Meeting our neighbours

by Lisa McIntosh

Our Lutheran Church is made up of people who don’t just worship within the four walls of a church. They also live, work, play – and, most importantly, love – outside those walls, within the broader community.

And how they love and serve in response to the question the law expert asked Jesus 2000 years ago (‘Who is my neighbour?’), as recorded in Luke’s Gospel, is a constant source of inspiration. There are meals, care packages and help with repairs after the devastation of fires or floods. There is financial and practical support during droughts. And there are always prayers. But beyond those expressions of love, congregations of the LCANZ are coming up with innovative ways to connect, befriend, build relationships with and welcome their neighbours.

With Christmas coming up, some churches get involved with or host carols events for their local areas. Bethlehem Lutheran Church Woongoolba brings the Jacobs Well Community Carols to its community south of Brisbane. This month’s candlelight event will feature singers from LORDS K-12 college (Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School).

Members of St Pauls Box Hill in suburban Melbourne recently held an open day that welcomed hundreds of people to their church. The event aimed to provide hospitality to the community and included morning tea, free beverages from a coffee van, face painting, games, music, a garden stall, sausage sizzle, and arts and crafts. Members of St Pauls partner, the Chinese Lutheran Church of Victoria, also had a stand to promote their activities and services.

Another partnership between churches of different backgrounds resulted in an iftar dinner being hosted in suburban Adelaide earlier this year. Breaking down barriers through breaking bread together was the goal for The Ark Lutheran Church, Salisbury, which partnered with Hope Arabic Church to reach the local Arabic-speaking community. An iftar dinner is a fast-breaking meal held every evening during Ramadan for Muslim people. Organisers said: ‘We wanted to plan an event that created community, where the Arabic speakers could get to know the people within the church and to show them how much followers of Jesus love all people.’ The team received an LLL Mission Resource Grant to help fund the dinner. Read the full story at www.sant.lca.org.au/2023/07/11/partnership-reaches-arabic-community/

Another grant, this time from the LCANZ’s Cross-Cultural Ministry, recently funded a Harmony Feast, which brought together 60 participants, including members of Nazareth Lutheran Church Woolloongabba’s Brisbane-based congregation, and local Fijian, Ethiopian and Finnish congregations, who worship in the Nazareth complex. The event connected members of all four congregations, as well as a member of a new ‘Mums and Bubs Playgroup’, which aims to bring together local asylum seekers. Read the full story at https://qld.lca.org.au/2023/10/10/cross-cultural-grant-funds-successful-harmony-feast-at-nazareth/

Meanwhile, in Parkes, in Central West New South Wales, locals and members of the Lutheran church there are getting ready for next month’s Elvis Gospel Service, which will be presented by the Parkes Ministers’ Association as part of the town’s annual Elvis Festival.