Adnautumn2014 web

Australia District News Edition 29/1 -Autumn 2014

In this issue: Combined service in Adelaide New Year’s service in Redcliffe Visit to Samoa Silver Jubilee in Maryborough

From the Desk of District Dear Brothers and Sisters in faith, As Easter approaches once again we rejoice that we understand its significance for us as God’s children.

Regrettably, even within the Christian community worldwide there are ministers and members of various denominations who do not believe or understand the importance of God’s gift of His Son or of Christ’s sacrifice.

It would be unthinkable that our bearers of blessing did not believe or understand this. This is something to be thankful for.

Following on from Easter we have the time of Confirmation where young New Apostolic children receive the Confirmation Blessing on their vow to God as they 2 Australia District News

attain spiritual majority. Whilst there is not Confirmation in every congregation every year, it should still be a joy for all brothers and sisters to welcome the Confirmands into the congregation as adults and to be proud of them as they take various responsibilities in the congregation over time. We can all encourage them in our own ways and thereby assist in their spiritual progress as they go through the challenges of youth in today’s society.

Let us never underestimate the contribution that our young brothers and sisters can make in our congregations.

There is a high degree of talent among our youth and this should not go unrecognised or untapped. Many would

Apostle Andersen cherish the opportunity to contribute their talents and are only held back by the lack of such opportunity being given to them. This applies equally within the church and in daily life.

The young adults in our district have been invited to the Young Adults Conference which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand from 4 to 6 July this year. This is the third year this conference has been convened and for this occasion, which includes the Service for the Departed, our Chief Apostle has commissioned District Apostle Helper Frank Dzur of Canada to be our special guest. He is the Youth Co-ordinator for Canada and his presence will

undoubtedly bring a special joy to those who will attend there.

I wish you a blessed Easter festive period and send greetings of love herewith.

Brotherly yours,

Andrew H. Andersen

Australia District News 3

Combined Service in Adelaide On Sunday 24 November 2013 the District Apostle conducted a Divine Service for all members in South Australia. The service took place in the Ascot Park church. On this occasion he was accompanied by Apostle Lodewick, Apostle Williams and Bishop Green.

During the service the District Apostle sealed two young children. He also dispensed blessings on two couples on the occasion of their Golden and Silver Wedding anniversaries.

These events are highlighted on our Celebrations page.

4 Australia District News

Pr Kevin Rayson was commissioned as rector for the Elizabeth congregation, and Pr Andre Fredericks commissioned as rector of Hope Valley. The previous rector of Hope Valley, Pr Charles Mรถller, was relieved of the rectorship at this time due to a relocation to Queensland, while District Evangelist Ralph Gosewinkel was relieved of the Elizabeth rectorship.

After lunch together, a Ministers and Wives Service took place in the afternoon.

New Year’s Service in Redcliffe District Apostle Andersen conducted the first service for the new year in his home congregation of Redcliffe (Qld), and on this occasion he was accompanied by Apostle Williams and Bishop Green.

development that is taking place among the younger members of the congregation.

The service was attended by members from the Q4 subdistrict congregations of Caloundra, Morayfield, Redcliffe and Windsor. In addition, the rectors of all South East Queensland congregations were invited to the service.

During the service the District Apostle carried out a number of ordinations; District Evangelist Uwe Hoffmann was tasked with the role of district elder and Evangelist John Thorne was given the district evangelist ministry.

In addition, Priest Russell Schulte, rector of the Windsor congregation, was placed into the evangelist ministry.

A number of musical renditions from the Sunday School children’s choir and orchestra highlighted the pleasing

At the conclusion of the service the congregation spent time together sharing in some fellowship.

6 Australia stylus magazine District News

Afiamalu congregation

Apostle Lodewick visits American & Western Samoa Apostle Lodewick visited the Samoan region during November and December 2013. Despite leaving Australia on Wednesday and arriving in Samoa on Thursday, he could still have a Wednesday evening service in American Samoa, as this is situated on the other side of the international date line.

Of the 203 people present at the Wednesday evening service in the congregation of Tafuna 76 were guests.

Being a territory of the United States of America, Thanksgiving celebrations took place in American Samoa on Thursday, 28 November. Apostle Lodewick conducted a divine service in the Pago Pago congregation where 13 souls were sealed. This was followed by a feast of thanksgiving turkey!

The itinerary then took the Apostle to Western Samoa and as he again crossed the international date line an entire 8 Australia District News

day was lost, in spite of the flight taking only 35 minutes between the two islands.

On arrival Apostle Lodewick travelled to the village of Falefa where a new church building had been constructed to replace the former structure. During the divine service conducted in this church Priest Tepa Jeremiah was placed into retirement.

The Sunday morning divine service was conducted in the new congregation in Afiamalu where 36 guests were present. Three priests and a deacon were ordained during the service.

The remainder of the visit saw services conducted in Mulifanua and Vailima congregations. In total 136 guests attended a divine service and 15 souls were sealed during the Apostle’s visit.

Pr (ret) Jeremiah & D/Ev Eves

Thanksgiving feast

Apostle Lodewick with newly ordained Priests and Deacon

Falefa congregation

Falefa church before renovations

Newly built Falefa church

Australia District News 9

Australia & New Zealand CD Project Earlier this year District Apostle Andersen announced the production of a CD featuring the various choirs and orchestras of Australia and New Zealand. The aim is to complete this project as part of the preparations for the visit of Chief Apostle Schneider to Sydney in September 2014.

The CD is not designed to be a commercial product but rather a promotional product showcasing the talents that we have throughout our region. The objectives of this project are: •

to increase the standard and the participation rates of our music programme across Australia and New Zealand

•

the ongoing development of our

choir conductors and organists at the district level by giving them broader accountability and responsibility with this project •

to produce a product which our members can be proud of and which in turn leads to ongoing music development at the congregation level

and our district to our brethren around the world.

Each district will be contributing three or four items to the CD and these include presentations from our choirs, Sunday school children, soloists and orchestras.

to promote awareness of the New Apostolic Church Australia by means of making it available for use by Christian radio stations

All members are invited to be a part of this project, with the only prerequisite being a heart of love and a commitment to the rehearsal attendance of at least 80%. Practices are well under way and recordings will commence in April 2014 and will be completed by May 2014.

This follows on from the very successful CD recording that the choirs of Western Australia produced in 2013.

It is anticipated that we can use this CD to promote our church to our community

It is anticipated that a number of these items will be presented at a special concert to be held in the Sydney Opera House on the occasion of the Chief Apostle’s visit this year.

•

SE Qld choir practices for the CD

10 Australia District News

Dedication Service in 1983

Dedication Service in 1983

Anniversary Service

Anniversary Service

Address from the Mayor

Maryborough City Hall

The original church

Maryborough church today

Silver Jubilee in Maryborough Divine services first commenced in the 1920s in Maryborough. Initially these services were conducted in the Fleischer residence.

When the Fleischer family moved to Brisbane services were held at the Gamer residence and later at a number of different halls in the area.

In 1926 a small wooden church was dedicated for use by the members in Tansey, some 120km south-west of Maryborough. By the mid 1940s there were sufficient members in Maryborough to warrant a building of their own, however, because of the Second World War materials for the construction of a church were not readily available. Consequently it was decided that the church at Tansey (which was no longer needed as most members had moved away) would be relocated to Maryborough.

Many members assisted in this enormous task, and the church building was rebuilt at 10 Premier Street, Maryborough. The

dedication occurred in early 1951 and served as the place of worship for thirtyseven years.

In 1957 District Apostle Otto Gerke conducted a combined service for all congregations of Queensland in the Maryborough City Hall. This became an annual event on the church calendar and continued for some 40 years.

Over the years the Maryborough congregation expanded and eventually outgrew the small church. Enquiries were made about the possibility of purchasing a catholic church located on the corner of Pallas and Premier streets, however it was not for sale. After some time the building on this property was relocated, and the land was offered to the New Apostolic Church.

After many months of building the new church was dedicated on 5th November 1988 by District Apostle Rosentreter.

The Maryborough congregation has been

served by many rectors over its long history, including Pr Henry DeLisen, Pr (later Ev) Ken Cunningham (who served in this role for over 21 years), Pr Paul Cunningham and Ev Bernie Sickinger. In 2012 this task was handed to Ev Warren Riddle, who makes the 3 hour trip from his home in Brisbane multiple times a month.

Celebrations held in early December included a community concert by members of the South East Qld Concert Choir, an Anniversary Service conducted

by Apostle Trevor Williams and an afternoon of Advent Singing. The morning divine service was attended by the Fraser Coast Regional Council Mayor who addressed the congregation and made some very touching remarks. During the service Ev Merv Maeyke was relieved of the rectorship of the Bundaberg congregation, and this task was given to Pr Trevor Schulte. Additionally, Deacons Sonny Hall and Warren Teale were placed into the priest ministry for the Maryborough congregation.

Australia District News 11

1

4

8

2

5

9

3

Around the Congregations

6

1. Combined Service in Natalau, Fiji 2. Sunday School breakup in Hallam (Vic) 3. Redcliffe (Qld) children’s orchestra plays at their Sunday School breakup 4. Braybrook (Vic) congregational outing to Hanging Rock 5. Braybrook (Vic) Sunday School breakup

7

6. Fellowship after a District Apostle service in Silkstone (Qld) 7. North Ipswich (Qld) Sunday School breakup 8. Sunday School breakup in Caloundra (Qld) 9. Sunday School picnic in Victoria 10. Youth from Rivervale & Koondoola (WA) enjoyed abseiling on an outing 11. South Australian Sunday School children gathered for a combined breakup

10

11

1

2

3

8

9

13

14

6

7

12

16

18

17

19

4

5

10

11

15

20

21

Celebrations: 1. Holy Baptism of Sis Jody Hewitt in Beckenham (WA) 2. Holy Sealing of Jay-Dee Lemmetjies of Hope Valley (SA) 3. Pr (ret) Norman & Sis Stephanie Berney received Golden Wedding blessings in Ascot Park (SA) 4. Br Herb & Sis Lil Ludecke of Windsor (Qld) received Golden Wedding blessings 5. Pr Lawson & Sis Claudette Jackson received Silver Wedding blessings in St Marys (NSW) 6. Sis Anita Appleton of Kingston (Qld) celebrated her 70th birthday 7. Sis Esther Gardner of Kingston (Qld) celebrated her 95th birthday 8. Holy Sealing of Evie Rose McSherry of Hallam (Vic) 9. Br Dale & Sis Carol Daniels of Beckenham (WA) received Ruby Wedding blessings 10. Br Thys & Sis Miemie Pieterse of Brentwood Park in South Africa received Golden Wedding blessings 11. Adoption of Sis Ruby Tyler in Kingston (Qld) 12. Pr (ret) Archie Schulte of Caloundra (Qld) celebrated his 80th birthday 13. Br Owen & Sis Valma Marney received Wedding Blessings in Hallam (Vic) 14. Holy Sealing of Elijah Murray of Hahndorf (SA) 15. D/Ev Ralph & Sis Cathleen Gosewinkel received Silver Wedding blessings in Ascot Park (SA) 16. Pr (ret) Udo Gosewinkel of Hackham West (SA) celebrated his 75th birthday 17. Sis Doris Eggerling of Bundaberg (Qld) celebrated her 70th birthday 18. Holy Baptism of Joshua Garvey in Ascot Park (SA) 19. Pr (ret) Graham & Sis Sheila Isaacs received Golden Wedding blessings in St Marys (NSW) 20. Holy Baptism of Tristan HammacherFormoso in Croydon (Vic) 21. Adoption of Br Michael Hartley in Hackham West (SA)

Australia District News 15

For your Information

Ordinations / Retirements:

Chief Apostle Schneider’s schedule Apr 2014

May 2014

Jun 2014

13: Sault Ste Marie, Canada

18: Santana, São Tomé

1: Toulouse, France

20: Hilversum, Netherlands

25: Freetown, Sierra Leone

8: Munich, Germany

29: Basel, Switzerland

15: BerlinWilmersdorf, Germany 22: Mbuji Mayi, Congo 29: Nairobi, Kenya

District Apostle Andersen’s schedule: Apr 2014

May 2014

Jun 2014

6: Mackay, Qld

4: Melbourne, Vic

1: Adelaide, SA

13: Papua New Guinea

11: Redcliffe, Qld

22: Caloundra, Qld

18: Windsor, Qld

29: Hobart, Tas

29: Nairobi, Kenya

20: Buranda, Qld

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

27: Sydney, NSW

•

Upcoming Events: Apr 2014

May 2014

13: Palm Sunday

11: Mother’s Day

18: Good Friday

25: WA Youth Convention

20: Easter Sunday

29: Ascension

27: NZ Youth Convention

31: Qld Youth Convention

Jun 2014 8: Pentecost

• • • • •

• •

Br Josateki Lomaca & Br Senivalati Vido were ordained as deacons for Ba-Veisaru, Fiji Br Eparama Buluvale was ordained as deacon for Veisari, Fiji Dcn Tausi Simii was ordained as priest for Funafuti, Tuvalu Pr Kevin Rayson was commissioned rector of Elizabeth (SA) Pr André Fredericks was commissioned rector of Hope Valley (SA) Pr Tepa Jeremiah was placed into retirement & Pr Shannon Kuoi was commissioned as rector for Falefa, Samoa Pr Trevor Schulte was commissioned rector for Bundaberg (Qld) Dcn Warren Teale & Dcn Sonny Hall were ordained as priests for Maryborough (Qld) Dcn Alfred Vito Lewer was ordained as priest for Vailima, Samoa Dcn Konelio Saupo & Dcn Lafoga Mauigoa were ordained as priests and Br Leati Saupo as deacon for Afiamalu, Samoa Pr Stephen Kogler was confirmed in his ministry for Croydon (Vic) Dcn Nicolass Wright was ordained as priest for Albany (NZ) Dcn Christopher Matthew was ordained as priest for South Auckland (NZ) Pr Justin Stephenson was confirmed in his ministry as priest for North Ipswich (Qld) Dcn Ken Collins was ordained priest for Silkstone (Qld) Br Caleb Schulte was ordained deacon for North Ipswich (Qld) Ev Bernie Sickinger of Silkstone (Qld) congregation was placed into retirement District Evangelist Uwe Hoffmann was ordained district elder for sub-districts Q1 – Q5 Evangelist John Thorne was ordained district evangelist for subdistricts Q4 - Q5 Pr Russell Schulte was ordained as evangelist for Windsor (Qld) Pr Graham Herbert was placed into retirement in Scoresby (Vic) Pr Tony Rhode was confirmed as priest for Seven Hills (NSW) Pr Ian Smith was confirmed as priest for Beckenham (WA)

In a historic service on 2 February Dcn Michael Anderson of Darwin was ordained into the priest ministry for the (newly formed) congregation of Darwin (NT). This is the first time Darwin has had a resident rector

Ev Mervyn Maeyke was placed into retirement and Pr Berney Probst commissioned as rector for Riverleigh Dcn Ronald Sullivan & Dcn Ashley Hermanus were ordained as priests for Hallam (Vic)

In Memoriam: Sis Sylvia Burniston of Ballarat, Vic Br Peter Paulsen of Redcliffe, Qld Br Jurgen Kohler of Morayfield, Qld Br Raymond Farmer of Kingston, Qld

4 Jan 2014 8 Jan 2014 17 Jan 2014 4 Feb 2014

Contact Details: New Apostolic Church Office address 1A 3 Deakin Street, Brendale, Qld. AUSTRALIA

Cover Photo: Nick Kenrick (Flickr). All other photos used by permission

Postal address PO Box 5903, Brendale BC. Qld 4500, AUSTRALIA

Phone: +617 3480 0400 Email Fax: +617 3480 0444 Photos: adn@newapostolic.org.au Admin: nacho@newapostolic.org.au