Preaching from the Heart | Call for Sermons

An Australian sermon collection responding to the historic First Nations Statement

Call and response

Australian churches are called to engage with the Statement from the Heart in the context of an historic referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This call is placed before Australian churches by the Creator God who gives us our being in this land and is given voice today by Professor Anne Patel-Gray, Head of the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity. It is a call that demands our response as Australian churches.

The response of this project is to produce an Australian collection of sermons for publication as a book. Indigenous and settler/non-Indigenous preachers are invited to submit up to two sermons they have preached proclaiming God Word of spirit and truth to their congregation about the gift to the Australian people in the historic First Nations Statement from the Heart.

Publishing

Indigenous and settler/non-Indigenous preachers are requested to address our guidelines for preaching (see over) that respond to the Statement. From the sermons forwarded to sermonfromtheheart@gmail.com by Friday 30 June 2023, at least twelve sermons in total will be selected for publication in a book celebrating God’s sovereign ‘yes’ to the gift to the Australian people in the Statement from the Heart.

As a movement of the Spirit, this opportunity is extended to all Christian preachers across Australia. Further details about this unique opportunity for Australian Christians to contribute to Voice, Treaty, and Truth in Australian history are detailed on the back of this flyer.

Sermons will be selected for publication by an ecumenical editorial group led by Rev Dr Garry Worete Deverell, Lecturer and Research Fellow in the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity.

Authorisation

‘Preaching from the Heart’ is a project coordinated by the Creative Ministries Network Congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia and is offered in part-nership with the School of Indigenous Studies of the University of Divinity.

Enquiries

Rev John Bottomley
Program Coordinator
Creative Ministries Network Congregation
johnbottomley@netspace.net.au

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR PUBLICATION

Sermons should address at least two of the following guidelines to qualify for publication:

1. How Christians may respond to the spiritual notion of Indigenous people’s sovereignty.
2. How Christians may respond to the proposition of Indigenous theologians that Country itself is a sacred text.
3. How Christians may hear the truth of suffering and injustice borne by Indigenous people acknowledged in the Statement from the Heart as due to the colonial invasion and theft of their land.
4. How God’s Word of spirit and truth revealed in scripture speaks to church and nation about the gift to the Australian people in the Statement from the Heart.
5. How those who hear this preaching are called by Christ to respond from their hearts to the referendum for a Voice to parliament.

Entries must be:

• No more than 2,000 words.
• Include a sermon title.
• Formatted in a Word file in 12-point Times New Roman font, single spaced.
• The preacher’s original work.
• Details that identify the preacher must not be included in the body of the text.
• Submitted by Friday 30 June 2023 to sermonfromtheheart@gmail.com

All entries will be acknowledged by email.

Your sermon must have a separate cover page with:

• The preacher’s name, contact email address and telephone number.
• Specify if you are an Indigenous or a settler/non-Indigenous person.
• The date and place where the sermon was preached must be indicated.
• The following consent agreement:
  ‘If selected for publication, I give my consent for the sermon I submitted to be included in the proposed book of sermons featured in this project’.
  Signature:
  Date:

Resources

Two videos from Churches Together South Australia are resources that preachers may access for important insight into the Statement from the Heart and its invitation to the people of Australia to support its call for Voice, Treaty, Truth.

The first is a call from Professor Anne Pattel-Gray to Australian churches to support a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. Anne Pattel-Gray is Head of the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity.

The second is a lecture on the Statement and the design of the Voice by Rev Dr Garry Worete Deverell. Garry is Lecturer and Research Fellow in the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity.

Download the Preaching from the Heart flyer