New Search

If you are not happy with the results below please do another search

871 search results for: church

161

The power of Christian community

/in , , ,

by Erin Kerber

Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer described Christian community as ‘not an ideal we have to realise, but rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate’.

‘The more clearly we learn to recognise that the ground and strength and promise of all our community is in Jesus Christ alone, the more calmly we will learn to think about our community and pray and hope for it’, he said.

In this broken and often individualistic world, Bonhoeffer’s words may seem unrealistic. That is until we hear a story like Khun Dye’s, a young mother and wife living in Ban Huay Pong village in northern Thailand.

Along with most of her community, Khun Dye believed that the physical and spiritual worlds were intertwined. She understood that the spirits of her deceased ancestors would reward her if she remembered them with offerings and punish her if she failed to do so. These guardian spirits could be appeased by offering food, money and belongings through the medium of a doctor spirit.

The pressure to give substantial offerings to the doctor spirit greatly impacted Khun Dye’s family. They struggled to have enough for their daily lives and became fearful of the response from their deceased ancestors as what they could offer diminished. But the Holy Spirit was making himself known to Khun Dye. After becoming the first Christian in Ban Huay Pong, Khun Dye’s aunty showed her the movie Jesus. What touched Khun Dye most was how Jesus healed sick people and prayed for them, and how he helped the disabled and most vulnerable.

Presbyterian missionaries from Korea placed a sign in Khun Dye’s village, with words about Jesus. When she became sick, Khun Dye remembered the Jesus from the movie and the sign. Instead of giving sacrifices, she prayed for healing from God. She was healed, Jesus began to dwell in her heart, and she began to yearn for baptism.

At that time, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand evangelist Khun Pim was making regular visits to the village. Khun Dye sought out Khun Pim to ask about this powerful God who would heal without sacrifices.

About eight years ago, Khun Dye was baptised.

The night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed to his Father for his disciples. It was not a prayer for great faith or courage. It was a prayer for unity – not only for his current disciples but for all his disciples to come. Jesus knew our ability to love one another, and work together would be the greatest challenge to the credibility of our witness and the advance of his kingdom on earth.

Khun Dye’s story is not about one person telling her about the gospel. It is about a true Christian community who, despite differences in faith practice and theology, are bound together in Christ. As the Holy Spirit worked through their simple actions and humble service, Khun Dye encountered Jesus’ transforming love, peace and grace.

Erin Kerber is LCA International Mission Program Officer.

162

The one who brings peaceful dreams

/in , , ,

by Erin Kerber

There are many concerns and worries in life, including day-to-day family struggles, cost-of-living pressures, the decline of those involved in worship services, noticeable changes to the environment and the impact on God’s creation of rapid population growth.

While everyone has worried at some point, have you ever feared the sense of an evil presence? For those who live in northern Thailand, originally from Laos, fear of the spirit world often frightens them into hopelessness.

For Yai Beh and her husband Da Sahk, the second last doctor spirit in the village of Banden, nightmares that kept them sleepless at night and enslaved by day were deeply entangled with evil spirits. The evil spirits had such an impact, that they were unable to sleep in their home because of the fear brought about by nightmares.

For Da Sahk, a solo walk through Banden could lead to the evil spirit controlling his body, so that he would walk toward other villages, requiring others to go out in search of him. When he became unwell, he treated his injuries with sacrifices and the blood of animals. He was a slave to evil. He and his wife lived in fear.

Their children had relaxed into the love of God, with light replacing their darkness, but Da Sahk and Yai Beh were scared to become followers of Jesus because they worried God wouldn’t protect them from the evil spirits that ruled their lives. They believed the place they dwelt was too dark to be brought out of.

But the Holy Spirit’s words through an Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand evangelist led them to want to be baptised. One week before their baptism, they had second thoughts. The evangelist supported them through their doubt and, once they were baptised, they felt released from evil and free for the first time.

Da Sahk and Yai Beh realised that they had already been God’s children – even before their baptism – and, because of this, they didn’t need to be afraid. God is now the reason for their living. When they are sick, they pray and believe in God’s help, and they never miss a Sunday worship service.

Yai Beh still has dreams, but the nightmares have been replaced by visions of someone coming in a white cloth, which she believes represents holiness and wholeness. She sees Jesus in her dreams now and sleeps peacefully.

Yai Beh sits self-consciously next to Da Sahk and expresses how important it is to continue to trust, even when our worries are great. They have witnessed the Holy Spirit’s power to release them from their most overbearing worries.

Their story is an encouragement to anyone with worries. Yai Beh and Da Sahk believe in the power of prayer and of asking the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of those with worries, reminding them that God is always with them and can give them the strength to overcome fear.

Erin Kerber is LCA International Mission Program Officer.

163

Sober spirituality

/in , , ,

While the spiritual world of angels and demons may not be a regular topic of conversation among many Australians and New Zealanders, in other cultural contexts around the world, including that of Papua New Guinea, spiritual activity impacting human existence may be seen as part of everyday life. Lutheran pastor and seminary lecturer Mick Hauser, who lives and serves in PNG, shares his thoughts on the need to be watchful in spiritual matters.

In St Peter’s writings to persecuted early Christians living in regions of Asia Minor, he is unequivocal about the dangers the devil poses. And he knows the value of being on your guard when it comes to spiritual warfare.

This is serious business.

‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’, he warns his readers in 1 Peter 5.

‘Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings’ (1 Peter 5:9).

In Christian literature we also read about the need to be clearheaded when confronted by evil forces.

‘There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils’, cautions British Christian literary giant and theologian CS Lewis in his satirical novel Screwtape Letters, a timeless classic about spiritual warfare. ‘One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist and a magician with the same delight.’

Even though in a work of fiction, CS Lewis’ words are, in his usual fashion, a fine example of how to be watchful and sober toward the spiritual realm.

You will find the same watchfulness and sobriety in John Kleinig’s Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today, Harold Ristau’s My First Exorcism: What the Devil Taught a Lutheran Pastor about Counter-cultural Spirituality and Spiritual Warfare: For the Care of Souls, as in Dr Robert H Bennett’s work on ‘True Accounts from the Lutheran Church of Madagascar’, entitled I am not Afraid: Demon Possession and Spiritual Warfare.

They are Lutheran resources dealing with this edition’s theme that are robust and practical, edifying the church against all types of spiritual attack, and yet they are also very grounded and ordinary. Indeed, God’s word calls us to a sober and watchful spirituality.

Stories of hidden spiritual realms are often dark and fearsome, told to provoke excitement and even to intoxicate as if the plot of a thriller or horror movie.

These hidden or secret things hold a great fascination for many people – increasingly so in a world that suffers various insecurities and uncertainty.

We can mistakenly think that delving into the secret places will bear fruits of success or salve for our ills in earthly matters. This drawing or attraction to hidden things is nothing new, even as it is dressed in new clothes in the supposed spiritual new age.

Nevertheless, it is a serious concern for our spiritual health. Dismissing the topic out of hand is not really watchfulness. Nor would obsession be sober-mindedness. Therefore, we seek to speak of things in truth, in a balanced way.

In my context of living and teaching within the Melanesian culture in Papua New Guinea, by accident I have needed to engage in all manner of discussions regarding the spiritual realm with students, pastors, friends and family.

I have had my fair share of ‘experiences’ as well. Just last evening a security guard at my home warned me of a visiting white owl who had displayed to him some kind of supernatural ability. It was the guard’s duty to warn me of such spiritual activity, as owls could be ‘spirits’ spying or wanting to carry a message or call out to people in my home.

Here, in Papua New Guinea, the hidden realm is understood, almost paradoxically, as part of daily life.

We are able to see glimpses or the shadows of spirits and demonic activity, yet never the full picture.

Certainly, because of the obscure nature of such talk or experience, and our inability to interpret them on our own, there is one thing that is sure about this realm – it gives people a fright.

While magicians believe they can control and manipulate spiritual realms, it is really more the other way around. The spirits trick, cheat, confuse and control them. This is why God warns us against delving into these dark arts (see Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10, Galatians 5:19,20, and Acts 19:19) – you can very quickly lose or destroy yourself. The devil devours you.

He without doubt outwits us as he dresses up as an angel of light, as St Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:14. And perhaps this is the most intimidating aspect we should learn about the dark hidden realm. It is ultimately beyond our control. And yet, it is not apart from God’s reach, from the voice and command of Christ.

Discovering we are at the mercy of spiritual things is humbling and hence a pathway to calling out in fervent prayer to Jesus, the one who overcame the devil. We receive from him his good gifts because we have been baptised in his name. In this way, we are standing firm in the faith!

Troubled by the frightful darkness of the spiritual realm, we are led to the Word, the light of the world, and prayerfully ask questions of him, so that the Word would truly lead us in all things and witness to his power and authority and thereby comfort us with his word.

As we read in Mark 1:34, ‘And he would not permit the demons to speak’. This is just one such example of Jesus’ power and authority over the devil and his minions.

Christ commands the evil spirits to be quiet. Just as his word creates life, it also shuts up evil. He is Lord of all creation!

At the close of the gospel of Mark we hear, ‘Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover’ (Mark 16:16–18).

Through baptism and faith in his promises, Jesus saves us from the power of the devil and all evil spirits. Not in a magical way, as Dr Robert H Bennett points out in I am not Afraid: Demon Possession and Spiritual Warfare: ‘The exorcisms of the New Testament are not magic. The power to exorcise demons does not reside within individuals, and the words used are not some sort of secret phrases that can be learned or purchased. Jesus is the actor in all true exorcisms. He has come into the world to bind the “strong man”.’

However, as Jesus speaks his promises, baptism ‘brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it’, as Luther’s Small Catechism explains.

Through this ordinary means of grace, Jesus himself entered the lives of all peoples who feared the spiritual realms, and he himself comes into our lives today in the same way, for the same purpose – to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Just as we baptise, pray and receive the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus, we also cast out demons in his name.

So, we find we have three (not so) ordinary weapons in spiritual warfare; the holy name of Jesus (given to us in baptism), his holy word (spoken in Scripture) and our faith in him and his word (expressed through prayer).

As Jesus promises to come to us in his word and his sacraments, in watchfulness and with sober minds we pray for his coming. He comes with his angels in the glory of his Father (Matt 16:7) and, as he does, we can be confident of his spiritual protection because of his presence with us. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! ‘ … Let your holy angel be with me, so that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen’ (Luther’s ‘Evening Prayer’).

Pastor Mick Hauser serves as a missionary teaching at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

164

Time with God October–November 2023

/in , , ,

Resources for your time with God

Introduced during a time of COVID-related church closures and restrictions, our devotional pages under the Church@home banner have been very popular with many readers. But spending time with God throughout the week isn’t only a blessing when we can’t get to church on a Sunday. It’s an important boost for our faith every week. Therefore, you’ll continue to find support for your devotional life on these pages – and the LCANZ has plenty of other resources which we’ll highlight for your information, too.

– Lisa

DEVOTIONS

Prayer – an oasis? by Ruth Olsen

Jesus … left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed (Mark 1:35b).

Read Mark 1:29–45.

As one reads these verses for today, one can sense action and movement, as if things are happening quickly. That’s a characteristic of how Mark writes. At the home of Simon and Andrew, Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. Jesus took her hand and helped her up. The fever left, and she began serving them. Mark records no words, just action – a demonstration of Jesus’ authority.

Word spreads, and people crowd in, seeking help for their loved ones. Jesus heals many, but again, silences demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew who he was – again, demonstrations of Jesus’ authority, the authority of heaven. Jesus probably wanted first to show by word and deed the kind of Messiah he was before he declared himself clearly, and he would not let the demons frustrate this intent.

Early the following morning, Jesus went to a solitary place to pray. Much had been happening, but time aside from busyness to pray was a priority. Time to listen and be still, time for heart-to-heart communication, to recharge and replenish – an oasis away from busy ministry.

Simon and his companions find Jesus, telling him, ‘Everyone is looking for you!’, to which Jesus said, ‘Let’s go somewhere else, to preach there also; that’s why I have come’. What would your response be? ‘But … but …?’ However, Jesus was focused and would not be distracted by popular demand.

A man with leprosy comes to Jesus, desperately seeking help. You can read Leviticus 13 and 14 for the regulations required for dealing with an infectious skin disease, including the seven days’ isolation (lockdown?). Imagine the isolation of being untouchable. Yet Jesus touches him, speaks to him, and the leprosy is gone! Imagine the man’s delight and joy! But he is told not to tell anyone apart from the priest. Instead, his joy bubbles over to anyone nearby. Jesus, who is not seeking popular demand, retreats to lonely places, but people continue to pursue him even there.

Lord, increase our capacity to receive from you and share from you by the power of your Spirit at work in us and through us. Amen.

How much do we understand? by Pastor Mark Gierus

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realise that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him (John 12:16).

Read John 12:12–19.

When it comes to life, how much do we understand? How were the heavens, the earth and all things that live on earth created? Do we comprehend the intricate relationships of all living things, let alone our own human relationships? Do we understand the deep thoughts, worries, anxieties, desires and hopes of our human hearts? Do we understand the work of Jesus?

The disciples, we are told, did not understand all the events that occurred. That Jesus said that he must suffer and die and be raised again. They did not understand that Jesus came as the King of Kings, yet also a servant king. Jesus did not come as a human conqueror on a battle horse, but as a suffering servant, humble and riding on a donkey. Only after the end of all the things that Jesus had to go through did the disciples realise what was happening. The heart of the matter was that Jesus came to suffer and die and rise again on the third day for the sin of the world.

Yet, like the disciples, we may not fully understand the mysteries of the work of God. We may not fully understand the work that continues in us by the power of the Holy Spirit through the word of God planted in our hearts. We may not fully understand why things happen the way they do, but as we read the word of God, we grow in faith to see Jesus in our lives. It is by faith that we live and have meaning. Faith in Jesus, the king who came to save us from our sins, to face each day with confidence in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

When we meet Jesus on that day when he comes to take us with him forever, we will clearly see what Jesus sees. We won’t need to understand, for all that is unclear will be made clear. Some things seem wrong or out of place in life, perhaps different from how you would have done something. But it is in these very things that, by faith, we know that God works in us and through us for his glory. Jesus wasn’t weak for dying on the cross – instead of raising up an army to save him, he came as a servant to give up his life so that we might have life.

Lord, we don’t understand so many things – the wonders of your creation and the struggles we have in our own hearts. Yet, Lord, you love and shape us for your work through what we see and do. Help us trust you and remember your deep love for us, first shown by sending your Son Jesus to suffer and die for our sins and to offer us life forever with you in his name. Amen.

To receive the LCA daily devotion each morning in your inbox, go to www.lca.org.au/communications/enews and select Daily Devotions from the Churchwide list after entering your email address. These can also be printed off from the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/daily-devotion

LECTIONARY READINGS

Week Sunday readings
1–7 OCT Exodus 17:1–7 Psalm 78:1–4, 12–16 Philippians 2:1–13 Matthew 21:23–32
8–14 OCT Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b–14 Matthew 21:33–46
15–21 OCT Exodus 32:1–14 Psalm 106:1–6, 19–23 Philippians 4:1–9 Matthew 22:1–14
22–28 OCT Exodus 33:12–23 Psalm 99 1 Thessalonians 1:1–10 Matthew 22:15–22
29 OCT–4 NOV Deuteronomy 34:1–12 Psalm 90:1–6, 13–17 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8 Matthew 22:34–46
5–11 NOV Joshua 3:7–17 Psalm 107:1–7, 33–37 1 Thessalonians 2:9–13 Matthew 23:1–12
12–18 NOV Joshua 24:1–3a, 14–25 Psalm 78:1–7 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 Matthew 25:1–13
19–25 NOV

 

 Judges 4:1–7 Psalm 123 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11 Matthew 25:14–30
26 NOV–2 DEC Ezekiel 34:11–16, 20–24 Psalm 100 Ephesians 1:15–23 Matthew 25:31–46

For more prayer and devotional resources, including a listing of daily Bible readings for each day of the church year, go to www.lca.org.au/wpp/prayers-devotions

Lutheran Tract Mission also provides the readings in a booklet, which can be accessed electronically at www.ltm.org.au/tract/view/70579-daily-bible-readings-for-2023 or as a printed booklet through the LTM office (phone 08 8360 7222) for a donation of 20c per copy.  

PRAYER POINTS

1–7 Oct: Those members of the LCANZ nominated to serve as delegates to the 2024 Convention of General Synod in a year’s time

8–14 Oct: The unity of the church and the Way Forward for the office of the public ministry in the LCANZ

15–21 Oct: People working in aged or disability care around Australia and New Zealand, during Australia’s National Carers Week

22–28 Oct: Lutherans in New Zealand, on the anniversary of the signing of He Whakaputanga, the nation’s Declaration of Independence, in 1835 (28 Oct)

29 Oct–4 Nov: All who mourn the loss of loved ones and those who support them on All Saints Day (1 Nov)

5–11 Nov: The families and loved ones of those who have died in all wars and conflicts on Armistice Day (New Zealand)/Remembrance Day (Australia) (11 Nov)

12–18 Nov: The opportunity and commitment to follow Jesus’ example of showing love to our neighbours on World Kindness Day (13 Nov)

19–25 Nov: Those who support victims of violence on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 Nov)

26 Nov–2 Dec: All those who have suffered and continue to experience loss from floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters

165

Be on song for Advent and Christmas

/in , , ,

by Libby Krahling

Getting ready for Advent and Christmas? Then a copy of LCA Music Resources Volume 4: Songs of the Church for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, may help. Presenting 100 hymns and songs, the collection can be purchased as a spiral-bound hard copy or as individual digital downloads. Chords and three-part settings make the songs accessible for musicians of varying experience. You can buy it through Australian Christian Resources at www.shopacr.com.au

MORE SEASONAL RESOURCES

As well as providing service orders for Christmas, the LCANZ’s Worship Planning Page includes other Advent and Christmas resources to help with congregational preparations for this special time of year. These include a guide to Christmas carol copyright and a wide range of Christmas Eve orders and Christmas plays.

NEW MUSIC PROJECT

The Commission on Worship is calling for songwriters and composers to contribute new songs and liturgical settings for use in worship. These could include lyrics added to existing tunes, new songs or musical settings for parts of the liturgy. For details and submission criteria, contact David Simpfendorfer at simpfy3@gmail.com

Libby Krahling is Commission on Worship Administration Coordinator.

166

What is the way forward?

/in , , ,

Learn more about this important LCANZ project by reading stories and accessing resources – including a Q & A – on the Way Forward website at www.lca.org.au/wayforward

Listen to a podcast explaining the background of the project, and how you can be involved at www.lca.org.au/podcasts

Take part in the churchwide day of prayer for unity on 8 October. See the story ‘Bishops call for day of prayer, church unity’ for more details.

167

Knowing signs of violence

/in , , ,

We hear about domestic and family violence in the news and when politicians are pledging support. But do we see it when it is close by, with people we know, including in our congregations and neighbourhoods? Would you like to learn more about how to recognise the signs of domestic and family violence, so that you can respond appropriately?

You can do so through an online module on the LCANZ Learning Hub, developed for the church as part of its Hidden Hurts Healing Hearts Campaign. The training is designed as a self-paced learning module for pastors, church workers and leaders to help raise awareness of the impact of domestic and family violence and to strengthen the support you may be already giving to people experiencing it. This training is recognised for professional development purposes for LCANZ employees.

Recently updated with links to many relevant resources, module topics include:

  • What is Domestic Violence? Signs and Impact of Domestic Violence
  • Faith and Domestic Violence
  • Responding to those experiencing Domestic Violence
  • Responding to a person who is violent and abusive
  • Self-Care
  • The Church and Healing

HOW TO ACCESS THE TRAINING HUB

Those with LCA email addresses can access the hub using the LCANZ Learning Hub button on the LCA Portal. People who have previously accessed training via ALC iLearn can use those credentials via the ALC iLearn page: https://ilearn.alc.edu.au/

Others will need to contact the LCANZ’s Church Worker Support Department (churchworkersupport@lca.org.au or phone 08 8267 7300) for a single-use enrolment key. This will enable them to enrol and log in via the ALC iLearn page using an email and password that they will then set up.

16 DAYS OF ADVOCACY

From November 25 to December 10 is recognised internationally as 16 days of advocacy and activism to eliminate violence against women and girls.

Churches around the world use this time as one of prayer and commitment to action – actions that promote healthy relationships and bring transformative change to those caught in the cycle of violence. You and your congregation may like to pray and think about how to advocate for or support someone experiencing violence.

We pray for:

  • willingness to learn about domestic and family violence and acknowledge the damage it does within our church family
  • emergency service workers responding to crisis calls
  • doctors, nurses, social workers and counsellors attending to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wounds of those who have been abused
  • our churches, that they may be safe places for the vulnerable
  • eyes and ears that notice when someone is disclosing abuse
  • courage to speak up against disrespectful behaviour
  • children, young people and elderly people, vulnerable to being abused
  • all women, men and children to find lives free from violence
  • pastors, teachers and pastoral leaders, teaching and modelling loving and healthy relationships.

DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE 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. In an emergency, call 000.

168

Bishops release Voice referendum discussion guide

/in , , ,

To assist LCA members as they pray and prepare to vote in the Australian referendum on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in October, the College of Bishops has overseen the production of a guide on this matter for the communities of the church.

This discussion and information paper has been prepared in collaboration with Nick Schwarz, the Assistant to the Bishop – Public Theology, and with the input of leaders from Australian Lutheran Indigenous communities.

It also includes a ‘Bible and theology’ section as a reference for study groups; a guide for discussion outlining the background to the referendum and summaries of the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases; and documentation relating to the referendum.

This paper is intended as a reference guide as members of the church prepare to participate in the 14 October referendum; it is not an official statement of the church. You can download it at www.lca.org.au/voice-referendum-guide

169

Forbes Lutherans back ‘home’ after the floods

/in , , ,

Nine months after floods devastated the community around the Central West New South Wales town of Forbes last November, including inundating their 90-year-old church building, members of the Lutheran congregation finally returned ‘home’.

On 27 August, St John’s Lutheran Church was reopened, rededicated and blessed during a worship service led by Pastor James Leach, who described the occasion as a homecoming.

‘Homes provide shelter. Safety, warmth. A place to sit and rest. Eat. Talk. Share. A place to work. To play. To make things and to make memories’, Pastor James said in his sermon. ‘And this building that we are gathered in is no exception.

‘But this building has an additional purpose: it is to be the light of Christ to this town. St John’s Lutheran Church, a light to Forbes. This building has the purpose of forming God’s people into bearers of God’s light so that those who witness our light will give glory to God.’

Congregational chairperson Michelle Mahlo said it was ‘such a good feeling’ to be back at St John’s spiritual home after months of worshipping in members’ homes.

‘Looking at our church and hall today we are grateful for the fact that it looks the same as before. However, we can see that it has been refreshed and invigorated’, Michelle said, citing the ‘excellent support’ of the LCANZ and LCA Insurance, as well as the local restoration team.

In November, with ‘some expectation of a flood event occurring’, some items had been removed from the church and the organ was lifted onto pews. But, Michelle said, ‘at the last opportunity available with minutes to spare’, the State Emergency Service was called upon to sandbag the church.

After 200mm of floodwaters came through the building, it was declared unsafe due to contaminants on the walls and floors and from under the floors. Restoration work began in May. This included the sanding and refinishing of floorboards, and the replacement of carpets in the church and the hall’s kitchen, flooring, cupboards, whitegoods, bathroom flooring and fixtures, while church furniture dating from 1934 was sent to Sydney for restoration. The original late 1890s table used for an altar at the site of the first Lutheran services in Forbes was also restored.

LCANZ members supported the Forbes community through prayers and donations to a special flood appeal for the region.

At the same time, during the height of the crisis, Pastor James, his wife Adele and others from the Central West Lutheran Parish listened to and talked with people worst hit by the emergency, and took them home-cooked meals, other food and drinks, gift cards, tracts and other items they needed.

However, living through the floods was also a struggle for the Lutheran family there.

‘In these last months, we faced obstacles’, Pastor James said. ‘The first obstacle was coming into the church on the days after the flooding and seeing all the mud and filth throughout the building, not to mention the smell … and just knowing that this was a bigger job than any of us were going to be able to do on our own.

‘We knew though that the bigger and more important task for the church at this time was to be in the community.

‘Other obstacles arose, and through each of those obstacles God provided what we needed and so much more. God indeed seemed determined to get this restoration done – but for what purpose?

‘There are a few really good reasons, but the one that sticks out the most today is because this is our home. It’s the place God has given us where we can come and receive shelter from the things that get on top of us in our lives. It’s a place where we can come and receive the warmth of God’s forgiveness and love. It’s a place where we can be refreshed to go back into our lives with refocused energy to love the world around us.’

170

New leader for Lutheran Media

/in , , ,

Dr Tania Nelson is the new manager of Lutheran Media.

Tania, who has served as the LCANZ’s Executive Officer – Local Mission since August 2016, succeeded Pastor Richard Fox at the helm of the multi-media ministry outreach arm of the church last month. Richard, who led Lutheran Media for 11 years, has returned to parish ministry, at Glynde in South Australia.

Tania’s appointment was announced by LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith in late August.

The first woman and the first lay person to hold the role, she applied for the manager’s position because she had ‘long believed that Lutheran Media is a vital mission-focused ministry of the LCANZ’.

‘It just makes sense to me to utilise media, in all its many forms, to reach people with the saving message of God’s gracious love for us’, she said after her appointment. ‘I feel that God is calling me to play a role in this wonderful outreach ministry.

‘I am so excited, and incredibly humbled, to step into the large shoes of the many people who have grown Lutheran Media to what it is today.

‘Lutheran Media has had an amazing and unique history, beginning in its early days via the radio waves and extending now to a variety of social media platforms. I still recall the deep and soothing voice of Emeritus President Rev Dr Lance Steicke bringing words of encouragement to listeners, as I played the Face to Face cartridges in the Mount Gambier community radio studio where I volunteered in the 1980s.

‘I thank the former directors of Lutheran Media, and particularly outgoing director Pastor Richard Fox, for leading and building Lutheran Media to a place where millions can hear messages of hope of a loving and saving God. I’m looking forward to working with the excellent Lutheran Media staff team, and discerning where God is calling us in this next phase of our God’s mission work.’

Bishop Paul said he was thankful to God ‘for the seven years of Christian service Tania has given to our church’s work in her leadership in the department for Local Mission’.

‘She has an overflowing joyful passion for the witness of God’s people to the world’, he said. ‘Now she “moves sideways” to her new role with Lutheran Media in the same cause of bringing Christ to the nations. (Pastor Richard) can rest in the good report that the ministry of Lutheran Media will be in the hands of a faithful co-worker in the gospel. Please join me in praising God that Tania has offered her gifts for this work of our church.’

During her tenure as the LCANZ’s head of Local Mission, Tania has provided strategic oversight of Care Ministries, Grow Ministries, Cross-Cultural Ministry, New and Renewing Churches and Lutheran Media. She also implemented the General Synod decision to bring the boards for Lutheran Aged Care Australia, Lutheran Media Ministry and Child Youth and Family Ministry and the interim Board for Local Mission into what is now known as the Council for Local Mission.

Prior to taking on the executive officer role, the former teacher was the Head of School of Theological Studies and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Australian Lutheran College (ALC). Tania is also a casual academic at ALC this year, teaching a unit in the college’s higher education program.