The pursuit of peace is at the core of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We echo his words when we share the greeting ‘peace be with you’ with members of our worshipping congregations each week. Jesus expresses the centrality of peacemaking in the Beatitudes; he preaches that peacemakers will be the children of God (Matt 5:9).

From its inception, the Uniting Church in Australia has recognised this Christian imperative. In 1977 the newly-created Church proclaimed its concern “for the welfare of the whole human race,.”[1]emphasising it was “conscious of … responsibilities within and beyond this country”[2]. In the years since, the Church has continually renewed these commitments.  Assembly resolutions contained in Uniting for Peace[3] state “that the Church is committed to [being] a peacemaking body” and to supporting and urging the Australian Government to support “mechanisms for … building a culture of peace”. These include “co-operation with governments, the United Nations, and community sector and religious organisations to develop peaceful solutions to conflict …” 

When looking to the Church’s responsibilities beyond our shores, peace in the Holy Land is an issue of intimate concern to us as Christians. This concern is born out of our Christian hope for a reconciled world generally, and more specifically through the knowledge that these lands were those in which Jesus exercised his ministry. However, this peace seems far off for the people of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

1. Hold a special worship service, meeting or forum in your congregation focusing on the request of Palestinian Christians for the world church to take action in support of an end to the occupation and the conflict.

2. Pray regularly for the peace process and for the people of Israel and Palestine.

3. Meet with your local Federal MP to express concern over the lack of resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and seek support for Australian Government action towards the end of the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and a two-state solution.

4. Write letters to the Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs to express the same.

5. Participate in the annual Week of Peace for Palestine-Israel, using the liturgical resources provided by the World Council of Churches.

6. Invite a speaker on these issues from the Uniting Church in Australia National Assembly or the National Council of Churches in Australia.

7. Contact a local Jewish, Palestinian or activist community group in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth or Sydney, including a range of Jewish and Palestinian groups with diverse views.

8. Support a relief or development project in the West Bank or Gaza, particularly a project that is supported by an Israeli community group or an Australian Jewish community group.

9. Register ongoing interest in further action through contact with the Ecumenical Working Group on Palestine – Israel via its website, www.peaceintheholyland.org

10. Support a boycott of goods produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (list of products available at www.assembly.uca.org.au/prayerforpeace). Then:

• Notify the Assembly using the ‘feedback’ form available from your Ministry agent (from CD ROM), or by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Notify the National Council of Churches in Australia by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Notify the Federal Government through Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Federal Opposition through the Hon. Julie Bishop MP, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
• Notify the Israeli Ambassador
• Notify the Palestinian Representative