Located in a converted terrace in Sydney's inner west, the Balmain Uniting Church is one of the first suburban churches to offer sanctuary to asylum seekers at imminent risk of deportation.
"We would do whatever it took to stop the government from taking them, we would stand in the way of the authorities," said Reverend Nicole Fleming. "And we are ready to go to jail, if that's what it comes to."
On Wednesday, the High Court ruled that Australia's offshore detention is legal, clearing the way for 270 asylum seekers – including 37 babies born in Australia – to be returned either to Nauru or Manus Island.
Fleming was incensed by the decision. "I read one of the High Court judges referring to asylum seekers as 'aliens'. But we are talking about human beings here."
Other members of her congregation were similarly dismayed. "One rang me saying: 'What can we can do?' "
And so, after getting approval from the national director of Uniting Justice, Fleming went ahead and invoked the centuries-old principal of church sanctuary, offering protection from civil authorities to any refugee who could make it onto church grounds.
"It means we would provide them with accommodation and whatever protection we could."
A former social worker, Fleming became a Uniting Church minister 15 years ago, and has been the celebrant at Balmain since 2011. "Our congregation is small – 45 on a Sunday if everyone shows up. But we have a history of seeking social justice and equality for all people."
After the Tampa crisis, in 2001, church members formed Balmain for Refugees, which continues to assist asylum seekers who need legal support. Civil disobedience is an important part of the church's ethos.
In 2014, Fleming and another member of the Balmain congregation were among 10 people who staged a "pray-in" at the Manly office of then Prime Minister Tony Abbott. "We were arrested and released without charge. But in other states, people who did similar pray-ins had to go to court."
"All people have a right to refuge from persecution, especially the most vulnerable. We are not doing our Christianity right if we don't support these people," she said.
Other church members agree. "When this idea was first raised, I thought about what the word sanctuary means," said Balmain congregation chairwoman Felicity Barclay. "It means refuge, safety, freedom from persecution. If churches can't provide that, then who will?"
Barclay says it's the role of the church to step in and act when the government and authorities won't. "It's all about putting faith into action," she said. "I work for a non-profit community pre-school, so I have particular concerns about children in detention. It's not rocket science to see that detention has a deleterious effect on children, and so find it extraordinary that the government is sanctioning it."
The legality of the church sanctuary initiative has been challenged by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. But Fleming hopes that her church's actions will embolden others. "No matter what our theological differences, people are on board with the idea of offering compassion and recognising our common humanity."
