# How should Australian Christians respond to Black Lives Matter?

> On Sunday, 27 September, the Uniting Church Chaplaincy at CSU Port Macquarie will host a webinar on the subject matter of Black Lives Matter. The webinar will explore the way that Christian faith shapes responses to the Black Lives Matter movement, its relevance to Australia, and how Australians may face the truth of their history.

By Jonathan Foye · 17 September 2020 · News

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/how-should-australian-christians-respond-to-black-lives-matter/

On Sunday, 27 September, the Uniting Church Chaplaincy at CSU Port Macquarie will host a webinar on the subject matter of Black Lives Matter.

The webinar will explore the way that Christian faith shapes responses to the Black Lives Matter movement, its relevance to Australia, and how Australians may face the truth of their history.

Rev. Tau’alofa Anga’aelangi is a Tertiary Chaplain at Charles Sturt University. She told *Insights* that the webinar came together out of necessity.

“The Black Lives Matter Movement is just one layer of a larger narrative of systematic racism that many of us live within, both in terms of our experiences, what we see and hear…the stories we tell or are told and the articles and books we read,” Rev. Anga’aelangi said.

“In Australia, the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted our deliberate societal ignorance of our history of colonialism, including our stolen generations and the massacres of Aboriginal peoples. Confronting the ugly truth of our past situates all of us as the beneficiaries of these strands of interwoven systemic inequality.”

“As a church, what are the implications of the BLM movement for us as followers of Jesus Christ in the Australian context? What does it mean to be disciples of Jesus, called to face the truth of our history of racial inequality in Australia?”

The panel conversation will be the first in a series of webinars, “that provide a space and platform for this necessary and overdue conversation to take place.

“It came about because I and key members of the panel recognise the urgent need for such a conversation and our primary concern is that those who may benefit from such conversations can have the space for asking questions and discussions that can lead to understanding and hopefully transformation,” Rev. Anga’aelangi said.

As well as Rev. Anga’aelangi, panellists will include Rev. Dr Katalina Tahaafe-Williams, Hayden Charles, and Rev. Liam Miller.

*The Black Lives Matter webinar takes place via Zoom on 27 September from 3pm to 4.15pm. The meeting ID is 833 1226 2555.*

*To register for the webinar, email ucc.csu@gmail.com.*

Filed under: racial-justice