In this PEACEtalks hear Pastor Raymond Minniecon speak on Healing Country.
“Country does not belong to us. We belong to Country.” For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the concept of Country is far richer and all-encompassing than simply the land in a given area, embracing land, water, air and all the other creatures that live and move and find a home within them. This year’s NAIDOC theme was Heal Country!, a phrase that is simultaneously lament for the myriad wounds inflicted upon our common home, an urgent exhortation to a shared responsibility, and a word of blessing promising healing for each us, who are also not separate from the places in which we dwell and the stories that illuminate, nurture and sustain them. We too are part of Country that needs healing; we too yearn for wholeness.
Yet healing requires understanding. So if Country is to be healed, we also must first come to a deeper love and insight, an appreciation of the wholeness towards which we yearn, as well as an honest grasp on the often painful history of its divisions, trauma and injustices, old and new.
In the opening chapters of the ancient Hebrew book of Genesis, we also discover a story of a land created to be good, abundant and diverse, yet divided by greed, violence and fear. Indigenous theologian and pastor Ray Minniecon will explore how this foundational biblical narrative, written thousands of years ago and set half a world away, can shed surprising light on our situation here today, amidst climate disruption, biodiversity decline and ongoing injustice to the First Peoples of these lands.
About our speaker
Pastor Raymond Minniecon is a descendant of the Kabi Kabi nation and the Gurang Gurang nation of South-East Queensland, and a descendant of the South Sea Islander people. He is a prominent Aboriginal Christian theologian, pastor and public voice in Australia with a long history working across Aboriginal justice issues through business and ministry. Amongst many other roles, he is pastor to the Scarred Tree Indigenous Ministry in Glebe, and co-founder of the Australian branch of NAIITS Indigenous Learning Community dedicated to Indigenous theological development.
This event is PEACEtalks: a quarterly event (held on a Thursday or Saturday evening) hosted by Paddington Anglican Church aimed at serving the community by promoting and cultivating deep conversations about life, the world and everything. ‘PEACE’ stands for ‘political, ethical, artistic & cultural engagement’. Also on iTunes / Apple Podcasts by searching for PEACEtalks.