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2024 General Synod theme and logo launched

Grace as God’s unifying gift to his church will be the thematic focus of next year’s LCANZ 21st Convention of General Synod in Adelaide.

The theme, ‘The Gift of God – it’s grace that unites us’, is based on Ephesians 2:8, ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God’, and has been approved by the General Church Board, along with an accompanying logo.

The General Synod logo was created by Elysia McEwen, a member of the LifeWay congregation in Sydney and designer of The Lutheran.

‘Developing the logo was a challenge’, said LCA communications manager Linda Macqueen. ‘While the concept of “grace” is well known by us Lutherans, it is difficult to convey visually.

‘We thank God for the gifted graphic designers we call on for assignments such as this. They are members of Lutheran congregations and therefore they understand the foundations of our Lutheran teaching. I love watching how they bring theology and creativity together to serve the church in this way.’

Elements of the Synod logo include:

  • The hand of God holding us emanates from the cross, which is the means through which God has reconciled us to himself.
  • Grace flows to us through the cross and from the cross – it is God who moves towards us. The people are passive – we cannot earn grace; it is God’s gift.
  • God’s grace holds us together as one body. We are joined together in his embrace, united for now and eternity as his dearly beloved and baptised children.

Synod will be held 4 – 7 October 2024.

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Way Forward project team appointed

The project team to lead the LCANZ’s Way Forward project has begun its work. The team’s primary role is to project-manage the implementation of the 2021–23 General Synod resolution, namely, to deliver a proposal to the next General Synod outlining how the LCANZ could operate as ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’.

The three-person project team will report to the General Church Board (GCB) and College of Bishops (CoB), which jointly hold overall responsibility for the delivery of the proposal in response to the Synod resolution.

Eight working groups will provide guidance, requirements and inputs on the theological, constitutional, governance and other issues that will be required for a ‘detailed framework’ to be presented in time for discussion by the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The groups were appointed last month by GCB and CoB. It is envisaged that the proposal development process will involve wide consultation within the LCANZ prior to the General Pastors Conference and General Synod.

Former Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Super, Stella Thredgold, heads the project team in a part-time capacity as project director. As an ASX100 C-Suite Executive, she has spent most of her career leading organisations through change. Stella will provide strategic oversight of the project direction, engaging with various stakeholders and ensuring that a disciplined and transparent process is followed.

Joining the team with Stella are Tim Niewand and Tony Vong, both of whom have extensive project-management experience coupled with longstanding membership of Lutheran congregations in Victoria.

Joining the team full-time, Tim brings 20 years’ experience in Fortune 500 companies, and has managed projects across a diverse range of scopes including product development, process improvement, real estate, finance and software. A lifelong active member of the Lutheran Church, he is currently chairperson at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts.

Tony has 20 years’ experience leading programs and teams within the public sector, with a strong focus on risk and change management. He holds voluntary roles on District and congregation boards and committees, including that of his home congregation, Chinese Lutheran Church of Victoria. Tony joins the project team in a part-time capacity.

‘We’re humbled to be able to lead this project. We understand this is a difficult time for the Lutheran Church, but it also brings tremendous opportunity’, Stella said. ‘We’re committed to listening, openness, transparency and respect, and we invite everyone involved in the Way Forward to bring this spirit to the conversations.’

The project team will oversee and coordinate the assignments of the working groups, as well as manage the timeline and ensure successful preparation for the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The recent call for expressions of interest to join working groups saw more than 500 people download the application form and almost 60 people apply within the two-week timeframe.

The Standing Committee on Nominations, which processed the expressions of interest, and GCB and CoB, which made the appointments, aimed for diversity across the working groups (including gender, age, cultural background, conviction about ordination) and people from all districts of the church. Stella said she was delighted with the high calibre of appointments to the working groups: ‘The project team extends our thanks to all the people who applied to the working groups, including those who were not appointed. We thank God for you, and we look forward to engaging with those appointed as we implement the resolution your General Synod delegates have placed before us.’

The project team welcomes suggestions from the wider church regarding the way forward towards ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’. Emails can be sent to wayforward2024@lca.org.au

For more information about the project, go to www.lca.org.au/wayforward

 

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Way Forward project team appointed

The project team to lead the LCANZ’s Way Forward project has begun its work. The team’s primary role is to project-manage the implementation of the 2021–23 General Synod resolution, namely, to deliver a proposal to the next General Synod outlining how the LCANZ could operate as ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’.

The three-person project team will report to the General Church Board (GCB) and College of Bishops (CoB), which jointly hold overall responsibility for the delivery of the proposal in response to the Synod resolution.

Eight working groups will provide guidance, requirements and inputs on the theological, constitutional, governance and other issues that will be required for a ‘detailed framework’ to be presented in time for discussion by the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The groups were appointed last month by GCB and CoB. It is envisaged that the proposal development process will involve wide consultation within the LCANZ prior to the General Pastors Conference and General Synod.

Former Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Super, Stella Thredgold, heads the project team in a part-time capacity as project director. As an ASX100 C-Suite Executive, she has spent most of her career leading organisations through change. Stella will provide strategic oversight of the project direction, engaging with various stakeholders and ensuring that a disciplined and transparent process is followed.

Joining the team with Stella are Tim Niewand and Tony Vong, both of whom have extensive project-management experience coupled with longstanding membership of Lutheran congregations in Victoria.

Joining the team full-time, Tim brings 20 years’ experience in Fortune 500 companies, and has managed projects across a diverse range of scopes including product development, process improvement, real estate, finance and software. A lifelong active member of the Lutheran Church, he is currently chairperson at Pakenham Lakeside Church on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts.

Tony has 20 years’ experience leading programs and teams within the public sector, with a strong focus on risk and change management. He holds voluntary roles on District and congregation boards and committees, including that of his home congregation, Chinese Lutheran Church of Victoria. Tony joins the project team in a part-time capacity.

‘We’re humbled to be able to lead this project. We understand this is a difficult time for the Lutheran Church, but it also brings tremendous opportunity’, Stella said. ‘We’re committed to listening, openness, transparency and respect, and we invite everyone involved in the Way Forward to bring this spirit to the conversations.’

The project team will oversee and coordinate the assignments of the working groups, as well as manage the timeline and ensure successful preparation for the 2024 General Pastors Conference and 2024 General Synod. The recent call for expressions of interest to join working groups saw more than 500 people download the application form and almost 60 people apply within the two-week timeframe.

The Standing Committee on Nominations, which processed the expressions of interest, and GCB and CoB, which made the appointments, aimed for diversity across the working groups (including gender, age, cultural background, conviction about ordination) and people from all districts of the church. Stella said she was delighted with the high calibre of appointments to the working groups: ‘The project team extends our thanks to all the people who applied to the working groups, including those who were not appointed, for being prepared to volunteer their time, experience and expertise to this project. We thank God for you, and we look forward to engaging with those appointed as we implement the resolution your General Synod delegates have placed before us.’

The project team welcomes suggestions from the wider church regarding the way forward towards ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’. Emails can be sent to wayforward2024@lca.org.au

For more information about the project, go to www.lca.org.au/wayforward

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Conference-goers ‘challenged and inspired’

More than 50 people re-considered their local neighbourhoods as mission fields during last month’s 2023 LCANZ Cross-Cultural Ministry conference in Melbourne.

Based on The Message translation of John 1:14 which says, ‘The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood’, the theme for the 5-6 May event was ‘Moving into the neighbourhood’.

Dr Tania Nelson, the LCANZ’s Executive Officer – Local Mission, said participants ‘dwelt in the word, worshipped, heard stories of neighbourhood ministry events and missional attitudes, and were inspired by speakers from within the LCA and from other faith traditions’.

‘We heard Maha, a new convert from Hinduism to Christianity, pray in Tamil while we prayed for her growing community in our heart languages’, Tania said. ‘We viewed a Partners in Ministry video entitled “Welcoming” and were challenged to view our website, and the 10 minutes before and after worship, from the viewpoint of a visitor.

‘We were inspired to walk in the shoes of our neighbours and heard of the difficult journeys to Australia from our Congolese and South Sudanese friends. And we heard from Meewon Yang, who shared with us her master’s degree research on “Ways of Being a Multicultural Church”.

‘May we all see ourselves as God’s hands and feet in God’s mission in the local neighbourhood.’

LCANZ Cross-Cultural Ministry Facilitator Craig Heidenreich also presented a draft vision for a missional church at the conference. This included:

We believe that:

  • The Lord is stretching out his hands to the people of Australia and New Zealand and wants a relationship with each one.
  • God is watching over the movement of people who are coming from afar and is choosing to bless them.
  • God is inviting us to join him in this great endeavour and he will help us as we seek to express his love to those we
  • live among.
  • We are all different and each of us has something meaningful to offer.
  • Love comes to life when God’s people grow in his grace and go out into their world with his love.

We see a Lutheran body of believers who:

  • Bless the people around them because God blesses us.
  • Start conversations with strangers, remembering their names.
  • Listen without agenda and bring their concerns to the Lord in prayer.
  • Live out the wisdom and kindness of God in the civic world in which each of us is placed.
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Synod offering supports FRM hymnbook project

The offering from this year’s LCANZ Convention of General Synod in-person meetings is contributing more than $30,000 towards a Finke River Mission (FRM) project revising and reprinting Lutheran song and hymnbooks in Central Australian Aboriginal languages.

Along with other volunteers and FRM staff, Pastor Rob Borgas, who formerly served as an FRM support worker, has worked on revising or reprinting hymnals in three languages – Pitjantjatjara, Western Arrarnta and Alyawarr. The Pintubi-Luritja worship resource is also being revised.

Most of the hymnals feature liturgy, prayers and catechism resources as well as hymns and songs. The preface to the previous update of the Pitjantjatjara Lutheran Hymnal in 2010 highlighted the history of similar worship resources in Central Australia. It says:

‘The first Arrarnta hymnal was produced in 1891 by AH Kempe. Its 160 pages contained bible stories, prayers, some psalms and 53 other hymns. It was printed at Hermannsburg in the state of Hannover, Germany. In 1924, 2 years after Carl Strehlow’s tragic death, the first Western Desert language hymnal was published as a supplement to the second edition of his Galtjindintjamea-Pepa Aranda Wolambarinjaka. It contained Luther’s Small Catechism and 10 hymns, all translated into the Luritja language by evangelist Moses Tjalkabota and HA Heinrich (headmaster of the Hermannsburg school).’

As well as offerings collected at the Melbourne Convention in February, LCANZ congregations donated to the Synod offering via the LLL. A total of $34,098.66 was raised for the hymnbook project.

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Nurses recognised

by Bob Wiebusch

Sharon Berridge has been named the 2023 Lutheran Nurse of the Year. The Executive Care Manager of Tanunda Lutheran Home in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, Sharon was recognised with the annual award by the Lutheran Nurses Association of Australia (LNAA) on 12 May, which is International Nurses Day.

Sharon’s nominees spoke of her high degree of understanding of and respect for the value of the Christian faith, particularly when caring for people approaching the end of their lives, as well as her leadership skills, extensive knowledge of aged care, compassion, and high level of professionalism. She is highly respected among her peers for her commitment to all her staff.

LNAA also recognised the more than 30 years of service given by Meg Lewis of Norwood, South Australia. During this time, Meg has served as Nursing Director of the Orthopaedic and Trauma Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and General Manager at the Hampstead Centre. She filled a crucial role in the South Australian response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a vaccination nurse. Her nursing service over many years was recognised with a Meritorious Service Award.

The Lutheran Nurse of the Year award was launched in 2020 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing. It recognises faithful and outstanding service by a Registered or Enrolled Nurse who is an active member of a congregation of the LCANZ.

Pastor Bob Wiebusch is the editor of the Lutheran Nurses Association of Australia’s In Touch publication and a former editor of The Lutheran.

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New bishop for WA

Pastor Peter Hage has been elected as the next bishop of the LCANZ’s Western Australia District.

The pastor of St Johns Lutheran Church in Perth, he was elected unopposed last month for an initial four-year term during the District Convention of Synod at Concordia Lutheran Church Duncraig, in suburban Perth. Pastor Kim Kuchel, who has retired from Army chaplaincy and is serving part-time with the Katanning–Narrogin Parish southeast of Perth, was elected and installed as WA’s new assistant bishop during the convention, held from 3 to 5 March.

Bishop-elect Peter will succeed Bishop Mike Fulwood, who has retired from the part-time role he has served in since June 2017. The pair have been working together during a handover period since the election.

The assistant bishop of the district since 2018, Bishop-elect Peter will also continue to serve St Johns. A self-described ‘reluctant bishop’, he says he is excited to be able to continue in the parish role as well as supporting the WA District as bishop.

‘I say to people I was initially a reluctant pastor and I’m a reluctant bishop’, he said.

‘I just think of those words that Jesus said, “To him who is given much, much is required”. He says that in the context of the master giving servants various talents to serve with and in that context not everyone is given that same ability, but we just simply need to reflect on our gifts. While this has not been an aspiration of mine, I’ve had great encouragement from others that I should take on this role.

‘I’m happy to serve and I’m happy to support but to take the lead is a responsibility that needs to be covered by much grace.’

Excited, too, by the prospects for church planting in WA, along with what is already happening in the Rockingham–Mandurah area, Bishop-elect Peter believes his district role is also to give hope to congregations through changing times.

‘We need to keep trusting in God’s Spirit that he will lead us and guide us’, he said. ‘It’s God’s church, it’s not our church. We need not fear the future but move into the future expecting something different. I am happy to lead our District through a season of transition and change just trusting in the faithfulness of God and the promises that he gives to us that he is always with us.’

Ordained in 1990, Bishop-elect Peter began his ministry in Papua New Guinea and served there for 10 years, before accepting a call to Freeling parish in South Australia in 2001. He also served at Mount Barker in South Australia and Mount Gravatt in Queensland, before beginning his ministry at St Johns Perth in 2017.

He and his wife, Lois, have two adult children.

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General Synod news & views

More than 340 delegates, along with approximately 120 visitors, officials, organisers and volunteers, met in Melbourne from 9 to 12 February for the in-person sessions of the 2021–2023 Convention of General Synod of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.

The meeting continued the 20th LCA Convention, which opened with online sessions in October 2021 and was then adjourned until 2023. The in-person sessions consisted of two full days of business at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, bookended by part-days with gathering and closing worship services.

In passing by a strong majority an amended proposal from the LCA’s Queensland District, General Synod delegates directed the General Church Board and College of Bishops to explore the theological, constitutional and governance issues involved in establishing ‘one church with two different practices of ordination’ – specifically, that work should be done to outline how one church with two ordination practices might function.

Delegates further requested that the fruit of this work be submitted as a proposal in time for discussion at the 2024 meeting of General Pastors Conference, for the Convention of General Synod that same year. This proposal required only a simple (50 per cent) majority in order to be passed.

Synod did not pass a proposal to change the teaching of the church which would have permitted the ordination of both men and women from 2024.

As it contained constitutional amendments and a change in the teaching of the church, the proposal brought before General Synod by the St Pauls Box Hill congregation, Victoria, required a two-thirds majority of registered delegates (230 votes) to be passed. While 203 delegates voted in favour of the proposal; 136 voted against it, and three delegates abstained.

After Convention, the bishops wrote to members of the LCANZ to share information and provide clarification regarding decisions made during the in-person sessions of General Synod.

You can also read more about these outcomes, including delegates’ reflections on the ‘one church, two practices’ resolution.

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A message to members of the LCANZ from the College of Bishops

To read the full message go to: www.yourlca.com/message-synod-resolution

COME, LISTEN, LIVE …

The 20th Convention of General Synod for the LCANZ, held in Melbourne, has come and gone.

Delegates came before God each day in worship with listening ears, and with the desire to live to God’s glory in the decisions we made.

We came together as God’s people, listening to each other, and sharing life together for the days of Synod as brothers and sisters in Christ.

For some, the outcomes will have landed much where they expected, and even hoped for. For others, there may be disappointment, frustration, disillusionment, and even anger. The College of Bishops are praying for all members of the church as you process the decisions that were made, and the meeting itself.

We thank all the delegates who took the time to prayerfully craft their thoughts but who did not have opportunity to speak on the floor of Convention. In reflecting on the meeting of Synod, the bishops observed that significant time was taken on points of order and clarification, which reduced the already limited time for discussion on the substantive issue itself each day. Hence the laity especially who came prepared to speak did not have the voice they could otherwise have had. This is something we suggest needs consideration for future conventions.

THE PROPOSALS

Some members of the church may have questions about the proposals, particularly those regarding the ordination of women and men in the LCANZ.

(1) On Friday, the Box Hill congregation brought before Synod a proposal to recognise the impasse faced by the church on this matter over many years. The proposal sought to provide a way to acknowledge the conscientious views of people on both sides of this debate. It called for the church to remain one, while providing for two practices of ordination. This involved a change to the teaching of the church in order to permit the ordination of both men and women, from February 2024. Because this proposal called for a change in the church’s teaching and an amendment to the LCA Constitution, a two-thirds majority (230 votes) was required for it to be passed. Fifty-nine per cent (203) of delegates voted in favour of the proposal; 136 voted against it; and 3 delegates abstained. Thus, this proposal was lost.

(2) On Saturday, delegates voted on a proposal by the Queensland District asking General Synod to direct the LCANZ General Church Board and the College of Bishops to work through the theological, constitutional, and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination and establish a detailed framework through which this could be accomplished, and to bring this work back in the form of a proposal to the 2024 General Pastors Conference and the General Synod. An amendment was added, stating that it is the expectation of this Convention of General Synod that both women and men will be ordained in a District of the LCANZ during the 2024–2027 synodical period. (You will find the full text of the resolution below.)

For the sake of clarity, the College of Bishops, after meeting with the General Church Board immediately after Convention, offers our understanding of this resolution and some comments on the pathway ahead.

THE RESOLUTION

That General Synod direct the LCANZ General Church Board and the College of Bishops to:

  1. Work through the theological, constitutional, and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination and establish a detailed framework through which this could be accomplished, such as one or more existing LCANZ Districts becoming Districts that teach and practice the ordination of both women and men to the office of the public ministry or by establishing a non-geographical LCANZ ‘District’ that does so, and
  2. Submit the fruit of this work in the form of a proposal that should be discussed by the LCANZ General Pastors Conference for Convention of General Synod 2024.
  3. It is the expectation of this General Convention of Synod that both women and men will be ordained in a District of the LCANZ during the 2024–2027 synodical period.

CLARIFYING COMMENTS

In the lead-up to the in-person sessions of General Synod 2021–2023 the College of Bishops urged a way forward that did not leave the church in an ongoing adversarial state on this issue, which has become debilitating in so many ways for relationships, and in carrying out the mission of the church.

The intention of this adopted proposal is to find a practical way forward to allow communities with different convictions regarding the ordination of women and men to co-exist, and to practise differently within the wider context of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.

It needs to be made clear that this proposal is charging the leadership of the church to do the work needed to bring a proposal to that end to the 2024 Convention, with an expected outcome. The resolution does not allow for the ordination of women and men right now, but this is an expected outcome of the 2024 synodical convention, if the proposal/s to be worked on together are passed. We ask individuals and congregations to be respectful of our synodical processes and the people who will be charged with leading us through them.

The wording under point c) above endorses the word ‘anticipates’ in the advice to this General Synod by the General Pastors Conference (GPC). The GPC advice said: ‘General Pastors Conference acknowledges that the Queensland proposal anticipates the ordination of women to the office of the public ministry in communities of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand. General Pastors Conference acknowledges that the Queensland proposal also anticipates the continuity of the ordination of men only in communities of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.’

At GPC, pastors were advised before voting on the advice that ‘anticipates’ means ‘expects’. It is expected that the work to be done will lead to change.

WHAT HAPPENS FROM HERE? 

General Church Board will oversee the delivery of what is required for the church to deliver the resolution. Guiding principles for this work have been identified.

At the centre of this work is the establishment of a project management office. This office will oversee working groups established to address key elements of what is required to be delivered by the resolution. These working groups will include experienced and (or) expert people of the church, representing the diversity of stakeholders involved. While time is tight, the whole church will have opportunity to contribute your thinking in the lead-up to the next Convention of Synod. As the people of the church of Jesus Christ, we commend this work to our Lord.

The College of Bishops are acutely aware of the range of emotions that have been impacting members on this issue over a long period of time. These or new emotions might have been brought to the surface with this latest decision, which is significantly different from those that have gone before it. We also know that some members have been hurt or wounded by other members in our conversations around this issue. We plead with all members of the church to speak carefully and sensitively with our brothers and sisters in Christ as we embark on enacting this resolution of Synod.

We want to listen to you and pastorally care for the church in ways that are most appropriate and helpful to each of you. The College of Bishops welcomes your suggestions regarding what is most helpful. We urge you as dearly loved brothers and sisters in Christ to stay with us, and to help us together with GCB to find the way forward, so that we can come to the Convention of Synod in 2024 with confidence and in peace.

It is our prayer that you will continue to come humbly before God to listen to him together, that you might find joy in the grace that we live in, and confident hope from the substance of the faith that we share. We also pray that together we might live and serve in peace and to the glory of God in this next significant period in the life of the LCANZ.

Bishop Paul Smith, LCANZ
Assistant Bishop Neville Otto, LCANZ
Bishop David Altus, SA–NT
Bishop Robert Bartholomaeus, NSW and ACT
Bishop Mike Fulwood, WA
Bishop Lester Priebbenow, Vic–Tas
Bishop Mark Vainikka, Qld
Bishop Mark Whitfield, LCNZ

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Synod welcomes Finke River delegates

by Helen Brinkman

Melbourne’s city skyline was a stark contrast to the vast verdant landscape of Central Australia for four Aboriginal delegates attending the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand’s 20th Convention of General Synod from 9 to 12 February 2023.

It was the first time in the history of the General Synod that representatives of the four language areas from the Finke River Mission (FRM) in Central Australia joined as voting delegates at the church’s highest decision-making meeting.

The four delegates, Specific Ministry Pastors (SMP) Rodney Malbunka and Stanley Roberts, with Richard Morton and Seraphina Presley-Haines, were among 341 delegates from across Australia and New Zealand to gather for the in-person sessions. The group, who were supported by FRM fieldworkers Pastor Paul Traeger and Pastor Neville Doecke, thought that one of the most memorable parts of Synod was the community worship.

For retired teacher Seraphina Presley-Haines, celebrating in a community of more than 500 worshippers at the opening service of the Convention gave her goosebumps. Seraphina, from Ti Tree, north of Alice Springs, represented the Anmatyerr language area in the Northern Territory. As a first-time delegate, she said it was very important for the group to come to Synod, hear God’s word, and ‘go back to their communities and tell them that God loves us no matter who we are and where we live’.

Worshipping in community at Synod was also very special for Pastor Stanley Roberts from the Pintupi-Luritja language area, west of Alice Springs. ‘It spoke in my heart’, he said. ‘It’s really good to meet with others and get to know each other as Christians, being one in Christ. We miss our families back home but appreciate being able to worship together.’

Pastor Stanley was ordained as an SMP at Papunya, 240 kilometres west of Alice Springs, in November 2020. His father, the late Pastor Murphy Roberts, was one of the first Pintupi-Luritja pastors ordained almost 40 years ago.

And for Anmatyerr language area representative Richard Morton, the fellowship was inspiring, humbling and even overwhelming, after reuniting with his primary school principal at Synod. He said Synod reminded him of a parliament, ‘but it is good to see different views of certain things, if we base our thoughts on Scripture and dwell on Scripture’. ‘What is happening here affects everyone back at home, especially those people who rely on the faith and need spiritual guidance.’

It was the first time most of the Indigenous delegates had visited Melbourne, with fellow delegate Pastor Rodney Malbunka astounded at the size of the city compared with his home at Ntaria, also known as Hermannsburg, 125 kilometres west of Alice Springs.

Son of Pastor Colin Malbunka, Rodney was born in Neutral Junction near Barrel Creek on the Stuart Highway and moved to Hermannsburg in 1975. He was ordained in 2015 and serves the Arrarnta language area. He said he enjoyed the experience of Synod and meeting people from all over Australia. He was also struck by the size and green turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, after the baked red earth football oval of his hometown. He’s even got a photo of it to show his local Bulldogs AFL team back home.

Pastor Neville gave praise and thanks to God that these delegates could travel to meet with so many fellow Lutherans from across the LCANZ. ‘Many thanks to the delegates who spoke to them and made them feel very welcome’, he said.

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