledge ignorance, lack of education, lack of will, and racism that keeps us from the truth.

You are a God of love, and so we come together in community, at a time of division in the nation of Australia, seeking to be your hands and feet, so that through you, we can Change The Heart of Australia, to see healing and hope for all peoples. We long for the Truth to set us free.

Lord, Hear our prayer. Amen.

God of Holy Dreaming, Great Creator Spirit, Papa Jesus,

We come before you today as a Christian community to pause and reflect with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters. We pause to take a moment to show compassion to Aboriginal people at this time of grief and grievance. Whilst not all of us will understand this Lord, we ask that you help us to see, hear and feel the struggles of our Aboriginal brothers and sisters.

We pray for strength and healing at this time that brings forth feelings of loss. We recognise the loss of family, loss of land, and loss of freedom. We say sorry for the times we have wronged Aboriginal people, the times we have not treated them with dignity, the times we have not stood up to racism, and the times we have not listened to their stories, their fight for justice, and their cry for compassion.

Dear Lord, we pray for a way that we can celebrate together, not as one unified group, but for a way that celebrates our diversity. A way that encompasses all cultures, and celebrates and commemorates our past, both the good and the bad.

Dear Lord, we know that you are all seeing and all knowing. We know that you have seen all that has gone on in this land since time began. We pray that you help all Australians to see as you have seen through all the pages of our history and our present and our future yet to come.

Dear Lord, we thank you for placing Aboriginal people here in this land, we thank you for their care and stewardship of your great creation for thousands of years. We thank you for their survival against many odds. Dear Lord, may we learn to respect, appreciate, and acknowledge, the oldest living culture in the world.

Lord we ask all these things in your Almighty name,

Amen.