LUTHERAN
EDITORIAL
Editor Lisa McIntosh
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e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au
Executive Editor Linda Macqueen
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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.
Sunshine and memories!
Dubbed ‘the Sunshine Girl’ by the then editor of The Lutheran, Linda Macqueen, in 2006, Maria Rudolph was thrilled after her ordination as the LCANZ’s first female pastor in April this year, when Pastor David Christian pulled a copy of the edition in which she featured from his satchel. Pastors Maria and David reminisced with Linda about the article, which told the story of a young German backpacker who became a Christian after being befriended by Lutherans in Adelaide in 2005. Pastor David baptised Maria in 2006, and she says he and his wife Joy have been hugely instrumental in her faith journey. Learn more about Pastor Maria and the other seven new LCANZ pastors on pages 5 to 9. Photo Sam Winderlich
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
This edition features three pastoral ministry students from Australian Lutheran College. Learn more about them and how you can support ALC on page 14.
Ben Lyons
Arise Lutheran Church Springfield Qld
School chaplain at St Peters Lutheran College Springfield, Qld, ALC pastoral ministry student
Most treasured Bible text: Job 2:10b – ‘Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ (pointing to Matthew 5:45b, ‘He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good …’)
Anastasia Kim
St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Brisbane Qld
Chaplain at Lutheran Services’ Tabeel Aged Care Laidley, assistant in Korean ministry at St Andrew’s, ALC pastoral ministry student
Most treasured Bible text: John 4:23 – ‘But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.’
Josh Hauser
St Philips Lutheran College (Wyndham Hobsons Bay Lutheran Church) Vic
Chaplain and Head of Ministry at Good News Lutheran College Vic, ALC pastoral ministry student
Most treasured Bible text: Romans 12:10 – ‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.’
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.
It has been a big couple of months in the LCANZ! So much is happening, and there’s so much to be thankful for.
We’ve had seven new pastors join the church’s ministry ranks in that time, adding to one from earlier in the year. This diverse octet includes the first three women to be ordained in the LCANZ, two First Nations pastors serving Lutheran communities in Central Australia, and one Mandarin-language-speaking pastor in New Zealand.
We praise and thank God for each of these eight new ‘Servants of the Word’, who you can ‘meet’ and learn a little about in these pages.
While as members of ‘the priesthood of all believers’ we each have a responsibility and co-mission to witness to Jesus’ saving work, pastors are a God-given gift to the church, whose role is to pastorally care for and nourish God’s people with his lifegiving word and sacraments, and to share with us his love, grace and forgiveness.
We know Jesus as our Good Shepherd, and he points to this ‘shepherding’ role of pastors in the gospels. In John 21:15–17, we read of Jesus sending Peter out as a pastor to the early church, even as he releases him from the guilt of his triple denial of his friend and redeemer (‘Feed my lambs … Take care of my sheep … Feed my sheep’).
If, like me, you belong to a congregation currently without a pastor, you may be acutely aware that we should keep praying that God will raise up workers – both lay and ordained – for his harvest field. He does not always answer our prayers in the way or timeframe in which we think he should, but be assured that God has not forgotten us and resources and serves our faith communities in different ways.
Our 2024 Convention resolutions on ordination confirmed that each congregation may call a pastor who best fits their ministry needs. In some congregations, that may be calling a pastor who is male. In other congregations it may be either a male pastor or a female pastor.
We are also privileged to feature stories in this edition from Australian Lutheran College (ALC), which is thankful to God for the surge in student numbers and an increase in enrolment inquiries it is experiencing. Launching its annual appeal this month, ALC relies on our church's support as it continues to train and equip people to serve as pastors, teachers and churchworkers in our LCANZ.
Our Lutheran family’s 75 years of service through ALWS is another reason to be thankful, and you can catch up on the inspiring progress of its anniversary goal of supporting 75,000 children impacted by war and poverty.
Add to these uplifting stories, our popular regular columns, news from around the church and resources to support our congregational life, and there’s plenty to celebrate and give thanks for.
May God bless your reading,
Meet our new Servants of the Word
Ordination: What is it and why do we do it?
Praying for a gospel opportunity
New era dawns for ALC
Opening pathways to follow the call
What a great way to farewell an ‘old friend’!
Changing the lives of 75,000 children
Grant to boost your gift’s impact
Not all ministry looks the same
A school trip, a cyclone and the kindness of ‘family’
we bear your name: Bishop Paul’s letter
word
Our cover: Design by Elysia McEwen
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages may contain images of people who have died.
BISHOP PAUL’S LETTER
REV PAUL SMITH Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand
‘Go!’ and ‘Tell!’ Mary met with the disciples and said, ‘I have seen the Lord!’
In our Lutheran Church, we often struggle with this thing of ‘speaking’ about our faith, especially with our family, friends or co-workers. Often, we feel that those around us who do not believe in the gospel might run rings around us if we speak of our faith.
Certainly, we can always grow in our abilities to explain what we believe. Certainly, we need to continue asking God to guide and instruct us in this task. Some people in the church are trained in ‘apologetics’, which is the discipline of arguing the truth of the gospel.
WE ARE SENT TO BE HERALDS OF WHAT WE KNOW, LIKE MARY, WHO WAS SENT BY THE RISEN LORD TO ‘GO!’ AND ‘TELL!’
The fact that we are told that she was a ‘girl from the land of Israel’ and that she speaks of the prophet Elisha tells us that she is a person who walks by faith in the living God. To walk by faith means we can also speak what we know to be true.
The little girl spoke, pointing Naaman to our gracious God at work through the ministry of the prophet Elisha. Naaman goes to the prophet, and we are told that Naaman’s skin ‘was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean’.
The risen Lord Jesus told his followers that ‘repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’. Then he said, ‘You are witnesses of these things.’
This is about ‘speaking’ our faith. We are sent to be heralds of what we know, like Mary, who was sent by the risen Lord to
But it is also important to remember the image of the courtroom. How many people are doing the arguing in the court? Usually just two. In the courtroom, there are lots of witnesses but just a couple of lawyers. Our risen Lord Jesus says, ‘You will be my witnesses’ (Acts 1:8). The form of that witness might be as simple as the situation in which a faithful Christian says to her or his friend, ‘Actually … on Sunday, I go to church.’
A simple word of witness from an earnest and faithful Christian heart can make the world of difference in this world, where so many do not know the loving heart of our Gracious God. You might ask, ‘What difference could my lone little voice make?’ That didn’t seem to bother the little Israelite slave girl who spoke of her faith for the healing of Naaman.
A wise person once wrote: ‘If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've obviously never been in bed with a mosquito.’
In Christ,
