The Lutheran June-July 2023 Digital Edition

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

EDITORIAL

Editor Lisa McIntosh

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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.

The Lutheran

Gospel-sharing culture

John Malol (left) and Koang Nhial (second from right), both from Moorabbin Dandenong Lutheran Church, Victoria, and Joshua Mao (right), from Queensland Asian Congregation, took a break during last month’s CrossCultural Ministry Conference in Melbourne to check out some news from around the LCANZ with Local Mission Executive Officer Dr Tania Nelson (second from left). You can read more about the conference in The inside story on page 27.

People like YOU bring love to life

Sharon Ghalayini

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Ringwood Vic

Manager of Good Shepherd Retirement Village Ringwood Vic

Most treasured Bible text: Numbers 6:24–26

‘The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.’

Russell Briese

St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Brisbane Qld

Director Chaplaincy & Ministry development Lutheran Services Qld

Most treasured Bible text: Acts 9:15

‘The Lord said to Ananias (about Paul), “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel”.’

Rosslyn May

Lobethal Lutheran Church SA

Manager of Valley of Praise Retirement Village Lobethal SA

Most treasured Bible text: Luke 6:31

‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.’

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.

Most long-time members of a church probably know what it’s like to be without a pastor to lead and serve alongside them for a time. Large or small, many congregations experience pastoral vacancies, even for short periods.

It can be a testing time, as lay people take on extra volunteer roles in the provision of worship services and pastoral care, and any staff often have extra duties added to their workload.

Church attendances often decline during a vacancy, too, as can the morale of the faith community, so the pool of willing helpers may seem to run dry. It can even be a cause for grief or despair for those congregations whose calls to prospective pastors are declined again and again, and for those whose financial situation means they can’t afford an ordained minister.

And with an ageing pastorate reflecting the demographics of our LCANZ membership, the level of pastoral vacancies in our churches, schools and aged-care services is on the rise.

But, as the stories we are privileged to share in these pages suggest and, as my own experience of times without a pastor has confirmed, this shift in church worker supply levels is no reason to throw in the towel. I believe that, with Jesus as our chief shepherd and guide, we can be a creative and resilient lot. The LCANZ, its districts and parishes are working together to find different and complementary ways of ‘doing’ ministry.

I am often heartened to hear how God’s people are using their gifts to further his kingdom, whether they are lay or ordained. And I’ve witnessed the way some people can blossom in their service once given the encouragement, opportunity and responsibility.

The expressions we carry as we face this changing landscape come back to trusting God’s core promises. As The Living Bible translates Matthew 28:20: ‘“And be sure of this – that I am with you always, even to the end of the world”.’ And in Psalm 34:10b, we’re reminded that ‘those who seek the Lord lack no good thing’.

God will give us what – and who – we need. Assisted by resources, training and support from our wider church family, he will equip us for his co-mission. Then, when we do have the gift of an ordained pastor serving with us, we can avoid the danger of reverting to sitting back and letting him do everything.

Besides our themed content, as always, your churchwide magazine also includes faith-life resources and news of what’s been happening around the church.

And, as a further bonus for our print subscribers, you’ll find inside Australian Lutheran College’s annual Saints Alive publication. Digital subscribers can access the same content on ALC’s website at www.alc.edu.au/connect/publications/saints-alive

Our cover: iStock.com.

Design by Elysia McEwen

May God bless your reading, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages may contain images of people who have died.

Because we bear your name

God the builder: ‘Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail”’ (Matthew 16:18b).

We continually ask the Lord to ‘raise workers’ for the harvest. We see more pastors retiring. We see an increasingly short supply of Lutheran people trained to serve as school ministry workers and principals. We see aging congregational communities and the closure of buildings.

God sees people of the church, in work that he has commissioned. It was our Lord Jesus who declared ‘you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’ (Acts 1:8).

This does not mean that the church ignores matters of concern about church life. We need to be properly preparing women and men for the various ministries of the church. We need to continually work on evangelism as a primary task. We need to encourage one another, including young adults, to offer our gifts in service for the mission that God has given us.

In the ages of the church since the time of the resurrection of our Lord, there have been church bodies that have grown, diminished and concluded. Ephesus is a good example of this. Ephesus received a letter in the New Testament and an historic early church council was held there. You can visit Ephesus today, but it is an archaeological site. We can imagine the grief as the Ephesian Christians faced closure.

The mission of God is much more than the demography of any one church organisation. In New Zealand and Australia, we are seeing church organisations declining in numbers, but this is not the same in other parts of the world. The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus has more than 10 million members and is increasing in numbers. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in our neighbouring Papua New Guinea also continues to grow and now includes more than 1.8 million members.

What is certain is that our Lord has declared that he will be actively building his church and that the gates of Hades will not prevail against it (Matthew 16). This is a sure promise for our witness and service as people of the worldwide mission of God

BISHOP PAUL’S LETTER

REV PAUL SMITH Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand

that is at work in the Lutheran Church in New Zealand and Australia.

This does not mean we should refrain from grieving at the closure of a church building or of a ministry in which we have been involved. We human beings know the pain of loss. If you know of a congregation that is closing or has closed in recent times, please pray for those folk and consider how you might reach out to them in their struggle.

Please also regularly pray for the ever-growing mission of God and for our place as Lutherans in the Lord’s promised building of his church.

Our Lutheran church has established a ministry called New and Renewing Churches which is tasked with asking the important questions about evangelism in the church, and then helping communities actively co-operate and practically plan together, in the mission that our God has given to us.

In Australia in particular, we know that people continue to cherish the witness and service of our Lutheran schools and Lutheran care facilities like our aged-care communities. We must ask what this means for us and for our participation in the mission of God.

The College of Bishops has established the Ministry Future project to help us to be better able to identify issues about ministry and to discover good solutions to those issues.

In the song, ‘Reaching out with open arms’, Australian songwriter Robin Mann has taught us to hopefully sing:

‘Take up Jesus’ cup, drink it to the end; love, give, start to live; we are Jesus’ friends. May we care with our actions and our prayers. We’ve been given so much, people, let’s all share! Reaching out, reaching out, reaching out with open arms.’

In Christ,

WHAT IS CERTAIN IS THAT OUR LORD HAS DECLARED THAT HE WILL BE ACTIVELY BUILDING HIS CHURCH … THIS IS A SURE PROMISE FOR OUR WITNESS AND SERVICE AS PEOPLE OF THE WORLDWIDE MISSION OF GOD.

NO VACANCY

BY LISA MCINTOSH

The pulpit is empty come Sunday morning. The manse is unoccupied. (I write figuratively, of course, as pulpits are used far less these days for preaching and some pastors do not live in manse accommodation).

Like dozens of others around the LCANZ, this congregation is without a pastor.

And the pastoral ’vacancy’ rate across our churches, schools and aged-care communities is climbing, with a larger cohort of pastors reaching retirement age together than ever before and fewer people studying for ordained ministry. Along with falling memberships and decreasing attendance at worship in many parishes, some commentators would suggest our church worker shortage is another symptom of a dying church.

But is that it for our Lutheran family and some other Christian denominations across Australia and New Zealand?

Or is God calling us to open our hearts to see how he ‘is doing a new thing’ (Isaiah 43:19)? Is he hoping we’ll seek his guidance and trust in his provision, as we work for his kingdom with whatever support and skills he gives in each place and for each season?

Could he be coaxing us to lay down our fears, turn our focus outwards and get on with being gospel-sharers among our faith communities and, crucially, in the world around us?

No matter where we are, how small our worship community may be, or how dispirited we may feel about not being able to ‘attract’ or finance a pastor, we are not alone. As the South Australia – Northern Territory District’s Assistant Bishop for Mission, Pastor Stephen Schultz, says, congregations in

vacancy may be without a pastor, but they are never without a shepherd.

‘One thing I usually do at pre-call meetings is to ask people how many vacancies there are in the LCANZ currently’, he says. ‘Once they have a stab at guessing, I tell them there are zero vacancies in the LCANZ – at which point they look at me as though I have lost my mind!

‘I then tell them that Jesus is the head of the church, of every congregation, and that he hasn’t retired or accepted a call elsewhere. They may have a pastoral vacancy, but the chief shepherd/pastor of the church is still very much in office and at work among them.’

Capitalising on Jesus’ ever-present and ongoing work among all our faith families, the LCANZ, its districts, parishes and congregations are endeavouring to meet worship and ministry needs in a wider range of ways than before.

As well as increasing support for lay readers and ministry coordinators, these include having more approved lay people licensed for word and sacrament ministry; identifying members to become Specific Ministry Pastors in their local context; and considering shared church worker, administration and lay leadership support and ministries across regions. These benefits can also come within multi-site churches whose locations may be geographically distant but which have common values and mission goals. An example of this is LifeWay Lutheran Church in New South Wales.

Even with these and other ‘strategies’, our pastoral shortage will remain. But perhaps through it, we can pray that God will show us how we can all minister to and care for others.

‘THEY MAY HAVE A PASTORAL VACANCY, BUT THE CHIEF PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IS STILL VERY MUCH AT WORK AMONG THEM.’

Last year the College of Bishops met with district and churchwide leaders to address the LCANZ’s church worker supply shortage. Victorian Bishop Emeritus Greg Pietsch was appointed to oversee the Ministry Future project and report to the 2024 General Synod. To follow is an excerpt of his first progress report for the church.

The Ministry Future project has been established by the LCANZ’s College of Bishops (CoB), with the support of the General Church Board, to consider and develop a coordinated response to the decreasing number of pastors in the church and the changing nature of our communities.

Our ‘Baby Boomer’ pastors are retiring and only a very small number of pastoral ministry students are graduating. This reflects demographic change – fewer of the younger generations are practising the faith and offering themselves for vocational service. As church communities age, they find it difficult to finance a pastor. The Ministry Future project aims to help the church respond to these changes in ways that still let the word of the Lord flourish among us today, for it is the word of God that brings us Christ and all his benefits.

The difficulties facing the church are clear – a large number of pastoral vacancies, long periods in vacancy with frustration over the call process, communities struggling to afford a pastor even in the parish structure, large colleges unable to have a school pastor and more. Yet ministry needs and mission opportunities

continue in the Lord’s harvest field. Each district has been responding as best it can, such as drawing on retired pastors and, in some cases, appropriately licensing lay people to undertake what would otherwise be tasks of an ordained pastor.

CoB tasked the Ministry Future project with developing: a regional rather than solely congregation or parish approach to organising pastoral ministry; suitable pathways into general and specialised service – both lay and ordained; and a regular way of ordering the service of lay people involved in word and/or sacrament ministry. This is in addition to the existing preparation and call of Specific Ministry Pastors (SMPs), who have a reduced level of training for particular/specific service by contrast with General Ministry Pastors (GMPs).

The project gathered data on the present situation and shaped broad proposals in response. Further consultation and collaborative response design will continue through 2023, with reporting to the 2024 General Convention.

Data was gathered from each of the LCANZ’s six districts on individual pastoral ministry positions. In all, details of 656 ministry positions across 352 organisations/faith communities, served by 583 individuals, were recorded as at early December 2022. There were 211 GMPs recorded in service, with 62 GMP vacancies – a vacancy rate of 23 per cent, clearly very high and increasing. Nineteen GMPs were serving across the districts other than congregation word and sacrament or schools, mostly in bishop or ministry support positions.

The data gathered reinforces the need and urgency of this project and informs some of the work to be done.

THE WAY AHEAD FOR CONGREGATIONS

So how does the church respond to this situation and even turn it into a creative opportunity in the Lord’s gospel mission?

One way is to multiply the ministry of pastors by working in teams across communities – so-called regionalisation. Regionalisation envisages a zone or region of congregations and parishes being served with word and sacrament ministry

Joel Grieger, Ed Shoesmith and Jeremy Smith were the three graduate pastors ordained late last year.

collectively, led by an overseeing GMP with the possibility of other GMPs or SMPs in the team as well. Each worshipping community will continue its own lay leadership and volunteer ministry roles, possibly supplemented by a local SMP or designated lay person with a pastoral leadership role.

Regionalisation also responds to the financial pressures faced by many parishes and the limits of feasible re-alignment and provides the opportunity for collective administration, worship support, ministry sharing and the like.

Local specialist ministries, such as school or aged-care chaplaincy, can be built into the plan, providing GMP oversight of lay ministries there. And new church planting can be parented within the region as well.

LifeWay Church in New South Wales, with the central hub in Epping, is perhaps the fullest expression of regionalisation in the LCANZ, with five locations across Sydney, Western Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong, served by a team of five pastors (not all full-time), including two SMPs, a Cambodian pastor, a lay church planter and multiple lay ministry coordinators.

Conversations between neighbouring congregations about closer cooperation are accelerating across the LCANZ, especially when pastoral vacancies occur. These conversations and the journey toward a regional approach are being facilitated by district bishops and mission directors.

While the shape of each region will depend on the local context, the Ministry Future project is working with district mission directors to develop a standard model as a resource.

There will be both challenges and opportunities in moving to a regional ministry approach, keeping in mind that the primary purpose is to let the word of the Lord flourish among us – and to enable this by the ministry of both pastors and lay alike.

Thank God that lay people are responding by taking up ministry service in many ways – service which needs affirmation, training and support. So, another response to our situation is to understand, appreciate and advance the service of lay and ordained alike with education and training to match – pathways into service and for service development.

Australian Lutheran College is actively responding to needs as they are identified, and offering a distributed learning approach, that is, using a combination of online and in-person teaching, so that people can learn in their own local ministry context.

The Ministry Future project hopes to record the diversity of ministry roles and training in an LCANZ ministry framework, so that people can see the opportunities for them and their community. Included in that is comprehensive training and development for much-needed General Ministry Pastors. We also thank God for the lay folk who serve under licence by their district bishop in ways usually reserved for pastors – mostly by conducting holy communion during a vacancy or sometimes in support of a pastor serving multiple distant locations.

The question now is how best to regularise or rearrange licensing – how to order it – for the ongoing life of the church. CoB has asked the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations to contribute to this. Whatever is done needs the blessing of the whole church, to be transparent and supported, with good training and oversight.

THE NEXT PHASE

This project now moves to collaborative response design, working with leaders across the church, with accountability to CoB and reporting to the 2024 General Convention. We do this with the hope and prayer that the word of the Lord may flourish among us today.

So, please pray for this project as it seeks to support and develop our Lord’s ministry of word and sacrament among his people, and his mission to the world.

Read the full report at www.lca.org.au/ministryfuture If you would like to provide feedback to Pastor Greg, you are welcome to do so by emailing your contribution to greg.pietsch@lca.org.au

SO HOW DOES THE CHURCH RESPOND TO THIS SITUATION AND EVEN TURN IT INTO A CREATIVE OPPORTUNITY IN THE LORD’S GOSPEL MISSION?

Above: The ministry team from LifeWay Lutheran church with NSW-ACT District Bishop Robert Bartholomaeus (third from left) at the ordination of Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) Francis Leung (third from right). From left they are SMP Mark Simpfendorfer, Newcastle Pastor Mathew von Stanke, Lead Pastor Mark Schultz and Illawarra Pastor David Schuppan. Inset left: Church Planter Danny Brock, Children & Family Ministry Coordinator Elise von Stanke and Music Ministry Coordinator Oliver Witt. Inset right: Church Planting Pastor Khit Vibol.

While David Preston says a long pastoral vacancy is ‘not something to be welcomed’ by a congregation, he knows it can bring the talents and commitment of its members to the fore.

David is the secretary of St Pauls Lutheran Church Wellington in New Zealand, which has been without a permanent ordained shepherd since Pastor Jim Pietsch left there in August 2022. However, as Pastor Jim was on sick leave before his departure, the congregation has essentially been without a pastor for almost a year.

‘During this period the lay members of the congregation have had to step up and cover the provision of services and other duties usually carried out by pastors’, David explains. ‘Fortunately, we have a number of members willing to act as lay worship leaders. A distinctive feature of this period has been the contribution of women as well as men as lay worship leaders, which has been well received by the congregation. We have also had

BY LISA MCINTOSH

services conducted by some visiting pastors.’ With lay-led worship, David says St Pauls usually splits the service into two main parts – the liturgy and sermon, with one person acting as liturgist, and the other reading the sermon.

For this, he says they have made ‘significant use’ of the LCANZ’s Worship Planning Page of sermons and other worship resources.

David himself is a lay worship leader and, with his wife Alison, hosts the congregation’s home group each Tuesday night and serves as a Sunday school teacher. His role as the secretary also involves dealing with congregational correspondence, minutes of meetings, facilities bookings and a range of other tasks.

Outside of the congregation, David is a member of the LCNZ Financial Advisory Committee and is the Lutheran representative on the NZ interdenominational InterChurch Bureau, dealing with legal and financial issues affecting all churches, such as the new laws and regulations on accounting, auditing, taxation, charities and insurance, and also other issues such as health and safety and abuse in care.

What do they say? ‘If you want something done, ask a busy person …’

However, David says, the effort put in to keep the worship life going at St Pauls is a team one.

‘Ministry work, including lay worship leadership, is spread amongst a number of people’, he says. ‘Several including myself are essentially retired, but others are working part-time or even full-time.’

Two St Pauls members have also been authorised by New Zealand Bishop Mark Whitfield to administer communion during services. ‘We have also been blessed by the continuing contribution of a number of talented musicians’, David adds.

Bishop Mark, who during his service as LCNZ Bishop has been based in Wellington, has also occasionally led worship at St Pauls.

While some LCANZ congregations which don’t have a pastor are no longer looking to call one full-time due to their financial limitations, St Pauls is seeking to call a pastor but so far has found this difficult.

‘THE GREATEST CHALLENGES ARE TO TRY AND COVER AS MUCH OF THE WORK THAT A PASTOR WOULD DO AND FIND WAYS TO REACH OUT WITH THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST.’

David says given the significant number of vacant parishes across the church, Wellington has employed a multi-faceted strategy for its search. ‘Initially, Bishop Mark put out a request to all LCA pastors for expressions of interest about receiving a call from us. This produced zero response’, David says. ‘The second approach was for Bishop Mark to personally contact several identified pastors and ask them if they were open to a call. Again, there were no positive responses, at least in terms of their current situation. This has left us somewhat unsure about what to do next. However, Bishop Mark is continuing to approach other individuals to see what might be possible. In the interim, we are also actively seeking to obtain the services of locum pastors.’

St Pauls has faced a significant decline in worship attendance in recent times, which David believes is partly due to the ongoing impact of the COVID pandemic. The most recent membership count for the New Zealand capital congregation listed 70 baptised members of whom 68 were confirmed –down from 103 in 2019. Weekly attendance there fluctuates and currently is usually between 30 and 40 people.

‘In Wellington, we have traditionally had a flow-through of people arriving and leaving the city’, David says. ‘Since COVID the movement has been almost entirely outward. This has been made more extreme by local families with children moving out of the city because of the very high housing costs here. This has shrunk the Sunday school to a residual level.’

However, on a positive note, he says a new youth group mainly for teenagers has started up at St Pauls and the congregation’s home group is functioning well with increased attendance.

With fewer people attending the church regularly, David says they are also short on filling some positions, such as the role of chairperson and elders, the latter of which has limited the level of pastoral care. But, again, lay people have been playing their part, he says. ‘To fill part of the gap, a number of members have

privately stepped up visiting. And, as we were unable to fill the role of chairperson at our recent AGM, the chairmanship operates on a revolving basis at each of our ministry council meetings.’

Despite their lower numbers at worship, the congregation’s finances are ‘holding up fairly well’, as giving has dropped less than attendance, says David, a former economist who worked in policy advice and management in NZ government departments and the International Monetary Fund. The lack of a pastor at St Pauls also means that the church has been able to rent out its manse, which provides a welcome income stream.

‘A long pastoral vacancy is not something to be welcomed, but it has made a number of members step up in terms of their support for keeping our services and activities going’, David says.

‘I suppose one lesson of this situation is that the Lutheran Church has not in the past done sufficient to equip its members for lay ministry and evangelism outreach. The resources on the LCA website are a big help, but more needs to be done. The greatest challenges are to try and cover as much of the work that a pastor would do and find ways to reach out with the message of Christ to others.’

After all, that’s the most important function of any church – with or without a pastor – sharing the gospel.

‘A LONG PASTORAL VACANCY IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE WELCOMED, BUT IT HAS MADE A NUMBER OF MEMBERS STEP UP’

Above: David and Alison Preston are among the lay members leading elements of the St Pauls Wellington congregation’s worship life, while they are without a pastor.

Right: Like many congregations, St Pauls has faced a significant decline in worship attendance in recent times. Currently, their worship attendance is usually between 30 and 40 people

From grief to joy, burnout to blessings – church members serving their congregations in times of pastoral vacancy can go through the full gamut of states and emotions. We spoke to Sabine Haeusler and Adam Morris about the surprising ways God can meet our needs, provided we’re open to his guidance.

When it comes to the pastoral shortage in the LCANZ and the church’s ability to survive and thrive in spite of it, Sabine Haeusler is optimistic – but conditionally so.

‘I'm optimistic as long as we concentrate on our mission – which is getting the gospel out there – then we'll be doing our job as members of the church and as faithful Christians’, says Sabine, from Outer Eastern Lutheran Church in Melbourne’s outskirts, and the chair of the Victorian District’s Council for Ministry Support. ‘But if we are just looking to support ourselves and our congregations and looking inward, then I'm not confident, I'm not optimistic. We need to concentrate on getting the gospel out and the other things will flow from that.’

When Pastor Tom Peitsch retired in 2020, Sabine, who was then Outer Eastern chairperson, wasn’t sure when or even if the congregation would have another pastor. It was during the first year of COVID and churches were unable to open for worship, let alone consider calling a new pastor.

‘It was a matter of looking at ourselves and asking whether we could actually afford to call another pastor’, Sabine says. ‘And

whether that was the sort of call someone would want to accept – to a very small congregation where not much was happening.

‘We were an older congregation with not many families with children. And a lot of those families decided to go somewhere where their children would get more out of it, which was understandable. But we kept going. And when we reopened, it was just small numbers.’

Formerly worshipping at both Immanuel Lilydale and Luther College in Croydon about 10 kilometres to the west, the congregation decided to revert to just one site – Lilydale. Members also started looking at how they were going to survive without a pastor. ‘We'd already started this work when we knew Pastor Tom was retiring’, Sabine says. ‘We worked out how to run the congregation, who would look after pastoral care. So, we were ready for his vacancy. But then COVID hit, and we were locked down. We were able to have Zoom meeting services but having COVID and the vacancy together just really hit us badly.’

After reopening, they had lay readers in place and a staff member to take care of administrative duties and some pastoral

‘I'M OPTIMISTIC AS LONG AS WE CONCENTRATE ON OUR MISSION –WHICH IS GETTING THE GOSPEL OUT THERE.’

Darron Jensz prepares to give a lay reading to the members of Outer Easter Lutheran Church at Lilydale east of Melbourne. Sabine Haeusler, who shares the story of the congregation’s journey with pastoral vacancy on these pages, is in the second row, second from right.

care. But when that person resigned, they advertised the position unsuccessfully. It led to a re-think of their priorities.

It also led to an unexpected blessing, as members stepped up to fill the needs. ‘We then got volunteers in to do things –volunteers to organise the services, volunteers to do the weekly newsletter, all those sorts of things’, Sabine says. ‘Pastoral care was seen as a big issue. However, a core group were already attending worship, engaged on rosters and/or attending Bible study, Shedmen or other congregation activities. Pastoral care was already going on simply in what one person identified as their “trust group”. What a blessing!’

But what came next for the congregation in December 2021 was a truly unexpected joy. ‘We'd written to the District inquiring about our alternatives’, Sabine says. ‘Could we employ a pastoral care worker rather than a pastor? Could we have a lay person licensed for word and sacrament ministry? And then comes the blessing that one of our members said he felt called to serve our congregation in that sort of role!’

That member was Ed Blow, who about four years earlier had joined the Lutheran Church through his family contact with Lutheran schools in Melbourne. Originally a Catholic, he had studied for the priesthood about 40 years prior. ‘We were absolutely over the moon to have someone to apply to be licensed and willing to take that role’, Sabine says. ‘The proposal went to church council and then to the congregation to see whether they would be willing to go down that path. And it was met with joy.’

After an approach to District Bishop Lester Priebbenow, Ed completed the requirements and was licensed and installed into word and sacrament ministry in 2022. He is currently part of the LCANZ’s Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) program and is mentored by Pastor Tom. As well as conducting at least two services each month at Lilydale, Ed also leads worship once a month for the Doncaster-Ivanhoe congregation, which continues an agreement between the two churches that started during Pastor Tom’s tenure.

As Ed is 70, Sabine says Outer Eastern is also preparing for the time when he retires and staying open to how God will lead

them into their next season of ministry among their members and mission within their community. ‘On Easter Sunday, OELC celebrated God’s renewal of the congregation as being different from that of the past – from a pastor-centric model to a volunteer lay-led model’, Sabine says. ‘To God be the glory.’

Just beginning a new season of vocation and ministry, church worker Adam Morris knows only too well what being without the leadership of a pastor can do to the morale of a congregation. And he’s experienced the worst and the best effects as both a regular member and a serving lay worker.

Now the Australian Lutheran College (ALC) training support officer and theology and ministry student feels called to further support congregations without an ordained leader by serving as a lay worker at two churches.

‘Vacancies are hard because it always feels like a church goes into caretaker mode’, says Adam, who is a member at Our Saviour Aberfoyle Park in Adelaide’s south. ‘And my journey through that has been to ask, “How do you still keep the church engaged and functioning?” In a time of more and more vacancies, we need to make sure we don’t do less and less, while simply waiting for the time when the next pastor comes.

‘I'm fortunate enough to be able to ask, as a church worker, how do I support the congregation? I'm here with a skill set I've gained. But I also want to do that in a way that honours the Lutheran Church.’

Aberfoyle Park’s current year-long vacancy is Adam’s third experience of being at a congregation without a full-time pastor.

His first was at Immanuel Woden Valley in the Australian Capital Territory, where he served as a lay worker for nine years from 2005, in the areas of worship coordination and youth, family and small groups ministry. The two-year pastoral vacancy there was tough. ‘That was a really hard, long vacancy, which as a church worker put me over the edge’, he says. ‘I suffered burnout.’

Above: Church worker Adam Morris serves as a lay worship leader for his home congregation at Aberfoyle Park in suburban Adelaide, including through the congregation’s online worship service stream on YouTube.

Above right: Ed Blow (second from left), who has been licensed to serve in word and sacrament ministry for the Outer Eastern and Doncaster-Ivanhoe congregations in Victoria, is pictured on his installation day with District Pastor for Congregational Support Brett Kennett, the then OELC chair Sabine Haeusler and Doncaster-Ivanhoe chair Mick Ampt.

‘HOW DO WE EQUIP OUR MINISTRIES AND CONTINUE GOING? IT'S LIKE YOU ARE SAYING TO PEOPLE IN VACANCY, “WE NEED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY”.’

Top: As well as serving as a lay worker in two Adelaide congregations which are currently without a pastor, Adam Morris has been working at Australian Lutheran College (ALC) and is studying an Advanced Diploma of Theology and Ministry there, with the hope of moving into a Bachelor of Theology.

Above: Church worker Adam Morris at Mawson Lakes Community Church (MLCC) with former MLCC pastor and current Endeavour Lutheran College School Pastor Chris Mann, who is one of Adam’s mentors.

During Adam’s next lay worker role at St Johns Unley in Adelaide’s inner south, the congregation had a part-time pastor, but its lead pastor position was vacant for 12 months of the three years he served as Congregational Life Adult Education Director there until 2016.

He has since been a Church Worker Support Officer in the LCANZ’s Churchwide Office for five years and has been at ALC since October last year. In both these latter roles, Adam has been able to walk alongside church members dealing with the challenges of pastoral vacancies.

Thankfully, he says, things have changed a lot since his experience in Canberra. ‘The LCA provides a lot more resources to support lay people’, Adam says. ‘There are really good worship resources, there are videos online and lay preacher training and resources. The church leadership now recognises the skill sets of lay readers, for example.’

Since the SMP program began in the LCANZ, the role has been almost exclusively filled by a member of the local worshipping community, who is ordained to serve specifically in that context. What makes Adam’s case unique is that not only has Aberfoyle Park applied for him to be accepted into the SMP program, but Mawson Lakes Community Church congregation in Adelaide’s northern suburbs is considering making a joint application for his admission to the program. In fact, it was Mawson Lakes’ call for expressions of interest in an SMP role there early this year that started Adam’s journey on this path.

He believes the time may be right and that he may be the right person for God to use in this unusual collaboration between two churches located approximately 40 kilometres apart. ‘There’s been a shift and COVID has allowed churches to be more open to sharing resources and more open to doing things differently’, he says. ‘The landscape feels appropriate for this innovative way of not only dealing with the vacancy question but also the way we train and equip appropriate lay people.

‘How do we equip our ministries and continue going?

It's like you are saying to people in vacancy, “We need to take responsibility”.’

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Photos: Amy Dahlenburg

Introduced during a time of COVID-related church closures and restrictions, our devotional pages under the Church@home banner have been very popular with many readers. But spending time with God throughout the week isn’t only a blessing when we can’t get to church on a Sunday. It’s an important boost for our faith every week. Therefore, you’ll continue to find support for your devotional life on these pages – and the LCANZ has plenty of other resources which we’ll highlight for your information, too.

RESOURCES FOR YOUR ... DEVOTIONS

BY CRAIG HEIDENREICH

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you (Hebrews 13:17).

Read Hebrews 13:17–25.

Who would choose to be a leader when, so often, the outcome is ‘groaning’? It’s not easy being a leader – in fact, anyone who seeks leadership (for its own sake) probably needs their head read.

People are so different that almost any decision a leader makes will displease someone. True leadership is not a popularity contest – it is a calling to serve.

The concept of obedience and submission to other humans is less accepted today, but one way we can show a supportive attitude is to affirm our leaders.

So, who are these leaders?

When reading a verse like this, we would usually think of our pastors, as they are obvious, visible leaders, but there are various leadership roles that are important for a congregation to function well. Let’s encourage all our leaders.

One of the spiritual gifts mentioned in Romans 12:8 is the gift of encouragement, and we know that encouragement goes a long way. Our determination to be encouraging also keeps the ‘accuser of the brethren’ at bay (Revelation 12:10).

I was once sitting in a church service (just as a congregation member), and as the meeting ended and announcements were about to happen, I suddenly had a ‘prompting’ to go to the front and publicly thank the pastor for his ministry. It felt a bit risky, but the congregation got my drift and spontaneously joined in affirming the pastor (who was obviously very moved).

He later told me privately, ‘In my years of ministry, no-one has ever affirmed me publicly’.

It’s tough being a leader!

Let’s encourage our leaders so there is less ‘groaning’ and more ‘rejoicing’ among us.

Thank you, Lord, for gifting your body with key leaders who ‘keep watch’ for our welfare. Strengthen them today and bless them in their work. Forgive me, Lord, for times I criticise rather than bless – and show me how I can encourage those around me. Help me to see the moment in every day. Amen.

BY LIBBY KRAHLING

Read Hebrews 13:1–16.

Hebrews reminds us that life is like a race.

We have the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ cheering us on from the sidelines, with the Holy Spirit as our coach. Submitting to the Father’s discipline is like training for the race; the more we endure, the more we are strengthened and prepared for greater challenges. We can focus on the ‘finish line’, our eyes fixed on Christ, because we are assured of God’s grace.

As a natural outpouring of Christ-like faith, in this passage we are exhorted to live Godly lives, in which we emulate Jesus’ sacrificial love for us in the way we deal with the world around us. Echoing Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, we are to show hospitality to the stranger and care for those in prison, sacrificing our comfort and possessions for the welfare of others. We should live in accordance with the commandments, keeping our marriage vows and being content with the blessings we have received from God, rather than coveting new partners or more money and possessions. Our sacrifice is letting go of our wants and desires and trusting that God has given us everything we need.

Sometimes, we might be tempted to fill our emptiness with ‘strange teachings’. Hebrews reminds us again to look to the example of faithful people before us, both the heroes of old

and those who taught us the faith. Looking at their lives, we can remind ourselves again that ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’. Good models of faith show us that true faith fixes its eyes on Jesus, trusts that God will provide and is able to withstand all kinds of trials for the ‘greater reward’.

When we consider everything that God has done for us, it is almost overwhelming. He gave his only Son to die for us. He sees all our dirt, all our shame, and still loves us, and calls us to join him in his banqueting hall. What can we do in response?

‘Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.’

Loving Lord, we thank and praise you for your constant love and presence in our lives. Help us to love each other as you have loved us, ready to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of your kingdom. Amen.

To receive the LCA daily devotion each morning in your inbox, go to www.lca.org.au/communications/enews and select Daily Devotions from the Churchwide list after entering your email address. These can also be printed off from the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/daily-devotion

LECTIONARY READINGS

WEEK

4–10 JUNE

11–17 JUNE

18–24

JUNE

25 JUN–1 JUL

SUNDAY READINGS

Genesis 6:9–22; 7:24; 8:14–19

Romans 1:16,17; 3:22b–28 (29–31)

Genesis 12:1–9

Romans 4:13–25

Genesis 18:1–15 (21:1–7)

Romans 5:1–8

Genesis 21:8–21

Romans 6:1b–11

Psalm 46

Matthew 7:21–29

Psalm 33:1–12

Matthew 9:9–13, 18–26

Psalm 116: 1,2,12–19

Matthew 9:35–10:8 (9–23)

Psalm 86:1–10,16,17

Matthew 10:24–39

WEEK

2–8 JULY

9–15 JULY

16–22 JULY

23–29 JULY

30 JUL–5 AUG

Genesis 22:1–14

SUNDAY READINGS

Psalm 13

Romans 6:12–23

Genesis 24:34–38,42–49, 58–67

Romans 7:15–25a

Genesis 25:19–34

Romans 8:1–11

Genesis 28:10–19a

Romans 8:12–25

Genesis 29:15–28

Romans 8:26–39

For more prayer and devotional resources, including a listing of daily Bible readings for each day of the church year, go to www.lca.org.au/wpp/prayers-devotions • Lutheran Tract Mission also provides the readings in a booklet, which can be accessed electronically at www.ltm.org.au/tract/view/70579-daily-bible-readings-for-2023 or as a printed booklet through the LTM office (phone 08 8360 7222) for a donation of 20c per copy.

Matthew 10:40–42

Psalm 45:10–17

Matthew 11:16–19,25–30

Psalm 119:105–112

Matthew 13:1–9,18–23

Psalm 139:1–12,23,24

Matthew 13:24–30,36–43

Psalm 105:1–11

Matthew 13:31–33,44–52

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:16).

PRAYER POINTS

4–10 JUNE

The LCA’s Qld District, which has met for its annual Convention of Synod on 2-4 June

11–17 JUNE

Synod delegates and organisers of the Lutheran Church of NZ’s Convention held on 9-11 June

18–24 JUNE

People displaced by war, persecution or famine on World Refugee Day (20 June)

25 JUN–1 JULY

Torres Strait Islander peoples, for Coming of the Light, marking the 19th-century adoption of Christianity in island communities (1 July)

2–8 JULY

Australian First Nations peoples during NAIDOC Week, which Recognises First Nations History and culture

9–15 JULY

Those who serve on the LCANZ’s commissions on worship, social and bioethical questions, and theology and inter-church relations

16–22 JULY

All who work to support justice and advocate for victims’ rights on International Justice Day (17 July)

23–29 JULY

The Lutheran Nurse of the Year for 2023, Sharon Berridge, and all who serve as nurses in a range of settings

30 JULY– 5 AUGUST

People who are considering studying at Australian Lutheran College, with the hope of serving the LCANZ in some capacity

BY MATT SCHUBERT

My home church, Rockingham Mandurah Lutheran in Perth, weathered a two-year pastoral vacancy in 2014–2015. If you’ve been part of a long vacancy, you won’t be surprised to hear it was a time of exhaustion, frustration and currents of disunity.

But there were also wonderful things that unexpectedly happened. We saw unprecedented enthusiasm towards youth ministry and an influx of leaders and students. A young adults group began for the first time in a few years. Small groups found new strength and meaning.

Personally, even to my own surprise, I signed up to study at a local Bible college. It was during this time I realised that I wanted to give my life’s work to serve the local church. Every vacancy has its own story of pros and cons, where you’ve seen fruit and where you’ve needed to lament. When a congregation is without a pastor, it can be helpful to fall back on tradition – how things have always been done. But what if your church doesn’t have any tradition? What if your congregation has only existed for three weeks? This was the reality for the church in Thessalonica.

Read Acts 17:1–10a. After this short time, would you expect the group of believers in Thessalonica to continue or soon fizzle out? Why?

It was barely a month before other Jews became jealous of the popularity of Paul and his team.

I’m also a church planter with a team, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that we haven’t had mobs formed against us, chasing us out of the city.

But Paul and Silas weren’t so fortunate. They had to quickly flee under the cover of darkness.

One month isn’t a long time to set a church up for success. Most ‘new Christians’ courses run for at least six weeks. It takes at least a year for a church to form a constitution. And in terms of leadership, it’s certainly not enough time to send somebody off to seminary.

The congregation went from having the great Pastor Paul to being in vacancy overnight. Would you be worried? Paul was. So, while he waited in Athens, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check how they were doing.

Read 1 Thessalonians 3:1–5. What do we learn about Paul’s heart for the little Thessalonian church?

His concerns might sound like your own as you look around and see many congregations in vacancy.

But when Timothy returned to Paul, he was able to bring good news. The church was still meeting! Not only that, but they were full of faith and love (1 Thessalonians 3:6)! And despite all their opposition, this unlikely little church was standing firm (3:7,8). They missed Paul (3:6) but they discovered that they didn’t absolutely need him. Because others were stepping up. But who? Paul valued the office of ministry and had a practice of returning to churches he had planted so he could ordain elders for the community (Acts 14:23). But as yet there was no such opportunity for an ordination in Thessalonica – they were in vacancy. Which makes Paul’s final instructions to the Thessalonians a little surprising.

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12,13. If Paul isn’t talking about an ordained pastor, who else in the church might these words apply to?

The story of the Thessalonian church reminds us to give thanks, not only for pastors but for all who have a heart to help the local church follow Jesus.

Is there someone in your church who shows deep care for the congregation’s wellbeing? How can you honour them this week? Who in your church works hard? How can you make their load lighter? Is there someone with a gift of teaching the Bible? Do they know you appreciate their Bible studies or lay readings? Could you support them to receive even more training?

Miraculously, even in a time of vacancy, people might say about your church, ‘your faith in God has become known everywhere’ (1 Thessalonians 1:8).

Lord Jesus, raise up and appoint pastors for our church. While we wait, may we notice those working pastorally in our midst. Amen.

Matt Schubert is a church planter, Specific Ministry Pastor candidate, and student with ALC.

LAY TRAINING HELPS FILL MINISTRY NEED

Since its launch in 2021, Lay Preacher Training from Australian Lutheran College (ALC) has drawn more than 25 enrolments from all districts and countries of the LCANZ.

Commissioned by the LCANZ’s College of Bishops, this training is one way to support congregations in a time of pastoral vacancy and is available to both current and future congregational lay preachers. The Lay Preacher Training course is designed as self-paced training in which an individual works through the content within ALC’s iLearn platform, and with the support of a mentor pastor.

Within iLearn, the individual journeys through five content modules that help to lay a solid foundation for learning to prepare and deliver a sermon. The content of the Lay Preacher Training mirrors what pastoral students learn within the ‘Preaching the Word’ unit at ALC. This provides coherency and consistency between the pastoral office and the service of lay preachers.

PREPARING CANDIDATES

After completing the modules, the individual then writes and preaches sermons under the supervision of their mentor pastor. Each time a sermon has been preached, the individual goes through a process of gaining feedback and conducting selfreflection, as well as then applying any changes to content and delivery style before preaching another sermon.

To complete the Lay Preacher Training, an individual submits a portfolio of evidence that shows how their sermons have been prepared, proof of sermons that have been preached and a feedback report from their mentor pastor.

Doing the Lay Preacher Training does not immediately qualify an individual to be appointed as a lay preacher. Appointment can only be made by the District Bishop after they have engaged in discussions with the individual candidate and their congregation and mentor pastor and reviewed the portfolio of evidence. An appointment as a lay preacher is only valid for 12 months at a time.

HOW TO REGISTER

To find out more and to register for the training, visit https://alc.edu.au/training/professional-development/ lpt-enrolment/ or email training@alc.edu.au

BONUS SAINTS ALIVE MAGAZINE INSIDE

Subscribers to The Lutheran this edition receive a free bonus copy of Saints Alive, an annual periodical of Australian Lutheran College (ALC). The 12-page mini-magazine is full of news, views and information from the ALC community, including students and staff, including details of the college’s yearly appeal. ALC is the provider of tertiary theological education for the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand and is a college of the University of Divinity.

RETHINKING MINISTRY

Are you ready to rethink your ministry with children and youth?

Are you wondering what you can do to support families in passing on faith to children and youths in their care? Did you know that every generation has a part to play in ministering to young people?

For many congregations and families, sharing the Christian faith with children and youth is becoming an area of great challenge. Culture and society are changing rapidly, which can raise many new questions and opportunities.

Grow Ministries has developed a training session that helps congregations rethink their ministry to children, teenagers and their families. You can invite Jodi Brook or Christine Matthias to visit your congregation, or they can support you to lead your own session.

Through the training, congregations are supported to wrestle with some of the following questions:

• What does it mean to form faith in children and youth?

• What seems to work best and why?

• How can we partner with and support Christian families today?

WHAT COURSE PARTICIPANTS SAY …

‘I expected some magic fix to solve our problem of shrinking membership. However, I learnt that it all starts with me and that, to enable our congregation to grow, I have to lead and teach my brothers and sister how to relate to each other.’

‘What a blessing this has been. I am really excited for our congregation’s future and the light we will be to our community.’

‘I liked the atmosphere of enthusiasm and willingness to explore something different … a fresh approach, from a kingdom perspective.’

‘The biggest thing I got out of the day was ideas on how to plan church in a way where all generations are included.’

‘Keep up the good work! I am amazed at the innovative resources Grow has produced.’

Over many years, Grow Ministries has developed resources and training to help meet the challenges of doing ministry in the 21st century. Please make contact for more information.

Jodi Brook Director

jodi.brook@lca.org.au

Based in South Australia

Christine Matthias Resource Coordinator

christine.matthias@lca.org.au

Based in Queensland

CONSIDERING THE BIG QUESTIONS

The LCANZ has launched a suite of Christian ethical decision-making guides on a range of contemporary ethical issues. As well as an overview document, there are short guides on 11 topics, including Responsible investment, Vaccination, Racism, Organ donation, Nuclear energy, Pornography, Social media, Tattoos and Vaping.

Available on the LCANZ website, the guides are an initiative of the church's Office of the Bishop and Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions. While they are pitched with senior high school Christian Studies students in mind, the guides are also intended to help all church members consider how they might respond to the issues addressed.

The guides are meant for use in personal reflection; they are not ‘official’ LCANZ statements. Read more and access the guides at www.lca.org.au/csbq

NEW CHURCH CHILD SAFETY RESOURCES

The LCANZ’s Child Protection Project Team recently released two new congregational resources supporting the church’s Child Safety Standards (CSS).

The new resources back up Child Safety Standard 2 – ‘We value, respect and listen to children’. CSS Implementation Support Officer Nicole Hall says children are safer when they are valued, respected, and listened to. ‘When children feel comfortable and informed, they are more likely to speak up about their safety concerns’, Nicole says. She says the new Speak Up poster is designed to encourage children to speak up and to provide them with information about safe people and safe places they can approach for support or assistance.

The second new resource is called ‘Who keeps me safe at church?’ and is an activity-based resource to help children to identify their ‘safe people’ – ‘adults they would feel comfortable approaching if they felt scared or unsafe’, Nicole says.

CALLING ALL COMPOSERS AND SONGWRITERS!

You will find the Speak Up poster and ‘Who keeps me safe at church?’ resource on the LCA Child Safety page at www.lca.org.au/ governance/child-safety-standards Just look for the ‘Resources’ section on the right-hand side of your screen and scroll down.

Any questions? Please contact your District Professional Standards Officer (details are at www.lca.org.au/professional-standards) or Nicole Hall from the Churchwide Child Safety Standards team, by emailing css@lca.org.au or phoning 08 8267 7372 or 0491 011 643.

SUPPORT FOR WORSHIP LIFE

The LCANZ provides a variety of resources for congregations to use when they don’t have a pastor, including the Worship Planning Page (www.lca.org.au/worship/wpp). There also are videoed sermons to download and online worship services available through Lutheran Media (https://lutheranmedia.org.au/worship-life/ ). Some congregations also use the interview and discussion videos, podcasts, scripts and booklets from Messages of Hope in their worship services, small groups and mission efforts when in pastoral vacancy, says Lutheran Media Director Richard Fox. Discover these and much more at www.messagesofhope.org.au

The LCANZ’s Commission on Worship (CoW) is running a new music project and administration coordinator Libby Krahling says CoW is looking for music in any style which is suitable for use in worship. This could include lyrics to existing tunes, new arrangements of old hymns/songs, new liturgical compositions or music written for special occasions/feasts of the church year. For more information, and to obtain a copy of the music criteria, contact David Simpfendorfer at simpfy3@gmail.com

VOLUMES OF MUSIC NEEDS COVERED

The Commission on Worship has been preparing music resources for several decades for use across the church. This includes four Music Resource volumes, which may assist congregations.

Volume 1: KEYBOARD AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC FOR WORSHIP: Contains worship music mainly for organists, pianists and keyboardists. Hymn introductions, preludes and different harmonisations provide many ways in which to enhance worship. There are also arrangements for strings based on well-known hymns.

Volume 2: SUNG WORSHIP SERVICES: All the sung worship orders for holy communion and Services of the Word, ready for musicians to play on organ, keyboard, piano or guitar.

Volume 3: PSALM SETTINGS: Music settings of the book of Psalms. The selection of psalm texts has been based on the requirements of the Revised Common Lectionary. A revised edition with added guitar chords was released in 2022.

Volume 4: SONGS OF THE CHURCH – ADVENT, CHRISTMAS AND EPIPHANY: Published last year, this collection features hymns and songs from the broader ecumenical tradition, as well as familiar favourites with refreshed arrangements. It is available as a spiral-bound musician’s book or an e-book, and individual songs are also available for digital download.

All four volumes are available from Australian Christian Resources (www.shopacr.com.au).

ASSISTING A NEIGHBOUR IN CRISIS

Crisis assistance, which is sometimes referred to as emergency relief, is the provision of material aid to a person, couple, family, or community in immediate need. It may also include a referral to other specialist community services, such as personal or financial counselling. There are many reasons people need crisis assistance. These may include a sudden reduction in income, gambling issues, financial management problems, loneliness, the death of a loved one, relationship breakdown, domestic violence, drugs, illness, isolation, inherited debt, a major appliance failure, or having a wallet or purse stolen. These situations and others can cause financial as well as emotional distress.

Large increases in living costs and the requirements placed on refugees who are on bridging visas have continued to bring more people through the doors of our churches and agencies in search of help.

A report by the Australian Council of Social Service indicates that those at greatest risk are unemployed people, children in sole-parent families and people whose main income is from social security payments. In 2020, approximately 3.24 million people lived in poverty in Australia (of which 774,000 were children and 424,800 were young people).

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?

How can my congregation provide crisis assistance?

When a neighbour comes knocking is a resource to help you get started. It offers guidelines for establishing crisis assistance and ideas for a typical food parcel. It also provides suggestions for managing risks associated with confidentiality, negative behaviour, referrals to services and more.

God has given us all many talents and gifts to use to his glory. One of the gifts we possess is the gift of giving itself, without expecting anything in return. May God bless you as you show hospitality to strangers, speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and defend the rights of the poor and needy (Hebrews 13:2; Proverbs 31:8,9).

You can download the When a neighbour comes knocking resource from www.lca.org.au/events-training-resources

ENGLISH CONVERSATION PARTNERS NEEDED

LCA International Mission is seeking volunteer English-speaking conversation partners for seminary students from STT Abdi Sabda in Indonesia.

The online program, which will run from 12 July to 8 August this year, aims to give students the chance to practise their English skills with a native speaker and to grow in confidence. Volunteers are still welcome to join the program even if they are not available for all dates.

Each session will begin at 8am Indonesian time (9am AWST, 10.30am ACST, 11am AEST, 1pm NZST) and will be 90 minutes long.

Who is needed: Native English speakers

CAN YOU HELP?

What for: Being an online conversation partner with Indonesian seminary students

How: Via Zoom online conferencing platform

When: Weekdays from 12 July to 8 August 2023

Tania Nelson – Executive Officer – Local Mission

WHEN A NEIGHBOUR COMES KNOCKING Helpingpeoplewhoseekcrisisassistancethroughthechurch

WHEN A NEIGHBOUR COMES KNOCKING Helping people who seek crisis assistance through the church

LISTENING TO THE SPIRIT’S PROMPTING

Have you ever had a feeling you should call or visit someone? Then, when you respond to that feeling and it works out that it was precisely the time that person needed you. I have come to learn that this is the Holy Spirit prompting me to listen and respond to that feeling.

Since the time of lockdowns and isolation for so many, I have tried to respond to that prompting and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead me to help those in need. What would happen if each of us made this a priority to listen to the ‘still, small voice’? I imagine that a lot of God’s work would get done through his faithful people. Christian young people I have spoken to seem very tuned in to the Holy Spirit and his leading. As we get older, I feel that maybe our ears aren’t quite as tuned in to listening to the Spirit’s guiding, rather feeling that they have already done their work and that it’s now someone else’s job. We are all God’s workers and disciples – whatever age or stage of life – and we can all grow in our listening for that prompting. I encourage you to continue to lead a life of learning, listening and growing to know what it is we are to do to spread God’s kingdom here on earth.

CHANCE TO OFFER MEANING

Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) has many resources for just this ministry – for you to share and perhaps give to someone seeking and searching for meaning in this confusing life.

Pick up one for yourself and one for a friend or neighbour. As it says in Matthew 28:19, ‘Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples’ (GNT). Listen to the Spirit’s prompting – maybe he is calling you to be an apostle or pastor to help teach others.

Look at the LTM website to find what you need for your ministry: www.ltm.org.au

SHARE YOUR STORIES AND INSPIRE OTHERS

Please share stories with me of how tracts from Lutheran Tract Mission have spoken and reached you and others in your community. Give others new ideas as to how to use tracts in sharing God’s love! Keep your ears open – there may be a need only you can fill!

PODCASTS TO SHARE LCANZ STORIES

The LCANZ will this month launch regular audio podcasts as a new way of sharing stories with the wider church community.

To be published fortnightly and accessible for listening through the LCA website (www.lca.org.au/podcasts), the podcasts will feature interviews with a wide range of people on a wide range of topics of interest within the church.

Check LCA eNews for further details, including information on how to subscribe to the podcasts. Sign up to LCA eNews for the latest news and updates from across the church each fortnight – at www.lca.org.au/lcaenews-signmeup

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic and family violence, visit www.anrows.org.au/get-support or call 1800 RESPECT (24-hour National Sexual Assault Family Domestic Violence Counselling Service), or Lifeline Counselling (24 hours) 131 114. In an emergency, call 000

Anne Hansen, Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer

SCHOOLS BLESSED BY OVERSEAS PARTNERSHIPS

LCA International Mission recently offered staff from Australian Lutheran schools in partnership with Indonesian schools the chance to visit them and re-establish personal connections after years of COVID travel interruptions. The trip also was an opportunity to explore changes that may need to be made for future student visits.

Staff from Victory Lutheran College Wodonga, in Victoria, Grace Lutheran College Rothwell and Caboolture, in Queensland, and South Australia's Endeavour College Mawson Lakes, Navigator College Port Lincoln and St Martins Lutheran College Mount Gambier, embarked on the journey with LCA International Mission in April.

Most of the time was spent with the schools reconnecting with their own partnerships. However, there also were several opportunities for the Australians to gather to learn from one another and share ideas.

At the end of our stay, each Indonesian school with an Australian partner and those Australian schools visiting Indonesia did a workshop together, at which we discussed the importance of having a shared vision to clarify the purpose and intended outcomes of the partnership and to provide focus, motivation and a gauge for evaluation along the journey.

The schools were reminded that a good reason to be in a partnership takes advantage of the skills, resources and gifts of each partner, highlighting why each partner needs the other and what can be gained only through partnership. We also explored how to effectively express God’s love to those who are different from us, through the development of cultural intelligence.

Grace Lutheran College staff reflected on their time away, describing the school partnership tour as ‘both challenging and inspiring’. ‘Being immersed in Indonesian culture challenged us to consider our lives from a different perspective’, they said. ‘Coming alongside our Indonesian friends helped us to

BY ERIN KERBER

understand the difficulties and blessings they experience and inspired us to grow in the hospitality, freedom and hope that they so boldly display.

‘Grace Lutheran College has been greatly blessed by our partnership with the HKBP schools in Sidikalang (North Sumatra) and Lawe Sigala-gala (Aceh), and we’ve had the joy of being a blessing to our partner schools also.’

Staff from St Martins Lutheran College said: ‘The most important lesson from our overseas experience was the value of listening to our partner school’s story. We can’t necessarily fix all their challenges, but we can be a great support and encouragement.’

LCA International Mission offers school partnerships that aim to:

• Develop friendships with people whose lives have been transformed by the gospel, enabling enriched cultural sharing and space for prayer for and encouragement of one another in the journey of faith.

• Provide opportunities for students to serve and be served by others, look beyond themselves and put the school’s faith and values into practice.

• Be aware of the challenges of living in a majority-world country and experiencing the perseverance, generosity and hospitality of those who live in these circumstances.

• Enrich the students through gaining a deeper understanding of another culture and developing skills in engaging with people who have different cultures.

• Allow students studying Indonesian to visit their partner schools as a motivation for them to improve their language comprehension.

• Offer teacher professional development.

• Create occasions, such as social and fundraising events, for staff and students to work together in their school community and connect to their wider community.

Catherine Stickland, Kris Forman and Lachie McLean from Queensland's Grace Lutheran College were among Lutheran Education Australia staff who visited their Indonesian partner schools with LCA International Mission recently.

Erin Kerber is LCA International Mission Program Officer. If you are interested in exploring how you can connect to the mission of God through an LCA International Mission service-learning and ministry school partnership, please phone Erin on 08 8267 7300 or email erin.kerber@lca.org.au

CREATIVE, COLOURFUL AND A LITTLE CRAZY, OUR LUTHERAN FAMILY IS …

TO SOMALIA

From baking and brightly decorating spectacular cakes to donning and displaying crazily patterned socks, from staging yabby and cockroach races to serving up steaming hot bowls of porridge with all the trimmings, members of our LCANZ have been getting creative to support children in drought and famine-hit Somalia to go to school – and have a full tummy.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

While they weren’t competing in a TV baking contest or devising a dessert recipe for a grand occasion like the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, students from Cornerstone College at Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills nonetheless gave a right royal performance in the kitchen recently. Most importantly, the effort put in to make 52 stunning sweet creations was not just about winning the college’s seventh annual bake-off competition, this year it was also a way of supporting the work of Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) and its partners in Somalia. Somalia is in the grip of harsh drought and resulting famine and ALWS has secured an 18:1 matching grant from church partners in Europe and the US, which means that for every $10 donated, a child’s education is supported for a year.

Cornerstone Wellbeing Director and ALWS Board member Morgan Brookes said the school community was excited to have raised $2217 through cake sales, which will support 220 Somali children at school. ‘We are always incredibly heartened by the commitment that Cornerstone College students show on days like this’, Morgan says. ‘Not only do they step up and produce wonderful and inventive items to share, but they also take part, wholeheartedly, in selling and/or buying every single slice of cake to raise funds to help those in need.’

GO CRAZY AND PUT A SOCK ON IT!

Naomi Kotzur, a teacher from St John’s Lutheran School Kingaroy in Queensland, says students from her school community have put their best foot (or feet) forward for children in Somalia. The school encouraged students to wear their ‘craziest’ socks and bring a gold coin donation to send love and care to Somalia.

They were hoping to contribute $1 per student or $521 toward the cause, which with the matching grant would mean a total donation of more than $9,000 – or support for 48 children. Along with money raised through its participation in the Queensland recycling scheme Containers for Change, St John’s donated $1180 after its Crazy Sock Day – enough to support 118 children at school in Somalia. Naomi says the school was also looking forward to being involved in its first Walk My Way last month, as part of efforts to look beyond their own community and think of others. ‘Kids are not too young to have a positive impact on someone else’s life’, Naomi says. ‘As a teacher, I have the perfect opportunity to inspire children –I don’t want to waste it.’

SOWING THE SEEDS FOR CHANGE

The Barossa North Lutheran Parish from South Australia have also been quick off the mark lending their support to children in Somalia in creative ways.

Along with the annual parish Blessing of the Seed, Soil and Water service led by Pastor Mathew Ker in late April, about 150 members and 20 children enjoyed fantastic fun and fellowship, including yabby and cockroach races, a billy boiling competition and a community lunch.

Held outside a century-old shearing shed near Truro, the event made a real connection to the land and elements for those who attended, ALWS Community Action Manager Jonathan Krause says. ‘This, in turn, connected us to Somalia where families also depend on the land – raising sheep and cattle and growing sorghum’, Jonathan says. ‘The parish congregations have donated more than $2200 to ALWS – enough to support 220 children to go to school for a year, plus have a daily school meal of porridge!’

THAT IS HOW YOU MAKE PORRIDGE

When ALWS Board members and staff met in Albury, New South Wales, earlier this year to mark 75 years since the Lutheran Church’s ministry to refugees in Australia began, there was no grand party to celebrate the milestone. Instead, they shared bowls of porridge for breakfast (like Aaron Glover and Jonathan Krause, left), followed by a thanksgiving service!

The porridge was made to the same recipe used by ALWS’ international partners to feed children threatened by famine in Somalia. Instead of payment, staff and guests donated to ALWS’ 18:1 Matching Grant, with every $10 funding a year’s education (including a daily meal of porridge) for a child in Somalia.

Renowned community leader the Reverend Tim Costello (below left) was the guest speaker for the gathering and keenly joined the breakfast. The leader of the Help Fight Famine campaign through interdenominational advocacy group Micah Australia, Rev Tim reflected on Jeremiah 29 and ALWS’ commitment to global justice in his message. He also encouraged those gathered to continue to serve as God’s hands and feet wherever they are placed.

The thanksgiving service was held at ALWS’ head office in Albury, not far from the Bonegilla Resettlement Centre where thousands of European Lutheran refugees were temporarily housed after World War II. Pastoral support provided to Lutheran refugees 75 years ago by local Lutheran Pastor Bruno Muetzelfeldt began the Lutheran Church’s ministry to refugees – and was the forerunner to the establishment of what became the LCA’s overseas aid and development agency – ALWS.

Why not hold your own ‘Power Porridge Party’ and support children at risk due to the famine in the Horn of Africa? For more information, go to the ALWS website at www.alws.org.au or call 1300 763 407. Each $10 donated will support a child in Somalia at school for a year with a daily meal of porridge, a school uniform, a desk, renovated classrooms, facilities and assistive devices for children with special needs, training for teachers and dignity kits for girls.

In Going GREYT! we feature stories of some of our ‘more experienced’ people within the LCANZ, who have been called to make a positive contribution in their retirement. We pray their examples of service will be an inspiration and encouragement to us all as we look to be Christ’s hands and feet wherever we are.

BY HELEN BRINKMAN

Being good with numbers has been a blessing for the man believed to be the LCANZ’s longest-serving congregational treasurer, Glen Kraft.

The 74-year-old member of Burnie congregation on the north-west coast of Tasmania has spent the past 50 years as treasurer of his home congregation and is still going strong.

Glen is comfortable sticking with numbers: ‘I’m not one who can go out and witness. God gave me a gift of numbers so I can thank him for that. Doing that, I can give something back to the Lord.’

Glen was only 24 years old, and fresh off the mainland when he became treasurer in May 1973. He had moved to Burnie in 1971 from South Australia’s Barossa Valley. His first job out of university was working as an industrial chemist in a local paper mill. He said he’d probably stay for four to five years when he was interviewed for the role. Fifty-two years later he’s still here, ‘and I’ll probably die here’, he says. ‘Part of the reason I looked for a job in Tasmania was because I didn’t really like the hot climate in South Australia’, he says. ‘While at uni I did some internships, one in Tasmania, and the other in Dampier, northern Western Australia – with temperatures as high as 50 degrees – and I was counting down the hours until I finished. It sort of pushed me to Tasmania.’

Growing up in the small Barossa town of Stockwell, Glen didn’t like the big city, so he was quite happy moving to Burnie with its population of about 20,000 people.

And of course, Glen liked the cold! So much in fact that he decided to try snow skiing. While he admits he wasn’t very good to start with, his persistence paid off. By 1979 Glen had his first winter holiday in the ski fields of New Zealand.

‘When it is -5 degrees on a sunny day, it’s lovely’, he says. Glen has never looked back, skiing at many of the world’s major ski fields until about 20 years ago when he decided the Canadian snow resorts were his favourite – and they became his go-to destination until COVID hit. Aside from his ability to work with numbers, skiing has given Glen another blessing –access to some of the best mountain views in the world.

‘Picture a clear blue day, with such crisp clean air and the sun shining on white snow so it just gleams’, he shares. ‘The snow just hides all the scars in the earth, and for me, that has absolute beauty.’

It reminds Glen of his favourite worship song, Robin Mann’s ‘How shall I call you?’, with the lyrics ‘How shall I call you? Maker of heaven, poet of sunset and painter of sky’ (song number 43 from the All Together Now songbook).

‘When I am standing on the top of mountains and looking down at mountain peaks covered in snow, that song used to buzz around in my mind’, Glen says. ‘Everything is crisp, clean and beautiful – and you think God’s created all this, and he looks down and everything’s perfect.’

Fast forward to 2023, and Glen is hoping to plan his next ski trip to Canada in 2024. ‘That may be the last, as age is catching up with me’, he says.

But Glen is keeping fit as a fiddle for skiing by walking kilometres each day up and down the hills between his home and the Burnie church manse. This is because he’s not only the congregational treasurer but is also looking after the manse while the parish awaits a new pastor.

‘EVERYTHING IS CRISP, CLEAN AND BEAUTIFUL –AND YOU THINK, GOD’S CREATED ALL THIS, AND HE LOOKS DOWN AND EVERYTHING’S PERFECT.’

Oh, and he’s also treasurer of the North Tasmania Lutheran Parish, which includes the congregations of Devonport and Launceston, as well as Burnie. His maintenance and information technology skills have also been put to good use developing the weekly service orders, PowerPoint presentations and service arrangements for the three congregations.

As for his treasurer’s duties, Glen has noticed the changes in the role over the decades.

‘It’s certainly become more complicated over time’, he says. ‘These days you need to do a lot of reporting. Compliance is important.’

While he serves the parish in multiple capacities, Glen believes keeping the congregations functioning well, especially during pastoral vacancy, is a team effort. ‘I am just one of the people helping to keep the church working’, he says.

When it comes to serving, Glen’s advice is to seek God’s guidance: ‘You just need to pray. If people are really motivated to serve, God will lead them to find what suits whatever they can do. ‘There’s lots of little ways they can help. Anyone can push a mower around, as long as you enjoy doing that. God’s given everyone different gifts. Without those little jobs, the church couldn’t exist.’

And the final verse of his go-to Robin Mann’s song reminds us all of God’s faithfulness: ‘How shall I call you? Master and servant, lord of the seasons and lord of the years; faithful and constant in loving and mercy, giver of laughter and taker of tears.’

Top right and above middle: Keen skier Glen Kraft enjoys holidaying in Canada, his favourite winter-sport destination.

Top left and above: Glen, who has been treasurer for Burnie Lutheran congregation in Tasmania for 50 years, also looks after and does maintenance at the church manse and yard while the congregation is without a pastor.

Helen Brinkman is a Brisbane-based writer who is inspired by the many GREYT people who serve tirelessly and humbly in our community. By sharing stories of how God shines his light through his people, she hopes others are encouraged to explore how they can use their gifts to share his light in the world. Know of any other GREYT stories

Way Forward project team appointed

The project team to lead the LCANZ’s Way Forward project has begun its work. The team’s primary role is to project-manage the implementation of the 2021–23 General Synod resolution, namely, to deliver a proposal to the next General Synod outlining how the LCANZ could operate as ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’.

The three-person project team will report to the General Church Board (GCB) and College of Bishops (CoB), which jointly hold overall responsibility for the delivery of the proposal in response to the Synod resolution. Eight working groups will provide guidance, requirements and inputs on the theological, constitutional, governance and other issues that will be required for a ‘detailed framework’ to be presented in time for discussion by the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The groups were appointed last month by GCB and CoB. It is envisaged that the proposal development process will involve wide consultation within the LCANZ prior to the General Pastors Conference and General Synod.

Former Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Super, Stella Thredgold, heads the project team in a part-time capacity as project director. As an ASX100 C-Suite Executive, she has spent most of her career leading organisations through change. Stella will provide strategic oversight of the project direction, engaging with various stakeholders and ensuring that a disciplined and transparent process is followed.

Joining the team with Stella are Tim Niewand and Tony Vong, both of whom have extensive project-management experience coupled with longstanding membership of Lutheran congregations in Victoria.

Joining the team full-time, Tim brings 20 years’ experience in Fortune 500

companies, and has managed projects across a diverse range of scopes including product development, process improvement, real estate, finance and software. A lifelong active member of the Lutheran Church, he is currently chairperson at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts.

Tony has 20 years’ experience leading programs and teams within the public sector, with a strong focus on risk and change management. He holds voluntary roles on District and congregation boards and committees, including that of his home congregation, Chinese Lutheran Church of Victoria. Tony joins the project team in a parttime capacity.

‘We’re humbled to be able to lead this project. We understand this is a difficult time for the Lutheran Church, but it also brings tremendous opportunity’, Stella said.

‘We’re committed to listening, openness, transparency and respect, and we invite everyone involved in the Way Forward to bring this spirit to the conversations.’

The project team will oversee and coordinate the assignments of the working groups, as well as manage the timeline and ensure successful preparation for the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The recent call for expressions of interest to join working groups saw more

than 500 people download the application form and almost 60 people apply within the two-week timeframe.

The Standing Committee on Nominations, which processed the expressions of interest, and GCB and CoB, which made the appointments, aimed for diversity across the working groups (including gender, age, cultural background, conviction about ordination) and people from all districts of the church. Stella said she was delighted with the high calibre of appointments to the working groups: ‘The project team extends our thanks to all the people who applied to the working groups, including those who were not appointed, for being prepared to volunteer their time, experience and expertise to this project. We thank God for you, and we look forward to engaging with those appointed as we implement the resolution your General Synod delegates have placed before us.’

The project team welcomes suggestions from the wider church regarding the way forward towards ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’. Emails can be sent to wayforward2024@lca.org.au

For more information about the project, go to www.lca.org.au/wayforward

Former Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Super, Stella Thredgold (centre), is heading up the LCANZ's Way Forward project team, joined by Tim Niewand (left) and Tony Vong (right).

Conference-goers ‘challenged and inspired’

More than 50 people re-considered their local neighbourhoods as mission fields during last month’s 2023 LCANZ CrossCultural Ministry conference in Melbourne. Based on The Message translation of John 1:14 which says, ‘The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood’, the theme for the 5-6 May event was ‘Moving into the neighbourhood’.

Dr Tania Nelson, the LCANZ’s Executive Officer – Local Mission, said participants ‘dwelt in the word, worshipped, heard stories of neighbourhood ministry events and missional attitudes, and were inspired by speakers from within the LCA and from other faith traditions’.

‘We heard Maha, a new convert from Hinduism to Christianity, pray in Tamil while we prayed for her growing community in our heart languages’, Tania said. ‘We viewed a Partners in Ministry video entitled “Welcoming” and were challenged to view our website, and the 10 minutes before and after worship, from the viewpoint of a visitor. ‘We were inspired to walk in the shoes of our neighbours and heard of the difficult journeys to Australia from our Congolese and South Sudanese friends. And we heard from Meewon Yang, who shared with us her master’s degree research on “Ways of Being a Multicultural Church”.

‘May we all see ourselves as God’s hands and feet in God’s mission in the local neighbourhood.’

LCANZ Cross-Cultural Ministry Facilitator Craig Heidenreich also presented a

Bach Cantata Services

Continuing the series of the 9 cantatas with texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler

draft vision for a missional church at the conference. This included:

We believe that:

• The Lord is stretching out his hands to the people of Australia and New Zealand and wants a relationship with each one.

• God is watching over the movement of people who are coming from afar and is choosing to bless them.

• God is inviting us to join him in this great endeavour and he will help us as we seek to express his love to those we live among.

• We are all different and each of us has something meaningful to offer.

• Love comes to life when God's people grow in his grace and go out into their world with his love.

7:30pm Thursday 18 May 2023

Ascension Day Festival Service

Guest Preacher The Rev’d Chris Lancaster

Project Officer, Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein

BWV128

for 3 soloists, choir, strings, 3 oboes, 2 horns, trumpet and continuo

Sally-Anne Russell (mezzosoprano)

Robert Macfarlane (tenor)

Christopher Tonkin (bass)

9am Sunday 18 June 2023

3rd Sunday after Pentecost Festival Eucharist

Guest Preacher Pastor David Gogoll

Lutheran Church of Australia

Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding

BWV176 for 3 soloists, choir, strings, 3 oboes including oboe da caccia and continuo

Samantha Hargreaves (soprano)

Sally-Anne Russell (mezzosoprano)

Oliver Mann (bass)

St Johns Bach Choir and Orchestra directed by Graham Lieschke

Pastor James Ruei, far left, from St Johns Geelong Victoria, at the Cross-Cultural Ministry Conference, with Local Mission and SA-NT District lay worker Joanne Chamberlain, and Maha Thirugnanasambanda, from Geelong’s Tamil Christian Fellowship, who spoke to the gathering.

We see a Lutheran body of believers who:

• Bless the people around them because God blesses us.

• Start conversations with strangers, remembering their names.

• Listen without agenda and bring their concerns to the Lord in prayer.

• Live out the wisdom and kindness of God in the civic world in which each of us is placed.

More than 50 people attended last month’s LCANZ Cross-Cultural Ministry Conference in Melbourne.

Photos: Beverley Heidenreich

The St Johns Bach Cantata Program is an ongoing program presenting the cantatas and choral music of JS Bach in the context for which it was written, liturgical Lutheran church services.

Synod offering supports FRM hymnbook project

The offering from this year’s LCANZ Convention of General Synod in-person meetings is contributing more than $30,000 towards a Finke River Mission (FRM) project revising and reprinting Lutheran song and hymnbooks in Central Australian Aboriginal languages. Along with other volunteers and FRM staff, Pastor Rob Borgas, who formerly served as an FRM support worker, has worked on revising or reprinting hymnals in three languages – Pitjantjatjara, Western Arrarnta and Alyawarr. The Pintubi-Luritja worship resource is also being revised. Most of the hymnals feature liturgy, prayers and catechism resources as well as hymns and songs. The preface to the previous update of the Pitjantjatjara Lutheran Hymnal in 2010 highlighted the history of similar worship resources in Central Australia. It says:

‘The first Arrarnta hymnal was produced in 1891 by AH Kempe. Its 160 pages

contained bible stories, prayers, some psalms and 53 other hymns. It was printed at Hermannsburg in the state of Hannover, Germany. In 1924, 2 years after Carl Strehlow’s tragic death, the first Western Desert language hymnal was published as a supplement to the second edition of his GaltjindintjameaPepa Aranda Wolambarinjaka . It contained Luther’s Small Catechism and

Nurses recognised

Sharon Berridge has been named the 2023 Lutheran Nurse of the Year. The Executive Care Manager of Tanunda Lutheran Home in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, Sharon (pictured) was recognised with the annual award by the Lutheran Nurses Association of Australia (LNAA) on 12 May, which is International Nurses Day.

Sharon’s nominees spoke of her high degree of understanding of and respect for the value of the Christian faith, particularly when caring for people approaching the end of their lives, as well as her leadership skills, extensive knowledge of aged care, compassion, and high level of professionalism. She is highly respected among her peers for her commitment to all her staff.

LNAA also recognised the more than 30 years of service given by Meg Lewis of Norwood, South Australia. During this time, Meg has served as Nursing Director of the Orthopaedic and Trauma Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and General Manager at the Hampstead Centre. She filled a crucial role in the South Australian response to the COVID-19 pandemic as

by Bob Wiebusch

Lay worker Rita Okai holds the Pitjantjatjara language worship resource, previously updated in 2010. Now the hymnbook, along with hymn and songbooks in three other Aboriginal languages, including Western Arrarnta (below), is being revised or reprinted with the support of offerings from this year’s LCANZ General Synod.

10 hymns, all translated into the Luritja language by evangelist Moses Tjalkabota and HA Heinrich (headmaster of the Hermannsburg school).’

As well as offerings collected at the Melbourne Convention in February, LCANZ congregations donated to the Synod offering via the LLL. A total of $34,098.66 was raised for the hymnbook project.

a vaccination nurse. Her nursing service over many years was recognised with a Meritorious Service Award.

The Lutheran Nurse of the Year award was launched in 2020 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing. It recognises faithful and outstanding service by a Registered or Enrolled Nurse who is an active member of a congregation of the LCANZ.

Pastor Bob Wiebusch is the editor of the Lutheran Nurses Association of Australia’s In Touch publication and a former editor of The Lutheran

Directory

CALLS

Extended

• Rev Valdis Andersons

Lyndoch SA to Pasadena SA

• Rev Mark P Blackwell

Leave of absence to Crows Nest Qld

• Rev John M Borchert

St Pauls Lutheran College Walla Walla

NSW to Walla Walla Lutheran Parish NSW

• Rev Mathew C Eckermann

Sutherland NSW to Loxton SA

• Rev Matthew B Edgecomb

Strathalbyn SA to Cleve SA

• Rev Greg J Fowler

Golden Grove SA to Port Lincoln SA

• Rev Richard W Fox

Lutheran Media to Glynde SA

• Rev Richard W Fox

Lutheran Media to Para Vista SA

• Rev Andrew R Koehler

Tallebudgera Qld to Pacific Lutheran College Caloundra Qld

• Rev James N Leach

Central West NSW to Crows Nest Qld

• Rev Neville R Otto

Box Hill Vic to Blackwood SA

• Rev Gregory D Priebbenow

Indooroopilly Qld to Redcliffe Qld

Accepted

• Rev Valdis Andersons

Lyndoch SA to Pasadena SA

Your Voice

• Rev Mathew C Eckermann

Sutherland NSW to Loxton SA

• Rev Michael J Grosas

Qld District to Murrumba Downs Qld

• Rev Gregory D Priebbenow

Indooroopilly Qld to Redcliffe Qld

• Rev Mark L Whitfield

NZ District to St Pauls Christchurch NZ

Declined

• Rev Mark P Blackwell

Leave of absence to Crows Nest Qld

• Rev Greg J Fowler

Golden Grove SA to Horsham Vic

• Rev Greg J Fowler

Golden Grove SA to Port Lincoln SA

• Rev Richard W Fox

Lutheran Media to St Peters Blackwood SA

• Rev James N Leach

Central West Parish NSW to Crows Nest Qld

• Rev James M Winderlich Australian Lutheran College to Bethania Qld

INSTALLATIONS

• Rev David J Seligmann

Installed to Eight Mile Plains and Beaudesert Qld at Eight Miles Plains Qld on 9 April 2023 by Bishop Mark Vainikka.

• Rev Darren P Jaensch

Installed to Belconnen ACT on 7 May 2023 by Bishop Robert Bartholomaeus

Differing conclusions ‘can coexist’

To say that I was disappointed with the outcome of the ordination debate at this year’s Synod would be an understatement. But more than the outcome, the tactic of undermining the theological integrity of those who do not hold to the current teaching is not befitting for a community based on the teachings of Jesus.

If we can learn anything from the ongoing dialogue over the issue over the last 30-plus years, surely it is that we all hold Scripture and the Confessions as the basis of our faith, and the source of our understanding on this issue. As a result, we must cease hurling accusations of misuse of Scripture at one another and recognise that we can draw differing conclusions from the same texts and that both can coexist. For this reason, I thought the Box Hill proposal was superior as it allowed for the ongoing unity of the LCA while upholding our co-existing commitment to Scripture and the Confessions. I earnestly pray that the College of Bishops and the General Church Board can find a way of maintaining unity – at all levels – while also allowing diversity of practice. Separation into different ‘districts’ will only further entrench our difference rather than bring unity through understanding and allowing diversity of practice.

Rev

Tim Castle-Schmidt

–

Woodside

• Rev Peter B Hage

Installed as WA District Bishop at St Johns Perth WA on 7 May 2023 by Bishop Paul Smith

ROLL OF PASTORS

• Rev Adam D Hensley – Granted peaceful dismissal and removed from the LCANZ Roll of Pastors, effective 19 April 2023

• Rev Dylan J Miegel – Granted peaceful dismissal and removed from the LCANZ Roll of Pastors, effective 19 April 2023

• Rev Andrew Neumann – Leave of Absence extension approved to 1 May 2024

• Rev Mark A Nitschke – Change in call eligibility status from General Ministry Pastor to Pastor Emeritus from 23 April 2023

• Rev Stephen G Nuske – Leave of Absence extension approved to 1 April 2024

IN MEMORIAM

• Mrs Judith May Schmidt nee Paech, widow of the late Pastor Ray Schmidt, died on 2 May 2023. Her funeral was to be held on 22 May 2023 at Trinity Lutheran Church Hope Valley South Australia.

Tim Zanker

Rev Paul Timothy ‘Tim’ Zanker born 30 Aug 1952 (Bordertown SA); married Denise Helen Zanker nee Rosenzweig 4 Jan 1965 (Gnadenberg Moculta SA); ordained 5 Dec 1976 (Toowoomba Qld); served Miles Qld (1977–1978), Eight Miles Plains Qld (1979), Warwick Qld (1979–1986), Dimboola Vic (1986–1993), Hamilton Vic (1993–1998), GilgandraDubbo NSW (1998–2006), Liverpool NSW (2006–2016); retired 7 Oct 2017; died 16 March 2023; funeral 31 March 2023 (Living Waters Liverpool NSW); mourned by wife Denise, children Miriam, Liz and Damian and families

SA

Opinions expressed in letters are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand. Shorter letters will be given preference over longer letters. Subscribers’ letters will be given preference over those from non-subscribers. Letters longer than 300 words and those containing personal attack will not be published. No more than two letters from the same author will be published in a calendar year. Some letters may be edited for clarity.

Self-contained 1 or 2-bedroom city cottages and 3 or 4-bedroom beach houses – 4

Details: www.harrietscottage.com.au or Rob Fitzgerald on 0408 083 584

LET’S GET QUIZZICAL

You’ll find most – if not all – of the answers to these questions in the pages of The Lutheran (as well as below).

1. Who is the Lutheran Nurse of the Year for 2023?

2. The new Bishop for the LCANZ’s WA District was installed recently. What is his name and when, where and by whom was he installed to the role?

3. One of the periodicals of Australian Lutheran College is included with this print edition of The Lutheran. What is it called?

4. What special day of the church year in 2023 is celebrated on 28 May, why is it called that and what is that day otherwise known as?

5. What colour is associated with that day and why?

6. Who is believed to be the longestserving congregational treasurer in the LCANZ, where is he a member and how long has he served in the role?

7. Name two of the many Lutheran schools which have recently supported the work of ALWS in Somalia through creative fundraising means?

8. Who are the members of the project team to lead the LCANZ’s Ordination Resolution Way Forward project?

9. In which month are both the LCA Queensland District and the Lutheran Church of New Zealand holding their Conventions of Synod and what does the LCNZ have in common with the WA and SA-NT districts this year?

10. What does SMP stand for in the Lutheran Church?

LCANZ COMPLAINTS

Many complaints can be resolved before lasting hurt is caused, by addressing them quickly in a non-threatening manner and by raising the issue directly with the relevant person or organisation in a thoughtful and courteous manner. If this is not applicable or possible in your situation, you may lodge a complaint with the Professional Standards Department in any of the following ways: Phone the free-call number (Aust 1800 644 628 NZ 0800 356 887), email complaints@lca.org.au or write to Confidential, PO Box 519, Marden SA 5070.

SUDOKU

– US AUTHOR AND EVANGELIST VONETTE BRIGHT

Every number from one to nine must appear in each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal columns and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. No number can occur more than once in any row, column or box. The solution will be printed in the next edition.

ANSWERS 1. Sharon Berridge, Executive Care Manager of Tanunda Lutheran Home SA 2. New WA District Bishop Peter Hage was installed on 7 May by LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith at St Johns Perth. 3. Saints Alive 4. Pentecost; it occurred 50 days after Easter Sunday; the birthday of the church 5. Red; the colour represents the ‘tongues’ of fire that descended upon the gathered apostles when they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost 6. Glen Kraft is a member of the Martin Luther congregation at Burnie in Tasmania, where he has served as treasurer for 50 years. 7. St John’s Lutheran School Kingaroy Qld, Cornerstone College Mt Barker SA 8. Stella Thredgold, Tim Niewand and Tony Vong 9. June; like the SA-NT and WA districts, the LCNZ is electing a new bishop in 2023. The incumbents of the three districts are all retiring from their roles. 10. Specific Ministry Pastor

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IN A FEW WORDS …

‘Evangelism is not a calling reserved exclusively for the clergy. One of the greatest priorities of the church today is to mobilise the laity to do the work of evangelism.’

– US EVANGELIST BILLY GRAHAM

‘True leadership is serving God and not looking for the glory that might come from it.’

Our spacious homes in Nuriootpa and Tanunda have proven very popular. With stages 1 & 2 sold out in Nuriootpa, planning for Stage 3 is now well advanced and expression of interest is now open.

Beautiful two and three bedroom properties in our gated community call today 08 8563 7777

‘My family is one of those who are in poverty. Starvation is our constant companion.

As our income level is decreasing day by day, we were forced to think about marrying the elder and younger daughters without educating them. We also had to engage our boy in work. In such a situation, the future of our children is in darkness.

I was selected as a participant in the project. After a few days, I received a loan of 12,500 BDT ($175). Previously, I had the experience of sewing, so I bought a sewing machine. As there is space in front of my house, I also bought seeds. Now we are regularly earning from both activities.

I have used the profit to buy clothes and to enrol my daughter in college. I can also arrange three meals a day. My status and respect in my community has increased many times. I am very pleased now.’

Ayesha Begum, Bangladesh

You can bless others like Ayesha by dedicating a gift in your Will to keep on helping people through ALWS. As you do, those you love will see the values precious to you live on.

alws.org.au * 1300 763 407

ALWayS for those forgotten

Thank you!

When ALWS highlighted the threat of famine to children in Somalia, and announced an 18:1 grant to support these children in school ...

… our Lutheran family across Australia and New Zealand, in schools and churches, leapt into action!

St John’s Lutheran Primary School in Kingaroy Queensland organised a Crazy Socks Day, recycled 10-cent containers and now supports 118 Somali children to go to school! Meanwhile, students at Cornerstone Lutheran College in SA made 52 cakes in their Annual Bake-Off Competition, and then sold every cake by the slice. They now support 220 Somali children in school for a year!

In SA’s Barossa Valley, congregations came together for their ‘Blessing of the Seed, Soil

and Water Service’ – held in a shearing shed – and took up a collection to help more than 220 children. (See pages 22,23.)

Other churches held Power Porridge Parties. Together, in just five weeks, our extended Lutheran family met the ALWS first-year commitment ($150,000) to support 8,080 Somali children!

What’s exciting is that the 18:1 grant means it costs just $10 to provide a cup of fortified porridge at school each day (200+ meals in a year) … and support a child with a school uniform, desk, trained teachers and everything they need for their education!

Photo: LWF Somalia

Photo: Morgan Brookes