Day of Mourning Service

In 1940, Aboriginal Christian leader William Cooper asked the church to set aside the Sunday before January 26th as a day of Christian solidarity calling for full citizenship rights to be granted to Aboriginal peoples. Citizenship was finally granted in 1967. However, the ongoing impacts of dispossession are still very real. Therefore, in the spirit of the One who speaks truth, loves justice and draws all things into communion, in recent years churches have reclaimed this day to acknowledge the effects of colonisation and to seek life-giving ways forward. Some call it the Day of Mourning, others Aboriginal Sunday.