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Go, share your faith

We know from Matthew 28:19 that we are to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’. But while some people find that sharing their faith comes naturally, for others of us it may even be something we dread. We asked Dean Eaton, from the LCA’s Local Mission office, for some tips, strategies and words of encouragement.

by Dean Eaton

How do I share my faith with others in a way that feels natural and meaningfully contributes to them coming to know God through Jesus Christ? Here are a few ways to gain the confidence and skills required.

1. Go share your faith

We often think about sharing our faith as sharing a testimony. Many resources get you to learn how to ‘tell your story’, your testimony of Christ. For some this is helpful. For many Christians however, it is precisely where we get stuck. Why? Because we don’t have one clear, linear story to tell.

I know how this feels. I am a church kid. I grew up in the church. You may have been ‘saved’ as a child when you were baptised, but when it comes to your personal testimony or ‘conversion story’, like me, you may feel you don’t really have one.

I can remember at the age of five having a clear realisation that all of my sins were forgiven because Christ died for me. So what’s the backstory to that? I struggled with potty training and realised I was a sinner in need of salvation?

Since the age of five, my story of ‘conversion’ is more like a broken jigsaw puzzle of experiences with God. Many times of realisation (or revelation) about who God is and who I am. Some very emotional experiences but an equal number of joy-filled ones and remorseful ones.

What liberated me to witness? What was it that changed me from being stuck without a ‘testimony’, to someone who could be used by God to reap the harvest, seeing many hundreds of people become Christians over my lifetime? It was the realisation that we are not asked essentially to testify about our faith but rather about Christ’s faith.

In practical terms, I am suggesting that we confess our faith journey to people as one of many failed attempts to be the faithful person God wants us to be. This goes alongside the moments in which we’ve experienced a great capacity to love others with a love that seemed to come from the gracious hand of God himself. That we experience God as present but often discreet, sometimes even hidden in the shadows of our lives.

Therefore, we are exhorted to go and share honestly about our experience of being on a faith journey, but our testimony is not about us but about Jesus Christ.

2. Go find your third spaces

If Jesus is the content of what I share, what is the context?

In one word, relationships.

Jesus spent a lot of time at street level sharing his invitation to come to him for forgiveness and new life with God. John 1:14 says, ‘The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood’ (The Message).

In your life you spend time in three main spaces. The first space is where you live, your home. The second space is your work (volunteer or paid), or place of study.

Third spaces are usually local to you and are the places in which you participate in recreation and commerce, such as your shopping mall, dog-walking park, sporting or hobby club, cafe, playgroup, library, and so on.

Why do we spend so much time, energy and effort as Christians setting up third spaces – meaning community outreach programs or events, usually in our church facilities – rather than doing what Jesus did?

3. Go with attitude

If Jesus is the content and third spaces in the community are the best context, what are some of the attitudes and skills I will need to be able to share my faith in a way that pleases God?

• Be a humble co-learner. Jesus did witnessing with not to people. This is witnessing as a mutually transformative, co-learning endeavour. Be a co-discoverer of God’s grace rather than a religious expert. Jesus didn’t come across as the sage on the stage but rather as a guide on the side. He had real conversations, in which he humbly listened as well as spoke.

• Have a listening ear. Jesus had two-way dialogue with people and the Holy Spirit to discern where a person was on their journey. Are they apathetic or antagonistic (stage 1), merely interested (stage 2), curious (stage 3), investigating (stage 4) or converting (stage 5)? Which stepping stone – resource, biblical information, help – do they need to progress their understanding and experience of God’s grace?

• Ask good questions. Memorise at least these basic questions to ask people when you are in conversations.
 Were you raised in a particular religion?
 What do you believe in?
 Why do you believe that?
 Did you know that Jesus once told a story about …?

There is a helpful section on asking good questions in the book SENT Seeking the Orphans of God (p 93,94).

4. Go with a clear invitation

How do you find the right words to be able invite people to experience salvation?

Study the Bible.

A good gospel sharer needs to study the word of God in both an accurate translation as well as a good paraphrase such as The Message. This is because Romans 12:1–3 in The Message’s paraphrase describes in everyday common language the outcomes of ‘turning around’ – repentance. However, to describe the experience of salvation, one must go to Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32. Here we see the invitation is about coming home, being forgiven, being celebrated, being embraced by our Father. We not only didn’t deserve this grace, we had acted in ways that completely disqualified us from it. Therefore retelling the parables of Jesus is a rich way of sharing with people about Jesus’ faithful relationship with God, his vision for life, his ethics, and his way of discovering the full meaning of our lives (John 17:3).

In summary, the Bible tells us:
• That in Jesus God has said yes to us long before we even gave him a thought!

• Jesus died that we may experience life with the God who is always there, always forgiving, always present, always faithful, and nothing can separate us from God’s love.

• Our response doesn’t add to our salvation, it confesses it! Faith is a gift.

• Therefore to experience God’s transforming love, we don’t invite God into our lives, rather God invites us into his shared life.

So, go share the faith!

Dean Eaton is the LCA’s Church Planting Mentor and Mission Facilitator. His most recent publications are SENT Seeking the Orphans of God and Lighthouses Christian Coaching in a Post-Christian World, which are available at www.lca.org.au/sent

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Passing on faith across generations

Some people don’t feel well-equipped to pass on their faith to their children or grandchildren. If faith conversations aren’t natural in your house, you may be unsure where to start. Thankfully, the team from the LCA’s Grow Ministries has advice and resources to help.

Starting faith conversations with young people can be uncomfortable, especially with high school-aged children. This can even be the case with members of your own family. Firstly, always know that you can rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you. He will help you.

BE BOLD
Be confident in what you believe. Know whose you are and that God will always be with you. Ask God what it is he wants you to say.

WHAT YOU KNOW IS ENOUGH
One of the biggest fears when sharing our faith is that we don’t know enough. You don’t have to be a theologian to share your faith. After all, Peter and John had no formal education or training in Scripture (Acts 4:13). However, it is important for parents and grandparents to nurture their own relationship with God, by spending time reading the Bible and in prayer. You will be pleasantly surprised how God uses what you have been reading to interact with your children or grandchildren.

SHARE YOUR STORY
Share how God has worked in your life. You never know how your words may encourage and influence them.

As well as feeling unqualified, we may think we are too busy to put time into sharing our faith with young people in our lives. Consider using time in the car, mealtimes, holidays and organised one-on-one time with your child or grandchild to talk about faith.

For more information about Grow Ministries or for more resources for nurturing faith in the home, please call 08 8267 7300 or visit the Grow website.

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He’s being your mum

by Deborah Robertson

I can’t remember exactly where I was recently when I realised ‘that’ feeling had gone. ‘That’ feeling of profound sorrow would overwhelm me, especially when I was having a wonderful time with my son. I think we were at the kitchen table.

At the same kitchen table about eight years earlier I realised I couldn’t take it anymore. It was breakfast and my son was enjoying his cereal when I looked at him and was overwhelmed with ‘that’ feeling.

I couldn’t help thinking, ‘You are such an amazing boy! Where is your brother? Where is your sister?’ I must have gotten up to do something when I broke a cup. The sound of it smashing was nerve-shattering. Then I knocked my knee on the chair, which really hurt. Somehow I stifled a scream, then drove my son to school. I got home and broke down at that same kitchen table.

Working as a model and an actor, I had been used to maintaining an image. But for about a year I couldn’t stop eating and I stopped caring about keeping up appearances. I wanted to get going again and used to scold myself, ‘Just get up, stop stuffing your face, do some sit-ups and go and earn some money again!’ But scolding didn’t work. I’d had miscarriages and trying to get on with life wasn’t working.

The first one was very difficult but I thought I could handle it. The second one … oh the second one! I was filled with fear. I lay on the bed with my partner and went stone cold. I believed it meant I was never going to be able to have another baby. My partner couldn’t comfort me. Nothing could comfort me. I was inconsolable.

Not long after the miscarriage we split up. Years went by. The pain affected every part of my life. I decided I was going to give myself some space to properly grieve. My son and I moved to a less expensive home and that inner vow must have triggered a meltdown of my carefully constructed mask. I started writing down the song I thought no-one would hear. The chorus goes like this, ‘I can’t say one good thing, and I pray ‘cos I can’t think, that the Lord above has you in his arms, he’s holding you close and he’s being your mum’.

Amid all of this, I had become a born-again Christian. Everyone I went to church with seemed so ‘happy, shiny’. I wanted to be ‘happy, shiny’, but something inside told me I needed to start telling it exactly like it was. If I didn’t begin with honesty, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I started writing. ‘Broke a china cup this morning, knocked my knee upon a chair, I looked across the table at your face that wasn’t there.’ That was accurate. ‘I can’t keep on hiding all the tears I should be crying, all the loneliness inside me and the way I still care.’ That was the truth.

I turned to food a lot while I was working through the grief, but there were also times I’d write more songs. I have an arts background so I thought I might write a musical. I didn’t have any keyboard skills, so I rang the local university to ask about lessons. The woman who took my call, Yanina, happened to be the worship leader of her church. I booked a lesson. Yanina is a beautiful, compassionate woman and I really enjoyed sharing my songs with her and learning some chords.

Over the next couple of years we’d get together for lessons. When I said I’d like to do an album, she gave up her lunch hours and I’d run my songs by her. The tune of ‘He’s Being Your Mum’ came back to me. I told her I had a song about a miscarriage I’d had, but that I didn’t know if it was any good. She insisted I sing it to her. By the end of it we were crying our eyes out. It was amazing. It was so healing to cry with this beautiful woman of God.

Yanina said that she wanted me to write a positive ending to the song. This is what came: ‘I can’t say one good thing. But I’ll pray and I will sing because the Lord above has you in his arms. He’s holding you close and he’s being your mum.’

Somehow that last chorus changed the whole song. Somehow it has changed my whole life. There was hope. I had had a revelation. That my babies really are with Jesus. That one day my son and I will meet the rest of our family. This was a tremendous comfort to me. My pain was halved. I could finally, albeit slowly, get on with my life again.

Deborah Robertson is a Christian singer/songwriter from Melbourne and regularly attends St Matthew’s Lutheran Church Footscray. ‘He’s Being Your Mum’ is from the EP ‘All Praise to You Lord’. Copies are available at www.deborahrobertsonmusic.com
Deborah will be performing alongside Viki Mealings at ‘Live at the Chapel’ in Bendigo Victoria on 5 August and in Sunbury on 26 August (See www.facebook.com/liveatthechapelbendigo and www.facebook.com/liveatthechapelsunbury). If you would like information on having Deborah sing and/or share her testimony at your church or event, please email her at deborah@deborahrobertsonmusic.com

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Is science replacing God?

by Mark Worthing

There is an increasing remoteness between the biblical world and our own modern world.

When my grandfather was born in 1899 there were no automobiles, airplanes, telephones, radios, cinema, televisions or computers. No world wars had been fought; no tanks, poison gas or nuclear weapons had been developed. And no-one had even heard of global warming.

By the time of his death in 1993 he had sold his father’s plough horses for tractors, hooked up the farm to electricity, put the carriages in the barn loft to be replaced by a succession of automobiles, repaired bi-planes in World War I, purchased the first radio, telephone and later television in the district and, on a warm summer day in July 1969, sat down with his grandson in his farmhouse to watch a black and white feed of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon. I can still hear his words: ‘Sit still and watch this, Mark. You’ll want to tell your grandchildren someday that you saw this’.

In a relatively short space of time we have emerged from a largely rural and agrarian society with simple technologies, into an age of computers, virtual reality video games, international jet flight and modern medical care – all made possible by myriad scientific and technological advances.

And the science that has changed our world has itself undergone significant change. Up until the beginning of the 20th century science held firmly to the concept of a static and eternal universe – without beginning or end. Within this context, talk about creation and end of time seemed quite nonsensical.

Einstein’s theory of relativity, developed between 1905 and 1915, and Edwin Hubble’s discovery of the expansion of the universe in 1929, through the observation of the red shift in the light of distant galaxies, turned scientific ideas about the universe on their head. And this was on top of the continuing debate about Darwin’s theory of evolution and the new ways this opened up for looking at life on our planet, including human beings. The discovery of the double helix structure of DNA and the mapping of the human genome also opened up entire new worlds of understanding into what makes us who we are.

For many, science has replaced religion as the go-to source for answers to life’s big questions. This has inevitably led to tension between science and faith.

Some scientists believe that faith, particularly Christian faith, has opposed science and represents a superstitious reliance on archaic beliefs that do not stand up to scrutiny. Some Christians believe science is at heart anti-faith and leaves no room for God.

Modern people are not well served by either of these views. The reality is that many key early scientists were people of strong personal faith, such as Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Lord Kelvin. Also, many contemporary scientists are devout Christians. Graeme Clark, who invented the bionic ear, is one of Australia’s most famous scientists. But he is also a person of very strong Christian faith who credits prayer as much as his groundbreaking research for his success.

So are science and faith adversaries or friends? Dialogue between science and faith has become easier with more identifiable contact points since the rise of Big Bang cosmology. But it would be wrong to assume that there are not still a number of difficult and perplexing problems. In wrestling with these problems, both science and faith can benefit.

Science is challenged not to reduce all things to the level of the physical, and to be open to the idea of purpose. If science fails to recognise the metaphysical and theological implications of its findings and to find room for purpose in the universe, then it runs the risk of impersonal reductionism. And people of faith, particularly Christians, are challenged to take seriously our own confession of God as creator. As Christians we have learned that if we really believe what we confess, namely that God is creator of heaven and earth, then we must listen carefully to those who study the physical universe that God has created and will redeem.

As the Psalmist confessed, ‘Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them’ (Psalm 111:2). If we fail to speak about such things as creation, the end of the world and even human beings in light of what science can tell us about the physical world around us, then we run the risk of becoming irrelevant.

The task of the Christian church within this context is to help people within our faith communities and beyond, both those who are scientifically informed and those who are less informed, to come to terms with the ongoing dialogue between the natural sciences and Christian faith.

Science and technology form one of the dominant background settings in most Australians’ lives (right after sport!). It is an area we cannot ignore in our sermons, our youth groups, our Bible studies, even our Sunday schools. If people walk into our churches and feel that they have stepped back into the intellectual context and world view of a previous century, we reinforce an unfortunate and erroneous perception that Christianity is quaint, useful for Christmas and Easter celebrations, mostly harmless, but otherwise irrelevant for our daily lives in the modern world.

Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. The God who took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ has affirmed and dignified the physical world. God not only created the physical world, but became a part of it so that he might redeem it. ‘For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible … And through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or in heaven’ (Colossians 1:16,19). As Christians we want to understand the physical world in which we live because God created it, because God dignified it by becoming a part of it in Jesus Christ, and because God redeems it.

We need congregations today in which the gospel is effectively proclaimed within the context of the modern scientific and technological world. We need congregations in which Christians can live integrated lives and in which there is recognition and support, both of their faith and their knowledge, of their worship and their work, of their lives on Sunday and their lives the rest of the week. Such congregations will have made peace with the modern scientific world, and will have done so with integrity.

This does not mean we must accept uncritically everything that science or some individual scientist says. It does not mean adopting a physical reductionist view of reality. And it does not mean going quiet about what we believe about God and salvation, so as not to offend people.

It does mean, however, that we cannot assume that science is the enemy of faith and something of which we need to be suspicious. After all, we have no reason to fear the knowledge of the world that God created.

Mark Worthing is pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church, North Adelaide. He is author of God, Creation and Contemporary Physics; Graeme Clark. The Man Who Invented the Bionic Ear; and Martin Luther. A Wild Boar in the Lord’s Vineyard, and co-author of God and Science in Classroom and Pulpit. He has been invited to present this year’s Tony Morgan Lecture at the University of New South Wales on the topic ‘Unlikely Allies: Monotheism and the Rise of Natural Science’.

Photo credit: NASA

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Life, logic and the light of the Word

by Kimberley Pfeiffer

We have learnt so much about human life through scientific advancement. By the study of science, we observe life and death, health and disease, growth and decay.

Scientists have crafted theses, methodically tested them, weighed theory against theory, and settled old contentions and created new ones, all in an attempt to gain understanding and develop the body of knowledge that informs the human sciences.

We use this knowledge to develop medicines and technologies to help the sick, find cures, to fight diseases, to improve surgeries, and promote the health of communities. We have lowered infant, childhood and maternal mortality rates, and reduced death rates from communicable diseases and illness from infections. More people are surviving cancers and living longer.

It is good to give God thanks for scientific and technological advances because we benefit from them whether we are aware of it or not.

Yet it is wise to remember that science cannot provide itself with a moral compass to govern experimentation and regulate the way we use technology.

The very same ultrasound used to confirm early life in the womb can be used to guide a needle aimed at ending the life of the unborn. Experimentation can help us develop cures and treatments, but scientific progress does not justify any and every experiment. We only need to be reminded about the torture of concentration camp prisoners in the name of scientific progress during World War II to find a sober mind about these things.

Science and technology cannot ask questions or make choices about how we value human life or what is good medicine. These are not scientific questions. These are questions of ethics: what is good, right, responsible, just, beneficent and non-maleficent. The answers to these questions are informed by so much more than science. That is where our faith comes in.

In the New Testament God reveals to us how we should understand life at the deepest level, which is always in relation to God and, even more specifically, in relation to Jesus. The book of John begins by referring to the ‘beginning’, before the creation of the world. It reads, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made’
(John 1:1–2).

‘Word’ in Greek is ‘logos’, from which we derive the word ‘logic’ and the suffix ‘-ology’, which refers to reason, study and pursuit of meaning. In health sciences we recognise these in the academic disciplines such as biology, pathology, immunology, physiology, and so on.

The object of our study is creation already in existence and, in our study, we expect to find meaning and gain understanding. So in the study of all things ‘created’ – all those ‘-ologies’ – we are seeking a logic that points to truth.

The John text continues, ‘In him was life, and the life was the light of men’ (John 1:4). As we pursue this deeper meaning and truth, the illumination we seek comes from God himself. He sends the light into our darkness and gives the true wisdom from above to weave throughout our scientific endeavours.

So what light does this shed on human life? True life is from him, the Word, and through him and in him. This points us to the truest and deepest sense of what human life is and what it means: its origin, purpose and goal. It is something science can never measure, but needs to be revealed to us by God. It’s this fundamental Christian truth that informs so much of how Christians will answer those deeper ethical questions associated with science and technology.

Of course, those very questions can still be perplexing and difficult. This is in no small part because life as we experience it in this world is terribly broken because of sin.

This is where God’s revelation is even more important. Incredibly, Jesus Christ, this Word from which all life came, took on our very human life to redeem and make it new. ‘The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). True human life not only comes from him, but because of his incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension, true human life also finds its purpose and goal in him.

Kimberley Pfeiffer is the editor of the Lutherans for Life publication Life News and is a member of the LCA’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions. She says she became interested in ‘life’ from a biological, philosophical and theological perspective ‘after spending far too much time studying disease and death’ while majoring in Pathology at the University of Adelaide. She currently works part-time as a Support Officer in the LCA Reconciliation Ministry office.

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Jesus wants you for a sunbeam

Going GREYT!
by Helen Beringen

Shining God’s light into the world can happen wherever you may be, whatever your skills, and whenever you least expect it.

It may take years to see where God is calling you, where God wants you to shine his light. In the case of Sunshine Coast retiree Arthur Hall, it was a 62-year long journey that began when he was a nine-year-old boy. It was 1956 when his family moved to the Papua New Guinean paradise of Rabaul, a township on the island of New Britain. Arthur’s father was posted to Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a magistrate, serving in a country that was a mandated territory of Australia until 1975.

Arthur fell in love with the place, enjoying an idyllic childhood of freedom, canoeing and fishing for tuna and red emperor near the wharves in the town’s renowned harbour, and also out from nearby Matupi Island, where his dad had some local friends. ‘It was a wonderful place to grow up’, Arthur reminisces.

He returned to Australia for his secondary schooling, as a boarder at Brisbane’s
St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, which set a foundation for his Christian faith journey.

After school, Arthur remained in Australia, developing a career at the now-defunct Ansett Airlines as a customer services officer.

However, who would have imagined that his childhood connection to PNG would lead Arthur, now aged 73, to accept an opportunity to share his God-given talents in the country of his youth? It was a notice in the LCA International Mission publication Border Crossings in late 2016 and early 2017 that kept niggling at him. The notice called for a volunteer to help train volunteers for the Lutheran radio station in Lae, PNG. Fortuitously, Arthur had spent the past 30 years producing and hosting Christian radio programs on Caboolture Community radio station 101.5, in Queensland, as a volunteer!

This experience provided his mission opportunity in November 2017, when Arthur travelled to Lae in PNG for two weeks to lead staff training sessions at the Lutheran radio facility located at the Martin Luther Seminary.

Through Kristen Radio 89.1, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is ‘the voice of the gospel’ in Lae, shining the Christian message to the people of Morobe Province.

Arthur’s volunteer trip included supporting a weekend conference for new recruits and training up the local volunteers to develop their broadcasting skills. ‘What
a privilege it has been for me to be able to serve God and the people involved with the radio program at the communications centre at Martin Luther Seminary at Lae’, he says.

Arthur was supported to undertake the mission trip by the prayers and financial support of the Lutheran congregation of St Paul’s at Caboolture, for which he is greatly appreciative.

When asked if he has another broadcast training trip in him, Arthur says, ‘We’ll see where the Lord leads’.

‘It comes back to knowing that all things are possible through him’, he says. ‘Frequently I didn’t appreciate it at times when I was younger, but now I’m getting long in the tooth, I realise it more than ever.’

In Going GREYT! we feature stories of some of our ‘more experienced’ people within the LCA, 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.

Helen Beringen is a Townsville-based communications advisor who has been richly blessed through a career as a wordsmith. She is inspired by the many GREYT people who serve tirelessly and modestly in our community. She hopes by sharing stories of how God shines his light through them, others will be inspired 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

Your chance to volunteer in mission
If you are interested in volunteering in international mission, serving in practical ways, teaching English, teaching in the seminaries and institutions of our partner churches, or in local churches, contact LCA International Mission Program Officer for Volunteers, Nevin Nitschke on 08 8267 7300 or email nevin.nitschke@lca.org.au
For more information, go to the LCA International Mission website.

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LCA youth have their say

Grow Ministries invited young people in the LCA from across Australia and New Zealand to learn more about and share their voices on issues that our church is facing prior to the 2018 National Convention of Synod.

NYF18 – or National Youth Forum 2018 – drew 27 participants to South Australia over three days in April. Held at Australian Lutheran College (ALC) in North Adelaide, the weekend has been deemed a huge success.

NYF18 was supported by the team from Grow Ministries, staff of ALC and the LCA, Lutherans for Life representatives and participants of the 2017 Grow Leadership Program.

Here is a snapshot of the weekend …

WHAT DID YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THE YOUTH FORUM?
‘The feeling of not being alone as a Christian, there are many young people out there also a part of the Lutheran church.’ – Meg

‘The sense of community made by the participants and mentors.’ – Matthew

‘Getting to know other Lutherans my age and learning about the Lutheran church.’ – Zac

‘Time talking about and learning about contentious issues that we probably don’t talk about enough. The relevance and applicability to everyday life also.’ – Chloe

‘Hearing from pastors who know their stuff.’ – Tom

WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT NYF18?
‘To respect different viewpoints and remember the essentials.’ – Tom

‘To be more willing to engage with other congregational members about theology and the history of the church. NYF was also a good reminder about the importance of intergenerational discussion and relationships.’ – Chloe

‘I’d come into the weekend feeling quite disappointed by my congregation’s [lack of] support of young adults – now I’m really encouraged to help change that.’ – Lachlan

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT SERVING IN THE WIDER LCA?
YES 91.3%

HAS THIS WEEKEND INSPIRED YOU TO SUPPORT YOUR OWN CONGREGATION?
YES 79.17%
NO 0%
NOT SURE 20.83%

NYF18 was made possible by the generous support of the LCA’s 50.500 faith.freedom.future initiative for this synodical period to celebrate, to commemorate, and to focus on the church that God is building.

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Slow down to shape our shared future

by Andrea Mason

I grew up in Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and went to school there in my early years. I then moved to Adelaide and did my high schooling there – I spent about 20 years living in Adelaide.

After school I did a degree in Aboriginal Affairs and Public Administration, then I worked for about 10 years in the South Australian public service. Most of my work was around Indigenous empowerment – housing, employment, career development. In 1999 I went back to university to study law, before working in the South Australian parliament with Family First from 2003.

I left in 2005 to work in the Commonwealth public service in Canberra, and had a stint with Reconciliation Australia. I visited Alice Springs in 2008 as part of a work trip and I realised that this was where I was meant to be.

I’d always wanted to work in the bush and to work with my family in Central Australia – even though I didn’t know what the job was going to be, my part was to gather the skills and knowledge so that I could step into the opportunity when the door opened. Fortunately, NPY Women’s Council – a member-led, tri-state organisation formed by the Aboriginal women of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Lands in the cross border region of Western Australia, South Australia, and Northern Territory – offered me a position.

I moved to Alice Springs in 2008 and started attending the Lutheran church the following year. I wanted to be closer to hearing Aboriginal languages and be part of a community where that was encouraged.

I wanted to be somewhere where we were all attending that service together and sharing that diversity.

I think the one thing that really struck me right from the beginning was the foundation stone of the Lutheran faith, which is the message of grace. In my spiritual life, it’s what I treasure most.

There is a phrase that helps to unpack the differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal culture. It’s said that Aboriginal people are driven by who they are and non-Aboriginal people are driven by what they do.

So Aboriginal people are focused on the being; non-Aboriginal people are often focused on the doing. I acknowledge here that while this is a general statement of the distinction between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, it is also a great starting point to discuss strengths and challenges, including how by being in a diverse community it can help members through genuine relationships smooth out corners and rough edges. So there is a huge value within the Aboriginal community on being present, of listening and of hearing, and of just slowing down, and understanding what matters. There’s also a value in non-Aboriginal people being present to be mentors, teachers and supporters and being willing to share their understanding of different aspects of life, including how they slow down and are present.

But for that to happen, we’ve got to be doing life at the same pace and sometimes the pace of non-Aboriginal people is not the pace of Aboriginal people. For those who do slow down, or for those who speed up, to be at the same pace, there is an amazing synergy that can happen – so one plus one equals three. In other words, we achieve more together than we can on our own.

I have been the beneficiary of that synergy as I have slowed down and spent time with senior Aboriginal women. I’ve become much more of a connected person in listening to and hearing people.

So, what is our place now as Lutherans? Where do we want our future to be? These are quite big questions.

Perhaps we just need people to slow down and, rather than deciding to do things by a certain time, let’s just make sure we speak to everyone who’s got a real interest in where we’re heading.

Aboriginal Lutherans want the opportunity to think about these complex questions and be given the time to do it.

My personal leadership motivation is always towards working with people to create a better community.

Where are Lutherans in this discussion? There are close to 6000 Aboriginal Lutheran Christians in Central Australia, so more Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal Lutherans. Is this an army to do much good or a faith community to serve? Can we have both? How do we fire up both areas?

Should there be plans in place to have greater numbers of Aboriginal Lutherans completing high school, qualifying for a trade certificate and graduating from university?

In our community we would benefit from Lutherans in greater numbers sitting on boards and councils, becoming teachers, rangers, police officers, office administrators, health practitioners and mental health workers. And in family life, having strong marriages and families, inclusive of young men experiencing older men showing them the way, are worthy goals to pursue. In church life, we could consider how many people should there be in ministry, and so on.

I think these questions are critical. Ideally, we as Lutherans should be able to articulate our collective vision and how this connects to the church, the community, to family life and at an individual level.

Our Australian Lutheran story has chapters on how grace and faith entered the lives of Aboriginal people in Central Australia and these chapters have many stories of friendship and companionship.

I believe we are now poised to write new chapters telling the story of how we are relevant to sustaining the spiritual, community and civic life of Lutherans in the 21st century.

The opportunity to live this is in our hands.

Andrea Mason has been the Chief Executive Officer of the NPY Women’s Council, since 2009. She is co-chair for both the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council and for the Empowered Communities NPY Region. Empowered Communities is driving a national reform agenda, Indigenous empowerment is at the centre of it.

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Hearing Indigenous voices

by Neville Otto

At the 2015 General Convention of Synod, the LCA launched 50.500 as a mechanism to recognise the church’s 50th birthday in 2016 and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, and to undertake future seed projects.
One seed project identified by Bishop John Henderson was ‘Hearing the Indigenous Voice’.

A small project team was formed to consider how best the LCA could hear voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our church. The 50.500 committee knew of businesses, schools, community groups and health care providers, which had adopted a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). RAPs provide a good framework for practical plans built on relationships, respect and opportunities.

From 2016 to 2018 we have been conducting research and holding consultations with Aboriginal and church leaders to understand the best way forward. The committee decided to explore the possibility of developing a RAP between 2017 and 2020. The consultations were pivotal in informing our approach. A draft RAP Project Plan was then prepared, which outlined objectives, including:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are an integral part of the development of the RAP
• The LCA hears and listens to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through quality community engagement

A Reconciliation Action Plan will provide a framework for the LCA to realise its vision for hearing, recognising and supporting Aboriginal people. It will help us deliver broader outcomes, including:
• Providing the opportunity for more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to give leadership and contribute to decisions concerning mission and ministry
• Ensuring appropriate representation in churchwide and local decision-making bodies
• Support non-Aboriginal people in the LCA to gain insight into what is important to Aboriginal people.

In late 2017, the RAP project team began consulting Lutheran Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in South Australia’s West Coast (including Ceduna, pictured), Central Australia and Far North Queensland. We trust we are beginning to form relationships with people as we begin to hear their stories, needs, hopes and goals.

With Synod’s support we will take the next steps, including establishing a working group, most or all of whom will be Aboriginal people. To our knowledge this will be the first national church RAP.

We believe this work will provide a genuine tool to enable hearing the voices of Aboriginal people, engage in sensitive and appropriate dialogue, and encourage and facilitate Aboriginal people to lead, guide and serve in the LCA and the wider Australian community.

Pastor Neville Otto is 50.500 Committee Chair and the LCA’s Secretary of the Church.

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Life in a northern church

Hope Vale on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland was established as a Lutheran mission in 1949. St John’s Lutheran Church Hope Vale is part of a parish with worship communities at Wujal Wujal to the south and Coen to the north, and is served by Pastor David Spanagel. We put the same five questions to five people from Hope Vale, who have generously shared their views on what it’s like to be an Aboriginal person in one of the most remote congregations of the LCA.

Carmen Pearson, 36
Language group: Guugu Yimidhirr

1. What’s your background in the church?
My parents and grandparents took me to church and I was baptised and confirmed. I went away for school to Peace Lutheran College in Cairns, which changed me a lot – mainly in my Christianity, respecting people and building faith.
2. What is it like to be an Aboriginal person in the LCA?
When I go to church, all my troubles are gone. You are there to praise God. You don’t see the differences with other people, and you try not to judge.
3. Are things improving or getting worse as far as having Indigenous voices heard?
It has improved but could be better with young generations. We could go out into the community and have discussions, and get the message out that way.
4. What is the most important thing that non-Indigenous Lutherans can learn from Indigenous Lutherans?
Sharing stories and culture.
5. What should the church do to better hear Indigenous voices in our midst?
Listening to stories and acknowledging Indigenous ways, culture and lifestyle.

Jahvarne Pearson, 22
Language group: Guugu Yimidhirr

1. I’ve been baptised and confirmed at Hope Vale. I used to go to Bible study but I don’t go to church a lot now. I only go when there’s baptisms or someone passes.
2. It’s a caring environment. But not a lot of people go to church now, or not as much as they used to. I think the older ones who have passed had a big thing to do with people going to church more often.
3. I think it’s pretty equal. I haven’t felt discriminated against in church.
4. You’ve got to look after your own family.
5. They actually sing some songs in our language, so it’s pretty fair here. They probably need something to brighten it up a little, maybe a band, or some jazz.

Bruce Gibson, 49
Language group: Guugu Yimidhirr

1. I was dragged to church by my grandparents and parents, and I went to boarding school at St Peter’s Lutheran College in Brisbane. Then I worked out west and there were no churches. I was physically disconnected from church,
not spiritually disconnected. But when I came back home, I came back to church to give my sons the upbringing I’ve had.
2. Since I’ve been back to church, my life has gone ahead in leaps and bounds. But I see the difficulties of reigniting the congregation to be part of the church and trying to get people back to church. The younger generation are not attracted to the old hymns, so maybe we need to change the packaging. Also trying to keep the church financially afloat is a challenge.
3. I feel we’re perhaps not being included; they want us to be part of the offering but not so much part of the blessings.
4. It doesn’t matter what colour you are or what background you have – we are still all Lutherans and we’re equal.
5. Find a strategic way to support Aboriginal congregations, because we have to share our pastor without financial backing. Let’s look at how church is delivered in Brisbane. What makes it attractive to younger generations? That’s probably the sort of support we need.

Esmae Bowen, 62
Language group: KuKu Thaypan

1. I was born in Hope Vale and brought up in the church. I went to school at Alma Park in New South Wales when I was seven through the Lutheran church – we were fostered out.
2. I experienced racism as a child and young person. Sometimes people would say, ‘You’re too dark, you should scrub up’. And then as a little child you grow up feeling no good as a person.
3. We’re equal now. Some people in the church who came through here didn’t treat Aboriginal people equally. It’s better now.
4. At the end of the day, the pastors are only the shepherds; the word is the important thing. Even if you’re Catholic, we were made by the one maker.
5. Now we’re not having black pastors coming through from our community. The invitation is there but I think some of the people still feel like they’re in the back, how we were treated in the first place.

Victor Gibson, 64
Language group: Father’s language group is Bulam and mother’s is Bindii Warra.

1. I’ve been going there all my life, my mum and dad and grandparents went there; I was baptised and confirmed there.
2. My teaching from my parents and my grandparents was that the Lutheran church was a cornerstone for our community. These days you probably don’t see many people in church but they always learnt the Lutheran faith.
3. The belief of the people in the church has got stronger in my lifetime. The worst thing that happened before, was people who sinned being asked by the church to do public forgivenesses in front of everybody. People are treated more equally now.
4. Maybe they can learn a bit of [Aboriginal] language; the elderly people would teach them languages – that would be good.
5. The church elders and the pastors could do home visits and talk to families. That might start getting people engaged. Having young Aboriginal men becoming pastors should be more encouraged by the whole church.

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