Polkinghorne Oration 2023

By Rev Sue Ellis

The Synod Seniors Ministry group, Uniting Church Fellowship and Mission Support (UCFAMS) is hosting the inaugural Polkinghorne Oration, in partnership with the Uniting Church Environmental Action Group and Churches Together SA.

Concordia College, Highgate will be the venue for the Oration which will take place on Thursday, 5th October 2023 at 7.00 pm. We are excited to be able to bring to Adelaide International spokesperson on Climate Change and the Pacific, Rev James Bhagwan.

Rev Bhagwan is an ordained Methodist Minister in Fiji and was appointed as General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches in 2018, whose membership includes the Uniting Church in Australia. James has spoken widely on the impact of Climate Change on the Pacific Island communities, having addressed Past-President, Dr Deidre Palmer’s Assembly President’s Conference ‘For the Whole of Creation’ in 2019 and in 2021 he addressed the United Nations Climate Change Conference on human security and Climate change. His podcasts on this issue can be heard on ‘The Last Wave’ on the United Nations Development Program website or on Spotify.

The Polkinghorne Oration is entitled ‘Oceans of Justice and Rivers of Fairness – A Pacific Voice in the Wilderness’ and is based on Amos 5:4 in The Message Bible – ‘Do you know what I want? I want justice - oceans of it. I want fairness - rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.’

This scripture forms the theme for the 2023 Season of Creation, which commences on 1st September 2023 and calls for churches to emphasise climate and ecological justice together, by speaking out with and for those communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity.

The Uniting Church Synod of South Australia has emphasised the necessity to address climate change in many of its decisions over recent years, and our membership of the Pacific Conferences directs us to consider the impact of our living upon our brothers and sisters in the Asia-Pacific region, for whom we have a special relationship described in Paragraph 2 of the Basis of Union

James will be exploring what the Seasons of Creation theme means for the ‘Blue Pacific Continent’ as the peoples there move towards further self-determination and face the global challenges before them, including climate change, which is drowning parts of Fiji, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall and Solomon Islands. This oration will bring a unique insight into how our churches can care for our Pacific Island brothers and sisters. South Australia hosts many people as seasonal workers from the Pacific regions and welcomed a number of migrants, whose church life is linked to the Synod of South Australia.

The Polkinghorne Oration is named for two South Australian missionaries who have used their education and ministry gifts to assist others in coping with the impact of climate on food production and the environment. Brian and Jill Polkinghorne served as Congregational church missionaries from 1970, working with the World Council of Churches in Tanzania at the YMCA Farm School, teaching basic agricultural and horticultural methodologies and then working with the Catholic Church to develop the Kilacha Agricultural Production and Training Centre.

In 1989 they returned to Tanzania, with Jill teaching and working with a street children’s centre and Brian working on an Australian government partnership project called the ‘Kwimba Reforestation Project’ that eventually planted 6.7 million trees, with a 70% establishment rate.

Brian also established a chicken farm at Kilacha, that was highly successful. The Polkinghornes have been strong advocates for the environment and were responsible for the UCFAMS ‘Lessons from COVID-19 for the Climate Emergency’ video series, which can be found at this link: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JHWqV1Pzc00)

As members of the Uniting Church Environmental Action Group, and past leaders of UCFAMS, Jill and Brian have been tireless in challenging our response to the climate emergency as members of the Uniting Church. It is most fitting that this oration be titled ‘The Polkinghorne Oration.’

Save the Date: mark your Calendars for this important event. Registration information will be available from August 2023 onwards.

References

The Last Wave, United Nations Development Program, https:// www.undp.org/pacific/catching-last-wave-rev-james-bhagwan