LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
EDITORIAL
Editor Lisa McIntosh
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e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au
Executive Editor Linda Macqueen
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The Lutheran is produced on the traditional lands of the Kaurna and Dharug peoples.
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LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
The Lutheran informs the members of the LCANZ about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.
A welcoming table
Dr Brian Neldner and his wife, Eeva-Liisa picked up a couple of good reads – the latest edition of The Lutheran and Brian’s newly published memoirs, Table of Eight –while relaxing at a welcoming afternoon tea table at home recently.
Brian’s story includes his 40 years of service in support of refugee people, a career journey which started in 1955 at Bonegilla in Victoria, where ALWS began, and where Eeva-Liisa also worked, and the couple met. Now in his 90s, Brian also served with the Lutheran World Federation’s World Service arm overseas until his retirement in 1995.
Learn more about Brian’s ALWS legacy on pages 9–11 and 12.
Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and it may appear on page 2 of a future issue and on our website at www.thelutheran.com.au
People like YOU bring love to life
As this edition gives thanks for 75 years of service through ALWS, we are featuring three people who volunteer for the LCA’s overseas aid agency in this column.
Dalise Scholz
St Luke's Lutheran Church, Albury, NSW
Long-term ALWS volunteer
Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 23:1
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.’
Greg Spann
Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Qld Volunteer ALWS ambassador and long-term supporter
Most treasured Bible text: Proverbs 3:5,6
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’
Joanne Wegener
Wyndham Hobsons Bay Lutheran Church, Vic (St Philips, Tarneit) Volunteer ALWS ambassador through Good News Lutheran College, Tarneit, Vic
Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 121:1-2
‘I lift my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’
Let the light of someone you know shine through their photo being featured in The Lutheran and LCA Facebook. With their permission, send us a good quality photo, their name and details (congregation, occupation and most treasured text) and your contact details.
Am I allowed to say that when I found out Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) was setting a 75th birthday goal of supporting 75,000 children impacted by war and poverty in 2025 alone, I thought they had gone a little batty?
Surely, expecting our not-overly-large Lutheran family in Australia and New Zealand and friends to help raise more than $1.875 million during a cost-of-living crisis can’t be sensible.
But, as much as I wanted to say ‘tell ‘em they’re dreaming’, I didn’t. I bit my tongue and, along with many others, I’m sure, I prayed that we could and would bring love to life for far-away neighbours we’re never likely to meet, who, due to conflicts and catastrophes, face some of the toughest conditions on Earth.
Many children in places such as Ethiopia and Ukraine, Nepal and Myanmar don’t have access to enough food, an education or a safe environment. But, with just $25 – less than five café coffees these days – we can help provide one child with these essentials for a happy, healthy life. And I thank God that’s exactly what many of you are doing, through ALWS.
But what about the target of supporting 75,000 children in just 12 months? Well, read on and you’ll find out how that’s progressing …
Suffice it to say that the moral of this story is: Don’t let doubt get in the way of allowing God to do extraordinary things through and among us. As we read in Romans 8:28: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
Thanks to ALWS Platinum Partner LLL, this special edition of The Lutheran is going out to all ALWS supporters, as well as our regular subscribers. Welcome to you all and especially to any first-time readers. I pray that you will be blessed by what you encounter in these pages, as together we learn about ALWS history, hear from the agency’s supporters and partners, and read about the huge impact your kindness and generosity are having as we celebrate God’s gift of 75 years of ALWS.
As well as our popular regular columns, we also feature news and resources from around the church, and views from our Lutheran community.
So, if you’re not already a member of our subscriber family, why not join us today? Go to www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe or get in touch via the email address or phone number on page 2 and we’ll set up your subscription.
Every blessing,
‘Daddy, when is “the Lutheran” coming?’
‘Thank you for 75 years of service’
Serving with open hearts and open arms
Always room at the table
Miracles and memories
Sponsoring steps and soap to success
Learning to make a difference
Touching lives, one song at a time
we bear your
Bishop Paul’s letter
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages may contain images of people who have died.
Our cover: Photo courtesy of ALWS, design by Elysia McEwen
BISHOP PAUL’S LETTER
REV PAUL SMITH Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand
he could take upon himself the sin of the world. Only the Holy One of Israel could take away all sin. If he were less than fully God, then maybe we would have to add to the work of his cross to gain salvation. But as true God, he exchanges his righteousness for our sin that we would have peace with God. In our baptism, we die with Christ and are raised to new life as the beneficiaries of this ‘happy exchange’.
In the years after the Council of Nicaea, Christian churches began to include the festival of the nativity in the Christian calendar, paving the way for our modern Christmas. This was the festival of the ‘incarnation’ and Mary, the mother of our Lord, began to formally receive the title ‘Theotokos’, which translates as ‘the one who bears God’.
WITH THE NICENE CREED … THE EARLY CHURCH WAS BEARING WITNESS TO THE GOSPEL OF ALL THAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US IN HIS LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION FOR OUR SALVATION.
From the Council of Nicaea to the following Council of Constantinople in the year 381, the formula we know today as the Nicene Creed was eventually finalised and then adopted as the church’s statement of our faith in the Triune God. In 1580, the Nicene Creed was formally included among the Lutheran Confessional writings, and we use this ancient creed Sunday by Sunday as the regular confession of faith during the liturgy of holy communion.
The core matter at Nicaea in 325 was the incarnation. The council determined orthodox Christian teaching declared Jesus Christ was truly God in flesh, as written in John 1:14, ‘And the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us full of grace and truth.’ The council also rejected the teaching of Arius of Libya, who declared Jesus was only a created being.
The Council of Nicaea was making a vital distinction for salvation. Because Jesus Christ was true God on the cross,
With the Nicene Creed and these other traditions, the early church was bearing witness to the gospel of all that the Lord has done for us in his life, death and resurrection for our salvation. The work of the cross was a completed work over which the Lord himself declared, ‘It is finished!’
In Dr Martin Luther’s beautiful Christmas song ‘Vom Himmel Hoch’ (from Heaven Above LHS 23), he teaches us to pray this theology of the incarnation that is at the heart of the Nicene Creed:
Welcome to earth, Thou noble guest, Through whom the sinful world is blest! Thou com’st to share my misery; What thanks shall I return to Thee?
In Christ,
Ah dearest Jesus, holy child Make Thee a bed soft undefiled, Within my heart that it may be A quiet chamber kept for Thee.’
