The Lutheran May 2020 by Lutheran Church of Australia

N A TIO N A L M A G A ZIN E O F THE L U THE RA N C HU RC H O F A U STRA LIA

MAY 2020

CHURCH

@home

VOL 54 N04

Print Post Approved PP100003514

• Faith-at-home resources • Stories of care and connection

God calls us to be reconciled with one another. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18,19

LCA Reconciliation Action Plan

LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

EDITORIAL

Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8267 7300 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

CONNECT WITH US We Love The Lutheran! @welove_TL lutheranchurchaus

SUBSCRIBE www.thelutheran.com.au

Screen time with friends Mal and John Morgan, who are part of both Victor Harbor and Kangaroo Island congregations in South Australia, usually get together with a group of friends who are members at Unley, Hallett Cove and Aberfoyle Park, once a month. They take it in turns to host a morning tea, pick a topic for Scripture discussion, then head out together for lunch. The gathering, which has been repeated over 15 years, is known as scrunch – a combination of ‘scripture’ and ‘lunch’. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the friends to ‘meet’ differently, so recently they turned to a video conferencing system to ‘get together’, with some essential reading on hand to get the discussion started!

Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and you might see it here on page 2 of a future issue.

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DESIGN & PRINT Design & Layout Elysia McEwen Printer Openbook Howden

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LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA 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.

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People like YOU bring love to life Meagan Schwarz St John’s Unley SA Mum, church worker in Anglican Church Bible text most treasured in these times: Psalm 13 ‘I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.’

John Weiss LifeWay Epping NSW Project Manager and Managing Director at ACR Bible text most treasured in these times: Romans 8:18 ‘I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us.’

Lorraine Kempf St Paul’s Ferryden Park SA Retired Bible text most treasured in these times: Psalm 46 ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.’ 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, what they enjoy doing, most treasured text in these difficult times) and your contact details.

May EDITOR'S

let ter

Special features

What a difficult, distressing and uncertain time! Our world has been turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our lives have changed dramatically as authorities have introduced unprecedented measures in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus – and save lives. Gathering in our church buildings for worship has been off-limits. Everyone is isolated to some extent, some are ill and dying, and many others have lost livelihoods. But, while there’s fear and sorrow among our communities, faith families, households and workplaces, we know that in everything God works for good (Romans 8:28). There is cause for hope. God has not left us. We’ve had to pare back our activities and find new ways to stay in touch with loved ones. My sadness at not spending time with family members and friends has been eased by regular phone chats, and a special joy has come from sharing daily devotions this way with my parents. I’ve been uplifted, too, by hearing of the grace-filled examples of 'non-contact' care shown by LCA/NZ members for neighbours, the elderly and other vulnerable people. It’s also been encouraging to learn about innovative ways in which our church’s congregations and groups have stayed socially and spiritually connected. You can read some of these wonderful stories in our special ‘Care and connection’ pages, and we hope to share more in coming editions. Our Churchwide Office departments have been busy preparing, collating and sharing information and resources to support our LCA/NZ. Pastors and church leaders have been nurturing members via phone calls, emails, letters, social media posts and videos and, in some cases, online or live-streamed worship services. Those with internet have been able to receive regular updates on the church’s response to the pandemic through the LCA/NZ website at www.lca.org.au/covid-19 www.lca.org.au/covid-19,, and access a wide range of faith-building, care and other resources through the new Church@Home page (www.lca.org.au/churchhome (www.lca.org.au/churchhome)) and the revamped Worship Planning Page (www.lca.org.au/wpp/ (www.lca.org.au/wpp/ churchhome). churchhome ). If you aren’t online, have not seen these resources, or would like to revisit them, you can read a selection in our special ‘Church@Home’ section in this edition of The Lutheran. Lutheran. Some of our regular columns have made way temporarily for this special coverage and we appreciate your understanding regarding these changes. However, we’ve retained our planned theme for this month’s edition – the LCA’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). A RAP provides a framework for the church to realise its vision for hearing, recognising and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and in this edition you can learn more about our progress towards developing this important tool. I pray that these pages will point you to our resurrected Saviour Jesus – Light of the World in the darkest times and Prince of Peace through even the fiercest storms.

Lisa

Reconciliation action is everyone’s business

Accessing records can be key to identity

Care and connection

8–11 22–24

Church@Home

On a brighter note

Regulars 4

Heartland

Dwelling in God’s word

The inside story

Reel Life

Directory

Your voice

Prayer calendar

Sudoku

Our cover: ‘Many Eyes’ was painted by Henry, an Eastern Aranda (Arrernte) and Wangkangurru boy, aged 9. This artwork – which Henry says is ‘about how there is one God and there are lots of people … we are all different’ – is the inspiration for the LCA’s Reconciliation Action Plan logo (right). The Lutheran M AY 2 0 2 0

JES U S I S G OD'S LOVE. HE G IVES U S NE W HE ARTS TO L AY AS IDE O UR OL D WAYS, TO B EL IE VE AND FOL LOW HIM, TO L IVE WI T H HIM E VERY DAY.

heartland

RE V JOHN HENDERSON

Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia

GOD WILL G R ANT US PATIENCE AND HOPE ‘My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow. Be patient like those farmers and don’t give up’ (James 5:7,8 CEV). As the coronavirus pandemic has rolled around the world, it has intrigued me how many passengers and crew on cruise ships became trapped, as successive ports denied them docking. Certainly, these floating pleasure palaces have been very popular over recent years. Such activities, of which earlier generations could only dream, have been for the taking for many of us. We could do what we wanted, when we wanted, even sometimes when we couldn’t really afford it. Bucket lists, grey nomad and global travel were widely desired. You’ve probably heard these experiences shared at barbecues, and over coffee after church. If you listened in, you might have heard the

GO D WI LL G IVE US PATI EN CE. GO D WI LL FI LL US WITH H O PE AN D TH E AB I LIT Y TO CO PE.

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subtle competition over whose holiday, equipment, or experience was the best. It all seemed to matter. But now, quite suddenly, our attention has been diverted. Toilet rolls, hand sanitiser, rice, pasta and flour are the talk of the day – not over coffee, but over the internet or phone. These everyday items have been flying out of supermarkets, shoppers even stripping the shelves bare. As I write this column, several weeks into the pandemic, some items are still hard to get. From cruise liners to toilet rolls … how quickly that has happened! But that’s old news. No need to repeat more of it in The Lutheran! Lutheran! But what are we learning from all this? What’s the take-home message? It’s too early to rush into answers, but the apostle James reminds us to turn to God, trust him more and re-learn the art of patience. In James 5, he compares the return of the Lord to farmers waiting for their crops to ripen. Farmers must accept how long it takes. There are no shortcuts. Instant gratification is not the thing when it comes to farming. You play the long game, take the long view. We’re also in that place right now as a church. When we first shut our buildings, we got busy with online materials, resources and streaming. That was an amazing, positive

emergency response. In the longer term, other important and necessary responses will emerge. Some of them are likely to continue when we are back together again in the same physical space. (We hope that won’t be long!) We’re facing challenges we never thought we would face in our society, in which we have enjoyed freedom of association and the means of coming together regularly, without fear of reprisal. We’re also finding answers, some good, some perhaps not so good in the longer term. Patience. As a child, I learnt it is a virtue. I still believe that. Patience is not knee-jerking into permanent changes until we know more about what they mean. Patience is holding the course, even under quite understandable pressure to do otherwise. Patience is trusting God in our helplessness. Patience is looking up to see the new dawn breaking, while we are still shrouded by the shadow of night. God will do this. God will give us patience. God will fill us with hope and the ability to cope. He will teach us how to choose right from wrong and to take the right direction at the right time. God is leading us into a new season of faith, grounded in the unwavering hope of our resurrected Saviour, Jesus Christ. God is preparing us, ready and willing, for the harvest to come.

Reconciliation action

IS EVERYO N E’S BUSI N ESS B Y M A R I LY N W A L L

The Lutheran Church of Australia’s vision for reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians is inspired by the gospel of reconciliation in Jesus Christ and is empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit. That vision, as expressed in the LCA Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Vision Statement 2020, is ‘to bring to life an expression of our ministry that helps all peoples understand, value and respect the histories, cultures, lands and contributions of First Nations peoples; to recognise and honour our common humanity and for equity in opportunity to flourish, so together we can grow as God’s people’. This is not new. On a personal level, our life as Christians calls us to do this very thing as we express ourselves as God’s children in our relationships with one another. We serve and are served equally, as we all were created and baptised in Jesus’ name. The church’s commitment at the 19th General Convention of Synod in 2018 to embark on a RAP is a pledge to use

a tailor-made planning tool to assist in our journey of reconciliation. This planning tool has been developed by Reconciliation Australia, the lead body for reconciliation in the nation. Across all areas of our ministry, this Synod resolution focuses on recognising the reconciliation journey thus far and seeks to further strengthen respectful relationships with First Nations peoples. We will all do this in our unique ways. Raising awareness in this space is an important step. Understandably, many people are unfamiliar with the notion of a RAP. A RAP focuses on intentional and affirmative actions that can assist in breaking down unfamiliarity about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their histories, cultures, connection to land and contributions, in particular as they relate to our church. This leads to increasingly meaningful relationships with First Nations peoples. There are three core pillars to any RAP – relationships, respect and opportunities. RAP actions and achievements, known as deliverables, fall into one of these three pillars The Lutheran M AY 2 0 2 0

– each pillar strengthening the other. Our RAP requires the identification of a small number of actions and a commitment to aligned deliverables that focuses on: Relationships: Relationships are at the heart of reconciliation. The primary purpose of the LCA RAP is to develop churchwide opportunities for the church to build upon its solid foundation of respectful and dignified relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader LCA community. When we get to know each other in mutual partnership, attitudes and behaviours toward each other improve and better outcomes are achieved. Respect: Understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, rights and experiences underpin progress toward reconciliation. Without respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of doing things, respectful non-discriminatory relationships are unable to be built and flourish. Only with pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage, are we able to foster a truly shared national identity across our church. Many of us can connect to First Nations peoples in the Lutheran communities of the far west coast of South Australia, or Central Australia in Alice Springs and more isolated communities in the care of the Finke River Mission, or Far North Queensland. But closer to home, are we fully aware of First Nations people who may be in our congregations and ministry spaces, or who may be providers or recipients of our services? We may not be because they may not have chosen to share their cultural heritage. In the act of reconciliation, what can you and I do differently to make people feel culturally safe to share? Opportunities: Respectful relationships form the basis for tackling this challenge. When we work together to craft culturally appropriate solutions to matters that are relevant to First Nations Peoples, we can help create the right environment to identify a range of possibilities and opportunities. This encourages and enables Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to more fully engage and contribute towards service and church leadership in a meaningful way. The LCA General Church Board (GCB) has oversight of the RAP process. The church has first embarked on developing a Reflect RAP. This scoping plan sets out the steps to be taken to prepare for reconciliation initiatives, laying the foundation for progression onto further RAPs. Over the next 12 to 18 months, having continued to engage in conversation and hearing from a breadth of voices, our church will be in a more informed position to proceed to the second or implementation stage – an Innovate RAP. An Innovate RAP outlines actions that work towards achieving the church’s unique vision for reconciliation. An external RAP Working Group, which is inclusive of both First Nations and other Australians, is formed in preparation for the Innovate RAP. Among this group’s priorities is to propose actions and strategies to

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IT IS TH E

good N E WS

O F J ESUS’ SAV I N G

love TH AT M A K ES R ECO N CI LIATI O N

E V ERYBO DY ’S B USI N ES S .

support non-Aboriginal people to gain insight into what is important to First Nations peoples. It will also aim to create opportunities to encourage and enable the meaningful service and leadership of First Nations peoples in all aspects of church life in the LCA. Naturally, the RAP Working Group’s proposals will be presented for ratification by the church. So where are we now? The first draft of the LCA Reflect RAP has received GCB’s approval and has been conditionally endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. We are now in stage two of the endorsement process, which likewise requires the approval of GCB and endorsement of Reconciliation Australia. Once finally endorsed, the RAP then will become a public declaration of the commitment made at the 2018 Synod. In the interim, conversations have been ongoing with LCA Churchwide Office departments which are seeking to understand how they can shape, support and champion the actions of the church’s RAP through their spheres of influence. A particular strength of the RAP process is the inbuilt accountability that requires regular progress updates towards identified commitments. Reconciliation is a journey, not a destination. It is the good news of Jesus’ saving love that makes reconciliation everybody’s business and our mission to share that gospel invites us to share this journey. You can follow the progress of the RAP via the LCA’s RAP website at www.rap.lca.org.au Marilyn Wall is the LCA’s RAP Project Officer.

ACCESSI N G R ECO R DS CAN B E K EY TO

identity

BY JANE T TE L ANGE

I handed her the photo. Taken in the early 1900s at Koonibba Mission on South Australia’s west coast, it showed a young Aboriginal man on his confirmation day. She looked at it for a few moments, taking in the image of her grandfather, then tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘Thank you! This is just what I’ve been looking for!’ Such can be the power of the records we hold at Lutheran Archives.

Wujal Wujal traditional owners Marie Shipton and Dawn Harrigan view photographs at Lutheran Archives. Photo courtesy Lauren Erickson, State Library of Queensland

Wujal and Hope Vale communities has seen almost 1500 photos digitised and provided to those communities. We hope these images will jog memories, spark stories and provide opportunities for people to feed information back to Lutheran Archives. We hope to build similar partnerships with other Aboriginal communities, as access to personal information is vital to healing and to establishing identity. Mission registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials provide Aboriginal people with important details about themselves and PERSO N A L their families.

Hundreds of photos like this capture life at Lutheran missions in South Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. These are securely maintained in our Adelaide ACCES S TO archives. But, for many Aboriginal I N F O R M ATI O N IS people, distance means they can’t browse the photos and viewing V ITA L TO H E A LI N G them online may not be an option. A N D TO ESTA B LIS H I N G So Lutheran Archives is building partnerships with communities to find I D ENTIT Y. other ways to provide access. An important step is making personal connections and discussing how to go forward together. It has been wonderful to have Aboriginal elders and traditional owners from Koonibba and Wujal Wujal – site of the Bloomfield River Mission in Far North Queensland – visit Lutheran Archives as part of this process. In 2016, we digitised 800 photos and films relating to Koonibba Mission and these are now available through community centres in Ceduna and Koonibba. Likewise, a project with the State Library of Queensland and the Wujal

Last year Lutheran Archives renewed its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nunkuwarrin Yunti of South Australia’s Link-Up SA program, which assists survivors of the Stolen Generations to access records. Lutheran Archives was the first organisation to establish such an MOU with Link-Up, back in 2000. We are pleased to have assisted many Aboriginal people with locating family information since then. However, there is more to be done. Hundreds of pages of mission records are yet to be indexed and there are more mission photos and records to digitise. So hopefully we’ll hear those words again, ‘Thank you! This is just what I’ve been looking for!’ Janette Lange is Acting Director of Lutheran Archives.

More details: phone 08 8340 4009, email lutheran.archives@lca.org.au or visit the website at www.lca.org.au/archives

B O O K L E TS O N LI N E

I N D E X TO R EG I ST ERS

To celebrate the International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019, Lutheran Archives partnered with the State Library of Queensland to make available online children’s booklets written in the Kuku Yalanji and Guugu Yimidhirr languages. Find them at https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/guide/32007/details

A 2.5cm-thick index of all of the names in the Lutheran Archives mission registers makes it easy to see what records we might hold for a particular person. It’s available in larger libraries – or contact Lutheran Archives to find out more.

C A R E

A N D

CO N N EC T I O N

HOME IS WHERE

the heart

(O F FA I T H) I S A big part of Grow Ministries’ mission in the LCA/NZ has always been to help equip and encourage faith formation, development and nurture at home. And now, with our church buildings closed and children’s ministry, youth groups and adult faith formation classes either suspended or online, it’s more important than ever. There has never been a better time for members of a household to come together to bring faith alive in their homes. Along with the opportunities for connection and worship that new technologies bring, the team at Grow prays that we take the opportunity to encourage faith conversations at home, too. If you would like to create a family worship time at home and to discuss faith in a way that’s relevant to these current times, but are not sure where to start or what resource to use, Grow Ministries has some new tailored options.

T H ER E H AS N E V ER B EEN A B ET TER TI M E F O R M EM B ERS O F A H O US EH O LD TO

together

opportunities to serve resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes biblical encouragement and reassurance.

At the heart of equipping people for CO M E lifelong faith formation are four key A new Equipping Sheet ‘Encouraging TO B R I N G FAITH faith practices: Caring Conversations, Home Devotions’ offers ideas for Devotions, Service, and Rituals and IN families with pre-school-aged, primaryTraditions – and the Growing Faith aged and older children, along with T H EI R H O M ES . Moments resources take families some general encouragement and through each of these. advice: ‘So what does it look like to Grow also is offering families the free ‘Church at Home 2‘ share your faith in your home or with your family? suite of resources, which covers four weeks of this month Why is it so important? Firstly, because God has asked up until Pentecost on 31 May. This includes Growing us to! Our first and most important mission field is our Faith at Home devotions, Dwelling in the Word Bible home and family. text worksheet, Children’s Chats, GIFT (Growing in Faith ‘While there are some great ideas below to get you Together) family activities and other resources, including started, the most important thing is that you start. Now the ‘Encouraging Home Devotions’ Equipping Sheet. is the time for your family to begin sharing life and faith

alive

together. We encourage you to do some planning first. Many of these ideas can apply to any age or life stage, so have a look and see which one feels right for your family.’ Also new from Grow is a Growing Faith Moments resource, called ‘In a time of crisis’, which specifically addresses and explores feelings, experiences and

L C A C H I L D Y O U T H & F A M I LY M I N I S T R Y

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All of these resources are available at the Grow Ministries website at www.growministries.org.au

You can share them with the families of your congregation and invite them to share what they are doing, through social media. This is a great opportunity to encourage families to share their faith with each other.

For more information about Grow Ministries resources to help you with sharing faith at home, call them on 08 8267 7300 or visit www.growministries.org.au Further ideas are on Grow’s Pinterest page at www.pinterest.com.au/growministries

C A R E

A N D

CO N N EC T I O N

Sharing Easter joy in a bag Like many people involved with congregational ministries around the LCA/NZ, the Messy Church team at St Petri Nuriootpa in South Australia’s Barossa Valley has been forced to think outside the box recently. Except that, when it comes to staying connected with the families they serve during a time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Messy Church coordinator Sharon Green and her team have replaced the idea of a box by turning to the humble paper bag! That bag was used to share Easter gifts, activities and blessings with many of the families – and up to 110 children, parents and grandparents – who usually meet at St Petri for Messy Church fun, fellowship and worship about every six weeks. Other Messy Church groups around the world, including others in the LCA/NZ, have also prepared ‘Messy Church in a bag’ for their families. Sharon, who is also the Child, Youth and Family Ministry Director for St Petri, said Messy Church parents and grandparents were invited to drive through the church carpark before Easter to collect a bag or two for their families. More than 20 families took up the offer and

Volunteer Heather Kurtz hands Messy Church 'nanny' Migle Osborne an Easter bag during the drive-through pickup.

70 bags were distributed in total, including some that were home-delivered. ‘Even though we can’t meet as we usually do, we have been getting to grow in relationship with these people in ways we couldn’t have imagined’, Sharon says. The Messy Church bags shared the Easter story and included Easter craft activities, colouring-in sheets, puzzles, an Easter nest recipe, Easter eggs and the Bible Society’s Easter book.

O UTBACK M I N ISTRY D U R I N G COVI D -19 Lutherans at Hermannsburg in Central Australia have been saddened by the loss of community worship and particularly holy communion, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Pastor Neville Doecke. Pastor Neville and Western Aranda ((Arrarnta) Arrarnta) Pastors Marcus Wheeler and Rodney Malbunka serve members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the surrounding communities of the Finke River Mission (FRM). ‘We have been in lockdown and have to have our own “church” with our family in our homes’, Pastor Neville says. Pastor Neville and Bethlehem church members Lily and David Roennfeldt have been making home ‘Pepa’ devotion sheets in the local Aboriginal language. Also, Sunday school activities have been prepared. These are left in the FRM Store for families to collect.

In the lead-up to Palm Sunday, young local Seymour gave out palm branches at the store and devotional materials were handed out. For those with internet access, a YouTube devotional video featuring the pastors and members of the church choir was made telling the story of Maundy Thursday. On Good Friday, Pastor Neville and his wife Heather towed a trailer around, giving out home ‘Pepa’ sheets and praying (pictured). Each day of Easter, a whiteboard highlighted the day. On Easter Sunday it bore the words: ‘Jesua kamerraka’, which means ‘Jesus has come back to life again’. Pastors Neville, Marcus and Rodney have also been keeping in touch with people by phone and praying for families. ‘God is still with us during this mixed-up time’, Pastor Neville says. The Lutheran M AY 2 0 2 0