A belated Happy Australia Day, sisters and brothers!

At most Australia Day celebrations, in Parliament, at official university events, and in many church services, proceedings begin with an Acknowledgement of Country. Someone will say something like: “We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land upon which we gather, and we pay our respects to their elders, past and present.” This is different to a Welcome to Country, which is formally offered by traditional custodians themselves. As we celebrated Australia Day this week, I wondered how informed we are of why some churches elect to do this regularly.

For me, Christian worship is not simply an hour of refuge from the world. Rather, we worship our God in real space and time, on real ground, surrounded by other real people all around our country and world. We worship as community – we gather together in the name of Christ, we are invited to see Christ in one another, and we consequently become the Body of Christ, the Church.

In our worship, we always confess our brokenness and sin, on our own behalf and on behalf of all humanity. We also always pray for the world, and offer our financial gifts for the work of the Kingdom. We consistently do these practices because we believe in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, who ushers forth the Reign of God. Our role as Christians is to work towards that Reign. These prayers and practices re-align us towards that role.

The Acknowledgement of Country at the beginning of Christian worship is a further way to exist as an Australian church, keeping alive the memory of conquest and survival. When we acknowledge country as we gather, we are invited to challenge the dominant Australian stories of peaceful settlement, terra nullius, and White Australia. We acknowledge that we worship on land that God lovingly created, which was cared for by Aboriginal people for many, many years before us, and which ultimately belongs to God, not us.

However, the Acknowledgement of Country is not about sitting forever in a puddle of guilt. Acknowledging country is akin to a prayer that God will heal wounds, inspire us to work for justice, and bring forth an era of harmony and reconciliation. Our faith in Jesus teaches us that one day, this will become a reality.