In a church setting, a territorial acknowledgment can be a meaningful and important practice. It can take place as a statement before the service, be expressed liturgically, can be visual or spoken, and used in a variety of contexts.
But why do we acknowledge territory, and what does it do? Click through to this resource from Kairos Ecumenical Justice Initiatives to learn more.
At the Diocesan workshop for Crafting and Leading the Prayers of the People held during Lent 2024, we liturgically acknowledged the people and the lands on which we gather. Should you choose to use this (or any other form of territorial acknowledgment) it is vital to both learn to pronounce the names of these nations properly, and to adapt it to the particular places and people on whose unceded territories you gather.
An important sign of you desire to show honour and respect is to actively and intentionally connect your congregation's verbal acknowledgment with concrete action (click here for some ideas).
Decades after the development of the Disciple’s Prayer Book, both Indigenous and Settler communities come together in Circles – where two or three are gathered – with the Gospel at the center building relationships as disciples. What began as a pastoral adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer is now a well-known, well-established resource in the Anglican Communion.