M A G A Z I N E O F T H E LUT H E R A N C H URC H O F A US T R A LI A & N E W ZE A L AN D
VOL 55 NO5
Print Post Approved PP100003514
JUN E 2021
Walking
‘Walk in the way of love.’ EP H ES IA N S
5: 2
together
LUTHERAN
CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
EDITORIAL
Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8267 7300 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
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Cups of kindness
Sarah Barber grabs the chance for some inspirational reading in between serving customers with good coffee and conversation at Café 3:16 and Bookshop at Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. The café/bookshop is a volunteer-run ministry of St Michael’s Lutheran Church there.
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People like YOU bring love to life Noreen Masiane
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Waverley Lutheran Church Vic
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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.
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Most treasured Bible text: Isaiah 40:31 ‘But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.’
Phyl Atze Mackay Community Lutheran Church Qld Retired; local guild president, loves sewing and cooking Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 23 ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.’
Oscar Joppich Grace Lutheran Church Tanunda SA Retired; enjoys visiting and gardening Most treasured Bible text: Psalm 23 ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.’
Let the light of someone you know shine through their photo being featured in The Lutheran and LCA Facebook. With their permission, send us a good quality photo, their name and details (congregation, occupation, what they enjoy doing, most treasured text in these difficult times) and your contact details.
June Special features EDITOR'S
let ter
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When I took part in Australian Lutheran World Service’s (ALWS) Walk My Way in 2019 in the Adelaide Hills with about 380 others, I thought it was a wonderful example of church unity, community outreach and engagement, and living the LCANZ’s tagline of ‘bringing love to life’ – all wrapped up in one event. I was inspired by the creativity and passion of the organisers, the service and professionalism of volunteers and the camaraderie and commitment of participants, who took the challenging 26-kilometre Pioneer Women’s Trail in their stride. They did it to raise money to help send refugee children in Africa to school – kids they would never meet, facing hardships they could only imagine. This is a beautiful expression of church, I remember thinking at the time. Last year, of course, COVID-19 put paid to walkers again hitting the trails in big groups. But ALWS, as it so often does, got creative and Walk Your Way was born – an individual challenge, in your own time and place. Around 2800 of us walked paths near home and raised enough to send 6390 children to school. While that was truly inspirational, I wondered whether the buzz of 2019 and the resilience of 2020 would be replicated in 2021 when Walk My Way group events returned. Boy, was I wrong to doubt the spirit of our Lutheran family! When it became clear that the first event for 2021, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley in May, would be bigger than, well, even our General Convention of Synod, our editorial team changed the theme for June to ‘Walking together’. We thought that, as we prepare for Synod, it was also a timely reminder of Christ’s prayer for his church that we ‘may be one’ (John 17:20). Inspired by the 650 participants who ‘walked together’ in the Barossa Valley, and a further 249 who have registered (by 18 May) to walk elsewhere at different times, these pages contain stories and images of thanksgiving and joy from Walk My Way. I pray that you’ll be blessed by them. All walker groups are receiving copies of this edition and so we especially welcome those who are reading The Lutheran for the first time. Our Lutheran family is also ‘walking together’ as we endeavour to better hear the Indigenous voices in our churchwide family through practical applications of our Reconciliation Action Plan, and we have included a progress story and some ideas for your ministry group. And, as a further bonus for subscribers, you’ll find inside Australian Lutheran College’s Saints Alive publication, as we walk together with the LCA’s provider of tertiary theological education. May God richly bless our efforts to ‘walk together’ at home, at school, at work, at church, or on the nearest footpath or bush track.
Lisa
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Scattering the light of hope
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‘Privileged and proud’ to walk
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We’re having how many coming for breakfast?!
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‘We have nothing, but education is riches’
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Walking Jesus’ way is a daily challenge
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Walking the talk
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The LCA's RAP … Are we there yet?
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Regulars 14
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Heartland
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Dwelling in God’s word
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Go and Grow
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Church@Home
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Going GREYT!
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The inside story
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Directory
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Sudoku
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Your voice
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Prayer calendar
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Our cover: The Wheelie Good Walkers team of Lutheran Disability Services clients, support workers and family members added extra joy to last month’s ALWS Walk My Way in SA’s Barossa Valley, walking, wheeling and woofing their way to raise money to help send refugee children to school. See story page 7. 7. Photo: David Modra Wraparound cover: Hundreds of participants and volunteers gather before the 26-kilometre Walk My Way challenge from Redeemer Lutheran School Nuriootpa in the Barossa on 1 May. Drone photo: Tim Hage
JES U S I S G OD'S LOVE. HE G IVES U S NE W HE ARTS TO L AY AS IDE O UR OL D WAYS, TO B EL IE VE AND FOL LOW HIM, TO L IVE WI T H HIM E VERY DAY.
heartland
RE V JOHN HENDERSON
Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia
WALKING TOGE THER IS OF THE ESSENCE FOR CHRISTIANS ‘…in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:5 – NIV). Do you remember those three-legged races at school camps and church picnics? With one leg tied to that of another person, you tried to walk, run, or most likely stumble together to the finish line. Awkward, even agonising, at least the races were mercifully brief. The hilarious spectacle you made was often more important than the actual competition. I expect such races are off the agenda these days, especially during COVID-19. The three-legged race, however, is an apt illustration of learning to walk together. I rarely chose my partner. He was chosen for me out of a pool of available candidates. We would barely know each other’s names, but suddenly
I F WE WANT TO G ROW I N FAITH AN D M OVE FORWARD I N OU R SPI RITUAL LI FE, WE M UST LEARN TO WALK I N STEP WITH EACH OTH ER. 4
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we were joined in intimate physical contact, trying to merge as one. When we succeeded in establishing a sort of rhythm, momentum would often take over and our different heights and weights would put us on the ground. If I tried to force my partner to walk or run my way, this would always end in total collapse. He would become a dead weight. Trying to stand up again was harder than learning to walk together in the first place. I have never read of a three-legged race in the Bible, but I have read of Christians learning to walk together as members of the one body. St Paul writes about it in a well-known passage in Romans 12 and expands on it in 1 Corinthians 12. He emphasises how all the different parts of the body work and move together. Each part must pay careful attention to the needs of the others. St Paul says that the body of believers is the body of Christ. As the body speaks, acts and walks, so Christ himself speaks, acts and walks. In the body, all the parts belong to each other. No single part can be lopped off without the whole body taking a blow. And as we know from personal experience, a pain in the smallest part of the body resonates through our whole being. It is the same with Christ: he feels the pains and the hurts in his body – our pains, and our hurts.
Bodies, of course, are made to move. Christ’s body is also made to move. St Paul tells us how: in prophesying, in serving, in teaching, in encouraging, in giving and in showing mercy. The body of Christ is alive and breathing, always doing something, engaging in the world with the mission of Christ. So, this business of learning to walk together is much more than a curious pastime. It is of the essence for Christian faith and life. If we want to grow in faith and move forward in our spiritual life, we must learn to walk in step with each other. We need to value each other. We need to forgive each other for any missteps. We need to encourage each other and celebrate our progress together. When we fall, we will feel the other’s pain as much as we feel our own. We won't want to coerce or overcome other members of Christ’s body by force because we would only be hurting ourselves, and even worse, hurting Christ. This is a great mystery. God chose us and gave us faith. As we share that faith, God opens up between us an extraordinarily intimate, sacred space. As fellow believers, saints in the body of Christ, we care for one another, pray for one another, and bow down as one before the throne of grace, where he forgives our sins and equips us, once more, to move out into the world with his mission of truth and love.
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