I spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks at the National Conference of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress in Perth. Then for the last couple of days I've been part of the media team at the Uniting Church's 12th Assemble Meeting in Sydney. I've been thinking about the differences between the two events.

Wednesday night was the installation of the new president, Rev Alistair Macrae. It was a beautiful service - well planned and choreographed, a fair amount of multimedia etc. It began with a very moving reflection by an Aboriginal Elder from Elcho Island in the NT about the importance of water.

It was good that the president gave such precedence to the wisdom of the Aboriginal people and also, in his sermon, he stressed the importance of reconciliation. But I was struck by how rich and lavish the service was compared with the various worship services and rallies I took part in at the Congress event. 

Back in Perth, the election of the new chair and vice chair of Congress happened right at the end of the day's meeting and was followed by a simple communion service and singing where everyone held hands.

Each night of the Conference there had been worship rallies, which consisted of music and people sharing about their areas of work or sharing their story of how God has brought good things into their life. 

Throughout the Conference, much more time was spent in worship or Bible studies or just in talking through the issues than in business sessions. Things seemed to happen in a really casual way; yet all the matters of business were dealt with.

Coming from that to this, I'm struck by the formality but also by the higher level of resources available to run the Assembly meeting.

Where Congress was struggling with on-the-ground issues like the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people, a lot of time today was spent talking about who should be represented at meetings. That's important (to make sure all the voices are heard) but it seems a bit removed from the reality of the world.

Last night was the presentation of the Congress report and it made me really question just how much commitment we really have to reconciliation; whether we really are willing to reconsider how we operate as a church and think about how we can share our resources in a way that will support

Congress to make a real difference, and whether we are willing to change our focus to really be "the people of God".