A few weeks before her induction as the 17th President of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA), we spoke to Reverend Charissa Suli about UnitingWorld, her journey into leadership and hopes for her time as President.
There was a time when Rev. Charissa Suli didn’t think church leadership could be for people like her.
“My home congregation was one of the first Tongan or migrant congregations that was established in the Uniting Church in Australia,” she says.
“I grew up in a tradition where it’s predominantly been older Pacific men who are the leaders and the ministers and that was my normal, which was fine, but it meant I didn’t think so much about paths like ordained ministry for myself.”
That was until, as a young adult, Charissa was invited to use her gifts of singing and worship leading to serve at a cross-cultural gathering.
“The gathering was filled with so many culturally diverse people, younger and older generations, and I saw Pasifika women, Korean women, Armenian ministers, it really surprised me.”
“For the very first time, I saw a Pasifika woman (Rev Dr Seforosa Carroll) leading a Bible study… and I said to myself: ‘I can do that.’”
Rev. Suli preaching at Bankstown Uniting Church as part of the Pacific-Australia Emerging Leaders Summit in 2023.
Encouraging others
Looking back today, Charissa acknowledges many mentors and vital opportunities that enabled her to step up into ordained ministry and church leadership.
“There’s faithfully leaning into the gifts God has given me, but it has also been about people giving opportunities, people seeing me for who I am, passing me the microphone and saying, hey, it’s your turn to speak.”
Her journey has made her a passionate advocate for helping provide opportunities and platforms for others to take up leadership, particularly women.
“Because I always believe that there’s enough room for all of us at the Lord’s Table, and if we run out of the chairs, then get the fala (mat) out, get the camp chair out. Because when I think about God’s inclusive and agape love, it’s so wide and so deep and it’s not going to run out. I truly believe that God will utilise each of us, in ways that we will never understand.”
Seeing the work of UnitingWorld come to life
“I’ve loved the opportunities I’ve had to see the work of UnitingWorld come to life,” says Charissa.
“The most recent experience I’ve had connecting with our overseas partners was being at a Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga (FWCT) conference last year, after the tsunami.”
“I was sitting at the front table, during one of the lunch times, and the FWCT President quietly says to me, “we’re just about to do a presentation of thanks to UnitingWorld… the National Director’s not here, but you’re here… I need you to represent the Uniting Church and present to the conference.”
Charissa knew churches in Australia had given generously to support Tonga after the crisis but didn’t know what exactly that translated into.
“So I get up and I’m rushing to the microphone, trying to think of what we gave, what it meant for people and the rebuilding effort,” she recalls.
“Then before my eyes, this truck is driven into the middle of the square pulling an enormous boat that was donated through UnitingWorld, and with it was life jackets, shovels, gardening and kitchen equipment… anything you can think of that’s going to help a community grow and rebuild again.”
It was just a glimpse of a huge range of equipment that was acquired to help resource and reconnect outer islands to sources of livelihoods that had been wiped out.
“I stood there with tears in my eyes because I got to see in real time the incredible work that happens behind the scenes,” said Charissa.
“And it wasn’t just me, I could see the leaders who were from the smaller islands who had really been doing it tough and they had tears coming down off their cheeks as they saw this equipment and knowing how much it’s needed and will be put to good use.”
“That was really beautiful and profound moment,” she says.
“It was really special to see the fruits of all the fundraising done by local Uniting Churches and how it comes to life when our partners can get what they need to support communities around them.”
“I felt so proud of the work that the Uniting Church and UnitingWorld does alongside the global church.
Hopes for the future
Charissa says she hopes to share and champion the story of UnitingWorld and UCA partners in her time as President, and particularly to lean into our mission of ‘connecting communities for life’:
“…when we have strong relationships, we can incorporate other voices, other generations, from people all over to be part of the talanoa (dialogue) that complements the work that’s already been done in terms of our international aid.”
“It’s looking at who is the next generation in our partner churches, where we can begin to introduce the younger generations who are here in the diaspora so that they continue the important work – because they’ll be standing on the shoulders of these amazing leaders who are here now in leadership, but who are we passing the baton to? I think that’s so important as we look to the future of our church.”
Despite being the first Tongan President of the UCA, Charissa is quick to point out that it wasn’t a factor in her discernment or thoughts about what she hopes to achieve in the role. “If God is calling me here, it’s a new opportunity to channel God’s love,” she says.
“If there’s something I think the President should do, it’s to remind the church who we’re called to be, to inspire the church to lean into their spirituality, to lean into their community and think about what are some of the ways we can strengthen our relationships with God and with each other.”
“And we need to remember the good news that we have to tell our world. We shouldn’t be silent. We have such good news to tell!”
Amen.
