Credit Teniele Wilmot

What is Refugee Sunday?

Refugee Sunday (31 August, 2003) is a celebration of the contribution refugees have made to Australia that is held every year in thousands of churches around Australia. Each year, the National Council of Churches in Australia produces an Education Kit that contains educational reports, as well as Liturgy and parishes resources for helping celebrate the day and take further action. For copies of the Refugee Sunday Education Kit, please contact James Thomson on (02) 9299 2215 or jthomson@ncca.org.au

The Education Kit and much more will be available on our website at www.ncca.org.au on 2nd August 2003

How can you help protect refugees on Refugee Sunday?

•  Celebrate Refugee Sunday in your local church on 31 August 2003 with a special ecumenical liturgy highlighting the plight of refugees and displaced people (see above to order a free Education Kit, which contains a special Liturgy and parish resources).
•  ‘Welcome the stranger’ in your community by organising an event with friends, family and refugees and asylum seekers from your area.
•  Reflect on the ecumenical liturgy and information sheets provided in the education kit and pray for the plight of uprooted people.

Or, put your faith into action by:

•  Sending us a phone card to help an asylum seeker in detention call home or call a lawyer - its only $5 or $10, but it makes a huge difference to someone isolated in a detention centre.
•  Volunteering at the House of Welcome to assist refugees released from detention on Temporary Protection Visas (contact Patricia on (02) 9299 2215).

Australians have always welcomed the stranger. Refugee Sunday aims to make that welcome official.