Today’s Service is a celebration of the Cadigal People on whose land our church stands. It is also a reminder of our indebtedness to Indigenous people and their culture. We share a common national destiny.
Most of the words of this Service are taken from various Indigenous liturgies and poetry. Many of these are in A Prayer Book for Australia (APBA) which we use each Sunday. Some of the other words are from Christian poets who use their skills to re-interpret the language of God and the yearning for spirit that marks our contemporary world. As the co-ordinator of this service I hope you feel comfortable with these words and themes and gain greatly from the experience of ‘walking in others’ shoes’.
To emphasise this theme the address (or sermon) is called Dreamtime and uses a phrase common among Indigenous people. The word ‘Dreamtime’ is really a white invention. It is an imperfect description of a living tradition that expresses the spirit and values of our Indigenous sisters and brothers. In using the term, and the prayers, there is no desire to exploit our Indigenous friends but to share with them in the riches of our common Christian heritage.
Bill Lawton