The Lutheran November 2021 Digital Edition

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 Z E A L AN D

N OVEM BER 2021

‘I always pray with joy becau se of your partn ership in the go spel’

VOL 55 N10

Print Post Approved PP100003514

P H IL IP P

IA N S 1 :4 ,5

a CENTURY of CAN DOs DOs New bishop for LCANZ – see inside

LUTHERAN

CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

EDITORIAL

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

CONNECT WITH US We Love The Lutheran! lutheranaunz lutheranchurchaus

SUBSCRIBE www.thelutheran.com.au

Playing a key role in our ministry With part of her role as LLL Operations Officer being to look after LCA Subscriptions, Gaynor Gower has spoken to, emailed or written to many of our subscribers over her 14 years in the role. With a friendly voice over the phone and a smiling face at the counter, Gaynor, a member at Para Vista Lutheran Church SA and with 19 years’ service at LLL, helps many people with queries about their print subscriptions to The Lutheran, Lutheran, Lutheran Women and Lutheran Theological Journal.

Journal. One of the perks of the job is to see The Lutheran hot off the press each month and knowing what’s on and inside the cover before many of our other most loyal subscribers and supporters. Thanks for all you do for The Lutheran and LLL, Gaynor!

08 8360 7270 lutheran.subs@lca.org.au LCA Subscriptions PO Box 731 North Adelaide SA 5006 11 issues per year (Feb–Dec) Print or print & digital Australia $45 | New Zealand $47 Asia/Pacific $56 | Rest of the world $65 Digital only $30

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 Graeme Tscharke Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Para Vista SA

DESIGN & PRINT

LCA Insurance Manager. Years at LLL: 40 in August 2021

Design & Layout Elysia McEwen Printer Openbook Howden The Lutheran is produced on the traditional lands of the Kaurna and Dharug peoples.

‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God … ’

ADVERTISING/MANUSCRIPTS Should be directed to the editor.

Manuscripts are published at the discretion of the editor. Those that are published may be edited.

Copy deadline: 1st of preceding month Rates: general notices and small advertisements, $20.00 per cm; for display, contract and inserted advertisements, contact the editor.

Terri Traeger St Peters Lutheran congregation Fullarton SA LLL Operations Officer. Years at LLL: 38 and counting Most treasured Bible text: Romans 14:8 ‘For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.’

Heidi Schalk

LUTHERAN

Pilgrim Lutheran Church Magill SA

OF AUSTRALIA

Lutheran Tract Mission Officer. Years at LLL: 40 in March 2021

CHURCH 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: Philippians 4:6–8

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Most treasured Bible text: Lamentations 3:22–23 NRSV ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning ... ’ 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.

November Special features EDITOR'S

let ter

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Even though I almost studied accountancy and economics after high school, money management, budgets and finance are not my passion nor my strongest suit (just ask my husband Nigel, or The Lutheran’s Lutheran’s Executive Editor, Linda Macqueen).

However, I get excited when I see the good that churches, care and service organisations, charities and schools can do with joyfully given donations or wisely invested or spent funds. What is compelling is the change that can take place in people’s lives as they are given opportunities, hope and self-worth through this investment in them – when teamed with the time and presence of others.

That’s why we, as members of the LCANZ, may give a portion of hard-earned or saved money to New and Renewing Churches, LCA International Mission, Lutheran Media, or ALWS, for example. We want more and more people in our communities, broader societies of Australia and New Zealand and beyond, to come to know Jesus and to know his love for them through practical support.

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Today, the LLL has 18,000 depositors, 120 separate borrowing clients and manages 48,000 active client relationships. It has had to adapt to a changing regulatory environment, especially in more recent years, but one thing has never changed – its reason for being. As LLL Board Chair Graeme Huf says, the LLL ‘operates independently of the LCANZ but with the clear purpose of benefitting the church by providing loans for church projects and supporting the LCANZ’s wider ministry and mission through gifts, donations and allocations’.

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What LLL means to me and the church

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Leadership still about relationships – and mission

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From small beginnings, big things have grown

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‘I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds it’

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Regulars Heartland

In any case, we know it’s not ‘our’ money – it’s God’s. But we have the opportunity to ‘pay forward’ his incredible generosity to us.

And this is the ethos that has underpinned 100 years of support

by Lutherans in Australia for the LLL. As our church members have backed the Lutheran Laypeople’s League since its inception in 1921, so this rock-solid, reliable organisation has backed us – our congregations, schools, church plants, care communities, camps, publications, projects, resources, refurbishments and local and overseas outreach efforts. The LLL’s current tagline says it all – Finance with a mission. mission.

LLL 100 years on – changing times, same purpose

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Dwelling in God’s word

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The inside story

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Go and Grow

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Church@Home

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Directory

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Sudoku

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Your voice

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Going GREYT!

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Prayer calendar

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In the pages to follow, we celebrate and thank God for 100 years of the LLL, reflecting on the broad-ranging impact it has had on the lives of so many people. I pray that you’ll find joy and inspiration in the stories and snippets about this most remarkable ‘member’ of our church family.

You’ll also meet our new LCANZ bishop-elect and read other news from the first-ever online sessions of General Synod. As usual, too, we’re pleased to share devotional materials and information about resources available to support our church family.

God bless your reading,

Lisa

Our cover: iStock.com The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

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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

C O M M U NI O N J O IN S U S W I T H C H R I ST A ND A L L B E L IE V E R S From 2002 to 2009 I worked as General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia. It was a remarkable role. I served 23 member churches and connected with their global counterparts, attending gatherings as far afield as the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North and South America and China, and closer to home in PNG, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and elsewhere.

During those years I noticed something about global Christianity which I still notice as LCANZ Bishop: despite being entrenched behind denominational, cultural and theological lines (usually in that order!), Christians almost universally value the practice of holy communion.

I have found this to be so even among determinedly ‘non-sacramental’ groups like the Salvation Army. As a Christian temperance movement, it abandoned the sacraments to avoid controversy.

But, a hundred years on, some officers I knew still attended communion in

I N CO M M U N ION WE ARE MADE ON E WITH CH RIST AN D, TH ROUG H CH RIST, WITH EACH OTH ER. 4

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other churches. One or two had even arranged their own baptisms. I don’t think they confessed this to their superiors, but they quietly admitted it to me.

Why is the practice of holy communion so pervasive even where there is no emphatic theology, such as Lutherans have, to support it? During important early debates on the topic, Lutherans learned to use certain words to describe what communion is and is not – terms such as ‘means of grace’, real presence’ of Christ, ‘true body, true blood’ and ‘in, with and under bread and wine’. We also learned to take communion seriously and how to prepare and receive it worthily by faith in the words of Christ.

Listening closely to other Christians, however, we find that they also describe a sacred act of God’s presence which humans cannot fully understand.

Despite our partial, incomplete knowledge, we are all in awe of God’s saving work through such apparently simple means.

I highly value and passionately believe in the Lutheran understanding of the sacraments – see Luther’s Small Catechism for the simplest explanation.

Luther wrote, ‘The words “given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”, show us that forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the sacrament through these words.’ This is central. The Son of

God gave his life for us. In communion we are made one with Christ and, through Christ, with each other. That’s not just the people in the same room or our denominational group. It means all believers in time and eternity. All your brothers and sisters are there at the altar with you, being served and saved

by Christ! So simple and yet profound.

Some bread, some wine, and the word bringing together all of God’s people.

Now, if we wanted to start a global faith to save the world, how would we go about it? We would want people to know the truth, understand it and obey. We would probably opt for a set of commitments, accompanied by appropriate rules and regulations.

But what did God do? What we call the New Testament today tells the story of Jesus’ life and teaching, written from various perspectives, and some important early Christian letters. Among many important truths, it reveals these simple acts – water and the word, bread and wine with the word. They are saving acts. Through them we become members of God’s family and receive eternal life.

Whatever our spiritual or theological bent, whatever church community we come from, communion tells the truth about who we Christians are.

God gathers us as one body in him, a mystery beyond our understanding and a powerful, continuing, saving grace for all who believe.

LLL founder Mr Ben Koch and his wife Esther promoted LLL by travelling around Australia visiting parishes and congregations in their VW Beetle and caravan. Estimated to be taken in the mid to late-1950s, this photo is on the private farm ‘Dosyvale’ in Henty NSW. The child is family friend Timothy Muller, who today is pastor at Woden Valley Lutheran Church in the ACT.

LLL 100 years on

– CHANGING TIMES, SAME PURPOSE On 14 November 2021, the Lutheran Laypeople’s League turns 100. From humble beginnings, an embryonic idea of Ben Koch to support the work of the church has become a substantial financial and administrative body. It has underpinned much of the mission, ministry and day-to-day operations of the Lutheran Church in Australia.

Our thanks to you It is because of you, our LLL savings account holders and donors, that we are able to support and serve the Lutheran church, just as we have done for the past 100 years.

To mark this occasion the LLL is producing a 100 year history book. As a gift to our depositors the book can be ordered free of charge. If you would like to receive a copy in the mail* or a digital copy emailed to you please email promotions@lll.org.au with your preferred delivery method. Please include your full name and either your postal address or preferred email address. The book will be available for distribution in early 2022.

We look forward to sharing our past, present and future with you.

For more information about how you can make a difference visit lll.org.au For more information or to open an LLL Personal Savings Account:

www.lll.org.au

Phone our office on

1800 556 457

*The history book is only available for LLL depositors, strictly one history book per household. No orders on behalf of friends, family or congregation members will be accepted. Limited supply.

Thank you!

Together in mission

1921–1939: H U M B LE B EG I N N I N GS The Lutheran Laymen's League (LLL) of Australia came into being mainly as a by-product of one person's activity in the life and work of the Lutheran Church – layperson Ben Koch. Koch’s activity in ELSA (Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Australia, later Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia – ELCA) policymaking, educational programs and mission expansion also involved him in the problems of the church’s financial position. He wondered how the money situation could be improved.

1972–1996: PEO PLE A N D PROG R A M S In 1972, Theo Koch was the executive officer. He joined the LLL in 1953. He took the roles of secretary/treasurer and then became executive secretary upon his father’s death in 1963.

On 14 November 1921 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide, the LLL was officially formed. Koch was elected president. The head office of the nationwide movement was to be in SA.

Already in 1973, an LLL Tract Mission Fund was created to enable tract distribution. The directors of the LLL believed supplying tracts not only benefitted recipients but served to remind people of the purpose of the LLL.

During the triennial convention of the ELSA at Lobethal in 1923, members of the LLL resolved to ask the Convention for sanction of the inauguration of the LLL and approval for the continuation of the movement.

Sanction and approval were given.

When Theo Koch retired in 1987, Richard Bartholomaeus was appointed executive secretary.

1940 –1971: R A PI D EXPA NSI O N Post-World War II was a growth time in church planting and home missions around Australia. The United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia (UELCA), which had numbered 28,602 members in 1939, grew to 63,233 by 1966; the ELCA grew from 27,154 to 51,875.

Most of the church and school building activity, which underpinned this growth in church planting in the ELCA, was provided by the growing resources of the LLL. The increase in LLL funds in this period is not explained simply by the changed economic situation. Other factors were its tradition of service, promotion by local

LLL TIMELINE

After years of discussion, the union of the ELCA and the UELCA took place on 29 October 1966. The Lutheran Church of Australia was born. The role of the LLL in this new church was constitutionally clarified as that of the Church Extension Department of the LCA.

The conviction grew that a large endowment reserve used in loan funding of church expansion programs would cut down interest loss and increase flexibility in planning and outreach.

By June 1922, the LLL had received £570 from 24 contributors. Circulating capital by 1929 was over £4000. This amount fell well short of Ben Koch’s initial target of £20,000, but it was still a significant amount, given the economic circumstances at the time.

Lutheran Laymen’s League (LLL) is constituted at Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide SA (14 Nov)

Despite economic problems, deposits in the LLL exceeded $50 million in 1991. In 1994 another milestone was passed when deposits exceeded $100 million.

The LLL had administered church worker pension matters in the ELCA. It was asked to continue to administer the new LCA Pensions Fund and Church Workers Retirement Fund. The LCA Superannuation Fund commenced on 1 January 1987 for pastors and lay workers. The LCA Staff Superannuation Fund commenced in 1988 for Lutheran school and aged-care employees, and other staff in Lutheran Church organisations.

In the mid-1990s the business name of the League was changed to the LLL. The popular name Lutheran Laymen's League was changed to ‘The Lutheran Laypeople's League of Australia’.

In 1996, the LLL reached a new milestone with the breaking of the $8 million barrier in benefits to the LCA.

1997–20 06: A CH A N G I N G WO R LD The LLL launched a website in April 2002 (LLL@Home).

By February 2004, total funds under LLL management

LCA forms from the union of the UELCA and the ELCA

Moves to 175 Archer Street, North Adelaide

1966

1921 1965 Moves from 70 Pirie Street, Adelaide to 54 O’Connell Street, North Adelaide

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congregational collectors, and regular deposits by children, especially in Lutheran day schools. The work of Ben Koch in visiting parishes was another factor.

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Lutheran Tract Mission is established from a merger of LCA Tract Mission and Life at Best

1981 1979

Commences the practice of giving of communion sets to all seminary graduates

1987 1983 LCA Property Provident Fund (LCA Insurance) begins

Right: Many Lutheran schools have benefitted from LLL support. Far right: LLL’s staff team in 2021.

Below right: Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide was the site of the LLL’s official formation.

had reached $500 million for the first time and by 2005, the LLL was administering the central treasury of the LCA. LLL computerisation provided another avenue of service for the LCA. The program known as Regular Electronic Giving (REG) allows members to give their weekly offering via electronic transaction. In 2006, around 1890 people in 252 congregations of the LCA were contributing around $324,000 per month.

In 2005 a school banking portal was created and the LLL donation portal was also launched. The latter allowed credit card donations and payments to LCA registered entities.

YO U A R E I N V I T E D TO J O I N U S I N G I V I N G T H A N KS F O R

20 07–2021: 21ST CENTU RY CH A LLEN G ES OF LLL AUSTR ALIA

Richard Bartholomaeus retired in 2008, after holding the position of CEO for 22 years. In this time … deposits grew from $12 million in 1977 to $430 million at 30 June 2008. Loans went from $8 million to $267 million. On 1 September 2008, Allen Kupke was appointed LLL CEO, only the fourth person to take this role.

2021 marks a milestone in the LLL’s history.

It is our 100-year anniversary of serving our supporters and the Lutheran Church in Australia. It is right and proper to give thanks and praise to God as we see what he has achieved through the hearts and hands of his people. We would like to acknowledge and honour our founder Ben Koch and all directors and staff who have faithfully served LLL over that century.

The LLL Board identified the need to apply for a financial services licence because the LLL was handling non-cash transactions. This licence was granted in 2009.

The LLL also applied to become an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) and accept bank status and oversight. This would provide greater security for depositors. The LLL was granted authority to operate as an ADI, effective from 1 February 2019. After nearly 98 years of operation, the LLL moved more formally into the banking world, operating as a charitable financial institution, one of the few in Australia.

Please join us for the LLL 100 Year Thanksgiving Service, to be held on the eve of our centenary anniversary:

Saturday 13 November 10am ACDT

February 2020 was another milestone for LLL account holders, with the launch of its long-awaited mobile banking app.

In late 2020, the LLL’s fourth CEO, Allen Kupke, retired. During his tenure as CEO, Allen Kupke oversaw the growth of deposits from $560 million in June 2009 to $1.28 billion at 30 June 2020. He was succeeded by Ross Smith.

Streamed live, the service will be held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Adelaide, and available to view on the LLL’s Facebook page.

A recording of the service will be available after the event for those who are unable to view the livestream.

This story is adapted from excerpts of The Challenge of Change: An expanded history of the Lutheran Laypeople’s League – 1921-2021.

1921-2021. Depositors can order a copy of the book free of charge. See page 5 for details.

Changes name from Lutheran Laymen’s League to Lutheran Laypeople’s League

Undergoes a rebrand and logo change from ‘Christians Working Together’ to ‘Finance with a mission’

1995 1988 Lutheran Tract Mission extension built and dedicated

2011 2002 LLL@Home internet banking is launched

LLL begins operating as an ADI under licence conditions granted by APRA

2019 2016 Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) application lodged with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

2021 LLL celebrates 100 years of service to the Lutheran Church

W H AT L L L M E A N S TO M E

and the church

John Henderson LCANZ Bishop

Jill Lange-Mohr OAM Lutheran school principal and former LLL Board member

In my teenage years in Canberra, we knew that the LLL would support you in planting the mission of the church, in putting up a building to worship in, in providing a manse for the pastor and keeping the mission of the church going. I always compare the church relationally to a family. And the LLL is a trusted senior part of the family and the support it gives for what the church is – its word and sacrament ministry – has been a very important part of the LCA becoming who it is today. I want to thank the LLL because I can see very little mission drift in the organisation – the way that you articulate your support for the church has remained faithful and true.

As a child after church, I heard the LLL rep mention ‘earmarked deposits’ – I wondered what marks they’d put on someone’s ear! I would later attend Concordia College Toowoomba, teach at Grace Lutheran College, become founding principal of St Peters Lutheran College Springfield and Head of College at Geelong Lutheran College campuses.

All these schools have experienced the benefits of the LLL. From 2005 to 2015, I was honoured to be an LLL Board member. I was astounded by the significant ways the LLL helped the LCA’s mission.

What a blessing the LLL has been in supporting our Lutheran Church's ministry through Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) to people in need! We see this in the grants from LLL Permanent Funds that directly support ALWS bringing love to life for vulnerable people. Meanwhile, in Australia, LLL supports ALWS development education in Lutheran schools. And LLL even steps out in Walk My Way, showing our community that we take seriously following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Aaron Glover Director LYQ

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Jonathan Krause Community Action Manager, ALWS

The LLL has generously supported LYQ ministry (Lutheran Youth of Queensland) and youth ministry across the LCA through grants and sponsorships that have seeded new ministry camps, made training days more accessible for volunteers and helped us to train ministry workers. What I love about the LLL is its clear missional focus and eagerness to support ministry with young people. I believe that the LLL is God’s gift to the LCA.

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My earliest memories of LLL were of having Ben Koch in our Henty home and his enthusiastic discussions with my father, over 70 years ago. From its beginning, the ‘heart’ of the LLL was – and has continued to be – mission.

My Dad was elected to the board in 1950. I was elected when he retired in 1978 until 2008. What a privilege and blessing to have seen, close-up, God's 1000-fold blessing … in that time!

Alan Zweck

former LLL Board member for 30 years

The LLL has been part of my life for as long as I remember. That small LLL passbook helped to build in me a savings culture. [Later,] I experienced its assistance with building the new Enfield church and Faith Lutheran College in Tanunda SA. As a teacher, I appreciated the pastoral care role of LLL’s tract mission, while its sponsorship of Lutheran Education conferences has been significant in engendering an understanding of Lutheran ethos in schools. Happy birthday, LLL!

Ev Leske

long-term account holder and co-editor of LLL’s expanded history, The Challenge of Change

Congratulations LLL! Local Mission thanks God for your mission heart, your ministry-minded stewardship and your financial support of mission across our church. From scholarships for professional development to grants for ministry in multiethnic communities, from church-planting support to enabling resources, from funding for media upgrades to supporting youth-leadership development, we thank God for your generous support. The LLL is such a blessing to the LCANZ. May God continue to bless the LLL into the future.

Tania Nelson Executive Officer – Local Mission Lutheran Church of Australia

d Rich ar

Allen

Leadership

ST I LL A B O U T R E L AT I O N S H I P S – AND MISSION Reflecting on the LLL’s centenary, it's startling to realise that in 100 years it has had only five leaders, whether serving as president, executive secretary, general manager or chief executive officer (CEO). Each has prioritised building relationships with the Lutheran Church, with the ultimate goal of supporting mission and ministry.

M R B E N KOC H , PR ES I D E NT, E X ECUTI V E S EC R ETA RY 1921–1963

Ben

On 14 November 1921, the LLL was formed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide, and Ben Koch elected president. LLL’s initial growth was attributed to his promotional tours and parish visits. In 1944, he was employed part-time as executive secretary and later was paid as a ‘regular church servant’. Ben served in this role until he died in 1963 – 42 years.

M R T H EO KOC H , E X ECUTI V E S EC R ETA RY 1963 –1986 Theo Koch joined the LLL in 1953. He took the roles of secretary/treasurer and became executive secretary after his father’s death. He steered the LLL through the formation of the LCA and consolidated its position as an auxiliary of the new church. He expanded the LLL’s support base by broadening its services. Known for his work ethic, understanding of church workings and sound financial judgement, Theo retired in 1986 after 33 years’ service.

Theo

M R R I C H A R D BA RT H O LO M A EUS , E X ECUTI V E S EC R ETA RY, G E N E R A L M A N AG E R , C EO 1987–20 0 8 Richard Bartholomaeus joined LLL as assistant secretary in 1977. Following the retirement of Theo Koch, Richard was appointed executive secretary in 1987. Later renamed general manager then CEO, it was a role he served in until retiring in August 2008. A strong and insightful leader, he offered a distinctive vision and optimistic spirit. His focus on promoting the LLL bore fruit in its growth of deposits and expansion of services to the LCA. Richard says: ‘It was always a joy to witness the people of the church respond so generously to the needs of the mission and ministry of the church.’

M R A LLE N KU PK E , C EO 20 0 8 –2020 Allen Kupke joined the LLL in 1988 as administration manager and became CEO when Richard Bartholomaeus retired. During Allen’s leadership, deposits reached unprecedented levels, and he led the LLL through the Global Financial Crisis and a changing regulatory environment while increasing lending to church projects. He later prompted the LLL to become an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution. After 32 years’ service, 12 as CEO, he retired in November 2020. He says a highlight of his leadership was enabling the mission dream of Shepparton congregation in Victoria to be realised: ‘God used the LLL as a conduit to join the needs of the Shepparton congregation with a generous donor who … enabled the construction of the new church complex.’

Ross

M R R OS S S M IT H , C EO 2020 – CU R R E NT LLL appointed Ross Smith as its CEO in November 2020. Ross has strong finance sector knowledge, a deep understanding of Christian schools’ needs, and brings the word of Christ to all he does. Focused on fostering long-standing relationships between depositors, borrowers and staff, he says, ‘At the heart of all that LLL performs is the trust of our depositors. They have provided the necessary financial capital to support developments in our Lutheran congregations and schools and I intend to foster that spiritual growth’.

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L L L LO O K S F O R W A R D TO T H E Concordia College SA was an early recipient of LLL suppor t.

Funds, gran ts and loans from LLL Au LCA projects stralia have and ministri suppor ted a es, from sem facilities, to vast range of camping min inar y, church istries, chur and school ch plants an buildings an d other outre d ach mis sion work.

From small beginnings, big things have grown The story of the LLL is unique. It shows how the vision of one person, Mr Ben Koch, has given many people the opportunity to serve God, his church and use their God-given resources and talents to advance the sharing of the gospel.

Since its inception in 1921, the mission of the LLL has been to provide aid to the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) and its various church bodies in business and financial matters.

The original intent was to raise capital to support church development by providing low-interest loans. As loans were repaid, new advances could be made. This basic premise of raising deposits and providing loans has remained the core function of the LLL for 100 years.

We are thankful for the strong connections and relationships the LLL has with congregation members, church leaders, school and care communities, and the support of our depositors and borrowers who believe in and value the mission of the LLL.

by G R A E M E H U F

As a separate legal entity, LLL operates independently of the LCANZ, but with the clear purpose of benefitting the church by providing loans for projects and supporting the LCANZ’s wider ministry and mission through gifts, donations and allocations. Over the past century, the LLL has helped to build churches, schools and respite and aged-care facilities, buy manses, assist mission work in Australia and abroad, and fund and administer a range of programs and activities in support of the church.

The LLL has achieved much in its first 100 years. While it now operates in a significantly different regulatory, social and economic environment to the one when Ben Koch first established the institution, the LLL’s purpose and commitment to supporting the work of those who proclaim Christ as Lord and Saviour remain unchanged.

Our Lord has blessed the work of the LLL. We thank you for your ongoing support as we look with confidence to our next 100 years!

Graeme Huf chairs the LLL Australia Board

Support from you to LLL in 2020/21

Support given by LLL to

LLL deposits

Total legacies

Donations

Missional loans

Permanent Fund Grants

More than $1.28 billion

$1.93 million from 12 estates

$23,840

Schools and kindergartens = $39.5m Congregations = $760k Aged Care = $1.9m

Total $1.48 million from LLL Permanent Funds

N E X T 10 0 Y E A R S

‘I don’t know what the future holds,

by R O S S S M I T H but I know who holds it’ As I reflect on the past 100 years of LLL operations, I thank and praise God. I am in awe of what God has achieved through the trust of our supporters. As the CEO with the responsibility to continue that, I acknowledge and honour our founder Ben Koch and all directors and staff who have faithfully served the LLL during this time.

The supporters of the LLL are the lifeblood of all that we do. Without them, all our missional work would not be possible. Safeguarding the interests and the security of our depositors and supporters is of the utmost importance. Our partnership with depositors is important as we walk side-by-side, together in mission, and I thank God most deeply for each supporter, past and present.

Today we operate in a very different business environment. Since becoming an ADI (Authorised Deposit-taking Institution) in February 2019, we have been operating in a very challenging financial market.

However, with God’s help and in his time, we will continue meeting these challenges. I am confident the skill set of the LLL Board, management and staff will continue to meet future borrower needs as it is especially important that depositors, borrowers and LLL continue to work in partnership to support the LCANZ.

The work of the LLL is to assist the mission of the Lutheran Church of Australia in two ways – by lending to church bodies and through grants from surpluses generated on capital funds.

Going forward, the LLL Board and Executive Management Team are looking at our strategic objectives. Now, as an ADI, we are looking at the best options to deploy the funds entrusted to us to: • Continue to enhance measures to protect depositors’ funds • Fulfil the missional intent of our supporters • Improve our ability to operate as funding partners for our schools, aged-care centres, congregations and other church projects • Grow our capacity to provide long-term sustainable support of the LCA We thank God for our blessings as we look to the future.

‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now’ (Philippians 1:3–5).

Ross Smith is Chief Executive Officer, LLL Australia

the LCA throughout 2020/21 financial year LLL loan rate

3.15%

1.70%* *as at 1 July 2021

LLL Noninterest-bearing Account Grants

$304,865 to many LCA projects

LLL Mission Outreach Grants

LLL Bursary Grants

LLL Camping Ministry Grants

$25,000 for each District, totalling $125,000

$150,000 2021 school year

$75,000 2021 calendar year

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DWELLING IN GOD'S WORD

We all have a role In the 1990s I travelled to the USA to join a Lutheran Youth Encounter musical team, ‘Captive Free’ touring the US east coast for 12 months. There were six of us: a drummer, a singer, a bass guitarist, lead guitarist, keyboard player, and sound technician. For a year we played all sorts of Christian music to share the good news and God’s love.

When one of us got sick, the whole band had to reconfigure and try to do the same without one – it sure made things difficult, as we were often having to do something out of our comfort zone!

Share a time you were asked to act ‘out of your comfort zone’?

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12–27.

I’m sure we have all read these verses many times. God has created each of us with unique gifts and talents to make a ‘whole’ in the body of Christ … the church. Every person has a role: from ushering, being a musician, and helping with communion, to making coffee, looking after children, counting the offering, sitting on a seat singing or being on the church council.

Read Romans 12:4–8. What are some of your gifts or roles that you play in church?

Just as we all have a role to play in our congregations, so also, your congregation has a role to play in the wider church. Your congregation is a member firstly of your district and then of the churchwide LCANZ and, within the wider church, there are other roles needed to keep good order. Within the LCANZ, people have other roles and responsibilities – our bishops, mission departments, Australian Lutheran College, media ministry, Lutheran Education Australia, Commission on Worship, Lutheran

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by Anne Hansen

Laypeople’s League and many more, including volunteer subgroups. Each cannot exist without the other to create a ‘whole’ body of Christ in this church.

Read Colossians 2:6,7.

How has your thankfulness for Christ extended to your thankfulness to your church and congregation?

Our church could not exist on its own. Each person has a role to play in Christ’s body, which is the church. This month we celebrate 100 years of the Lutheran Laypeople’s League (LLL). God has blessed our church with the generosity of each member in each congregation giving what they can to grow our Lutheran Church as we know it today. Over the years, LLL Australia has helped to build churches, schools, rest homes, early learning centres, and make many programs possible. We continue to give and share what we have to continue to grow our church’s outreach and other ministries.

In which ways could our LCANZ church grow and expand in its ministries? In what ways could your congregation improve or extend its role within the local community?

Read 2 Corinthians 4:5–7.

We are the body of Christ each with a role to play. Our focus is not to be on ourselves, but rather on Jesus Christ who died and rose again so that all who believe shall have eternal life. Our mission and role are not sedentary ones. We have been commissioned to spread the love and good news of Jesus to Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the world so that not one of God’s children will be lost.

Read Romans 10:13–15. So, what is your role now?

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) Development Officer. LTM is an outreach ministry of LLL Australia. Anne’s other roles have included pastor’s kid, state youth president, Lutheran Youth Encounter Events Director, nanny, Lutheran school teacher, pastor’s wife, mum to three children, puppeteer, musician and children’s ministry leader.

LCANZ bishop-elect ‘humbled’ by call to serve as church leader Mission, were the two candidates nominated for the role of Bishop by the LCA’s General Pastors Conference, which met online in July.

LCANZ bishop-elect Pastor Paul Smith says he is ‘humbled’ by his election

by General Synod and has asked for the prayers of church members as he prepares to take up the role next year.

Bishop-elect Paul (pictured), who is currently serving a six-month placement at St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly on behalf of the LCA’s Queensland District (LCAQD) and is the immediate past bishop of the LCAQD, was elected to the role for an initial sixyear term by delegates to the LCANZ’s historic 20th Convention of General Synod on Friday 1 October. He will succeed Bishop John Henderson, who

has served as bishop since 2013 but did not seek re-election and is retiring at the end of the year.

Bishop-elect Paul and Pastor Matt Anker, who serves the church as Assistant to the Bishop – International

‘I pray God’s blessing on this decision to call me to the work of bishop’, Bishop-elect Paul told the historic online gathering after his election. ‘I am humbled, and I am deeply aware that I am an earthen vessel, serving for Christ’s sake through faith and knowing that we share in the Lord’s promise that our labours in the Lord’s name are never in vain. The Lord will continue to build his church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’

FIRST-EVER ONLINE GENERAL SYNOD SESSIONS RUN SMOOTHLY The first-ever online sessions of a Convention of LCA General Synod have run smoothly overall, thanks to the diligent pre-Synod work done by most delegates.

method of voting was introduced for proposals, with OpaVote retained for elections.

Overwhelmingly, the delegates who attended one or more of the 10 online training and practice sessions offered before the two-day event were prepared and ready to fully participate in General Synod. Some initial problems were experienced around the long delivery time of emails sent to delegates using the OpaVote online voting system. To remedy this, an alternative ‘show of [electronic] hands’

Approximately 400 people participated in the online sessions of General Synod, including 375 lay and pastor delegates, chairs of boards, councils, committees and commissions, and non-voting consultants. In another first, among the delegate cohort for the 20th General Synod were six Aboriginal delegates

from the three new Language Area Agreement groups from Central Australia, some of whom joined General Synod from Yirara College in Alice Springs, while others took part from Hermannsburg.

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continued from page 13

LCANZ BISHOP-ELECT ‘HUMBLED’ BY CALL As well as thanking his wife Heidi and family for their support and praying a blessing for outgoing Bishop John, Bishop-elect Paul also acknowledged Pastor Matt.

‘I also thank Pastor Matt Anker for his Christian service in accepting nomination’, Pastor Paul said. ‘I look forward to working with you, Pastor Matt, as you continue to serve in the church.

‘Finally, I ask you to pray for me and for the communities of our church in Australia and New Zealand as we continue to labour together in the cause of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

‘In LHS 301, the hymn “Take Thou my hand and lead me”, that well-loved confirmation hymn written by Julie Hausmann, we have been taught to pray in whatever journey is ahead of us. In verse three of the hymn we pray:

“Though oft it seems thou hidest, Thy wondrous might, yet me Thou safely guidest through darkest night.

Take then my hand and lead me, till life is o’er.

With heavenly manna feed me, forevermore”.’

Ordained in 1988, Bishop-elect Paul has served in school ministry at Trinity Lutheran College Ashmore, St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly and Pacific Lutheran College Caloundra, all in Queensland; and in parish ministry at Tailem Bend-Karoonda Parish and Immanuel Lutheran Church North Adelaide, both in South Australia, and at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Toowoomba in Queensland. He was bishop of the LCAQD from 2015 until earlier this year when he did not seek

re-election at the Queensland District’s Convention of Synod. In addition to serving on the LCA’s College of Bishops and General Church Council and in various district roles, Bishop-elect Paul’s churchwide service has included being a member of the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations from 2015 to 2018 and the Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions from 2019 to 2021.

Bishop-elect Paul, who grew up in Far North Queensland with no Lutheran congregational background, and wife Heidi have three adult children.

In a first for the LCANZ, its General Synod met online for the first part of a two-part convention to be held across two years, with more than 370 delegates engaging with the worship and business sessions on Day 1 via the internet conferencing system Zoom.

continued from page 13

ONLINE SYNOD SESSIONS RUN SMOOTHLY Participants were supported by more than 80 people working on the technical and administrative aspects of running the live, online and interactive General Synod, which was hosted

by Concordia College in suburban Adelaide. As well as providing an outstanding venue, a number of the college’s technical staff assisted the LCANZ team with the video, audio, switching, livestreaming and recording components of the event. The technical aspects included livestreaming worship services from Queensland and Victoria.

Bishop John Henderson, who had announced that he would not be standing for re-election as LCANZ bishop, was formally thanked for his service in the role. During a rite of farewell, at which his wife Valmai and other members of his immediate family were present, he presented personal reflections on his nine-year term as bishop.

Delegates elected Pastor Paul Smith to be the next LCANZ bishop and Pastor Neville Otto as Assistant Bishop (see stories, pages 13–15).

13–15). They also

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Above: Pintupi-Luritja language area FRM delegates Punata Stockman and Pastor Stanley Roberts follow the online General Synod proceedings with Pastor Paul Traeger at Yirara College in Alice Springs.

Photo: Pastor Michael Jacobsen.

Right: Kathie Renner, right, and Morgan Brookes lead singing during General Synod worship.

elected the General Church Board to serve the LCANZ for the 2021–24 synodical term (see (see story, page 15).

15).

This latter decision required Synod to pass a motion to give effect to the new GCB serving from the conclusion of the 2021 online sessions of Synod.

God-willing, the second part of the 20th General Synod will be held in person. The venue and dates, still to be determined, will be advised as soon as details are known.

All sessions of Synod, including worship services and the report of LCANZ Bishop John Henderson, are available for viewing on the General Synod website at www.generalsynod. lca.org.au/livestream Members of the church might also like to view, download and share with their congregations the agency and department videos that delegates watched during their breaks at www.generalsynod.lca.org.au/videos

Former LCA secretary elected assistant bishop The General Synod of the LCANZ has elected Pastor Neville Otto, senior pastor at St Paul Box Hill in suburban Melbourne and former Secretary of the Church, as assistant bishop of the LCANZ. Elected during the online sessions of the LCANZ’s historic two-part convention on 2 October, he succeeds Rev Dr Andrew Pfeiffer, who has served as assistant bishop since 2015 and who did not stand for re-election.

Before serving at Box Hill since 2019, Pastor Neville was the LCA Secretary of the Church from 2009 to 2018, also filling the role of LCA Mission Director from 2009 to 2014.

New LCANZ Assistant Bishop Pastor Neville Otto during his service as General Secretary of the Church, with fellow LCA Reconciliation Action Plan team members Shona Reid and Marilyn Wall.

He served in the role now known as district bishop (then president) for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 2005 to 2009, and in parish ministry in Alice Springs and Sydney after being ordained in 1995.

Formation at Australian Lutheran College, were the two candidates nominated for the role by the LCA’s General Pastors Conference in July.

He and Rev Dr Stephen Pietsch, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Director of

Assistant Bishop-elect Neville, who will continue his ministry at Box Hill, took on

the new role from the end of part one of the Convention of General Synod on 2 October.

General Synod is scheduled to reconvene for in-person sessions in September-October 2022.

Synod elects General Church Board Hobart barrister Kim Baumeler has been elected to serve on the LCANZ’s General Church Board (GCB) by the LCANZ’s General Synod.

Ecclesiastical Discipline Review team, which, based on a General Synod 2018 resolution, reviewed and made recommendations into the way the LCANZ deals with matters of church discipline.

Joining Ms Baumeler as fellow lay members on GCB are Paul Argyle, Charmaine Harch, Tim Wiebusch, Mel Zerner and Peter Zweck, who were re-elected at the 20th Convention of General Synod’s online sessions on 2 October.

Rev Dr Tim Stringer, who joined GCB part-way through the last term after the death of NSW and ACT Bishop James Haak, was re-elected by Synod as GCB pastor member.

The other two members of the GCB by virtue of their positions are LCANZ Bishop John Henderson and new

Chair of St Peters Hobart congregation, she was also part of a working group for LCANZ’s constitution review and is deputy chair of the board of Eastside Lutheran College in Hobart.

Assistant Bishop Pastor Neville Otto.

Bishop-elect Pastor Paul Smith will replace retiring Bishop Henderson on GCB in 2022.

Former GCB members Faye Schmidt, who was first elected to General Church Council as it was then called in 2015, and Assistant Bishop Pastor Andrew Pfeiffer, who also served from 2015, did not nominate for re-election.

Ms Baumeler, pictured above, was chair of the church’s three-member

They were thanked for their service by Bishop Henderson.

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Lutheran Women leaders installed The Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Executive Committee has been installed to lead the LCANZ auxiliary for the next three years.

The installation by LCANZ Bishop John Henderson of LWA President Grace Kroehn, Vice-President Maureen Turner, Secretary Val Schild, Treasurer Beryl Smith and Extra Member Dianne Adams took place on Sunday 3 October during worship held as part of the Convention of Synod at Concordia College chapel Highgate SA. LWA custom is to elect an executive of members from the state in which its next convention is to be held, in this case, South Australia. However, Western Australian Dianne Adams is part of the team as WA does not have a large enough membership to host national conventions and does not form a standalone executive team.

Incoming President Grace said the new committee had ‘hit the ground running’, holding its first meeting on the same day as the installation. She also acknowledged the work and the disappointment of the outgoing executive from Lutheran Women of Victoria, which had planned and prepared the LWA Convention scheduled to be held in Horsham in September, only for it to be cancelled due to COVID-19 shutdowns, restrictions and uncertainties.

‘We feel for them having put in all the work and preparations for the convention

LCANZ Bishop John Henderson installs the new Lutheran Women of Australia Executive Committee on Sunday 3 October during worship held as part of the Convention of Synod at Concordia College chapel Highgate SA.

only for it not to have eventuated’, she said, passing on thanks to outgoing President Wendy Habel and fellow executive members Irma Dymke, Linda Niewand, Irene Geer and Leonie Hateley.

Grace, who finished a four-year stint as Lutheran Women of South AustraliaNorthern Territory president in May this year and had previously held a range of positions at district level, also said the new LWA executive intended to make use of any items purchased or prepared for the cancelled convention for the 2024 event if at all possible.

With the 2021 national meeting unable to go ahead, LWA delegates conducted some business by postal ballots. The ratification of nominations for the new

LWA executive was done via Zoom internet conferencing in June.

Backed through district, parish and congregation-based Lutheran women’s groups, which meet for fellowship, study, fundraising and other forms of service, LWA is committed to supporting 11 projects within the LCANZ and its partner churches overseas.

These include Aboriginal missions; Australian Lutheran World Service; LCA International Mission programs and partnerships in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand; support for overseas students studying at Australian Lutheran College (ALC); the ALC Women’s Auxiliary and the ALC Pastoral Ministry Assistance Fund.

QUEENSLAND WELCOMES NEW BISHOP Pastor Mark Vainikka has been installed as the new bishop for the LCANZ’s Queensland District.

Watched via livestream by family members interstate and overseas, including his parents, who were in lockdown in Victoria, Bishop Mark (pictured) was installed on Sunday 19 September during a service hosted

by Redeemer Lutheran College, Rochedale, by District Bishop Emeritus Noel Noack. Due to COVID-19 travel restriction concerns, Bishop Emeritus Noel represented LCANZ Bishop John Henderson, who shared words of encouragement for the new bishop via a video greeting, which was played

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very last, and the servant of all”.’

Queensland First Assistant Bishop Ben Hentschke, Second Assistant Bishop Nathan Glover and Bishop Emeritus Paul Smith, the immediate past bishop, assisted with the service.

during the service. Bishop Emeritus Noel also preached at the installation service on the gospel text of Mark 9:30–37, focusing on verse 35: ‘Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the

Many of the participants in the service represented the parishes and schools Bishop Mark has served in ministry since being ordained as a pastor of the LCA in 2002.

Elected unopposed as bishop during the Queensland District Convention of Synod at Eight Mile Plains in June, he succeeds Bishop Emeritus Paul, who served in the role since June 2015, 2015,

Bishop urges church to ‘act for good of all’ LCANZ Bishop John Henderson has urged church members to ‘act for the good of all’ as they respond to issues around COVID vaccines and ‘passports’.

‘It’s our individual choice to be in favour of vaccination or to oppose it, and to form our own views on any purported “passport” scheme. Whatever we think of such things, however … under God each of us has the right, privilege and duty to act for the good of all, restrain any sense of panic, and to maintain good order and a spirit of neighbourliness and compassion that goes beyond selfinterest and seeks to serve others.’

Bishop Henderson gave the encouragement in a ‘Heartland’ eNews entitled ‘A Pastoral Note to Members of the LCANZ: COVID Vaccines and Passports’, published in September.

‘We are in the midst of a pandemic, a disease which is likely to be with us for quite some time’, he said in the eNews.

‘Our elected Australian and New Zealand governments – with some exceptions – seem committed to relaxing COVIDrelated restrictions and opening up borders when we reach agreed vaccination thresholds.

‘It’s a time of mixed feelings. One emotion is relief – vaccines are an answer to prayer, giving us a means of protecting lives and ending mass lockdowns. But another emotion is apprehension … We are apprehensive about living with COVID … How much smaller (than other places) our toll of disease and death will depend directly on how many of us are vaccinated.

‘I respect people’s right to make their own choice, and I recognise that a few

continued from page 16

people cannot receive the vaccine for medical reasons. In general, though, I do encourage church members who are eligible to take advantage of the vaccines.’ He said that the national Australian church leaders with whom he has spoken about these issues see the hand of God at work in the unprecedented cooperation that resulted in not just one but several vaccines.

They see this as an answer to prayer.

‘Yes, there are ethical questions about the vaccines ... I encourage Christians to look into the evidence which overall shows that we can, in good conscience, accept the vaccines currently on offer through our governments.’

Bishop Henderson affirmed that public worship should be open to all, but he does not think it helpful to regard any future temporary moves to restrict access to venues to those who are fully vaccinated or have exemptions, or so-called ‘vaccine passports’ as ‘persecution’. ‘An implied benefit is to

motivate people to get vaccinated if they want to get back to normal life’, he said of the passport concept. ‘A large part of the population appears to consider this approach ethically justified as long as it is temporary. For our part, we in the LCANZ want to keep our public worship services open to all … It is very likely that, for some time yet, we will need to continue the personal hygiene and physical distancing measures with which we have become familiar.

‘I see no evidence that the concept of a vaccine passport constitutes a deliberate attack or persecution against Christians.

I don’t think it is helpful, or fair, to view it through the lens of a threat to religious freedom. So far, during COVID, our governments have done their best to understand the needs of churches and accommodate them.’

You can read the full message on the LCA website at: www.lca.org.au/apastoral-note-to-members-of-the-lcanzcovid-vaccines-and-passports/

QUEENSLAND WELCOMES NEW BISHOP

did not seek re-election, and is now bishop-elect for the LCANZ. As well as serving in parish and school ministries, Bishop Mark was previously the LCAQD vice-president/ assistant bishop for eight years, first assistant bishop since 2018 and the

full-time first assistant since 2019.

Addressing District Synod after his election, he said: ‘It’s very humbling.

You have entrusted me to be your bishop. It is a call to serve you.’

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

He migrated to Australia with his family as a child and was an active member of Mikael Agricola Finnish Lutheran Church, Melbourne.

Bishop Mark was born in Helsinki, Finland, and was baptised in the

Mark married Minna in 1988. They have three adult children.

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Is this your new watering hole?

Sea changes are over-rated. Try a Red Centre change instead.

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

L U T H E R A N

We’re inviting Lutherans of all ages and life experiences to come to Central Australia to grow our community. Bring yourself, bring your family, bring your faith, bring your gifts, skills and talents - and we’re sure you’ll discover a God-designed place just for you.

Come for 6 months, 12 months, or stay for a lifetime.

Our community needs pastors, teachers, nurses, social workers, trainers, trades and maintenance people. There are loads of employment opportunities in the Centre, so your partner will find a job too. Plus, there are endless ways you can volunteer!

The Lutheran Church in Central Australia employs more than 200 people, across the Alice Springs Lutheran Church, Finke River Mission (including the Historical Precinct and Hermannsburg Store), Lutheran Care, Yirara College and Living Waters Lutheran School. Together we are already a vibrant Lutheran community enjoying Christian service, fellowship and growth.

All we need to complete us is you.

Interested? Contact Wayne Beven (Finke River Mission Operations Manager) for information about opportunities and lifestyle for Lutherans in the Centre.

Email lcica@lca.org.au

C H U R C H

I N

C E N T R A L

A U S T R A L I A

ES R ESO U RC ...

O T U O FOR Y

BEING BOLD WITH THE GOSPEL

BY A N N E H A N S E N

‘In partnership with God, I try to get the word out, sow the seed, then leave it to my partner the Holy Spirit to work according to his will.’ This simple explanation of mission and evangelism was written by a faithful person being bold in sharing the gospel.

There is no better time than Christmas to be bold and deliberate in telling others about the gospel. Christmas is the time of the year that most people in Australia and New Zealand celebrate. Whether Christian or not, they seem to resonate with the baby born in the manger in Bethlehem.

We love singing beautiful carols and enjoying the peacefulness the season can offer – when we’re not overwhelmed by the frantic nature of a secular Christmas! As Christians, this is a time of year we need to use to our advantage to share God’s word and Jesus’ love among a world desperately needing his love and peace.

S H A R I N G T H E J OY W I T H N EI G H B O U RS As Christmas approaches, an idea for congregations is to put the new Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) colouring-in nativity postcard in letterboxes to inform locals of your Advent and Christmas worship times. You could also add a text card – ‘Jesus is the Reason for the Season’ or ‘A silent night’ – with some homemade biscuits to give to your neighbours.

As one of our faithful users of tracts tell me, ‘Tracts are a silent way of evangelism’.

LTM has more than 950 resources to be used to share God’s love, joy, comfort and peace – at Christmas and year-round. Check out the website: www.ltm.org.au

IDEAS FOR ADVENT AN D CH RISTMAS At Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM), we have produced new resources for Advent and Christmas. There are things for children including our popular magnetic nativity and sticker Advent calendars, along with a new ‘Christmas Chatterbox’. Children can make the ‘chatterbox’ and adults can then play it with them – it’s an easy way to share God’s story.

There is also a new Advent downloadable devotional entitled ‘In God’s Family’ for your congregation to copy and share – not just among members but also to pass out to neighbours and friends. One of our new Christmas bookmarks – ‘Joy to the World’ or ‘For you … Jesus was born’ – go well with the Advent devotional. You may also wish to add the leaflet ‘Born in a Manger’ to explain the significance of Jesus being born this way.

Anne Hansen is LTM Development Officer. LTM is an outreach ministry of the LLL.

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PAC K F U L L O F W O RS H I P I N F O R M AT I O N

BY J O D I B RO O K

Our Lutheran worship is full of meaning and purpose. The flow of the elements of worship is intentional. Our Grow Ministries worship pack is full of ideas and teaching tools designed to increase your understanding and that of your family, by helping to explain ‘Why we do the things we do in our Lutheran worship’.

W H AT I S I N T H E W O R S H I P PAC K ?

• ‘Why we do the things we do in our Lutheran worship’ booklet: This goes into detail and explains the different parts of our worship and provides the biblical foundation for them. It makes an excellent Bible study or teaching tool for adult small groups, youth or young adult Bible studies, or as a confirmation resource.

• Flow of worship activity: This teaching tool is designed to involve younger members of our congregations in the flow of our worship service and help them begin to understand what happens.

• Colouring-in book: This can be used in a welcome pack for children to colour in and learn what it means to be a Lutheran.

• Worship notes: There are two different designs – one for younger children and one for older children. They are designed to be filled out during the service as children hear and see what is going on.

• Equipping sheets: These sheets equip leaders and give a greater understanding of what intergenerational worship can look like. They include ideas on how to welcome children and families to worship and helpful guidelines for leading a children’s address.

• Worshipping with young children: This is a guide to equip congregations and parents of young children with knowledge about the importance and struggles of worshipping together.

C H A N C E TO S H A R E FA I T H TO G E T H E R We pray that this worship resource pack provides a wonderful opportunity to share in faith together. You can purchase it for $15 from Grow Ministries online store at www.growministries.org.au/shop Please contact Grow at growministries@lca.org.au or by phone on 08 8267 7300 if you have questions or would like to know more about our other resources.

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

Jodi Brook is Director of Grow Ministries.

E X P LO R I N G T H E ELEM ENTS OF WORSH IP The LCANZ’s Commission on Worship (CoW) is offering new resources about our Lutheran worship practices for those who are keen to delve deeper or teach others. They are designed to complement the worship pack from Grow Ministries (see (see adjacent story). story).

CoW has produced a series of nine short videos with accompanying fact sheets as a guide to the key elements of worship. They have been created with a service-preparation focus, but can also be used in wider teaching.

The ‘Elements of Worship’ video series topics include ‘Gathering’, ‘The Word’, ‘Holy Communion’, ‘Music’, and ‘Visual Art and Drama’. Under each video, you will see a link to a fact sheet and links to other resources related to that video.

You can find them on the Worship Planning Page (www.lca.org.au/wpp (www.lca.org.au/wpp)) under the ‘Learn’ tab.

CO N N E C T I N G C H I L D R E N TO CH RISTIAN CAR E CO N CEPT Christian Care Sunday, the LCANZ project which encourages congregations to celebrate and thank God for ministries of care, now offers children's and preschool ministry resources.

These include preschool and children's ministry starter kits to connect under 5s and children aged 5 to 12 with Christian Care Sunday, colouring and art resources on the topic of compassionate action and love in action, a special prayer with actions, and intergenerational worship resources, many of which are provided by the LCANZ’s Grow Ministries.

To find them, go to www.lca.org.au/ccs/ christian-care-resources and click on the 'For Kids' tab.

CO N G R AT U L AT I O N S TO T H E L L L !

BY R I CH A R D F OX

Thanks to God for the gift of the LLL and for the people who have served with and deposited at the LLL across 100 years to provide for the ministry and mission of the LCANZ. Because of the LLL and its partnership with Lutheran Media, we have been able to continue to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ.

H OW FU N DS H AV E B EEN R A I S ED I N PA RT N ERS H I P W I T H LU T H ER A N M ED I A • Regular Media Electronic Giving (MEG: www.lutheranmedia.org.au/support-us/meg)) www.lutheranmedia.org.au/support-us/meg • Interest donated by depositors (through noninterest-bearing accounts) • Special ministry grants and gifts • Donations to the Lutheran Media Support permanent fund (www.lutheranmedia.org.au/ (www.lutheranmedia.org.au/ support-us/support-fund)) support-us/support-fund These funds have helped establish a worship DVD and online streaming ministry that have enabled thousands of people to join in with Lutheran worship.

CO NTI N U I N G SU PPO RT R EACH ES MILLIONS The support of the LLL and its depositors continue to enable the missions of Messages of Hope and Happyland to reach millions of people, including families, with Jesus’ message of hope.

You can find out more at www.lutheranmedia.org.au under the ‘Support Us’ tab at the top of the webpage.

Thank you LLL, and we pray for many more years of partnership in spreading the gospel.

Pastor Richard Fox is Director of Lutheran Media.

SHARING H O S P I TA L I T Y W I T H PA RT N E R CH U RCH ES

BY ER I N K ER B ER

Eating with others can be a profoundly spiritual act when it is used as a way to express love through a focus on hospitality, community and mission.

With this in mind, LCA International Mission has published Soul Food, Food, a book of recipes from countries where the LCANZ’s partner churches are based. Along with colourful photos, it contains instructions and ingredient lists to make 23 dishes from Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Erin Kerber is LCA International Mission Program Officer.

RECIPE BOOK SUPPORTS OVERSEAS MISSION By ordering your copy (or copies) of Soul Food, Food, you will be supporting ministry done through hospitality among LCA International Mission partner churches, and we hope and pray you will use the recipes in it to provide hospitality to those in your community.

All proceeds from Soul Food will help our overseas partners to share the gospel of Christ’s love and forgiveness as they welcome those who don’t yet know him as Lord. Why not consider this as a Christmas present for friends and family members?

You can order the books for a donation of $20 per copy. For more information or to order Soul Food, Food, please contact Erin Kerber at erin.kerber@lca.org.au or phone 08 8267 7317. You can also watch a video about the book, which features testimonies from our overseas mission partners at https://vimeo.com/617489062 The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

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Is the gloom of COVID ‘getting on your goat’?

• 5 gifts under $10 (Sunday school, grandkids) • a barnyard of 5 animals to choose • gifts so those vulnerable aren’t forgotten • new Grace Cards with Christmas tree bauble • bright yellow envelopes Adeline in Burundi received a goat through ALWS, along with training in how to raise it. Goats breed twice a year, and kids sell for $40 each. Adeline says: ‘This is how I paid for my son’s school fees and books to send him to university.’

From a goat to university … what will your ALWS Gifts of Grace do this year?

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shine tote bag, inspired by a Burundi handicraft group.

That’s why this year’s Gifts of Grace are G.O.A.T. (G (Greatest Of All Time).

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you shine a light of hope in the darkness (Isaiah 58:10).

Photo: H. Wikstro

That’s why this year’s ALWS Gifts of Grace aims to help

PLUS, you can do PLUS, all your Christmas shopping at home.

Photo: H. Wikstrom

COVID has kept us too far apart, for too long, from those we care about.

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ALWayS for those forgotten

CHURCH

@home

www.lca.org.au/churchhome

ISAIAH 26:4

TRUST IN THE LORD FOREVER, FOR (HE) IS THE ROCK ETERNAL.

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Regular devotions can help nurture our faith and even that of our families, as they strengthen our relationship with Jesus, increase our trust in God and our openness to the call of his Spirit. We pray that you will receive blessings from the devotional materials here and in the Church@Home resources collection collated and shared on the special webpage at www.lca.org.au/churchhome If you have internet access and a printer, why not print some and mail or deliver them to those who may otherwise miss out?

DEVOTIONS FOR HOME WORSHIP

Lisa

These reflections are adapted from a collection of devotions written for our LCANZ family and friends to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus. You can find the full versions of these and others on the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/daily-devotion

Proverbs 31’s unattainable woman YSBONIAHULME

‘A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies’ (Proverbs 31:10).

Read Proverbs 31:10–31.

The book of Proverbs is intriguing and earlier chapters also have plenty of female imagery. This is not surprising, considering the target audience of this ancient piece of writing. Young men, who were being prepared for life in court, who would lead and rule, needed schooling about living well. What better language to use to catch the attention of testosterone-fuelled teenagers than that of young women? Proverbs outlines their two choices – the path of wisdom (portrayed as a wise lady) or the path of foolishness (portrayed as a temptress and adulteress who will lead them astray). The ‘perfect wife’ which ends the book of Proverbs, then, can be seen as the ultimate portrayal of what it means to be wise.

With its male-centred focus, how do we read this passage and embody its truths? If I am not male and not going to rule, what does it say to me? How do I find this precious jewel, this capable and noble ‘wife’ (wisdom), to guide me in my life? For anyone – male or female – Proverbs 31 has a clue in its details. This woman lives

well by taking care of the everyday things in her context.

They will be different in your 21st-century world, but they are there, all the same. You may not have fields planted out and a husband sitting at the city gate while you make your linen garments, but there are plenty of ‘small things’ in your life, things that need to get done. What are the things you need to take care of, the things no-one else might see except you and God? Take care of the small stuff, head into your day with Jesus walking beside you, and you are on the way to living wisely and well! When you fail, as you will, let Jesus into those struggles too, and receive his grace to keep on walking.

Lord, I am thankful you do not call me to aspire to be the Proverbs 31 woman but to be my wisest me in my context with the people you have placed around me. Help me live generously and love those around me with the love you have freely passed on to me. And when I need wisdom to live well, help me turn to you, the source of all perfect wisdom from God. Amen.

The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

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DEVOTIONS FOR HOME WORSHIP

King David on how to run a fundraiser!

BY PASTOR STEPHEN ABRAHAM

‘But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?

Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand’ (1 Chronicles 29:14).

Read 1 Chronicles 29:10–19.

Have you ever been involved in building something for God’s kingdom?

Maybe your church was fundraising to update the worship centre or start a new school, school building project or program.

This is the setting for this text. In the final years of his reign, King David has it on his heart to finally build the temple in Jerusalem. Because he had ‘drawn blood’ as a military commander, he wasn’t permitted to build it.

The actual oversight of building it would fall to David’s son, Solomon. But David was the initial project manager laying all the groundwork. We read in chapter 28 that the Spirit of God had inspired David with architectural plans to build this great and glorious temple – even down to the budgetary costings of gold and silver needed for the lampstands and finery! At the beginning of chapter 29, King David has a great assembly with all the leaders, commanders and officials (the well-to-do of society).

And it’s like he holds our equivalent of a fundraising gala or benefactor dinner to raise money for the project.

And then, right at the high point of the event, as the money and donations are rolling in, this happens …

Re-read 1 Chronicles 29:10–13.

Yes, they break out into a full-blown worship service!

Starting with this amazing song of praise (verses 10–13) that acknowledges that everyone’s riches belong to God anyway.

Re-read 1 Chronicles 29:13–20.

David breaks out into a prayer of gratefulness. Just reading it, you get the sense of the joy and excitement David had. As he prays in verse 17: ‘I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.’

CHURCH

@home

I wonder whether these passages give us a model of how we can raise funds for projects the Spirit is guiding us to build.

Praise be to you, Heavenly Father, for all the wonderful gifts you have given us to enjoy. Thank you for the LLL and the hundreds of projects it has supported over the decades. Holy Spirit, guide our communities who are building. May we worship and acknowledge you as the giver of all good things as we donate those treasures that we have that are ‘on loan’ from you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

PRAYER LET YOUR WORD SHINE Dear God, let your Word shine in our hearts by your Holy Spirit.

Make it so bright and warm that we always find our comfort and joy in it.

Amen.

– Martin Luther (1483-1546AD), from justprayer.org

Childlike humility ‘But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest’ (Mark 9:34).

Read Mark 9:30–37.

Jesus and his disciples were travelling from place to place. Jesus had already predicted his death (Mark 8:31–33), and he had taught that being a disciple meant denying self and following him (Mark 8:34).

Peter, James and John had witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration, and still, the disciples argued among themselves about who was the greatest. How often do we (you, me) do this? How often do we experience that Jesus has something profound to say to us about who he is, about what is happening, about something supernatural, something that we do not understand? How often has Jesus spoken to us, given us his direction and asked us to do something, and still, we are concerned about our own greatness?

We gloss over what is supremely important in our walk with God, and we focus on ourselves. We justify, saying, ‘I am okay, better, smarter, stronger, prettier, more important, greater than … ’ Where is the humility and servitude in our approach?

BY CAROLYN EHRLICH Further along in this passage, we are instructed to welcome children.

Yes, we are to take this literally, but we are also to embrace the childlike qualities of simplicity, innocence and humility. Instead of focusing on ourselves, on our own sense of self-importance and greatness, we are directed to welcome little children – because when we do, we welcome Jesus.

In Jesus’ time, welcoming implied service. A host serves their guest. Selfless serving is the hallmark of Christianity.

So, we are to selflessly serve everybody, including children.

How will you humble yourself and simply and innocently welcome God, our Father, today?

Father God, you are an amazing, gracious and wonderful God. Instead of welcoming you, I so often argue with others in ways that reflect my sense of self-importance and self-reported greatness. I do this privately and publicly. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ awesome name, I pray, Amen.

How much is enough?

BY PASTOR MARK GIERUS

‘You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God’ (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Read 2 Corinthians 9:6–15.

When it comes to giving, how do you go? Do you give from what you have leftover, or do you give because you can?

If you won or inherited a substantial amount of money, what would you do with it? New car? Pay off debts, mortgage, and school fees, buy new clothes, take holidays (in our limited COVID context), or simply put it in the bank? But would you give some away?

What does God say about giving? Do you need to give a percentage? Or what you promise, no matter what? You see, it is not about the amount, nor is it up to you and me to judge what others should give. Saint Paul reminds us to give what we have decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. This is about cheerful giving.

God wants us to give and to be generous and cheerful in giving. If it is not money, give your time cheerfully. If it is a skill someone else needs, share it with a cheerful heart.

And if it is money, give what you decide cheerfully.

God will enrich us daily, especially by his word, so we can be generous with the gifts he gives us. I am talking

about worldly things, but also the gifts of God’s grace, mercy and love, which we can share generously.

Start with a generous heart in everything you do, and God who is faithful will give you all you need to do the work he sends you to do in Jesus’ name.

Gracious Father, you give us so much. Help us give generously in all things – our time, our talents and our treasures, knowing that you have first given to us. Thank you that while we were still sinners, you generously gave us your only Son, Jesus, to suffer and die for our sins. Amen.

The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

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DIRECTORY CALLS

• Rev James M Winderlich • Rev Australian Lutheran College SA to Morphett Vale SA

Extended • Rev Andrew R Brook • Rev Unley SA to Wyndham-Hobsons Bay Vic

Accepted

• Rev Simon W Cooper • Rev Good Shepherd Lutheran College Noosa Qld to Immanuel College Novar Gardens SA • Rev Paul A Hage • Rev Maitland SA to Lowood Qld • Rev Tim J Jarick • Rev Pacific Lutheran College Caloundra Qld to St Martins Lutheran College Mount Gambier SA • Rev David J Kuss • Rev Birdwood SA to Christ Church Murray Bridge SA

• Rev Paul A Hage • Rev Maitland SA to Redeemer Toowoomba Qld

Declined • Rev Tim C Ebbs • Rev Glenelg SA to Mid Murray SA • Rev Greg J Fowler • Rev Golden Grove SA to Bethany-Tabor SA

• Rev Sam D Modra • Rev Tabor Vic to Carlsruhe-Saddleworth SA

• Rev Graham K Pfeffer • Rev Biloela Qld to Lowood Qld

• Rev Graham K Pfeffer • Rev Biloela Qld to Lowood Qld

• Rev Joshua L Pfeiffer • Rev Bethlehem Adelaide SA to St Martins Lutheran Church Mount Gambier SA

• Rev Joshua L Pfeiffer • Rev Bethlehem Adelaide SA to St Martins Lutheran Church Mount Gambier SA

SUDOKU

4

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

October's solution 5

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26

The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

• Rev Janos G Dabasy • Rev Change in call eligibility status from Specific Ministry Pastor to SMP Emeritus from 10 September 2021 • Rev Robin M Zadow • Rev Change in call eligibility status from General Ministry Pastor to Pastor Emeritus from 10 October 2021

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• Rev Matt D Thiele • Rev Installed at Nambour Qld on 3 October 2021 by Bishop Mark Vainikka

In Memoriam

2 9

• Rev Mark Vainikka • Rev Installed as Qld District Bishop at Redeemer Lutheran College Chapel Rochedale Qld on 19 September 2021

by Bishop Emeritus Noel Noack

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9 2

INSTALL ATIONS

ROLL OF PASTOR S

• Rev Paul A Hage • Rev Maitland SA to Lowood Qld • Rev Ian C Lutze • Rev Tanunda Lutheran Homes SA to SA-NT District Chaplaincy Ministry

• Rev Ian C Lutze • Rev Tanunda Lutheran Homes SA to SA-NT District Chaplaincy Ministry

• Rev Tim P Stringer • Rev Greensborough Vic to Morphett Vale SA

Lloyd John Rev Lloyd Vincent John born 9 Oct 1931 (Tanunda SA); ordained 31 Jan 1955 (Stockwell SA); married Nona Bethly nee Hermann 28 April 1956 (Springhead SA) (She died 15 Mar 2005); served St Marys NSW (1955–1960), Natimuk Vic (1960–1966), Bundaberg Qld (1968–1973), GlyndeMagill SA (1973–1977), Glynde SA (1977–1985), Chaplain – Institutional Missions (special hospitals) SA District (1985–1996); retired 9 Oct 1996; died 28 Sept 2021 (Hope Valley SA); funeral 5 Oct 2021 (Hope Valley SA); mourned by children Lynette, Andrew and David and families.

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.

114. In an emergency, call 000 000..

HIDDEN

HURTS

HEALING

HEARTS

LCA PREVENTION OF DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE

w w w.preventdf v.lca .org.au

YOUR VOICE Use Jesus’ answers for complex questions

There is quite a strong discussion taking place here in Victoria, around the issues of vaccinations and mask-wearing. I’ve been encouraged by many different Christian people over the years to turn to Scripture when trying to determine the answers to difficult questions. So, I looked at the lawyer, one of many people who went to Jesus with questions about life. The response he got was, as was so often Jesus’s way, a story. This was the story of The Good Samaritan.

In looking more deeply into this parable, Christian clinical counsellor Alison Auld comments that ‘The priest and Levite chose their own agenda over helping the man on the other side of the road’, so that, in this word story, ‘God is teaching us that we are to put our neighbours ahead of ourselves in thought, word and deed’. However, to be able to achieve this, to be a good neighbour, ‘we must first love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind’.

So, this means that ‘to love others well, we have to be filled with the love of God first. Our hearts, souls and minds must be transformed and focused on the Lord before we can ever love our neighbours selflessly and intentionally’.

Covid restrictions on worship ‘over the top’

LETTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE LCANZ

Over the past year or so, Australians (and the rest of the world) have had to endure restrictions to freedoms we have long taken for granted (to keep us ‘safe’ of course).

The church, too, has had restrictions on if we can worship and how we can worship, including restrictions on the common cup and, of course, singing.

This to me seemed a bit over the top, so I checked the Australian Constitution and, sure enough, freedom to and of worship is enshrined in this rulebook for politicians.

So, what’s happened here? Is someone not playing by the rules?

The answers to the questions about the times we find ourselves in are complex. However, if we approach them in this spirit, surely this will help us in our decisions.

It was therefore very encouraging to see our Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters pushing back successfully against trampling on their ancient practice of holy communion.

I sincerely hope that the end result doesn’t become one of fellow Christians becoming pitted one against another.

At what point do we in the LCA draw a line in the sand and say, ‘this far and no further’?

Ruth Gellert – Willaura Vic

Arnie Pfitzner – Frances 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.

Study with

Have you heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit calling you, but don’t know what steps to take next? Do you long to share your love of Christ and his life-changing word to inspire the faith journey in others?

Discover how studying at ALC can help you to grow and become equipped for ministry and service as a pastor, teacher, church leader or lay worker. Or perhaps you are at a stage in your life where you just want to study for interest’s sake.

With undergraduate and postgraduate courses, vocational education and training, professional development workshops and online learning, ALC has options to suit everyone, and our courses are available to study from anywhere.

Find just the right course for you by visiting our website at alc.edu.au

Learn | Grow | Serve

For course advice, make an online inquiry at https://alc.edu.au/study/enquire/ or email enquiries@alc.edu.au E n ro l m e n t s f o r s t u dy i n 2 0 2 2 a r e n ow o p e n .

1 Peter 4:10

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

Walking God’s way

in the big blue

BY HELEN BERINGEN

To Rosemary Lange, it looked almost like a blue waterfall coming towards the vineyard where she was waiting for her husband Kevin to appear from among the hundreds of blue shirt-clad walkers.

Kevin’s key supporter for almost 56 years of married life, Rosemary stood with her walker to witness the wash of blue t-shirts wind its way down the walking trail from Redeemer Lutheran School in Nuriootpa right past the Lange’s vineyards in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

It was May this year, and the vineyard was three kilometres into the 26-km trek of the Australian Lutheran World Service education fundraiser for refugee children, Walk My Way. Then she spotted Kevin.

‘As she looked up, she said it was like a waterfall as we were all wearing the blue Walk My Way shirts’, recalls vigneron Kevin. ‘I managed to give her a kiss – made all the others jealous!’

The 83-year-old continues: ‘My wife is a bit of an inspiration to me. She’s had cancer and had both hips and both knees replaced, and she is still out here supporting me in whatever I want to do.’

Mobility issues and past illness hadn’t stopped Rosemary from cheering on Kevin, the oldest of 650 walkers to complete the full 26-kilometre walk, a fundraising effort helping more than 7300 refugee children in East Africa go to school for a year. (Across all walks around Australia in 2021, LCANZ members and friends have so far raised

‘ W E C A N F O RG ET TH AT W H EN W E GO O UT A N D LIV E O U R LI FE, B UT (GO D’S) A LR E A DY M A D E PR EPA R ATI O NS F O R W H AT H E WA NTS US TO DO.’

more than $340,000 – enough to help send more than 13,000 children to school.)

Accompanied by his 16-year-old grandson Halen, Kevin raised $800, even though a week out from the event he had not sought sponsors.

‘On the Wednesday before the walk, I was checking my email and up popped a donation’, Kevin says. By the end of that day, there were about $200 to $300 in donations.

‘When we got to the halfway mark of the walk, I kept getting text messages from my wife saying we had collected several hundred more in donations.

‘For that, I’ve got to thank the people who opened up their hearts and their wallets, as that was not my original intention. We were just going to do it and put a couple of children through school.’

And even months after the event, donations haven’t stopped, with an additional $100 donated by a member of Kevin’s vine pruning team. That brings Kevin’s fundraising total enough to support more than 34 students!

‘When I spoke with our Cambodian pruners to say I was going to talk to The Lutheran about the walk and raising money for refugee children in Africa, I received another $100 donation’, Kevin says. ‘I realised then that she had been in a refugee camp for about five years herself, so she wanted to donate. It just goes to show again that small seeds do grow into big trees.’

Kevin still can’t quite believe the wonderful experience that came out of the event. Plans for a group walk in 2020 had been cancelled due to COVID-19 and were replaced by fundraising walk efforts by individuals, and Kevin hadn’t really trained for it this time around. And only a few weeks before the event, Kevin had asked Halen whether he’d like to join him.

Both are members of St Petri Nuriootpa (Kevin’s a sixthgeneration member, Barossa born and bred, while Halen is the seventh generation of Langes to worship there).

Right: Lutheran Barossa Valley SA vigneron Kevin Lange with his wife of 56 years, Rosemary, in earlier days when they ran a nursery.

Middle right: At 83, Kevin was the oldest of 650 walkers to complete the full 26-kilometre Walk My Way trail through the Barossa in May. He was joined by grandson Halen for the event which raised money to help more than 7300 refugee children in East Africa go to school for a year.

Bottom right: Over the years, Kevin has been involved in many community groups and is still involved in the Tanunda Liedertafel men’s choir. Here he was part of the Nuriootpa Town Band during the 1961 Tanunda Band Competitions, pictured far right in the third row.

One of Kevin’s ancestors arrived in Port Adelaide in 1846 after 90 days at sea on the George Washington.

Washington.

‘We think we have it tough at the moment, but it's nothing compared with what our pioneers had to do’, he says.

Ever since then, a branch of the family has lived in the Barossa. They remain connected to the land, where Kevin still works his 18 acre-block (7.2 hectares) and caretakes another 12 acres (4.8ha), assisted by his Cambodian friends during pruning season.

‘I refer to it as “pottering” more than working’, he says.

‘At no time have I been more pleased that we have been still here than when this pandemic came. At least on the block, I can get out.’

He and Rosemary had semi-retired in 2013 and have been blessed with three children, their grandson Halen, and four granddaughters.

Over the years, Kevin’s been involved in many local groups but is still involved in the Tanunda Liedertafel.

This all-male choir was founded by Barossa pioneers as far back as 1850 and includes about 44 members from across the Barossa region.

They still access old German scores that would be unobtainable today, which Kevin has helped catalogue and digitalise as the group’s librarian with the help of three others. COVID-restrictions allowing, the group hopes to one day sing in concert again at the old Tanunda Soldiers Memorial Hall, which now includes an old pipe organ resurrected and rebuilt from Adelaide Town Hall.

Over his 83 years, Kevin has been guided by a verse from Ephesians 2:10 which reminds us that God has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

‘We can forget that when we go out and live our life, but he’s already made preparations for what he wants us to do’, he says. ‘We can always do what is within our abilities. Give of yourself the best way you possibly can.’

Helen Beringen 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 lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

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This prayer calendar for next month 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. We particularly pray for all who serve with and through the LLL as it supports mission and ministry work.

December 2021 S U N D AY

M O N D AY

T U E S D AY

P L E A S E P R AY F O R …

W E D N E S D AY

T H U R S D AY

F R I D AY

S AT U R D AY

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LLL Australia’s staff, board members, depositors and supporters as together they support the ministries and mission of the LCANZ

All who work and advocate for an end to slavery and for those who are enslaved on the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

The millions of Australians and New Zealanders living with disabilities on the International Day of People with Disability

LCANZ Bishop-elect Pastor Paul Smith, as he prepares to take up his new role in 2022

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Outgoing LCANZ Bishop John Henderson, as he prepares to retire from his churchwide position and the ordained ministry

Members and leaders of Redeemer Lutheran congregation Hawkes Bay NZ

LCANZ General Synod delegates, who continue their service, including at (God-willing) an in-person convention in 2022

Year 12 students and other school-leavers in Australia and NZ, as they await results and prepare for life after school

Pastor Mat Eckermann and members and leaders of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Sutherland NSW

That the world’s leaders would act with respect for the wellbeing of all citizens on United Nations Human Rights Day

Rev Dr Andrew Pfeiffer, who did not stand for re-election as LCANZ Assistant Bishop, but continues to serve at ALC

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New LCANZ Assistant Bishop Neville Otto, as he takes on this new role while serving in parish ministry at Box Hill Vic

Newly elected LCANZ General Church Board member Kim Baumeler, as she takes on this churchwide role for the first time

Retiring General Church Board member Faye Schmidt, who has served in this capacity since 2015

Continuing LCANZ GCB members Paul Argyle, Charmaine Harch, Tim Wiebusch, Mel Zerner, Peter Zweck and Rev Dr Tim Stringer

Members and leaders of Holy Trinity Nobby and St Peter’s Pittsworth Qld, and Pastor Lionel Rohrlach

Members and leaders of Zion Lutheran Church Monarto who recently celebrated their congregation’s 150th anniversary

All who have moved from the land of their birth, whether by choice or necessity on International Migrants Day

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Pastor Tom Hoffmann and the members and leaders of St Johns Southgate Lutheran Church in Melbourne

Members and leaders of St Lukes Lutheran Church Parkwood WA and their pastor District Bishop Mike Fulwood

Friends and family who have given up on their faith, that we may allow God’s Spirit to work through us in calling them back

Members and leaders of Harrison Street Community Church Whanganui NZ and Specific Ministry Pastor Phillip Husband

Members and leaders of Grace Moree NSW and their cross-border parish partner Living Waters Goondiwindi Qld

Those for whom Christmas is always a dreaded time, due to family breakdown, poverty, loss of loved ones, or loneliness

All people to know the Christ child, born today, as their Lord and Saviour

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Those who are anxious about the COVID pandemic, vaccination, social and financial pressures and reopening of borders

Outgoing LCANZ Executive Officer of the Church Peter Schirmer as he discerns God’s next call on his life

The new Lutheran Women of Australia executive: Grace Kroehn, Maureen Turner, Val Schild, Beryl Smith and Dianne Adams

Outgoing LWA executive members Wendy Habel, Irma Dymke, Linda Niewand, Irene Geer and Leonie Hateley

Health care workers in Australia and NZ, particularly those serving in emergency roles at an often busy time

For a new year filled with hope and opportunities to share the joy of the gospel with those around us

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The Lutheran N OV E M B E R 2 0 21

DISCOVER MORE AT

www.lutheranmedia.org.au Phone FREECALL 1800 353 350 luthmedia@lca.org.au

SHORT MOVIE COMPETITION VIDEOS ON SHOW

We know you love The Lutheran … now there’s a new way to enjoy our award-winning LCANZ magazine with our

new digital edition! edition!

Thank you to everyone who entered the Lutheran Media Short Movie Competition! Congratulations to the winners and placegetters.

You can watch the videos at www.lutheranmedia.org.au/competition or on www.youtube.com/messagesofhope. Feel free to use and share the videos.

It makes a great gift too – and current print subscribers can register for digital access at no extra cost!

2022 SCRIPTURE CALENDAR

J u st

Lutheran Media calendars for 2022 are now available to order at www.lutheranmedia.org.au/calendar or call us on 1800 353 350.

LATELY?

LISTEN

Join Richard and Celia each week through November for hope-filled conversations on surviving tough times like bushfires along with dealing with stress.

To join our family of subscribers, go to www.thelutheran.com.au/subscribe A S S O C I A T RE

YOUR DONATIONS AND PRAYERS ARE HELPING TO COMMUNICATE CHRIST AND HIS MESSAGE OF HOPE TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

Take advantage of the new release homes on offer in Nuriootpa and Tanunda.

Inspect today and you’ll understand why our villages are well-liked. Excellent facilities, modern finishes, pet friendly yards, attached garages.

Innovative new homes connect you to community and the rich Barossa lifestyle.

Selling Fast • One hour from Adelaide Country Living • City Convenience

R

WATCH

THANKS

DBON

&

E

Family fun at happyland.com.au Enjoy the Happyland app.

Download it from the App Store on your iPhone or iPad. Happyland stories are now also available to watch on the website.

A

&

AS

Worship live or in your own time with St Michael’s Lutheran Church from Hahndorf South Australia or Good Shepherd Lutheran Church from Toowoomba Queensland at www.lutheranmedia.org.au/worship. You can also order weekly worship DVDs or join us on our Lutheran Media Facebook page at facebook.com/luthmedia

PLAY

Tune in on local radio or go to messagesofhope.org.au or messagesofhope.org.nz

S

ES

HAVE YOU LISTENED TO YOUR

$ 30

11 issues

OCIAT

RADBONE AND ASSOCIATES BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS

Wills and Estates Lawyers

Peace of Mind 300 Flinders Street Adelaide SA 5000 Telephone: 08 8223 1388

ADELAIDE ACCOMMODATION Self-contained 1 or 2-bedroom city cottages and 3 or 4-bedroom beach houses – 4 4 Details: www.harrietscottage.com.au or Rob Fitzgerald on 0408 083 584

SCHUBERT & SONS PTY LTD

Granite & Marble Memorials . Headstones restored and engraved . Foundation Stones . Bronze Plaques . Member of MMM of SA Inc 179 Flinders Street, Adelaide 5000 08 8223 2473 www.schubertandsons.com.au

Review the detail on our website, Display Homes open for inspection ...call now for your appointment www.eckermanns.com.au 08 8235 3900

LCA N Z C O MPL A IN T S

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.

Photo: ALWS

Photo: LWD

Thank you!

Dad’s office.

‘I raised $30 selling eggs at ns in Gifts of Grace, and I used it to buy some chicke kids who needed it. also a school kit for some t I could help others in It made me feel happy tha e much, but now they need. Before, they didn’t hav have some chickens. someone, and that it made I feel really happy I helped them feel better.’

Daisy

Lutheran school, SA

‘I used to raise chickens but was not successful.

I was giving up.

I received training and now I know how to use vaccination, seed select ion, chicken feeding and chicken cage constructio n.

I have 100 chickens. I can get a good price – $7 pe r kg – because this is a touris t area.

Now I do not worry abou t market. I give my heart felt thanks to donors.’

Ket Put Cambodia

Daisy was inspired to action when ALWS and her Lutheran school worked together to show how Christian faith is lived in everyday life. This work is generously supported by the LLL. This Christmas, you too can use ALWS Gifts of Grace to bring love to life for those forgotten by the world. Just like Daisy, your kindness shines hope to a family like Ket Put’s.

alws.org.au/grace

* 1300 763 407 *

ALWayS for those forgotten