Churches
A Christian group conversation guide for supporting the Voice to Parliament.
Tearfund and Common Grace have collaborated to produce this group conversation guide on the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Drawing on resources from Together, Yes along with videos of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Christian leaders, it provides the framework for a 2-hour conversation that will help participants understand and grow support for a First Nations Voice to Parliament.
Download the guide below.
ⓘ Training for using the Table Talk Conversations Guide: Recently we ran some training webinars to help people know how best to use this guide. If you would like a copy of the recording please contact us.
On many occasions in Jesus’ ministry, we see him bringing people together around a table to share food and fellowship. When he gathered his disciples for one last meal together, Jesus turned the breaking of bread into an enduring symbol of our reconciliation with God and with one another.
Uncle Gabriel Bani, a Torres Strait Island Christian leader, describes what this looks like for people on his Island in the cultural protocol of gathering together on a woven mat.
He says, “We have to sit on some form of a mat.... We need a place to sit down [together] and listen.”
Table Talk Conversations are a way of engaging in advocacy that brings the idea of a grass mat into broader Australian culture and creates a safe, shared space for respectful dialogue at our kitchen tables.
It promotes what Uncle Gabriel calls "cultural diplomacy." As we approach the referendum on a First Nations Voice to parliament, you have an opportunity to invite your peers to sit together “on the mat”, or at your table, and be advocates for change.
Table Talk Conversations are an effective forum for helping people make sense of societal issues and engage in respectful and honest dialogue.
They are typically small group discussions held in a comfortable space, facilitated by a host who creates a safe environment for exploring ideas.
The host doesn't need to have all the answers but provides a framework for exploration and guides the conversation, considering the personal, formative, and healing aspects of these spaces.
