NATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
Print Post Approved PP100003514 VOL 47 NO 5
JUNE 2013
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off —for all whom the Lord our God will call [Acts 2:39] Vol 47 No5 P185
Cover photo: Andrea Winter
EDITOR/ADVERTISING phone 0427 827 441 email rosie.schefe@lca.org.au
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www.thelutheran.com.au We Love The Lutheran!
Year 6 student Ahren Koch is serious about keeping up his reading, even while on a study tour with Holy Trinity Lutheran School, Horsham, Victoria, earlier this year. Holy Trinity has established partnerships with two Lutheran schools in Hong Kong. The group enjoyed its visit to the world’s most vertical city—a long way from Ahren’s home town of Murtoa, Victoria!
As the magazine of the Lutheran Church of Australia (incorporating the Lutheran Church of New Zealand), The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia. The Lutheran is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association and as such subscribes to its journalistic and editorial codes of conduct.
Photo: Merrilyn Koch Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and you might see it here on page 2.
We Love The Lutheran! CONTACTS Acting Editor Rosie Schefe 197 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006 phone 0427 827 441 email rosie.schefe@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen 3 Orvieto St, Bridgewater SA 5155 phone 08 8339 5178 email linda.macqueen@lca.org.au
People like you are salt in your world [ Matt 5:13 ]
National Magazine Committee Greg Hassold, Sarah Hoff-Zweck, Pastor Richard Schwedes, Heidi Smith Design and layout Comissa Fischer Printer Openbook Howden
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I love Pentecost. It’s my secondfavourite church festival after Easter. I love its supernatural aspects: the sound of violent wind, the tongues of fire on the believers’ heads, the spontaneous breaking into different languages—and the presence in Jerusalem of people who were speakers of those languages. I even love the Aussielike cynicism of the scoffers: ‘They have had too much wine’ (Acts 2:13). And then Peter stands up and tells those present exactly what is happening, what they did to Jesus and what Jesus has done for them in return. The book of Acts records that 3000 people became Christians as a direct result of experiencing this manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But I wonder what happens on the day after Pentecost. Do James and John have a conversation with Peter that goes something like this? ‘What are we going to do now? The Parthians and the Medes think that we should be baptising with full immersion, but the Elamites don’t like getting their hair wet, so they aren’t having it. The Phrygians and the Pamphylians can’t decide between drums or cymbals for worship music; meanwhile the Cretans just want to clap along! The Romans demand their communion wine served in silver, but the Egyptians think a pottery chalice is the only way to go. Meanwhile, the Libyans, Mesopotamians, Cappadocians and Arabs are all arguing over whether the bread should be torn, cut or punched into nice little round circles!’
FEATURES 08 When God throws a curve ball 05 Three wise visitors
08 05
3 wise
visitors 22
22 Lutheran Men on the move
COLUMNS 04 From the President 09 Rhythms of Grace 12 Reel Life 13 Little Church 14 Bookmarks 15 Inside Story 20 Stepping Stones 22 Notices/Directory 28 Heart and Home 32 World in Brief 34 Coffee Break
The book of Acts tells us what that early church was like, and it is a very different picture from the one I’ve painted. The believers listen and have fellowship together, break bread and pray. They are filled with awe at the signs and wonders performed by these Spirit-filled apostles. Rich ones sell their property and possessions, so that anyone in need is looked after. They meet in the temple and in each other’s homes, eating together and praising God. And their numbers grow— every single day (Acts 2:42-47). Nearly 2000 years later the church is (sadly) a bit different. In protecting my spiritual turf, it is far too easy to fall back into selfishly thinking that my faith is all about me and my relationship with Jesus. It’s not; instead, it’s all about what Jesus is doing in me and what he wants to do through me. Some of our congregations are learning that lesson right now. Learning that being one in the gospel sometimes means embracing the unfamiliar in order to understand it. Learning that giving is better than receiving—and gratefully receiving untold blessings in return. Learning to be family for those whose families are far away. Learning that when the Holy Spirit is present in our churches, love comes to life in all kinds of beautiful ways.
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It is not uniformity but unity which is being drawn out in our relationship to Christ.
We’ve updated and improved the LCA eNews system. To subscribe to the LCA President’s Page (or any other eNews list), you no longer send an email to the IT officer. Now it’s much simpler: go to www.enews.lca.org.au, enter your email address and select the list(s) to which you wish to subscribe. All eNews emails have an unsubscribe link as well as a link that allows you to manage your eNews lists. LCA pastors and lay workers are automatically subscribed to the LCA President’s Page.
Rev Dr Mike Semmler President Lutheran Church of Australia
The church belongs to Christ. Christ gave his life to bring into being his bride, the church. He gifts his church with his life, his word in law and gospel, with baptism, his supper and the office of the public ministry to carry out the responsibilities of the whole people of God. The church is authorised, with the words of Christ, to forgive and retain sins. ‘If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship from the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete, by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose’ (Philippians 2:1,2). ‘Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus’, says the apostle Paul (Philippians 2:5). It is not uniformity but unity which is being drawn out in our relationship to Christ—and now to each other, in God’s family the church. Such unity, drawn from the mind of Christ, is the willingness to work together and to accept the privilege we have to serve each other. Society knows little of this radical relationship which is ours in Christ. Our culture does not lend itself to it. Our own sinfulness is much more intent on selfish ambition, vanity and conceit—all enemies of the harmony with which we are presented in our Saviour. Selfishness threatens love and harmony in the church. Displaying disrespect, parading symbols of dissent and looking to politics and power to make our way is acting like the world, in its idolatrous ways. Repenting daily, we turn to the gracious, self-sacrificing Saviour, asking him to show us again and again his mind and his attitude to us. We are invited to sit at his feet and hear his life-changing good news. It is just the best! It is the very nature of Jesus, who, as fully God, could rightly have retained his glory in heaven and not been part of entering our world, but chose instead to come into our lives and redeem us. Radically, he emptied himself of his rightful position and power. He put aside his glory and humbled himself to become flesh and blood as we are. True God and true man. His sacrifice for us shows us his mercy, the glory of eternity in time and in our history. Through faith in him, we are now children of God. His is the glory. O to be like him!—with his humility, his attitude, his mind, his love and selfgiving, so that all the world is touched and every man, woman and child can bow down and worship the Saviour! Beginning with ourselves, we beg for the grace to listen to him in his word, to submit as he did to the will of the Father, and in so doing, involve ourselves every day in serving each other. Such may be our unity in the church.
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Three wise visitors by Rosie Schefe
What can we learn from the experience of others? What can they learn from us? Three honoured General Photos: Michael Rudolph
Convention guests share their insights.
Left: Rev Dr Robert Bugbee sees a natural fit between the LCA and Lutheran Church-Canada, a fit that is already benefitting mission partnerships in Cambodia. Centre: National Council of Churches in Australia General Secretary Rev Tara Curlewis enjoyed meeting people from across the church during Convention: ‘I don’t really know a lot of Lutherans.’ Right: Rev Greg Seltz has been a church planter throughout his time in ministry: as speaker on The Lutheran Hour he preaches to a congregation estimated at 800,000 people and supports ministry centres in more than 30 countries. It’s not just about operating in countries linked under the British Commonwealth, or both being very small churches without much political clout. Living in similar societies and sharing similar histories make the LCA and Lutheran Church-Canada (LCC) Vol 47 No5 P189
natural partners, says Dr Robert Bugbee, LCC President.
appearance before a senate committee hearing last year).
‘Canada is rapidly secularising, paganising even’, he said. ‘Churches are marginalised—I can’t imagine being called in to advise a government committee’, he said (referring to President Rev Dr Mike Semmler’s
Other established Canadian churches have suffered because of allegations of clerical abuse—particularly in remote northern communities—further accelerating Canadian disinclination towards religious matters, Dr Bugbee said. The Lutheran June 2013
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Photos: Michael Rudolph
finding it harder to maintain services to rural parishes. But cities like Toronto (where 57 per cent of the population were born outside Canada) are providing opportunities to work among new groups of immigrants. ‘Immigrants are more open to the gospel’, Dr Bugbee said. LCC is opening missions in French-speaking regions of Canada, publishing its own hymnal in French, used by immigrants from French-speaking African nations and the Caribbean. ‘They are finding their way to LCC—to the gospel.’
God has his way of doing good out of bad!—Rev Dr Robert Bugbee LCC is this year approaching its 25th anniversary of forming a national synod, with two major events to mark the occasion: a National Youth Gathering and Anniversary Outreach Conference in July and a National Pastors Conference in October. Lutherans have been active in Canada since 1854; as in Australia, the first Lutherans were European immigrants, settling in rural areas ‘mostly hugging the United States border for warmth!’ Dr Bugbee said. Until uniting as LCC in 1988, they had relied on their much larger neighbouring US synods to provide pastors, theological direction and other synodical functions. In 2013 LCC has a membership of about 67,000 people in about 319 congregations: ‘slightly smaller than the LCA’. As Canada—like Australia—becomes increasingly urbanised, the LCC is 6
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LCC is also reaching out in places where the larger US synods simply cannot go. It sent its first evangelistic missionary to Nicaragua in 1997, and now there are 22 Lutheran congregations in Nicaragua, which are self-supporting. There is also talk of expanding this partnership by sending Nicaraguan missionaries into Cuba. The current LCC partnership with Nicaragua is focused on theological training—sending pastors and lecturers to grow indigenous pastors. ‘In the beginning we were forced to do this by funding constraints, but God has his way of doing good out of bad!’ Dr Bugbee said. LCC is following a similar pattern in its work in Thailand and Cambodia. In Cambodia, particularly, there has been encouraging contact between groups affiliated with LCC and those with whom the LCA is working. ‘Going forward, I feel that our two churches can understand each other in a unique fashion’, Dr Bugbee said. ‘We both work in secularised societies, with too few people and too much space between them!’
Exploring our similarities and our differences—Rev Tara Curlewis Ordained in the Uniting Church in 1994, Rev Tara Curlewis has been general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) since May 2009.
What I see here are people who are wrestling with deep issues of faith, diverse opinions, and seeking to be held together— Rev Tara Curlewis A member of the NCCA executive for five years before that, she succeeded Rev John Henderson as general secretary and was pleased to be present for the announcement of his election as the first bishop of the LCA. ‘I’m excited that John will be the newest head of the Lutheran Church’, she said. She also paid tribute to LCA President Mike Semmler for his contribution to the NCCA as part of its Heads of Churches group, which he chaired for five years during his presidency. The NCCA brings 19 churches together in a spirit of ecumenism and learning. There are significant benefits for all in being able to meet Vol 47 No5 P190
in conversation, Rev Curlewis said. ‘Conversations with others help us to grow in who we are, and in our own practice. They have the potential to move us to a new acceptance of others.
‘As a physician you aim to heal a body that ultimately dies; as an athlete, your fame fades; but in ministry God’s word goes on. I saw how important faith is’, Rev Seltz said.
‘But this is not a one-way action: it is always a two-way growth of understanding.’
‘After that I always just wanted to be a pastor. To go where you feel you are told to go.’
Rev Curlewis said that she had come to a better understanding of how the Lutheran church functions, particularly in governance, by being present at a LCA convention for the first time: ‘Every church does it differently!’
Reaching an estimated 800,000 listeners each week, The Lutheran Hour is broadcast on more than 1400 radio stations in the United States and Canada each week, including on Armed Forces Radio. The ministry side has grown to include a men’s network, Bible-study resources and regional conferences, and supports ministry centres in more than 30 countries.
She noted the importance of the General Pastors Conference beforehand, and the ability of every congregation to appoint delegates to the Synod as uniquely Lutheran. ‘There is a real sense of representation and ownership, it means that decisions are conveyed back to congregations’, she said. ‘It is good to meet people at a different level of the church. I don’t really know a lot of Lutherans. ‘What I see here are people who are wrestling with deep issues of faith, diverse opinions, and seeking to be held together’, Rev Curlewis said.
Shining the light of the gospel into dark places—Rev Greg Seltz ‘Once you abdicate the Christian world view, it’s dark!’ Rev Greg Seltz says. Speaker for The Lutheran Hour Ministries since 2011, Rev Seltz is an evangelist to the core, who describes his ministry before radio as one of lifelong church-planting. ‘There is nothing like sharing the gospel with people all over the world’, he said. ‘In this job I am encouraging churches all over the world, and there is nothing like having someone come to faith just because they were listening to our broadcasts.’ But still it was hard to leave the street for the microphone, after working in cities like Dallas, New York City and Manhattan. Vol 47 No5 P191
Secularists know just enough about Christianity to think they don’t want it— Rev Greg Seltz ‘Secularists know just enough about Christianity to think they don’t want it’, Rev Seltz said. ‘In New York they don’t want you. If you are a conservative, confessional Christian they especially don’t want you! But once you get to the people, then they want you to stay—it’s about staying’, he said. He has travelled a long way from the young Greg Seltz: a physics major on a basketball scholarship at the University of Michigan, who was offended by a lecturer making fun of faith during biology classes. Seeking to equip himself for rebuttal, he began taking theology courses at night at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Then the possibility of entering ministry took hold.
If you are installing video projectors in churches or classrooms, JED offers Australian-made controllers to make it easier. These simple devices turn the projector (or flat panel) ON and OFF and select an input, switching between a laptop, VCR or DVD. It can control the audio level, or MUTE or FREEZE the image, and even control electric screens directly. They are wired directly to the projector, eliminating the complex hand-held IR remote pointed at the projector ... the sort that confuses all, and gets dropped, lost or stolen! Much easier for all to use. Thousands are already in use in churches and schools all over Australia. The units are installed by A/V specialists: see the website for more details and an installer's list.
JED Microprocessors Pty Ltd www.jedmicro.com.au (03) 9762 3588 The Lutheran June 2013
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Photo: Marianthy Verdoulis
When God throws a curve ball
by Lauren Waldhuter
Members of the Indonesian Christian Community perform a traditional dance during last year’s Indonesian Gala Dinner at Trinity.
A settled congregation is transformed by the needs of a worshipping group who are culturally, linguistically and denominationally diverse. It is a lesson in love for all. It’s Easter Sunday and members of the Indonesian Christian community are worshipping at Pasadena’s Trinity Lutheran Church, in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. The unique sound of the hymn, sung in Bahasa, bounces off the walls as the rest of the congregation listens. The choir is well known to the worshippers at Pasadena. In fact they have become increasingly familiar with Indonesian culture over the past two or three years, thanks to a growing group of between 40 and 60 Indonesians who worship regularly at the church. Pastor Detlev Vosgerau says he could never have imagined his congregation growing in such a multicultural way nor the blessings that have followed as a result.
backgrounds and to make allowances for people who are different from ourselves.’ The Indonesian Christians were previously worshipping at Ascot Park Uniting Church but had trouble finding an Indonesian-speaking pastor. Several members were originally from Sumatra, where there are several synods with partnerships with the Lutheran Church of Australia. The community approached the nearby Trinity congregation to seek assistance. ‘I went and worshipped with them a few times and just got to know them’, Pastor Detlev said.
‘God always throws curve balls’, he says with a laugh.
‘Then we [Trinity] developed a program by which we thought we might be able to give them pastoral supply through students who come from Indonesia to study at the seminary.’
‘I think it’s had a really good, positive effect because it forces us to embrace people from different cultures and
Trinity congregation joined in discussions with Mission International and Australian Lutheran College
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(ALC) about developing a scholarship program to support Indonesian pastors who were happy to come over to Australia to study long term. ‘That’s what happened with Dendy’, says Pastor Detlev. Pastor Dendy is the Indonesian community’s Indonesian-speaking pastor, who leads a monthly Indonesian worship service at Trinity Lutheran Church for members of the Indonesian Christian community from across Adelaide. The Board for Mission and Trinity decided to support Dendy while he studies at ALC in Adelaide for three years. He will spend a full year learning English before taking up a masters in theology over two years, all while giving partial ministry to the Indonesian community at Pasadena. ‘The Trinity Lutheran Church has been a great partner in serving the Indonesian communities, both in Adelaide and in Indonesia’, Pastor Dendy said. Vol 47 No5 P192
He says the community consists of a unique mixture of Indonesians living in Adelaide, including families, individuals and a large group of international students. ‘Another unique aspect of the Indonesian congregation is that the members come from different denominations, and in most cases are members of various churches in Adelaide’, Pastor Dendy said. ‘The different denominations of our members truly enrich the way we perform our ministries.’ Pastor Detlev says that between these monthly services he has been pleased to see a number of the Indonesian Christians worshipping at Trinity’s regular services. ‘There were reservations from a few members of the congregation’, Pastor Detlev said. ‘But church isn’t about what we want to do, it’s about what we all want to do. ‘When you have people from different cultures and backgrounds, and their presuppositions about Christian life and how to do things are different from yours, you have to learn how to be accommodating’, he said. One of the regular Indonesian worshippers at Pasadena is lay worker Dasni Rau. She is a confident, outgoing woman, who has lived in Australia for the past Vol 47 No5 P193
Photo: Detlev Vosgerau
Photo: Marianthy Verdoulis
God put us in the one place with the different cultures—it must be for a reason. Our job is to remind people there is a place for anybody, to accommodate any people who want to worship.
Left: Events such as the Indonesian Gala Dinner are one way of building greater understanding between two very different cultural groups who share their Christian faith as a common starting point. Right: Lay worker Dasni Rau and Pastor Dendy are at the forefront of bringing closer understanding between Trinity Lutheran Church and the Indonesian Christian community of Adelaide.
20 years. Originally a member at Ascot Park, she joined the community at Pasadena two years ago. Her position is jointly funded by Trinity and the LCA SA/ NT District’s Zinnbauer Fund for Mission. I ask her why she decided to serve her community as a lay worker and she laughs. ‘I don’t know, I’ve been doing it since the first day I arrived in this country. It’s so great; I like the job. Faith is very important for me; it’s to unite people. ‘God put us in a place for some reason’, she said. She says that many challenges exist as the Indonesian community continues to integrate into Trinity. ‘It takes time’, she says, ‘If the culture is different, people feel very uncertain, I guess. At Pasadena we are very new there. Some of them are very welcoming. ‘I think it will be a big job for me and Pastor Dendy to try and understand the culture here as well.’ She says the monthly Indonesian services have been very important for the Indonesian community, especially students who are new to the country and may not be proficient in English. ‘At least they can have a service once a month in their own language for listening to God’s word’, she says. ‘And [for] some permanent residents who don’t settle in easily in Australia we
can welcome them and accommodate them, so that’s why we wanted to do this service.’ Pastor Detlev says he hopes the bond between the two communities will strengthen in the future. ‘I hope that our relationship will grow closer and even more cooperative.’ Trinity plans to hold an AustralianIndonesian cultural evening later in the year. In the past they have held an Indonesian Gala Dinner for all parts of the Trinity community, and have combined Christmas and Easter worship services to try and represent both cultures. Dasni says she hopes the community will keep growing. ‘It’s my aim, my passion’, she says. ‘God put us in the one place with the different cultures—it must be for a reason. Our job is to remind people there is a place for anybody, to accommodate any people who want to worship’, she says. ‘There have been a lot of people for a long time not going to the church, and now they do.’ Lauren Waldhuter attends Trinity Lutheran Church at Pasadena, South Australia, and enjoys travelling and meeting new people. She spends her time at the ABC in Adelaide, filling in as a regional journalist and a local radio producer. The Lutheran June 2013
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