Reconciliation and the Australian Church: A Christian Guide

In Christ We Come Together: What Reconciliation With Aboriginal Australians Looks Like for the Church

Here’s a question that may be uncomfortable: how many Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people do you know personally? Not know about, but actually know, by name, with shared meals, conversations and trust.

For many Australian Christians, especially those living in large cities, the honest answer is none. That’s the starting point of a recent testimony on The Daily Declaration by Robyn Murray, who moved to Alice Springs in 2020 to serve in ministry, spent just under three years there, and has returned every year since. She argues that reconciliation begins with honest history, humble listening, prayer and a shared life in Christ.

This post draws on her piece, adds historical and practical background, and looks at how Christians can think about reconciliation in a way that’s honest about the past, realistic about the present and anchored in the gospel. It’s written by outsiders to Aboriginal communities, so it aims to listen first, and it recognises that Aboriginal Christians have the most important voices on this subject.

What Robyn Murray Says

According to her account:

• Many Australians don’t know any Aboriginal people. Living in cities and moving among their own cultural groups, many Christians have no real relationships with Aboriginal Australians, and may carry inherited prejudices from parents, stories and stereotypes without any personal experience to test them.
• Omission in history has caused harm. She says the history taught to her generation left out the difficult truths of early settlement, including violence, abuse and dispossession, and that this silence has fed the rejection and discrimination Aboriginal people have felt. Only recently, she says, has the story begun to be properly told.
• There are real gaps today. She points to research showing differences in life expectancy, health and social outcomes, and to communities affected by domestic violence, addiction, poverty and overcrowding, while stressing that these are complex consequences of many factors.
• Seeds have already been sown. Drawing on her book Finding Gold, she honours the work of Bible translators and missionaries who gave years of their lives, with all their weaknesses and failings, and says she believes the good has far outweighed the bad. She also notes that Australian Christians have prayed, repented on behalf of previous generations, extended forgiveness and seen healing.
• God is not on either side. Quoting Mark Holloway, author of Cry the Wounded Land, she suggests that relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians needs God, who is on neither side. We should champion our differences, listen first, and let our Aboriginal friends lead.
• In Christ, we truly come together. Her own experience is that she and her husband have become “family” with Aboriginal friends in a spiritual way that goes beyond natural connection, even though their lives are very different and neither can fully understand the other’s.
• The onus is on us. She says non-Aboriginal Christians should learn the shared history and its consequences, seek to understand, honour and uphold their brothers and sisters, present the gospel in ways that overcome language and cultural barriers, and serve without agendas to restore trust.
• Jesus is the answer. She concludes that true reconciliation and unity are only fully possible in Christ, and quotes Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed.”

A Short Background on Reconciliation in Australia

For readers who want a quick orientation, here are some milestones:

• 1987–1991: Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. It examined the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody and the underlying social and legal issues.
• 1991: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was established by the Federal Parliament, leading to the formal reconciliation process of the 1990s. Reconciliation Australia was founded in 2001.
• 1997: Bringing Them Home. The national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families documented the removal of children over many decades, now known as the Stolen Generations. Churches and other institutions were involved in the policies and their implementation.
• 2008: The National Apology. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Parliament.
• 2008 onward: Closing the Gap. Governments set national targets for improving outcomes. National reviews have repeatedly found progress slower than hoped on many targets. For example, the gap in life expectancy remains around eight to nine years.
• 2017: The Uluru Statement from the Heart, which called for a Voice to Parliament, treaty-making and truth-telling.
• 2023: The Voice referendum. Australians voted against constitutionally enshrining a Voice, and Christians were found on both sides of the debate.
• Recent years: State-level processes on truth-telling and treaty, such as Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission.

Dates and details are worth checking from primary sources, and the debates over policy continue. What matters here is that reconciliation isn’t a single event but a long process, and the church has a role in it.

Honest History, Including the Church’s Part

Murray’s call for honest history is one that Christians should take seriously.

The church’s record in Australia is mixed, as we noted in our earlier post on discipleship in Central Australia. Many missionaries lived sacrificially, learned languages, translated Scripture and sometimes protected Aboriginal people from violence. At the same time, church-run missions and institutions were part of the system that suppressed ceremony and language and separated children from families. Many Aboriginal people carry both gratitude and pain about that history, and both are true.

Honesty also means resisting two temptations. One is to tell a story of unrelieved guilt that ignores genuine good done by individuals and communities. The other is to tell a story of unqualified benevolence that dismisses real suffering. The Bible models a third way: it tells the truth about sin, both individual and corporate, and about God’s mercy.

Can We Repent for the Sins of Others?

Murray mentions “representational repentance,” meaning repenting on behalf of those who went before us. This is a matter on which Christians differ, so it’s worth looking at the Bible’s guidance.

• Passages that support corporate confession. Nehemiah 1:6–7 and Daniel 9:5–6 show leaders confessing the sins of their people and their ancestors as “we have sinned.” Leviticus 26:40 also describes confessing the sins of one’s fathers.
• A passage that guards against inherited guilt. Ezekiel 18:20 says that a child isn’t punished for a parent’s sin, and each person is accountable for their own.

A way of holding these together is to say that individuals aren’t guilty for what they didn’t do, but communities share a responsibility to acknowledge wrongs, to grieve over them, to seek forgiveness where possible and to repair what can be repaired. Such acknowledgement doesn’t claim personal guilt for the past. It’s an honest recognition of a shared history and a willingness to act differently.

What the Bible Says About Reconciliation

Scripture speaks of reconciliation as central to the gospel.

• Ephesians 2:14–18 describes how Christ has made two groups one and broken down the dividing wall of hostility, creating one new humanity and reconciling both to God through the cross. The original context was Jew and Gentile, and the principle applies to every divided people.
• Galatians 3:28 says there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.
• 2 Corinthians 5:18–19 says God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation.
• Matthew 5:23–24 tells us to be reconciled to a brother or sister before bringing our gift to the altar. Reconciliation with people isn’t a distraction from worship, but part of it.
• Revelation 7:9 pictures a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne. Australia’s First Peoples are part of that vision.
• Isaiah 1:17 and Micah 6:8 call us to seek justice, defend the oppressed and walk humbly.

The point is that the gospel creates a new family. Murray’s experience of becoming spiritual family with Aboriginal friends in Alice Springs is exactly what the New Testament describes: unity across deep differences, rooted in Christ, not in sameness.

Our Take

Here’s where we’d like to add some commentary.

1. Relationships come before programs.

It’s difficult to be reconciled with people you don’t know. The most important step for many Australian Christians is simply to meet Aboriginal people as neighbours, colleagues, friends and fellow believers, and to build trust over time.

2. Listen first, and let Aboriginal people lead.

Murray’s advice to ask and listen, and to let Aboriginal friends go first, is wise. Reconciliation done to a community rarely works. Reconciliation done with a community, with Aboriginal Christians leading, is far more likely to be lasting.

3. Learn the history, all of it.

That includes the failures and the good, and the particular history of the place where you live. Resources such as AIATSIS, local historical societies, and Aboriginal-authored books and talks are good places to start.

4. Be humble about the limits of understanding.

Murray notes that she struggles to relate to life for Aboriginal people in Alice Springs, and that her friends can’t fully understand her life either. That honesty is valuable. Reconciliation doesn’t require us to claim we understand everything. It requires us to be willing to keep learning.

5. Justice matters as much as friendship.

Care for the poor and oppressed (Isaiah 1:17) means supporting practical change in health, education, housing, safety and employment, as well as personal relationships. Christians can disagree about the best policies and still agree that those gaps matter.

6. Don’t turn relationships into projects.

Murray says to serve without agendas. Friendship that is only a means to an end isn’t friendship. The gospel should be shared, but within real relationships of respect, not as a transaction.

7. Hold the gospel as the deepest answer.

Murray’s conviction that true reconciliation is ultimately found in Christ is a Christian one, and an important one. It doesn’t replace practical action, and it doesn’t have to be used to dismiss others’ concerns. It gives us hope that unity is possible even where history is painful.

The Other Side of the Conversation

In fairness, here are some other perspectives:

• Some Aboriginal leaders feel the language of “reconciliation” has been too soft, and prefer “truth-telling” and “treaty,” arguing that without justice and structural change, reconciliation can become a gesture.
• Others in Aboriginal communities, including many Christians, value the work of missionaries and churches and speak of their faith as an essential part of their lives and cultures.
• Some Aboriginal voices are critical of the church’s history, of ongoing paternalism, or of Christians who arrive with solutions without listening.
• Some non-Aboriginal Christians are wary of what they see as guilt-based narratives and symbolic gestures, and prefer a focus on practical outcomes such as education, employment and safety. They worry that emphasis on past wrongs can deepen division.
• Policy disagreements about the Voice, treaty, welcome-to-country practices and other measures run through the Christian community. People of goodwill disagree.
• Historians debate how to interpret particular events and the scale of violence and policy, and the conversation, sometimes called the “history wars,” is ongoing. Careful, honest scholarship is essential.

None of these is a reason to avoid the task. They’re reasons to approach it with humility, and to be willing to hear one another.

Practical Steps

• Pray. Ask God to soften your heart, to reveal prejudices you may not have recognised, and to show you your part. Pray for Aboriginal Christian leaders, families and communities.
• Meet people. Look for opportunities through your church, workplace, neighbourhood or community events. Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June), National Sorry Day (26 May) and NAIDOC Week in July are natural starting points.
• Learn. Read about the history of your local area and the Aboriginal people who have lived there. Consider reading Finding Gold, books by Aboriginal Christian authors, and the Bringing Them Home report.
• Listen to Aboriginal Christians and support their leadership, whether in your own church or through Aboriginal-led ministries and organisations.
• Support practical work on health, education, housing and safety through reputable organisations, preferably those led by Aboriginal people.
• Invite and be invited. Share meals, visit, and accept hospitality.
• Stay for the long term. Trust is built over years.

If You or Someone You Know Needs Support

If you’re struggling, support is available. 13YARN (13 92 76) offers 24/7 crisis support from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and Lifeline is available on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call 000.

Questions to Reflect On

• Which Aboriginal people do I know, and what would it take to build a friendship?
• What do I know about the Aboriginal history of the place where I live?
• What stereotypes or assumptions might I have inherited without realising it?
• How does my church honour and listen to Aboriginal Christians?
• What would it look like to seek justice and to build relationships together?

A Short Prayer

Lord Jesus, you broke down the walls that divide, and you make us one in yourself. We thank you for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander believers who have kept faith through hardship, and we grieve for the suffering that has been caused, including by those who claimed your name. Forgive us where we have been silent or unkind. Soften our hearts, open our ears, and give us courage to build real friendships and to seek justice. Heal our land, and bring us together in your love. Amen.