This article first appeared on the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly 4 Nov 2025. It is republished on Vox with permission.
“If you want to be reconciled to me, you have to be reconciled to Country first [for] I am Ruwangk-il, of the soil.”
– Ken Sumner
“Stitch by stitch, circle by circle. Weaving is like the creation of life, all things are connected.”
– Aunty Ellen Trevorrow
This last semester, Uniting College for Leadership and Theology (UCLT) has run a unit titled Kungan Kaldowinyeri. ‘Kungan’, in the language of Kukabrak Ngarrindjeri from the south-east coast of South Australia, means “to listen,” while ‘Kaldowinyeri’ is their entire worldview catching up the whole of creation.
The goal of the unit is to inspire expansions, particularly in Second/settler/migrant Peoples’ understanding of who God is and what it means to be human.
Uncle Ken Sumner, State Development Officer for the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress in South Australia led this unit with Dr Rosemary Dewerse. It has included time spent in guided resource interaction, asynchronous discussions, live online sessions, and a four-day immersion on the Kurangk (Coorong).
We were asking “Who is Creator God?” and “What therefore does it mean to be human?”, exploring the invitations to expansions in our understanding and practice by attending to ancient wisdom, stories of colonial impact and of regenerative work in human and ecological communities, and the perspectives, poetry, music, art and personal experiences of Aboriginal leaders.
Mikenzie Ling, a Wiradjuri woman and First Peoples Strategy and Engagement Consultant in the Synod of NSW/ACT, also presented one evening on her excellent Masters’ thesis, “Is Land My Mother?”
Our immersion was hosted by Uncle Ken and Ngarrindjeri leaders Uncle Clyde Rigney and Tim Hartman, as well as Kenny Jnr, Craig, Natasha, and Carina Sumner.
We tasted welcome to Yarluwe-Ruwe (Sea-Country) in a smoking ceremony, learned to weave Kaldowinyeri with our hands, heard the Ngarrindjeri history of fringe camps, Raukkan and the Point McLeay mission, visited significant environmental restoration projects, breathed with the mighty southern ocean, paused on the shores of Mungkuli (Lake Alexandrina) and the Kurangk, smelt the wind, watched pelicans soar, yarned under the night sky, and were gifted with art.
Throughout we have been growing skill in six-sense listening to our human and more than human kin.
Participants have found the experience “life-changing”.
In 2026, UCLT will offer its two indigenous units again. ‘Yarta Wandatha: The land is speaking the people are speaking‘, led by Rev Dr Aunty Denise Champion in Semester 1, focuses on the impact of Christian mission in these lands now called Australia, and wrestles with redefining “ethical ministry” for today taught by Yarta (Country) and Adnyamathanha leaders.
Kungan Kaldowinyeri: Listening to creation, is taught in Semester 2. You are most welcome to join us!
For information, including dates and costs, contact info@unitingcollege.edu.au. Places are limited.
Dr Rosemary Dewerse, Academic Dean
Dr Rosemary Dewerse is a practical theologian from Aotearoa New Zealand who is currently Academic Dean and Research Coordinator at the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology (UCLT) in Adelaide.
Guest Author
Whitley College
Eva Burrows College
University of Divinity
Add comment