The Lutheran December 2022 Digital Edition

TAKING JESUS’ LOVE to the streets

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

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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.

Re-confirming a 50-year bond

On 5 November 1972, a class of 20 young Lutherans was confirmed at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Murray Bridge, in South Australia. Almost 50 years later, nine of the class met up for a reunion lunch, with some attendees not having seen one another for five decades. One alumna, Carolyn Altus, even remembered to bring a copy of The Lutheran, which was just five years into its existence on the class’s confirmation day. Those who attended the reunion are, from left, Cathy Hamilton, Richard Gray, Sally Hermel, Lyn Davis, Carolyn Altus, Aston Schenscher, Pamela Elliott, Kate Spillane and Kathy Zeppel.

Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and it may appear on page 2 of a future issue and on our website at www.thelutheran.com.au

People like YOU bring love to life

Matheus Pilger

St Matthew Lutheran Church Hamilton NZ Goat dairy farmer

Most treasured Bible text: 1 Peter 4:10

‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’

Anny Ferguson

St Johns Lutheran Church Unley Church, youth, and ministry worker

Most treasured Bible text: Matthew 5:16

‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’

Gavan Scheiwe

St Peters Lutheran Church Warwick Qld Civil Engineer/Project Manager and treasurer at St Peters

Most treasured Bible text: Romans 15:7

‘Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.’

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.

As we were preparing this edition, the Adelaide foothills where I live and other parts of South Australia were battered by what I will call (in deference to TV’s The Vicar of Dibley) The Great Storm of 2022.

More than 400,000 lightning strikes had hit South Australia overnight and there were warnings of gale-force winds and pounding rain. In the afternoon, a savage front raged across Adelaide, with our street in the firing line. Winds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour tore branches off large trees and hurled them like javelins into yards, verandahs and roofs. When I could see the trees through horizontally-driving rain, they were bent by lashing winds and water before shedding limbs in resignation. It looked like a typhoon.

A large tree in the gorge opposite our house snapped in half and, unsurprisingly, powerlines and other service infrastructure were damaged. Electricity was cut, internet connection gone, lights out, no hot water. Without a word of a pun, I felt powerless.

With the storm passed, chainsaws roared into life in our street. Ladders, tarpaulins and spare tiles appeared as neighbours helped one another remove branches from roofs and cover the breaches. Neighbours helping one another, often forgetting their own needs to do so. I reflected on God’s gift of community, and on his greatest gift to us as we go through this Advent season – the Christchild. We know the incarnation text well … the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

This neighbourhood scene reminded me about our calling as Christians – not to just know about God’s plan of salvation, not even just to share it with others, but also to be God’s hands and feet as we take Jesus’ love out with us to the streets, the cricket ground, bush track, school, shops, farm, office, café, theatre … or rooftop.

In this edition, we are privileged to share stories from our Lutheran family about stepping out of our homes and churches and taking God’s love for everyone with us as we go. I pray that you will be inspired by them, as I have been.

As this is the last edition for 2022, I would like to thank you, our readers, subscribers and group collectors for your loyalty. My gratitude goes, too, to our wonderful team – Linda Macqueen (executive editor), Elysia McEwen (graphic designer), columnists Helen Beringen and Bishop Paul Smith, proofreaders Lyall Kupke and Kathy Gaff, Olivia Harman in subscriptions and Trevor Bailey and all at Openbook Howden.

The Lutheran will be different next year, as we trial a move to six editions to make our churchwide magazine more sustainable in the face of increasing production costs and diminishing church membership and subscriber numbers. We will reduce subscription costs along with this change. We ask for your understanding and look forward to your continued support. (See page 9 for more information.)

Have a safe, joyful and blessed Christmas,

Special features

Life in all its fullness

Locals get vocal on wellbeing

Schools on the march for refugee kids

Taking Jesus’ love to the streets

Regulars

Because we bear your name: Bishop Paul’s letter

Dwelling in God’s word Go and Grow Church@home Going GREYT! The inside story Directory Sudoku Your voice Prayer calendars

Our cover: Members of Emmanuel Lutheran Fellowship were part of an ecumenical group in taking Jesus’ message of love to the streets in the Carnival of Flowers Grand Central Floral Parade in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Photo: Dr Mark Bennett

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

Nativity plays have been part of our Christian communities for centuries, as we annually dramatise the Christmas gospel with a simple retelling of the story of the manger. This tradition of retelling shows a deep appreciation of the human soul and of God’s gracious heart towards humankind.

We human beings need story. We tell stories. We watch stories on big and small screens, sometimes ‘bingeing’ on them. We read stories to our children from an early age. We create stories. When someone has died, we gather to tell their story. We are stories.

A master storyteller and faithful Christian, J.R.R. Tolkien has become famous in our modern era, through blockbuster movies based on his stories in the Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien understood the significance of story and had studied the history of northern European medieval storytelling, particularly in the colourful Viking sagas. Tolkien wrote how a story can capture your breath, lift the heart, or even give a person a glimpse of joy. Stories can transform us in our deepest soul.

Central to all that Tolkein cherished and celebrated about story, was the greatest story of all. As a Christian, throughout his life in England, he knew the story of God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. God enters our world in a Bethlehem stable with angels and shepherds, through a young woman who has no proper place to deliver her baby.

This one born in the manger grows to adulthood and takes on sin, death and the power of the Devil for us. At the point in his story, when he dies on Calvary’s mountain, when even his followers despair, Jesus rises from the grave. These are great turning points in the story of Jesus Christ, which change human history and change us forever.

There were those shepherds who watched their flocks at night, outside of Bethlehem who were ushered into this story, when the angelic proclamation declared to them, that the Saviour had been born, who is Christ the Lord. These farmhands were so transformed by this turning point in history and in their own lives, that they left their flocks and hurried, in the dark with all its hazards and uncertainties, to see for themselves, ‘this thing that has

BISHOP PAUL’S LETTER

taken place, which the Lord has made known to us’. Then, when they had seen for themselves the Lord of the manger, they ‘made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them’. They told the story.

And today, we have the wonderful tradition of nativity plays, to tell the story to each new generation. This is the story of God’s gracious heart for the people of the world. May every carol you hear played in coming weeks, be a reminder to join with the shepherds in telling the story, in the face of uncertainties and amid all kinds of opposition. Then on the festival of Christmas Day, we will gather to hear the story and to personally receive this story continued. The one enfleshed and found in the manger declares himself fully present in the holy meal of bread and wine where we will receive grace upon grace.

English Poet Laureate John Betjeman wrote this Christmas good news into a profound poem from 1954, simply entitled, ‘Christmas’, ‘And is it true, this most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window’s hue, A Baby in an ox’s stall?

The Maker of the stars and sea Become a Child on earth for me?

‘And is it true? For if it is, no loving fingers tying strings Around those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant, ‘No love that in a family dwells, no carolling in frosty air, Nor all the steeple-shaking bells Can with this single Truth compare –That God was man in Palestine And lives today in Bread and Wine?’

In Christ,

Paul

Lord Jesus, we belong to you, you live in us, we live in you; we live and work for you –because we bear your name

WE HAVE THE WONDERFUL TRADITION OF NATIVITY PLAYS ... THIS IS THE STORY OF GOD’S GRACIOUS HEART FOR THE WORLD.

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

Life

IN ALL ITS FULLNESS

by CARLY HENNESSY

The stage is open to everyone. This message was demonstrated with heart and passion by six Lutheran Services aged-care residents and four professional dancers recently at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC).

Teaming up in the unique intergenerational dance theatre production If Only I Could … , the 10 performers received standing ovations for their courage and dance virtuosity.

Lutheran Services CEO Nick Ryan describes If Only I Could … as a celebration of our elders – of their big lives, loves and passions.

‘Guided by our Lutheran ethos, our creative programs act as a way to seek out and affirm people’s agency’, he says. ‘We see people as a gift, made in God’s image, making them worthy of dignity and honour.’

He says the act of creative expression had the potency to help and heal. ‘Creative expression generates community; it is an act of love to share and revel in each other’s articulation of who we are. (Creative engagement) allows

agency, spark, imagination, creativity and connectedness – and that’s what’s fundamental to life. They found it is not “if only” – they did!’

Lutheran Services Director of Chaplaincy Dr Russell Briese was moved by the performance, describing it as a joyful and non-judgemental space to revel in people’s gifts. ‘It felt wonderful to watch and be part of’, he says. ‘It reminded me that Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life … in all its fullness”.’

At 75, Michael Bailey didn’t expect to ever have the opportunity that If Only I Could … presented – but he gave a star turn as he glided across the stage in the two-show season in late October. A resident at Tabeel Aged Care in Laidley near Toowoomba in southern Queensland and a fan of crooner and smooth-mover Neil Sedaka, Michael says performing was a ‘lovely’ experience. ‘I never, ever thought I’d be on stage in my life’, he says. ‘[Know that] always in your own heart you can do whatever you put your mind to.’

The show’s director, Angela Chaplin, and Lutheran Services’ creative programs advisor, Clare Apelt, first collaborated on the idea of illuminating the creativity of older people almost five years ago. ‘At the time I was running an organisation called Ausdance’, Angela says. ‘I decided it would be really interesting to work with people who don’t necessarily have access to exploring their creativity.’ She says one such group is elderly people. ‘They have such big lives, and they are so important to our community, but we rarely get to celebrate their creativity’, she says.

Clare approached Angela, saying ‘have we got the cast for you!’

The project has now worked with more than 100 residents across Lutheran Services aged-care sites. There had been ‘test’ performances – in 2018 and 2021

All photos: Darren Thomas

– but nothing as significant as taking to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. The bond and understanding that grew between the professional dancers and residents were key to developing the dance pieces, she says. They worked on improvisation and duets, finding creative expression in touch and movement.

Queensland University of Technology Dance Performance graduate Nadia Milford and Angus Polzin, 83, have become firm friends after dancing together for the past 18 months. Speaking and moving can be difficult for older people, so Nadia and Angus worked on movement that expressed emotion through subtlety and restraint. Their duet opened the show, with Angus mirroring Nadia’s movements until she comes closer, and they dance with tactile movements to the song ‘Lean on Me’. ‘Physically using your body affects your emotions’, Nadia says. ‘Moving one to start the other. The biggest thing is this project allows the elderly dancers to be seen, not just looked at. For Angus, moving is difficult and speaking is difficult. Just taking on whatever he offers without judgement is liberating.’

Older people taking centre stage was a fitting theme to explore as the performances took place during October’s Senior’s Month in Queensland.

Carly Hennessy is Lutheran Services Communication Manager Content/PR/Production.

If Only I Could … is a partnership between Lutheran Services, QPAC and Director Angela Chaplin. Lutheran Services thanks the generous sponsorship of LLL Australia as our Premier Partner for If Only I Could …. LLL Australia (www.lll.org.au) is a philanthropic bank with a commitment to missional partnerships to assist Lutheran schools, agedcare organisations and congregations to grow and prosper for future generations, as well as missional funding for local projects.

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LOCALS GET VOCAL ON wellbeing

by JESS SMITH

Ten South Australian Riverland locals – most of whom are Lutherans – are getting loud on mental health, taking part in a wellbeing movement that’s having a significant impact on the community.

The Vocal Locals are prominent Loxton community members, either farmers or with agricultural connections, who have been working with wellbeing group ifarmwell to share their mental health journeys via social media. Each member has undertaken workshops and a coaching program, as well as learning strategies through ifarmwell online modules and other resources they’ve been able to share to help others facing similar challenges.

The program aims to normalise conversations around mental health, strengthen wellbeing and build drought resilience, helping people to realise they’re not alone.

The backstory to Vocal Locals began when Little Town Productions theatre show Kick off ya Boots premiered last year. The production told the story of a typical Australian farming family, the Conners, and revealed the often-unspoken side of life in a rural community. One of the production’s main goals was to start the mental health conversation, after its creators recognised the community need for practical, targeted support.

‘When we first developed Kick off ya Boots we were very conscious of not having people attend the show, having a great night of fun and laughter, but then

promptly forgetting about it two months later’, says John Gladigau, Kick off ya Boots producer-playwright, Vocal Locals project coordinator and member of St Peter’s Lutheran Church in Loxton, from which Little Town Productions hails.

Little Town worked with UniSA’s Dr Kate Gunn, ifarmwell’s founder, to create a production that went far beyond merely entertaining its audience. Galvanised by the overwhelming response, and with funding from the national not-for-profit Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, the Vocal Locals initiative was conceived. Little Town Productions remains a supporting partner, as does St Peter’s Lutheran Church, which has opened its offices for wellbeing coaching sessions.

Vocal Local Leanne Kaesler, who is also a member at St Peter’s, was the coordinator of Kick off ya Boots and is part of a farming family. She knows firsthand the struggles that many farmers face – often in silence.

‘I have struggled with anxiety and depression issues, and suffered burnout quite a few times’, says Leanne. ‘It really excited me to be invited to become a Vocal Local and to be given the opportunity to focus on learning new skills and tools to manage my own wellbeing, and to also be able to share my journey to help others.’

John says the community response has been exceptional.

‘Mental health and wellbeing is something we all seem to agree should be part of our normal conversations’, he says. ‘We all talk about how we should be open about it, but we rarely do it. We’ve seen through the Vocal Locals posts how much people appreciate the engagement and open conversations, and the community has been very engaging, supportive and encouraging not only of the Vocal Locals but also of each other.’

This story first appeared in the LCA South Australia-Northern Territory District’s Together magazine.

The Vocal Locals are from left, Mark deCaux, Stephen May, Chloe Oldman (front), Travis Flight (back), Tim Paschke, Leanne Kaesler, Brenton Kroehn, Darren Letton and Peri McIntosh. Absent: Sam Hentschke

‘MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING IS SOMETHING WE ALL SEEM TO AGREE SHOULD BE PART OF OUR NORMAL CONVERSATIONS.’

SCHOOLS ON THE MARCH FOR REFUGEE KIDS

If you look at a map of Australia, it’s hard to find two places further apart from north to south than Darwin in the Northern Territory and Victor Harbor on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. And both places are a long way from the refugee camps at Kakuma in Kenya.

Yet more than 700 students from seven Christian schools – six of them Lutheran – have stepped out in those two areas in Australian Lutheran World Service’s Walk My Way to help more than 6,000 refugee children to go to school at Kakuma. And in SA, the school walkers were joined by members of Lutheran congregations and the wider community.

Anita Synott, Year 12 Team Leader at Good Shepherd Lutheran College in Darwin, says Walk My Way was so popular with the school community, they held two events this spring. In total, Good Shepherd raised more than $16,800 – enough to support nearly 650 refugee children in school for a year.

‘We are incredibly proud of our college community for

by JONATHAN KRAUSE

recognising this initiative as being something very special, with the ability to make a huge difference to others less fortunate than us’, Anita says.

The first walk featured Years 6–12 students and parents and involved more than 170 people. Participants could ride, run or walk the 26-kilometre trail from the Leanyer Campus in the northern suburbs of Darwin to the Howard Springs Campus 25 minutes south of Darwin.

Good Shepherd followed up its first Walk My Way with its junior school students organising a successful ‘coin trail’ activity and completing round-robin events held during lunchtimes.

Meanwhile, at Victor Harbor, approximately 80 kilometres south of Adelaide, six schools came together in October for the inaugural combined schools Walk My Way.

A total of 569 walkers from Concordia College, Rivergum Christian College, Encounter Lutheran College, Immanuel College, Cornerstone College, and Endeavour College could choose either a 13-kilometre course or a 20-kilometre course. Each course included a circuit of local landmark Granite Island and started and finished at Encounter Lutheran College, just north of the town centre.

Before the Victor Harbor walk, ALWS Emergency Coordinator Peter Egesa reminded students why their help was so important, saying: ‘The UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) estimates there are 89 million refugees and internally displaced people globally [and] 41 per cent of these refugees are children – one-and-a-half times the population of Australia. As you walk today, think about a child in Djibouti who is in a tent as a classroom and the temperatures are over 45 degrees and there is no cooling facility.’

‘THIS IS A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TO BE A CHURCH WHERE LOVE COMES TO LIFE.’

Photo: Encounter Lutheran College/Julian Schubert

Photo: Good Shepherd Lutheran College NT

Below far left: Walkers set off along the Hindmarsh River on the 20km route near Victor Harbor.

Below left: Good Shepherd Lutheran College walkers completed a 26km trail between school campuses in Darwin.

Inset right: Kirra Lewis has coordinated Walk My Way for ALWS since 2017 – from Hahndorf, Barossa Valley and Victor Harbor in SA, to the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay in Qld and Good Shepherd Darwin, and all points in between.

Main pic right: Encounter Lutheran College students head over the causeway to Granite Island during their Walk My Way.

Inset below right: ALWS Emergency Coordinator Peter Egesa speaks to walkers at the Victor Harbor opening ceremony, as ALWS Executive Director Michael Stolz watches on. Photo: Encounter Lutheran College/Julian Schubert

As of 16 November, the Victor Harbor walkers had raised $62,912, enough to support 2,419 refugee children to go to school.

The Victor Harbor and Darwin events are part of a nationwide Walk My Way effort, with members of our Lutheran family taking part from congregations including Cowell on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, Unley in Adelaide, and Rochedale in Queensland, as well as through Lutheran Services in the Sunshine State. As of 16 November, 1,035 walkers had raised $169,956 across 10 walks and supported education for 6,537 refugee children.

ALWS Executive Director Michael Stolz has praised the way so many parts of the LCANZ are forming partnerships to support refugee children and show the community our church at work. ‘Seeing Lutheran schools come together like this, encouraged by Lutheran Education Australia, supported by the LLL and LCA, welcomed by the hospitality and volunteer time

of local Lutheran congregations – this is a snapshot of what it means for us to be a church where love comes to life’, he says. ‘It’s a privilege for ALWS to bring Walk My Way to our Lutheran Church’s ministries so that we can “walk in the way of love” to help refugee children who are so vulnerable, and in danger of being forgotten by the world.’

LLL Australia is a major sponsor of Walk My Way, while LEA, ‘The School Photographer’ and local businesses also supported the Victor Harbor event.

Jonathan Krause is ALWS Community Action Manager.

It’s not too late to donate –Go to https://walkmyway.org.au or call 1300 763 407.

IS CHANGING IN 2023

The Lutheran has served the LCA faithfully and well for more than 55 years, not only keeping us informed and inspired, but also serving as a unifying presence in our church.

In a climate of diminishing membership, churches are struggling to maintain the financial viability of their magazines. Even a decade ago, The Lutheran was one of the last remaining subscriber-based national church publications. The fact that it is outliving most of its peers is thanks to you, our loyal subscriber family, who have faithfully supported The Lutheran over the years.

Even so, for around 10 years, The Lutheran has not been breaking even. This is unsustainable. We know you treasure our churchwide magazine.

That’s why we want to preserve it for as long as we are able. To help achieve this, we will trial reducing the number of editions from 11 to 6 annually, effective from February 2023.

Subscription charges will be reduced. LCA eNews will be improved, and other media (webinars, podcasts) will be introduced to provide alternative ways to share information, resources and inspiration with you.

Thank you for understanding. We look forward to your continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or concerns.

Linda Macqueen – Executive Editor linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

Lisa McIntosh – Editor lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

The Lutheran in 2023 – still amazing value!

• Six editions – February, April, June, August, October and December

• Print or print+digital – Australia $39, New Zealand $41, Asia/Pacific $49, Rest of the world $57

• Digital-only subscription – $26

College/Skye Grivell

TAKING JESUS’ LOVE TO THE STREETS

Australia’s largest regional inland city, Toowoomba in southern Queensland, is well known for its stunning gardens. For one month each year, the city’s green spaces, homes, schools, aged-care services and businesses attract visitors from across the nation to a carnival highlighting the region’s floral abundance. As its centrepiece, an annual parade showcases the beauty of flowers. This year, local Lutherans led an ecumenical group that captured the event’s colourful spring spirit – and took the message of Jesus’ love for ‘all sorts’ on parade. Monika Bennett explains.

Toowoomba’s annual Carnival of Flowers marks that special time of the year when the region’s gardens are at their glorious best – spring. The pinnacle event, which captures this best, is the Grand Central Floral Parade.

This year members of Emmanuel Lutheran Fellowship led a group of Toowoomba Christians on a creative journey of a different kind.

The parade theme for each float to follow was ‘Connect, Reflect and Sparkle’ – and we did precisely that!

After many planning phone calls, emails, Zoom online meetings, craft days, engineering feats and lots of prayers, we came up with an idea for our group motto: ‘Jesus Loves All Sorts’.

We painted boxes and made skirts to look like liquorice allsorts, made funky headpieces out of pizza boxes and paraded the most stunning, reflective, sparkly cross made from recycled cardboard covered with cut-up CDs. Together an ecumenical group representing around a dozen churches from a broad selection of worship

styles walked the streets of Toowoomba, singing worship songs loudly and brightly to the thousands of people who were present at the street parade.

It was such an overwhelming, uplifting experience! Meeting so many Christians from different churches, building relationships around crafting, flowers, building props, singing and praying boldly was as much a positive blessing as walking and singing in the parade itself.

It was truly amazing to participate in this venture. Many parts of the one body came together to publicly profess the love and promise of Christ – he loves all sorts, every sort, no matter who you are!

Bennett is the coordinator–administration officer at Emmanuel Lutheran Fellowship Toowoomba.

Above right: Representatives of Toowoomba churches, including Emmanuel Lutheran Fellowship, took part in the city’s Carnival of Flowers parade, sharing the message that ‘Jesus loves all sorts’

Above left: Pastor Nathan and Anisia Glover were dressed to share the ecumenical group’s motto. Photos: Dr Mark Bennett

Monika

MANY PARTS OF THE ONE BODY CAME TOGETHER TO PUBLICLY PROFESS THE LOVE AND PROMISE OF CHRIST HE LOVES ALL SORTS.

DWELLING IN GOD'S WORD

The mystery of the incarnation

The incarnation is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. A mystery is not something unknowable, but rather something infinitely knowable. A mystery always has more depth to discover and more wonder to dwell in.

I invite you to dwell deeper into the mystery of the incarnation, focusing on three aspects: Immanuel, God with us; the Word became flesh; and the Son of God.

Read Matthew 1:18–22. What does it mean to you that Jesus is ‘Immanuel, God with us’?

Since Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden, humans have longed for God to be with us, and for us to be with God, living in intimate fellowship with our creator. Yet we can never achieve this ourselves. This yearning is captured beautifully in the Advent hymn ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’. God has to come down to us, to our level, to be with us. The mystery of the incarnation that Jesus is Immanuel, means that God is with us even in the midst of suffering and darkness. There is no human experience from which God’s presence is excluded.

Spend some time dwelling with ‘Immanuel – God with us’. Is there a part of your life into which you’d like to invite him? You might like to pray, ‘O Come, O Come, Immanuel, into (this experience)’.

Read John 1:1–5, and 1:14. How do you react as you contemplate this mystery?

The creator of all things was formed in a human body. The creator entered his creation as a creature. The eternal second person of the Trinity, the Word, took on flesh and made his dwelling among us.

by Nathan Hedt

It is in the human being, Jesus, that we truly see the ‘grace and truth’ of God. It is in the Word made flesh that we most clearly hear God’s voice. It is in this man, Jesus, that we see the glory of the One and Only. Matter matters to God. Our creator takes the world so seriously that he becomes a part of it in order to save it!

Spend some time dwelling with ‘the Word who became flesh’. What response does this mystery draw you into? You might like to pray, ‘Word made flesh, what are you wanting to say to me?’

Read Luke 1:26–38. The angel Gabriel gives a number of names to the one who will be Jesus. He says, ‘The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’. Have you ever marvelled at the mystery of a child within a mother’s womb? When holding an infant, what feelings came over you?

Mary receives the wonder of the developing baby in her womb. She feels the Son of God kick and move inside her body.

The Son of God enters into the world through the womb of an unwed teenage mother. He comes in weakness and vulnerability, utterly dependent on his mother through pregnancy, birth and beyond for nurture, life and sustenance.

In the mystery of the incarnation, God makes himself completely vulnerable, completely dependent. God comes to us not in power but in weakness, not in grandeur but in humility. God opens himself up to being rejected – by us.

Spend time dwelling with ‘the Son of God’. Have there been times in your life when you have said ‘no’ to the Son of God? You might like to pray, ‘Son of God, I receive and welcome you. Enter again into my heart, especially in those places I may have said “no” to you in the past’.

Pastor Nathan Hedt is the LCANZ’s Pastor for New and Renewing Churches.

Is God calling you to the Centre?

Goodbye bleak rainy winters. Hello sunshine! Low humidity, great for health

Long-established (140 years) and respected Lutheran heritage

Schools, childcare, medical clinics and hospital, supermarkets, restaurants

Daily flights to most capital cities

Endless outdoor activities ... golf, hiking, 4WDing, camping

People who live amid the vast landscapes of the Red Centre often feel a deep connection with the wonder of creation. God can build on this spiritual openness to connect people with the message of Christ.

When Lutheran missionaries arrived at the Finke River in 1877, Aboriginal people gradually became ready to hear new stories about God the Creator and his son Jesus. Today there are around 6,000 Aboriginal Lutherans in the heart of Australia. The Lutheran Church in Central Australia employs more than 200 people through Alice Springs Lutheran Church, Finke River Mission (including the Historical Precinct and Hermannsburg Store), Lutheran Care, Yirara College and Living Waters Lutheran School.

There are ministry roles available with Alice Springs Lutheran Church and Finke River Mission, while Yirara College and Living Waters Lutheran School are looking for teachers and ancillary staff. Inquiries from volunteers are always welcome, too. What’s life like there? Read the testimonies of people who’ve served God in Central Australia at finkerivermission.lca.org.au

Interested? Contact Wayne Beven (Finke River Mission Operations Manager) for more information via email at lcica@lca.org.au

LUTHERAN CHURCH IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

Will you bring your family, faith, gifts, skills and talents to Central Australia?

RESOURCES FOR YOU TO ...

EXPLORING A WORLD OF CHRISTMAS

TRADITIONS

The 12 Days of Christmas – otherwise named Twelvetide – mark the period between the birth of Jesus and the visit from the wise men. For Christmas this year, we are providing Australian and New Zealand families with a resource they can use with their children during the 12 days of Christmas.

Entitled ‘Joy to the World – 12 Days of Christmas Around the World’, it shares some insights into the way Christmas is celebrated among our partner countries and churches. We hope that it will encourage families to spend time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.

We have also included some activities in the booklet for readers to do which they can pass on to friends and relatives who aren’t Christian. So, this is designed to be both a faith-building and faith-sharing resource.

There are three parts to each day (and country) in the booklet – firstly, information about Christmas in that country; secondly, a Bible verse and a few words about the verse; and, thirdly, a craft, activity, or recipe to do or make related to the country and/or the Bible verse. The Bible verses tell the story of Jesus’ birth as you go through the booklet.

A TIME WORTH CELEBRATING

BY

At the LCA International Mission office, we love Christmastime – spending time with our families and friends, eating delicious food, opening presents and watching Christmas pageants. But, most importantly, Christmas is a special time to remember how God our Father sent his precious Son to be born as a gift for the entire world.

In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas is a popular holiday, but not every country celebrates the way we do. If you went to a country that does not celebrate Christmas at all, what would you tell them about this special day?

LCA International Mission has friends who live in different countries, and we thought it would be interesting to share with you how those who do celebrate Christmas do so where they live. What might you see, hear, cook or make in one of those countries at Christmastime?

THE TRUE HEART OF THE SEASON

We hope you enjoy travelling with us around the world this Christmas and, while doing so, remember that Christmas is not just about carols, decorations, beautiful lights or the gifts that we give and receive. It is about Jesus Christ. Jesus’ birth fulfilled God’s promise that he wants to bring us into his loving arms forever.

Will you join us as we prepare for Christmas by spending 12 days reading and reflecting on Jesus’ birth? Order your booklet by emailing lcaim@lca.org.au or by phoning 08 8267 7317, or download one at https://lcamission.org.au/joyto-the-world-12-days-of-christmas/

Pastor Matt Anker is LCANZ Assistant to the Bishop – International Mission, while Erin Kerber and Nevin Nitschke are LCA International Mission Program Officers.

ERIN KERBER, NEVIN NITSCHKE AND MATT ANKER

NEW RESOURCES ENHANCE SEASONAL WORSHIP

BY LIBBY KRAHLING

Perfectly timed for Advent and Christmas, the LCANZ’s Commission on Worship has launched the fourth volume of LCA Music Resources, which presents 100 hymns and songs for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Available for the first time as individual digital downloads, the collection can also be purchased as a spiral-bound hard copy. The provision of chords and three-part settings make the songs accessible for musicians of varying experience. Copies of LCA Music Resources Volume 4: Songs of the Church – Advent, Christmas and Epiphany can be purchased through Australian Christian Resources at www.shopACR.com.au

AUSTRALIA DAY SERVICE ON THE WAY

A new Australia Day worship resource will be released this month. It replaces the existing National Day resource and reflects the complicated nature of Australia Day in the 21st century. The resource features alternate Bible readings, new song suggestions and updated liturgy and prayers. An accompanying resource related to the Acknowledgement of Country is also being prepared. These will be made available through the Worship Planning Page at www.lca.org.au/wpp

2023 ART EXHIBITION PROMISES FEAST FOR SENSES

RECORDINGS HELP FOSTER SUNG LITURGY

Our church has a rich history of sung liturgy. Mindful that not every congregation uses sung liturgy in worship, the Commission on Worship has created resources to assist congregations to learn and use sung liturgy in their services. Pastor Andrew Brook and the choir of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adelaide have recorded the sung liturgy from both page 6 and page 58 services of the Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement. The recordings may be especially useful for congregations without organists or strong cantors. There are also PowerPoint slides with the music lines to insert into worship services, as well as image files for use in bulletins and song sheets. Congregations can also access PowerPoints with embedded MP3 music tracks ready to play. All these resources may be used freely in worship, with LCA permission. Visit www.lca.org.au/wpp/sung-liturgy

‘Come to the Banquet’ will be the theme for the 2023 LCANZ Simultaneous Art Exhibition. LCA Visual Arts invites congregations, schools and aged-care facilities to stage exhibitions in their local communities in August 2023. The theme provides a rich opportunity to explore the many passages in the Bible connected to food and feasting, to celebrate the great banquet of holy communion and the wedding feast awaiting us in eternity. Groups might also like to brainstorm ways of incorporating hospitality into their exhibitions. Artists using any media and with any level of experience are encouraged to explore the theme, using resources developed by Visual Arts. It includes a devotion, suggested Bible passages for study and a range of activity ideas suitable for workshops or individual use. Registrations close on 30 May 2023. To register your interest and obtain resource packs, poster templates and information on hosting an art exhibition, visit the LCA Visual Arts website at https://visualarts.lca.org.au

Libby Krahling is Commission on Worship Administration Coordinator.

HOW CAN YOU BE GOD’S HANDS AND FEET?

How can you be the ‘translation of the incarnation’ and serve as God’s hands and feet for others this Christmas? Whether your neighbours in need are across the street or across the world, they’ll know the Christchild’s love if we bring it to life for them.

One way is to give a Christmas gift to help fight famine. As Jonathan Krause from Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) points out, millions of people across the Horn of Africa are facing a looming famine crisis, as the region enters its fifth consecutive year of drought.

ALWS action from Australia is delivered by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in this area, and LWF Country Rep for Somalia, Girma Gudina, recently visited the Luglow Internally Displaced Persons Settlement there. Girma says: ‘We don’t think the world knows how dire it is here. Drought is taking its toll. Livestock are dying. When they are supposed to be in school, drought has put [children] here in this camp. The world has not seen what is going on here, and they need to see it.’

MORE GIFTS THAT CHANGE LIVES

Another way to shine the light of Christ for those facing hunger in Africa is through ALWS Gifts of Grace. There are more than 20 gifts available, with six under $10. All are tax-deductible and all are lifechanging from those who benefit from your kindness. For $12 you can supply one month’s emergency food for a mum of a young child in Ethiopia. For more information, see page 7 and visit www.alws.org.au/ grace to buy your Gifts of Grace.

HELPING TO BRING HOPE

Through ALWS, our Australian and New Zealand Lutheran family is working hard to make sure the people of Somalia are not forgotten, by supplying cash food vouchers. Each voucher (AU$105) enables a family of six to buy one month’s supply of food, including 25 kilograms each of rice, flour and sugar, three litres of vegetable oil and one kilogram of dates. Cash vouchers get help quickly and directly to those who need it most and have extra benefits. Firstly, families maintain their dignity, as they choose what they need, and where they buy it and, secondly, because the food is bought locally, it strengthens the local economy.

ALWS works in partnership with LWF, ACT Alliance and the Australian network of aid agencies –Emergency Action Alliance.

Through ALWS, the aim is to support 300 of Somalia’s worst-hit families for six months. Donations are welcome at www.alws.org.au or you can phone 1300 763 407.

Lutheran World Federation staff distribute cash food vouchers to drought-displaced people in Luglow-Kismayu in Somalia. Australian Lutheran World Service action from Australia is delivered by LWF in Somalia, which like other areas across the Horn of Africa, is facing a looming famine crisis. Photo: LWF Somalia

HELPING KIDS GROW IN FAITH

BY CHRISTINE MATTHIAS

As the LCANZ’s child, youth and family ministry department, Grow Ministries’ mission is to serve, partner and resource congregations and families to share and foster the faith journeys of people of all ages. As part of this commitment, Grow has developed the new children’s ministry resource GROW Kids. This is a lectionarybased children’s ministry curriculum designed for cultivating lifelong faith. Providing a lesson plan for each Sunday of the church year, it helps you share Jesus’ love with children in your congregation. As you lead each session, you in turn are helping to ‘grow kids’ in knowing Jesus through storytelling and in responding to his love through worship and service. We understand that often groups of children who gather for a children’s ministry program are small and that the ages vary. This resource provides opportunities for you to tailor the sessions to meet the needs of the children in your group. See a sample of GROW Kids or buy it as an instant download at www.growministries.org.au/00-grow-kids-curriculum/ You can also save 25 per cent when you buy GROW Kids as part of a YEAR A resource bundle.

CONNECTING WORSHIP WITH HOME

Growing Faith at Home is another weekly lectionary-based resource from Grow Ministries. It connects weekly congregational worship with the faith life of the home from Monday to Saturday and is designed to help parents and grandparents pass on the Christian faith away from church or school. There are aids for individual or household devotions, including Bible readings, prayers and blessings. It includes ideas and suggestions to help households live out, share and celebrate faith together throughout the week, every week.

Growing Faith at Home Resource for Year A – 2022/2023 is available now at www.growministries.org.au/02-2022-2023-year-a and as a bundle with GROW Kids and children’s addresses.

Christine Matthias is Grow Ministries Resource Coordinator.

Creative response

Whattodo

MakeaChristmasornamentstar.Youwillneedtwocopiesofthestartemplateforeachparticipant. Colourtheminanddecoratethem.Cutthemoutandgluethemback-to-back.Matchtheholeatthetop andusetheholepunchtomakeahole.Usetheribbontocreatealooptohangonthetree.

YouwillneedCopiesofstartemplate(seeAppendix) •Holepunch,colouredpencilsormarkers •Scissors,glue,ribbon,glitterorotherdecoration

IntheApostles’Creedwesay: believeinJesusChrist,hisonlySon,ourLord,whowasconceivedbytheHolySpirit,bornoftheVirginMary… IbelievethatJesusChristismyLord.HeistrulyGod.HehasalwaysbeentheSonoftheFather. Heisalsoarealhumanbeing,theVirginMary’sSon. Youwillneed•AcopyoftheApostles’Creed

YouwillneedBible(youmightliketochoosetoreadthisfromachildren’sBible) AselectionofChristmasornaments Read Luke 2:1-20 WhohasaChristmastreeintheirhouse?Doyoudecorateit?Whatdoyouputonit? Doyouhaveafavouriteornament?Whyisityourfavourite? ChristmasisaveryspecialtimeofyearwherewehearandsharethebestnewsaboutJesusbeing born.WegettocelebratethegreatestgiftofJesus.Itisalsoaspecialtimetospendwithfamilyand friends.WecanmakenewmemoriesandalsosharestoriesofpastChristmases.Sometimesthe memoriesaresharedwhenwedecorateourtreesandwekeeptheornamentstoremindusofthose specialmoments. EachyeartheBiblereadingshelpustorememberGod’swonderfulgifttous–hissonJesus.Wesing ChristmascarolsthattellthestoryofJesus’birthandwhatitmeansforus.Jesuscametoearthto saveusfromoursinsandshowushowtoliveandhowtoloveoneanother.Thankyou,God.Thank youthatwegettocelebrateChristmaseveryyearandberemindedofyourwonderfulgiftofJesus.

GROW kids

Catechismspotlight

Prayer Weencourageyoutoinvitetheparticipantstopray.Youmayliketobeginwiththefollowingprayer, andalsoincludesomeoftheparticipants’highsandlowsassharedatthebeginningofthesession. God,youarethegiverofallgoodthings.Todaywecelebratethewonderfulthingsyouhave providedforus.Amen.

Whiteisthecolourofpurity,lightandcompleteness.ItisusedatChristmastocelebrateJesus’ purityandgloryastheSonofGod,aswellasthejoywefindinhim.

Liturgicalsignificance

Blessing Encourageparticipantstoblesseachother,usingthefollowingwords(oryoucanmakeupyourown). (Name),mayGod’speaceandfavourrestonyouthisdayandalways.

TAKE TIME TO REFLECT ON THE SEASON

We all know Christmas is coming and it’s easy to miss the joy and importance of Advent – the time when we reflect on and count down to Christ’s coming. Grow’s GIFT (Growing in Faith Together) Advent resource provides a time to share Advent rituals and traditions passed down through generations, as well as make new ones. Designed to serve congregations, schools and homes, GIFT Advent includes activities and templates, worship and event ideas and is filled with intergenerational activities and take-home sheets for families. You can buy GIFT Advent as an instant download at www.growministries.org.au/ product/gift-advent/

ENCOURAGING THOSE SEEKING HOPE

Recently, Rebecca asked your Messages of Hope: ‘Is there somewhere or someone who might be able to help me find the answers?’. After we encouraged her, Rebecca asked questions about life and Jesus. And she thanks you for supporting Lutheran Media and offering her hope. ‘Thank you very much for your reply. I am incredibly grateful for the information you have provided.’ Messages of Hope continues to reach people with the hope of Jesus Christ through media – including on commercial radio such as SEN, NewstalkZB, and many others. Check out the latest interviews and resources about anxiety, loneliness and crisis, along with videos and podcasts at www.messagesofhope.org.au

of Lutheran Media

LCA CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY

– Pastor Richard Fox, Director

SHARING JOY THIS CHRISTMAS

BY ANNE HANSEN

Christmas is a time of joy for most families. I love everything about Christmas and especially setting up my more than 45 Christmas nativity sets around the house!

The birth of a child is joy in its purest form. Jesus’ birth was a time of not only joy but a time of sacrifice for God. He sent his beloved Son to earth to be one of us and to bring joy, peace and the assurance of his love for all the earth. Every nativity set I have seen shows the joy, peace and love of this blessed child in the faces of its characters. This year, Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) has produced a new nativity set for you to press out and set up to share the joy of Jesus’ birth. For a $2 donation per set, you can give one to children, family, friends, the elderly, playgroups and congregation members to enjoy.

RANGE OF RESOURCES READY FOR OUTREACH

• Magnetic nativity set ($3 donation)

• Christmas chatterbox (25c donation)

• 15 Christmas stickers ($1 donation)

• Two different Christmas Advent sticker calendars ($1 donation each)

• The free downloadable Advent devotional ‘Gifts from God’

• And more than 100 other Christmas tracts in the form of leaflets, postcards, bookmarks and text cards

Remember to look through LTM’s extensive range of Christmas resources, including those listed in the adjacent box. These resources are designed for you to share in schools, aged-care facilities, hospitals, and congregations, and as an outreach into your community. We want to provide a variety of ways for our church members and others to reach those around them with the joy that God brings us at Christmas. Look at our website to find what you need for your ministry: www.ltm.org.au

We also enjoy hearing how you use the LTM resources in your ministry. Feel free to share with us how God is working!

New to ALC – Diploma in Ministry

From 2023, ALC will offer a Diploma in Ministry with a new suite of subjects tailored to meet the changing shape of practical ministry within the LCANZ. Delivered by ministry experts, this new qualification will open up opportunities for those seeking to be equipped for roles within their ministry contexts, whether paid or volunteer.

This qualification will be offered through ALC’s distributed learning model, allowing individuals to engage with subjects, lecturers and fellow students through online communities and put their learning into practice through local engagement. This qualification is also offered as part of the Discover program for people exploring their vocational pathway.

Enrolments for the Diploma in Ministry, along with other academic courses offered at ALC, are now open.

https://alc.edu.au/study/courses/diploma-in-ministry/ or email enquiries@alc.edu.au

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer.

Emma Graetz will be the new Discover program coordinator for Australian Lutheran College (ALC). Discover is a vocational formation and discernment program that aligns with completing an ALC higher education qualification. Emma (main photo) takes over the role from Kerrin Huth (inset), who has been the coordinator for the past two years and is returning to primary school teaching after recently completing doctoral studies.

ALC Principal Pastor James Winderlich says the college is thankful to Kerrin ‘for her vision and guidance of the program, and for the way she has supported the students from her home base in Queensland’.

Kerrin says she has enjoyed coordinating the program and has been ‘encouraged to see God at work in so many lives’. ‘It has been a privilege to share in each person’s journey as they learn more about God, the church and themselves, as they discern God’s call on their lives’, she says. Kerrin will continue to teach as a casual academic in ALC’s education program in 2023.

Emma brings more than 20 years of experience working within the LCANZ, half of which have been in the teaching community at ALC. Emma has supported student formation through ALC’s Vocational Education Training qualification and ALC Training workshops and programs.

Emma says taking on the role will be ‘a fantastic opportunity to engage with and support those who are discerning their calling within the church, whether it be as a pastor, teacher, lay worker or other ministry role’.

WHAT STUDENTS SAY ABOUT DISCOVER

One of this year’s Discover students, Corrie Steel, who is based in Townsville, says the program has allowed him to ‘look at the church from a broad perspective and get involved in areas I might not normally have thought of’. ‘It has broadened my perspective and helped me to view all the different aspects of the Lutheran Church, all working together and doing their part in serving the church’, says Corrie, pictured above.

In 2023, the Discover program will offer the choice of the new ALC qualification of a Diploma in Ministry or a Diploma in Theology, while postgraduate studies can also be considered. The program enables students to study remotely while completing the program with the support of their pastor or supervisor and a mentor. Students also have opportunities to engage in various ministry experiences, including through online community sessions and local practical placements.

Another student, Anthony Fawcett, who is based in Sydney, is approaching the end of his first year in Discover, which he is taking part-time. ‘It has been a theological revelation, deepening my faith and my certainty in the calling to pastorage’, he says.

Throughout December and January, Emma will host online information sessions for anyone interested in Discover Session dates and how to register are available on the ALC website at https://alc.edu.au/discover Enrolments for study in 2023 at ALC, leading to academic qualifications, are now open. More information: https://alc.edu.au/study

CHURCH@home

www.lca.org.au/churchhome

ISAIAH 9:6

FOR TO US A CHILD IS BORN, TO US A SON IS GIVEN … AND HE WILL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE OF PEACE.

Nurturing our spiritual life DEVOTIONS FOR HOME WORSHIP

We can all benefit from reading or hearing some encouraging words and experiencing a sense of God’s closeness during the week, as well as at Sunday worship. Therefore, we include these devotional pages for every reader – not just for those who are unable to attend church services regularly. Nurturing our faith at home through regular devotions strengthens our relationship with God. We pray that you will be blessed by these reflections. You will find further prayer, devotional and Bible study resources through the Worship Planning Page from the LCANZ’s Commission on Worship at www.lca.org.au/worship/wpp/prayers-devotions/ and online worship links at www.lca.org.au/worship/wpp/churchhome/ Lisa

These reflections are from a collection of devotions written for our LCANZ family and friends to help us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus no matter what we face. You can find these and many others on the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/daily-devotion and you can subscribe to receive them daily via email by clicking on the link on that same page.

Our lament and God’s help

Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven (Lamentations 3:40,41).

Read Lamentations 3:34–60.

God’s people know that all things are under God’s rule, and whatever happens in our world (and our lives) happens because God permits it.

This does not mean it is easy to bear suffering, or we should simply keep our mouths shut and take whatever hardship we face without any words of lament. In fact, God gives us his word so that we may take our cares to him, knowing that when we do so, we speak with the voice of his faithful people, and he will hear us in his grace and mercy.

In the Book of Lamentations, the prophet pours out his lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and his intense suffering at the hands of his enemies. More than this, the prophet also acknowledges that his own sin and the sins of the people have led to punishment from God.

BY PASTOR FRASER PEARCE

But this does not lead to despair, but hope. God allows his people to suffer in this world, including the suffering that comes from our own foolish and sinful thoughts, words and actions. But God gives us his name so that we may call on him in our need and receive the forgiveness and healing only he can provide.

The name ‘Jesus’ means ‘the Lord saves’. Our Lord Jesus bore the punishment for our sins, taking on himself the suffering and abandonment we could not stand. Jesus’ love for us is stronger than death, and his life gives us hope so that we may take our lament to God, knowing he will save us as we call on him.

Have the courage to pour out your lament to God and confess when you have sinned. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus, who saves you from sin, death and hell.

Lord Jesus, you took on the burden of my sin and suffering and pray to the Father for me. Take my words of lament, and give me the joy of your Spirit so I may live life to the fullest. Amen.

DEVOTIONS FOR HOME WORSHIP

A living, growing faith

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ (Luke 17:5).

Read Luke 17:5–10.

‘If only I had a stronger faith, then I could serve God better. Then I’d be able to give a better witness to Jesus Christ in my life!’

When we speak like that, we can think that before we can do anything worthwhile for God, our faith in him has to reach a certain level.

We may also think that only a person with a strong faith can ever be really used powerfully by God. We may even go as far as to say that only a person with a strong faith in God can really be sure of eternal life.

But none of those things is true. While we might think that measuring the strength of our faith is important, what is essential is that it is faith in Jesus Christ.

We’re saved by God’s grace through Jesus Christ. So even what we might consider a weak or faltering faith, when it’s focused on Jesus Christ, is a saving faith and a potential power for good. That’s because Jesus Christ connects us to the almighty transforming power of God himself.

God invites us to have a living, growing faith so we can be confident and cheerful about who we are. So, he invites us to look to him for strength so that we can give a good witness to others about our relationship with him. So, we pray, ‘Lord, increase our faith’ so that we are not misled by doubts, fears, selfishness and lovelessness. And we also pray that God would move us now, as weak as our faith may be, to place ourselves at his disposal and let his power work in our lives for the sake of others.

Because of God’s work in our lives, we can say right now: ‘Lord, fill me with your power, and use me as I am and where I am to bring glory to you always’.

Lord God, thank you for the faith you have enabled us to have in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Increase our faith in him so that we can reflect his love and grace in our lives. Transform and renew us daily into the people you still want us to become. Amen.

PRAYERS

BY PASTOR MARK LIESCHKE

– Sourced from justprayer.org

CHRISTMAS PRAYER – ST AUGUSTINE

Let the just rejoice, for their Justifier is born. Let the sick and infirm rejoice, For their Saviour is born. Let the captives rejoice, For their Redeemer is born. Let slaves rejoice, for their Master is born. Let free men rejoice, For their Liberator is born. Let All Christians rejoice, For Jesus Christ is born.

JESU JOY

Well for me that I have Jesus, O how strong I hold to him That he might refresh my heart when so sick and sad am I. Jesus have I, he who loves me, he who takes me as his own! Ah, therefore I don’t leave Jesus, Lest I should break my heart.

– A Celtic translation of ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ by J S Bach

Hypocrisy!

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? (James 2:14).

Read James 2:1–17.

In some circles, we are so sensitive as Christians to the idea of ‘works-based faith’, aren’t we? There has got to be a point, though, where our belief, faith and salvation move us to ‘put legs’ on our faith and love others practically.

Perhaps some criticism of Christianity – the calling out of hypocrisy – is grounded in some truth. Yes, the whole of Christianity can be judged by the attributes of Christ’s people. We still battle the selfish desires of our earthly nature.

Jesus’ words here warn against showing favouritism to those with the money, smart clothes, good car … whatever our modern-day equivalent might be. Bought the pew, made a generous donation and worked the hardest at …

BY SAL HUCKEL

Let’s remember that Jesus has no favourites. Let’s also remember that faith without action (and without love) is dead. The workers in the vineyard in Matthew 20 also remind us that the longest and most hardworking workers are not favoured over those who came late to the party (or the field).

While we know that Christians are not perfect, just saved, let us also remember that hypocrisy has no place in our faith walk, and we need to back ourselves and our claim to Jesus’ promises with a little bit of action and a whole lot of love for others.

Lord, thank you for the promise of eternal life for those who believe in you. Help me to continue to live out my faith with actions that honour you and bring glory to your name and others to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Repentance releases new vision

BY KATHY MATUSCHKA

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).

Read 1 Peter 5:5–11.

At times in my life, I have hoped for something special from God. I have had a bit of a vision of what God might do and have charged after it as if I could grasp it if I just tried a bit harder. But it has only been when I got to the point of saying, ‘I give up. Just do whatever you want, God’ that I have seen a breakthrough according to God’s ways and terms.

Do you think that repentance releases new vision and hope? It’s not that God requires that we repent before blessing us, but more that we seem to keep ourselves as individuals and communities bound by our limited imagination for the new things God will do.

So, when the writer of 1 Peter encourages us to humble ourselves so God may lift us up, it’s not about manipulating God but rather about learning to face the limitations of our humanity and turning to God for our vision and hope.

The National Church Life Survey, in which many Lutheran churches from Australia take part, tells us that there are three core qualities most indicative of the health of a congregation: faith sharing, empowering leadership and vision.

Through my work, I see many congregations realising the sense of vision they had in the past is no longer bearing the fruit it once was. Might growing in a culture of repentance help these three qualities to become stronger? Are you waiting for a new vision in your circles? Do you think that repentance might help? It doesn’t matter whether we think of repentance as naming specific sins or admitting our preference for self-reliance – repentance is all about our orientation.

Dear Holy Spirit, keep reorienting me toward the love and hope you have planted within me, and expand my vision of what you will make of this hope. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

1 Peter 4:10

In Going GREYT! we feature stories of some of our ‘more experienced’ people within the LCA, 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, with whatever gifts and opportunities we’ve been given.

Sharing Advent’s giving spirit

BY HELEN BRINKMAN

Picture a big box of kindness filled with Christmas goodies and pantry staples, a Christmas tree full of gift baubles, and gift catalogues supporting people in developing nations.

This is the spirit of Advent shining from Melbourne’s St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Box Hill. The congregation’s Advent Action program unveils giving opportunities throughout this church season.

The congregation’s volunteer Justice and Mercy Ministry Team, a small band of volunteers mostly aged over 60, run the program as one of a range of social justice causes in their local community and beyond.

The group may be small, but its secret is working together with like-minded groups in the local community through the Whitehorse Churches Care group network. Whitehorse Churches Care involves 30-plus churches working together across the council area to support the community’s most vulnerable. It runs a range of outreach services, from a community pop-up space in a local shopping centre to providing care packs. This strengthens their impact and the bonds between the churches, connecting people across denominations, and encouraging opportunities for charitable collaboration.

For example, the Big Boxes of Kindness that Box Hill members are filling this year with festive foods and pantry staples came through another church, also in Whitehorse Churches Care, which offered the Lutheran congregation spare boxes and resources.

Complete with a letter of instruction, the full Big Boxes of Kindness are donated to the local migrant information centre for distribution to new migrants and refugees. The empty box comes with an Advent calendar for volunteer participants to scratch a daily bauble to reveal a pantry item to include. A pack of kindness cards accompanies the resources, with each card depicting a simple act of kindness that families can use throughout the season.

Box Hill Pastoral Care Coordinator Cathy Beaton, 60, also volunteers with Whitehorse Churches Care. She says this is the second year in a row that St Paul’s has been offered the boxes for the congregation to fill.

‘It’s an amazing group – I would not have known about the Big Box of Kindness if it were not for Whitehorse Churches Care’, she says.

Cathy says the Christmas hampers are greatly appreciated by the recipients: ‘I spoke with one of the migrant centre workers earlier this year and she said there was great joy and rejoicing over the hampers, it brought much delight to the people.’

That is only one of the Advent giving choices on offer at Box Hill. Another is the bauble gift tree, an outreach of the Prison Fellowship Australia’s Angel Tree program. Each bauble collected from the Christmas tree in the church’s foyer includes the name and address of a child or grandchild of a prisoner in one of Victoria’s prisons.

With the bauble, the donor gets some guidance on what the child might like to receive, then buys and sends the gift to the recipient on behalf of the prisoner, accompanied by their message.

Thirdly, Australian Lutheran World Service’s Gift of Grace program is promoted as another way to support the season of giving on a global scale. Giving Grace cards as a Christmas gift to family and friends acknowledges

‘TOGETHER, PEOPLE CAN DO THINGS THAT THEY COULD NOT NECESSARILY DO ON THEIR OWN ... THIS GIVES US A WAY OF CONNECTING WITH, … SERVING AND LOVING OUR NEIGHBOURS.’

Right: St Paul’s Box Hill Justice and Mercy Ministry Team leader John Hinz presents Big Boxes of Kindness to volunteers and staff at a local migrant information centre, having packed his trailer with a load of the boxes (bottom right).

Middle right: Box Hill Pastoral Care Coordinator Cathy Beaton, left, with volunteer Valerie Keszeg, who last year helped check the donated boxes and write cards to go with them before delivery to the Box Hill Migrant Information Centre.

a donation of presents – from goats to toilets – to communities in need around the world.

The St Paul’s Justice and Mercy Ministry Team is not your normal committee, says Cathy. Each participant is an ambassador for a justice and mercy cause, from refugees and migrants to Indigenous reconciliation and more.

‘Team members are called ambassadors, as our members are passionate about a justice and mercy cause’, she says. ‘A handful of dedicated people can make a difference.’

And with most members in the group older than 60, age is no barrier to helping out. ‘In fact, it can give people a bit more time to be involved, and to action what they think is important’, Cathy says.

Last year alone, 34 huge red boxes were delivered to the local migrant information centres in Box Hill and nearby Ringwood, about 120 gifts were sent to the children and grandchildren of Victorian prisoners, and many ALWS Gifts of Grace brought joy to children and communities in need.

Justice and Mercy team leader John Hinz and Box Hill Pastor Neville Otto are among the ambassadors in the team, which has run Advent Action for the past three years.

Cathy says it is just the latest in a long involvement for St Paul’s of supporting local organisations, ministries and charities. ‘I think in some ways during COVID we became a bit insular, and everyone was isolated during lockdown. So, it was really important that we could provide a way for people to look outward again’, she says.

And size doesn’t have to be a barrier to action. St Paul’s has shown that working together with others, such as local churches, or the local council, can create opportunities to help.

‘Sometimes we don’t have the resources to do something on our own. But (working) together encourages each other, builds a network of relationships, and together, people can do things that they could not necessarily do on their own if they don’t have enough people’, says Cathy. ‘This gives us a way of connecting with our neighbours, of serving and loving our neighbours.’

lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

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 in your local community? Email the editor

Gospel launch joy in PNG

Nearly 40 years after Bible translation work began in the delta region of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Gulf Province, the Kope people of the area can now read the Gospel of Luke in their own language. The first New Testament book to be completed in the Kope language, it was dedicated and launched in late October in Ubuo village by Rev Tiramu Aia, the remaining translator from the 1980s team which began work on the text. The original Kope translation team completed the books of Jonah, Ruth and Esther, but while they drafted some parts of Luke in the 1980s and others were done for the local language version of the Jesus Film released in 2015, the gospel book translation was unfinished when Australian Lutheran translation advisor Hanna Schulz arrived in the Gulf Province that same year. She began work with the local translation team in 2016.

Hanna said finishing the lengthy and complex community-based project, having the book printed and published and being part of its launch and dedication with several hundred people from the seven Kope villages, were all occasions of great joy.

‘The day of the dedication was almost surreal – that we really were holding this book in our hands’, she said of the translation team, which was made up of members from more than 19 local households. ‘There were feelings of joy, satisfaction, a sense of a job well done, and a sense that there is still so much more to do! There is also some trepidation, as book sales were slow, and many a prayer that this work will bear a harvest. ‘During the dedication, when someone did a reading from Luke, I enjoyed watching the faces of our worship team, guys who love the Lord and have been on the edge of the translation work. They had huge grins as they listened and gave me a big thumbs up.’

Now working with the Kope team on drafting and checking translations of Acts and Genesis, Hanna, who works with Wycliffe Australia, a partner of LCA International Mission, said she prayed that the Luke publication would lead to ‘changed hearts, changed lives and changed communities’. ‘What I hope to see from this publication is people knowing God’s love in Jesus and walking with Jesus as his disciples every day’, she

said. ‘I hope, too, to see disciples who make disciples.’

In addition to the current Bible translation work, Hanna is preparing for the second in a series of six Oral Bible Storying project workshops in February 2023 and the SALT (Scripture Application and Leadership Training) Course in May. To support participants for these and future Christian leadership, literacy and Scripture-use events at the Oroi’io Madei (Living Word) Training Centre in Ubuo village, a new dormitory is planned to accompany the classroom at the site. The project will cost AU$180,000. Donations can be made to Wycliffe Australia at https://wycliffe.org. au/projects/ubuo-training-centre-png/.

While there have been times of challenge and frustration as well as joy in her work in PNG, Hanna said it ‘has been a time of huge personal growth and of being welcomed and loved’. ‘God is doing exciting things in the Gulf, and I am privileged to be able to be part of it’, she said. ‘It is exhausting work, but it is also wonderful. There are many fine Christians who I get to work alongside, as well as a desperate need for real discipleship and understanding of who God is.’

Above: Members of the Gospel of Luke translation team celebrate with traditional song and dance at the book’s dedication and launch at Ubuo. Photo: Debbie Petterson Above right: Local people read the Kope translation of Luke’s Gospel after the launch in PNG’s Gulf Province.

Photo: Hans Beukers Inset: Translation advisor Hanna Schulz, who serves with LCA International Mission partner Wycliffe Australia

Strategic plan to guide reorganisation at ALC

Like many parts of the LCANZ, ALC has been struggling financially for some time. Low student numbers, increased expenses – including rising wages and costs associated with maintaining a large but underutilised campus –and a decrease in external funding all mean that the college, like many congregations and parishes, is needing to reorganise itself.

While reorganisation will address the low student-to-staff ratios and ensure the rationalisation of resources, ALC remains open for business and committed to its students’ learning and formational success. Students will not be adversely

impacted by this reorganisation, which has been deemed necessary by the ALC Board and endorsed as a ‘major reorganisation’ by the LCANZ’s General Church Board.

As part of this reorganisation, which is being guided by Towards 2028, Our Strategic Direction, the ALC Board held a call meeting on 1 November. New part-time calls were then issued to five of the college’s ordained staff. These calls reflect the reduced teaching loads associated with smaller class sizes and, in accordance with ALC’s Constitution, the calls are for a specific time period, namely three years from 1 February

2023. Staff in ALC’s library are facing similar cost-cutting measures. These actions bear no reflection on any staff member’s ability, capacity or generosity towards the college and church. They are entirely due to external factors that impact the college’s financial viability.

ALC remains committed to serving the LCANZ and its partners and looks forward to providing post-secondary and tertiary theological education for many years to come.

ALC’s strategic direction is available at https://alc.edu.au/strategic-direction

Members of St Paul’s Lutheran Church Choir Shepparton (left) in Victoria have seen the extremes of Australia’s climate in recent months. The choir’s members, who are originally from African nations including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and South Sudan, left the flooding Goulburn Valley where they live to head for the dusty outback of Central Australia. There the choir, which sings in Kiswahili, Kirundi and English, collaborated with fellow Lutherans from the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir (bottom left) at the 10-day Desert Song Festival in and around Alice Springs. The Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, whose members are from Hermannsburg and other remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, sing in English, Western Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara, and will tour Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this month.

‘The church has left the building’: Mission forum told

‘The church has left the building.’ That was the message – and challenge –from Pastor Nathan Hedt to those at the LCANZ’s inaugural online Digital Mission and Ministry Forum (DMMF) last month.

The LCANZ’s New and Renewing Churches pastor told those who attended the forum held on the Zoom platform that technological advancements, combined with the limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, presented new mission opportunities. ‘We don’t just go to church; we are the church. We are the body of Christ’, Pastor Nathan, who presented at the day-long conference, said. ‘Thanks to the possibilities of the digital world, and the pandemic, the church has left the building.’

There were 125 registrations for the forum from across Australia and New Zealand and from as far away as Japan and Africa. Session topics included online worship, online evangelism, and online discipleship.

Lutheran Media Director Richard Fox (pirctured) said the digital world enabled God’s love to reach millions who may never walk into a church building. ‘To hear how we can connect and build

relationships in Jesus Christ with millions of people through the latest technologies is inspiring’, he said. ‘What an amazing opportunity we have been given to reach people with the hope of Jesus Christ.’

LCANZ Local Mission Executive Officer

Dr Tania Nelson said forum participants were encouraged to ‘keep adapting’, which reminded her of a quote from US theologian Tod Bolsinger. ‘He said: “To live up to their name, local churches must be continually moving out, extending themselves into the world, being the missional, witnessing community we were called … to be: the manifestation of God’s going into the world.”’

The DMMF planning team will review forum feedback and consider future digital mission events and opportunities.

GERMAN LUTHERANS MEET

In the first conference of its kind, 20 German Lutheran pastors and ministry workers who serve congregations in Australia met in Adelaide recently. The EKiA, or the Evangelische Kirche in Australien, is a collaboration of Lutheran congregations with Germanlanguage services and ministries across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Some of these congregations are part of the German Lutheran Church EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland), some are independent, while others are German-language ministries connected to LCA congregations. There is an agreement of altar and pulpit fellowship between the EKD and the LCA.

The five-day conference in midOctober provided ‘a very fruitful

and insightful space for exchange, encouragement and learning from each other’, said Maria Rudolph, who leads the German-language services and ministry at St John’s Lutheran Church in Perth. ‘We were doubly blessed by the presence of EKD Bishop Ute Hedrich and LCA representatives Dr Tania Nelson, the executive officer for Local Mission, and Craig Heidenreich, the CrossCultural Ministry facilitator, who enriched our sessions greatly.’

Gerhard Ruediger of the Evangelical German Language Congregation in South Australia said Tania also highlighted the Memoranda of Understanding between the LCA and EKD, reaffirmed in 2001, for the mutual recognition and support of Germanlanguage ministry in Australia.

Double DVD set or MP4 file (on USB) $35 (plus $10 p&h)

Contact: Brian Mibus: 0428 363 373, brian.mibus@bigpond.com or Pastor Neville Doecke: 0498 583 808, doecke.nh@gmail.com

Lutheran Singles Connect

Are you looking for friendship?

Hoping to meet your soul mate?

Finding it difficult to meet other single or single-again Christians?

www.lca.org.au/singles 0438 049 572

Helping single and single-again Christians to get in touch

GET HELP

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

www.preventdfv.lca.org.au

Peace of Mind

DIRECTORY

CALLS

Extended

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Horsham Vic

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Trinity Lutheran College Ashmore Qld

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Pacific Lutheran College Caloundra Qld

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Redcliffe Qld

• Rev Greg J Fowler Golden Grove SA to Alice Springs NT

• Rev Dr Adam D Hensley

Australian Lutheran College (1.0FTE) to Lecturer – Biblical Studies at Australian Lutheran College (0.5FTE)

• Rev Dr Stephen J Hultgren

Australian Lutheran College (1.0FTE) to Lecturer – Biblical Studies at Australian Lutheran College (0.5FTE)

• Rev Nich K Kitchen

Mountainside Church Auckland NZ to Port Lincoln SA

• Rev Eugene G Minge

Lakeside Pakenham Vic to Greenock SA

• Rev Fraser A Pearce Bethlehem Adelaide SA to North Tasmania

• Rev Dr Andrew K Pfeiffer

Australian Lutheran College (1.0FTE) to Lecturer – Pastoral Theology at Australian Lutheran College (0.7FTE)

• Rev Dr Stephen J Pietsch

Australian Lutheran College (1.0FTE) to Lecturer – Pastoral Theology at Australian Lutheran College (0.5FTE)

• Rev Thomas D Pietsch

Australian Lutheran College (1.0FTE) to Lecturer – History at Australian Lutheran College (0.5FTE)

• Rev Frank A Rasenberger

North-West West Regional Melbourne Vic to St Johns Ballarat Vic

• Rev Luke A Spilsbury

Faith Lutheran College Plainland Qld to Good Shepherd Lutheran College Noosa Qld

For information about changes at ALC, see page 25.

Accepted

• Rev Peter B Hage

St Johns Perth WA (co-pastor) to Perth St Johns WA (sole-pastor)

• Rev Eugene G Minge

Lakeside Pakenham Vic to Greenock SA

• Rev Frank A Rasenberger

North-West West Regional Melbourne Vic to St Johns Ballarat Vic

• Rev Luke A Spilsbury

Faith Lutheran College Plainland Qld to Good Shepherd Lutheran College Noosa Qld

Declined

• Rev Greg J Bensted

Elizabeth SA to St Andrews Glynde SA

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Horsham Vic

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Maitland SA

• Rev Adam W Eime

Peace Lutheran College Cairns Qld to Redcliffe Qld

• Rev Greg J Fowler

Golden Grove SA to Good News College Wyndham Vic

• Rev Nich K Kitchen

Mountainside Church Auckland NZ to Port Lincoln SA

• Rev Carl R E Thiele

Nhill Vic to Mid Murray SA

• Rev Matthew J Wilksch

St Peters Lutheran College Springfield Qld to Bethlehem Adelaide SA

GRADUATE ASSIGNMENTS

• Joel Grieger Assigned to Bordertown SA

• Edwin Shoesmith Assigned to Hervey Bay Qld

• Jeremy Smith Assigned to Kadina SA

For details relating to upcoming ordinations, visit the LCA website Calls Employment Volunteering page or scan the QR code here.

INSTALLATIONS

• Rev Stuart P Kleinig Installed as Interim Ministry Pastor at South-West Queensland Lutheran Parish (Chinchilla Qld) on 23 October 2022 by Bishop Mark Vainikka

• Rev Paul T Kerber Installed to SA-NT District (interim joint call to Tanunda congregations) at Faith College Junior Centre Tanunda SA on 30 October 2022 by Bishop David Altus

ROLL OF PASTORS

• Rev Peter Laihia – granted Leave of Absence, effective 25 December 2022 to 1 October 2025

IN MEMORIAM

• Elva Norma Jordan, widow of Pastor Morris Jordan, died on 13 September 2022. Her funeral was held at Holy Trinity Horsham Vic on 20 September 2022

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.

www.eckermanns.com.au

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.

YOUR VOICE

Women’s ordination question ‘has been answered’

With women’s ordination coming to a vote once again, I believe this has been prayed about and voted on several times with the result being ‘no’.

I am a layperson with no academic degrees but have been taught in the Lutheran Church that God answers our prayers not always the way we want but what he knows is best for us. He has answered ‘no’ several times, so some people are praying not ‘Thy will be done’ but ‘my will be done’. This has gone on far too long and will tear our beloved church apart.

Marie Schmidt – Jambin Qld

What do people see in our church?

The letter from John Heidenreich (The Lutheran, October 2022, p27) raises fundamental questions about the nature and function of the church generally and our LCANZ specifically. Is the church a comfortable club for likeminded theologians? Is it a rapturous Sunday morning escape from the ugliness of the world? Or is it the post-Pentecost incarnation of the body of Christ where we bring Jesus and his love and mercy to a broken, hurting and evil world by being Jesus to others and seeing Jesus in them?

Our young people are suiciding in record numbers because neoliberal economics is threatening their biosphere and has created a toxic culture of individualism, dog-eat-dog competitiveness, self-centredness and alienation that has destroyed any sense of belonging to a caring community. LGBTIQ kids are hurting more than most and are attempting suicide at a rate of three to five times the average.

So, what do these hurting and worried kids find when they look at the LCANZ? Do they meet the incarnated body of Christ where love is not just a few crumbs of charity or a doctrine but also righteous action in the world and a prophetic voice that challenges the systems and people who use power and greed to harm others?

Or do these hurting kids find in our church a nasty judgementalism, intolerance posing as dogma, a holier-than-thou self-righteousness, uniformity mistaken for unity, a 30-year obsession with the gender of the person at the front of the worship service, and indifference to the destruction of God’s creation and the injustices that harm our neighbours? And do these kids then walk away, shaking their heads in despair?

Look around you in church next Sunday and see what you think the answer might be.

Peter Schulz – St Agnes SA

Call for ‘open doors’ contact policy

Regarding the demise of the LCA Yearbook (The Lutheran, October 2022, p18): Even with information becoming available online, it’s a pity that the publication is to disappear. The reasons given include ‘ … potential for the personal information … to be inappropriately used’. It needs to be understood that a holder of any position within the church needs to be contactable. Recently I asked for names and contacts for the SA-NT District Church Council (DCC), so that information could be shared prior to a meeting. This was refused. Hmm, is the LCA a secret society?

From one’s own experience on DCC, albeit a few years backwards, it was obvious that the more accessible one was, the more useful one was. Indeed, serving as a small part of the open eyes and ears of the district and community, helped to ease the work of the bishop and others. I make the plea to remember that we are church and not a commercial organisation and our dear Lord’s church needs to have open doors at ALL times.

Ken Semmler – Bellevue Heights SA

Are we confusing unity with uniformity?

Recently I read an article written as a devotion for a local Christian radio station. The focus of the devotion was Psalm 133 and it was titled ‘Unity and Uniformity’. The writer emphasised that unity amongst any group of people is hard to achieve, particularly when we confuse unity with uniformity. In our church’s search for unity, many may be aiming to achieve uniformity, which is doing all things one way and ignoring differences and diversity. However, if we focus on the same goal of following in Jesus’ footsteps, then we are united. We do not need to be uniformly doing the same thing in the same way, singing the same songs, or speaking the same liturgy, and we may not even need to agree on the same points of doctrine! Clearly, within our LCANZ we do not. Fortunately, our forebears left instructions for us – for this very situation that the LCA currently finds itself: see Theses of Agreement 1.4.e. which outlines what action should take place to remove barriers to unity if there is protracted disagreement in doctrine!

The devotion article went on to say, ‘Demanding we all be the same is a prescription for authoritarian control’. Jesus came to free the oppressed, to pour the grace of God out on a hurting world. Let’s get past the need to aim for uniformity and seek unity in Jesus. The article concludes with the statement: ‘Our unity is best witnessed when very different people choose to relate harmoniously with one another on the basis of their common possession of life in Jesus.’ I say AMEN to that.

Whole-of-church referendum suggestion

I would like to suggest that LCANZ organises a referendum to be run ASAP to ask all Lutherans for their opinion regarding having female pastors in our church. It seems to me fair and necessary to know what actual members think before another vote is held at General Synod.

Heather Pfitzner – Camden Park SA

Filling gaps in pastoral supply

I thank God that we have Special Ministry Pastors to help fill gaps in congregations where we have an acute shortage of pastors. These pastors have undertaken short training courses, yet I understand they can write sermons and consecrate the elements for holy communion. Yet, we have wonderful, committed women, called by God, who have done the longer course, the same course as ordained men, who are unable to be ordained as pastors in the LCANZ. This is tragic and an insult to the Holy Spirit.

Margaret Modra – Aberfoyle Park 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.

Cathryn Hamilton – Gilberton SA

This prayer calendar for February 2023 can serve as an encouragement to each of us to lift up our fellow LCANZ members and faith communities to God every day. Feel free to cut it out and keep it handy.

February 2023

2

3

4

Youth and young adult leaders who serve the young people of the LCANZ’s Victoria-Tasmania District

Pastor Andrew Koehler and the members of St Andrews Tallebudgera on Qld’s Gold Coast

The campers, leaders and organisers hoping to attend the SA-NT District’s Renew camp scheduled to start today at Ankara Walker Flat

The members and leaders of Immanuel Lutheran Church Ropeley Qld, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary tomorrow 5

Pastor Eugene Minge and the members of the Greenock Parish, where his installation will be held today

6

New Zealanders on Waitangi Day. The Treaty of Waitangi between British representatives and Maori leaders was signed on this day in 1840

13

7

Residents, boards, CEOs and staff of LCANZ residential aged-care facilities and retirement villages

8

The members and leaders of St Marks Mount Barker SA, including Pastor Ben Pfeiffer

15

9

All of those serving as volunteers and staff at the LCANZ’s Convention of General Synod in Melbourne, which starts today

16

10

Delegates to the General Synod in-person sessions, that they may know God’s peace as they fulfil their roles

11

Leaders and members of St Pauls Mount Isa Qld, including Pastor Lauri Iso-Aho

Lutheran Media’s Messages of Hope ministry, which this month encourages people struggling through crises or relationship breakdowns

Reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians on the anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations

All those who are lonely and those who would show them friendship, as many people mark St Valentine’s Day

21

The members and leaders of SA’s Southern Yorke Peninsula Parish, including those at St Pauls Yorketown and St Andrews Minlaton

Anyone who is battling with depression, their families, friends and others who endeavour to support them

Those who serve as congregational leaders, that they may find fulfilment in their volunteer service

Newly ordained Pastor Ed Shoesmith, who will be installed tomorrow at his first parish of St James Hervey Bay Qld

22

24

25

Those who advocate for the welfare of others and human rights advances, on the World Day of Social Justice

ALC’s 2023 Festival of Learning, which starts tomorrow, that it is well supported and of benefit to the LCANZ and Christian community

27

Those who work to preserve languages and use them to share the gospel, on UN International Mother Language Day

Pastor Paul Kerber who is serving SA’s Tanunda congregations in an interim capacity on behalf of the SA-NT District

The attendees, leaders and organisers of The Gathering camp for 18 to 30-year-olds, which starts today at Luther Heights Coolum Qld

Members of the LCANZ’s General Church Board, which is scheduled to meet today

Pastor Colin Simpkin and the members of Bethlehem Bendigo Vic, where he is to be installed tomorrow 26

Members of the Henty Parish NSW and Pastor Darryl Shoesmith who is set to be installed as their pastor today

The LCANZ’s Committee for Child Youth and Family Ministry, which is due to meet today

28

Lay leaders who take on extra responsibilities for worship and care while their congregation is without a pastor

How can families cope at Christmas?

‘I sell salted fish to support my family. My husband works as a fisherman.

But during hurricane season, he cannot catch any fish. So, our income was not sufficient for my family’s needs and children’s school fees. I had no capital to extend my business or to save.

When I joined the Savings and Loans Group, I received a loan and learned how to build a greenhouse for drying the salted fish.

Now, I don’t have to worry about my salted fish getting rained on. Flies also cannot get into the greenhouse. The price I can charge is getting more and more because my fish are really dry and clean, and liked by many people.

I now earn FIVE TIMES what I did before. I have sufficient money to send my children to school, even to university. You are bridging us to a better life - thank you!’

Juwita, Indonesia

You can bless others like Juwita 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

Photo: CDRM&CDS

Thank you!

When the Russian bombardment of Ukraine cities like Ichnya started, school had to go online. Director of Vasilchenko school, Luidmyla Kutchovera, responded with the kind of courage and calm that has inspired the world:

‘When we started hearing explosions this time … you see I am not a very emotional person, I went to the school and started making coffee and tea for the teachers as usual in the morning.’

Luidmyla (pictured inset right) says she spent 10 days working day and night to manage the situation at the school, as the Russian military forced its way through the town. Now, while the Russians have been pushed back, the threat of bombardments remains. Students cannot return to faceto-face learning unless the school has bomb shelters. This is the work you now support through ALWS and our Lutheran partner inside Ukraine, LWF (Lutheran World Federation). Luidmyla says schools have an important part to play for children traumatised by the war:

‘The school will play a role in helping students to cope with this changing situation. This is easier when we

can meet face to face. Teachers are able to pick up the mood of the students and give support when it is needed.

‘At the moment, we know that many students are afraid to leave their homes, even to come to school, but we hope when we have our shelter in place and can start having classes onsite again, that it will feel safe for everyone.’

The bomb shelter in the basement of Luidmyla’s school is planned to be completed with LWF support by Christmas. It will accommodate 1,000 people – enough for the school’s students and staff, and in case of emergency for hundreds of people from the surrounding area.

Ichnya Mayor Olena Buturlym (pictured inset left) stresses: ‘At times of war, local authorities and the government simply do not have enough funds to solve all the needs of their communities. Our main hope in this is that we can cooperate with organisations like LWF to respond to all these needs.’

ALWayS

for those forgotten

Children in Ukraine hope to soon head back to face-to-face learning, thanks to bomb shelters being built in school basements, with your support through ALWS.

Report by Albin Hillert, LWF | Photos: LWF

Thank you for all you do through ALWS to help the people of Ukraine, and for victims of forgotten conflicts in countries like Ethiopia, Somalia and Myanmar. Your Christmas action is ALWayS