Chapter 3: Australian Aboriginal Women in Church Ministry

The apartheid system is so prevalent in urban Australian Churches that many non-indigenous Australians think that all Australian Aboriginals are non-Christians. Some Anglo-Australians still believe the myth that Aboriginal Australians are all dying out, or can be "bred white".

Sorry, that isn't the case. Crowds of Australian Aboriginal Christian families inhabit all the mainstream and not-so-mainstream Church denominations. There aren't many Aboriginal Australian Church buildings, because the bush is God's Church in indigenous spirituality. The Australian Aboriginal Churches have a national governing body called NATSIEC (the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Church) where Aboriginal representatives of all the Church gather. Each Church denomination also has a peak Aboriginal organisation - for Anglicans it's NATSIAC, for Catholics, NATSICC, etc. etc.)

Many of Australian Aboriginal Churches are led by Aboriginal women. Elder Elsie Heiss's Reconciliation Church at La Perouse NSW, the Rev. Joan Hendriks in Queensland, Jan Kennedy's Aboriginal Catholic Mission at Emerton NSW, the Rev. Lenore Parker's ministry at MacLean, are just a few examples. Gospel music and healing is a big part of Australian Aboriginal Church women's ministry. If you want to hear great Australian Aboriginal Gospel music, go to the Tamworth Country Music Festival NSW in January.

In 2008 I attended a Church conference, and gave a presentation called "Aboriginal, Christian, and Woman" to Anglo Australians who were convinced by racist propaganda that there are no Aboriginal Christians in Australia. They took a lot of convincing! Here's a video of my Powerpoint presentation from the conference:

Recently, two Anglican Aboriginal women ministers have been making a splash in the media. Archdeacon Karen Kime of the Canberra-Goulburn Diocese is involved in international advocacy for indigenous people, and works with the reconciliation and social justice systems to improve inter-racial communication and upgrade living conditions of Australian Aboriginal communities. The Rev. Gloria Shipp of the Aboriginal Anglican Church at Dubbo, runs retreats for indigenous women out west, and is building a Church culture that takes account of traditional Aboriginal culture and customs.

Here are some links to information about Archdeacon Karen Kime's ministry:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/kime-appointed-archdeacon-20120225-1tvdf.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-25/anglicans-appoint-first-female-indigenous-archdeacon/3852586

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-25/anglicans-appoint-first-female-indigenous-archdeacon/3852586

http://www.anglicancg.org.au/articles.php?action=vp&aid=2

http://www.facebook.com/ReconciliationAus/posts/390356744313570?comment_id=5432547

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXkYBruFxfM

http://www.nitv.org.au/fx-story.cfm?sid=00373998-C1EC-CAD0-8BD3260B79114F18

http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/747514/wagga-woman-makes-church-history/

http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/latest/australia-s-first-female-aboriginal-archdeacon-congratulated

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2012/3/14/ACNS5064