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 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.
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.
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’.
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
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