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Why Aboriginal Church Leaders Are Vital

by | Tue, Oct 11 2022

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An Anglican pastor has explained why it’s so important to have Aboriginal church leaders minister to their own people.

Reverend Michael Duckett told the Sydney Synod that entering a church can feel like going to court for some indigenous people.

He said they can go into a traumatised state when hearing a white man preach at them and wanting to convert and change them.

Reverend Duckett knows this from his own experience as pastor of Macarthur Indigenous Church and chairman of the Sydney Anglican Indigenous People’s Ministry Committee.

He described how broken families, communities and multi-generational trauma are the reason why ministries by Aboriginal leaders tailored to Aboriginal people were so important.

He’s even created a ministry in a bush setting near Campbelltown to provide a more acceptable and safer church environment.

sydneyanglican.net reports the bush church attendance has doubled despite the location being 12-kilometres out of town.

Reverend Duckett says indigenous worshippers get to sit in God’s creation, hear the birds sing, and light up a fire.