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291

Because we bear your name

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Bishop Paul’s letter

Rev Paul Smith
Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand

‘So, you’re a bishop? Good job! …’

In 2023, three of our LCANZ District Bishops will be handing on the work of bishop to another. In Western Australia, Bishop Mike Fulwood will be concluding his service as bishop. In the South Australia – Northern Territory District, Bishop David Altus will be concluding his service. Finally, in the Lutheran Church of New Zealand, Bishop Mark Whitfield will be concluding his service. In all three cases, these ‘Servants of the Word’ are asking the Lord to guide them as they consider what service they will next undertake in the Lutheran Church.

What does a bishop do? In our church’s constitution and by-laws, both for the LCANZ and its districts, there are extensive guidelines to answer this question. The repeated words you find there, are that a bishop shall ‘exercise oversight’ with specific reference to doctrine and practice in the church. There are also descriptions of the various administrative responsibilities of a bishop, and this includes the expected list of meetings he must attend.

The opening duty listed for a bishop in our church is significant. It declares that the bishop shall, ‘preach, teach and administer the Sacraments in accord with the Confession of the Church, exercising this ministry in congregations in consultation with the congregation and pastor concerned’. As people of the Lutheran witness to Christ Jesus, we expect our bishops to be busied with our God’s means of grace. We expect our bishops to be preaching and teaching, and administering the sacraments, that they would be active in the mission of God to bring life, salvation and the forgiveness of sin.

In St Paul’s first letter to Timothy, chapter three, we are taught a simple expression about the work of a bishop. In the King James Bible of 1611, verse one of this text reads, ‘This is a true saying, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work”’. More modern translations read, ‘desires a noble task’. There is a potential hidden danger with that translation ‘noble task’. A church leader ought not suppose that the service of bishop is somehow elevated above, or more ‘noble’ than the service of any other sisters and brothers in Christ.

There is a profound key for us to properly understand the work of a bishop in this very scripture passage. This is something you discover in the two words in the Greek New Testament that are translated as ‘noble task’ or ‘good work’. Those two words appear together in another place in the New Testament.

Matthew 26:6–13 tells the story of the woman who pours expensive ointment on our Lord Jesus when he is in the house of Simon in Bethany. The disciples criticise her, calling her action a waste of money. But our Lord defends the woman and declares that ‘she has performed a “good work” for me’ (Matt 26:10). These are the same two Greek words we find in 1 Timothy 3.

A bishop serves his Lord. This is the good work. Like the woman at Bethany, the bishop is focused on the revelation that our Lord Jesus is the promised Messiah. The story of the woman in Bethany occurs just before the crucifixion of our Lord. A bishop of the church is busied with preaching Christ and him crucified, for the salvation of the world.

So please pray for our three districts of Western Australia, South Australia – Northern Territory and the LCNZ, as they ask the Lord to provide them with a man to undertake the ‘good work’ of serving as District Bishop from 2023. Please also pray for the pastors who are nominated for this role, that they would know how to best offer their gifts in service to their Lord in the cause of the gospel, listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd. Finally, please ask for the Lord’s blessing on our bishops who are continuing in 2023: Bishop Robert Bartholomaeus, Bishop Lester Priebbenow, Bishop Mark Vainikka and Assistant Bishop Neville Otto.

Bishop? Good job!

In Christ,
Paul

Lord Jesus, we belong to you,
you live in us, we live in you;
we live and work for you –
because we bear your name.

292

The idol factory

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by Mick Hauser

It is difficult to know where to start when writing about the subject of idolatry. I’d like to approach it with some humour, but it’s such a hard-hitting topic, how can you do that?

Australian Lutheran pastor Rev Dr Michael Lockwood, who has also written for this edition, has penned a book on Luther’s understanding of idolatry entitled The Unholy Trinity. Its central thesis is that the self and its desire to be covered in glory rather than with the blood of Christ lies behind all idolatry.

And we continue to make innumerable idols, chiefly with our imaginations.

‘Idolatry is an attempt of the imagination to take the divine and make it visible, to make it understandable, to make it manageable’, say the authors and Lutheran theologians Gene Veith Jr and Pastor Matthew P Ristuccia, in their book Imagination Redeemed.

Martin Luther, his fellow Protestant reformer John Calvin and 20th-century Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer all agreed somewhat that the imagination was an idol factory.

Our imaginations seem to be unrelenting in creating idols. Even within the church, faithful Christians have a habit of unwittingly chiselling out idols, abstract or otherwise.

We often take aspects of a divine promise or gift and idolise them. For instance, freedom, love and wisdom or reason.

These are aspects or qualities of divinity, but torn away from the person of Christ, created and carved into abstract notions or principles, they become idols.

The most common idol according to Luther is mammon – money, property, riches or any material wealth. They are created gifts that we mistake for God. In our materialistic world and culture, we don’t have to look far to find the influence of mammon on our lives.

Idols, too, especially most recently, often dress themselves with the garment and scales of ‘justice’. For instance, freedom for everyone is good, especially for me! Ethical philosophical systems easily become idols. ‘Virtue signalling’ is a product of idolatry.

A little more hidden is the idolatry we find surrounding the chief articles of the church, our confessions. I don’t mean that the Book of Concord itself is an idol – although this would be and is concerning – but I mean the idolatry that seeks to copy closely the articles of faith, but with distortions that can be manipulated.

We idolise the office of public ministry, the pulpit and the authority it holds and the voice that it gives.

We idolise the keys to the kingdom too, to bind and to loose sin as we become the judges of the world, offering up an opinion on everything and pasting them all over the cyberworld. We are very ready to declare someone as unspeakable and another to be worthy of mention.

A little closer to our hearts though, the idol of self-love has always told us that we can be whatever we want to be. In our pandering to one another, we thought that loving our neighbour meant agreeing with them and reiterating the lie.

Now we reap what we sow. People modify their bodies, not only in their gender, but some go so far as to want to look like a different species altogether.

Science fiction often imagines cybernetics or beings that are part-human and part-machine, leaving humanity facing a struggle to maintain control. In many cases, the progress and ultimate survival of humanity are held up as the leading ethical principles of what is just and right.

Living for eternity seems to be the goal for many, as we idolise life itself. We have literally locked up those who threaten life with sickness.

We cast aspersions and mock those who stand against worldly tides. Idolatry has infiltrated all levels of society and it is a religion in itself.

Lord have mercy on us! We have plenty to turn away from. Help us, we pray!

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

293

Ordination on the agenda

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As the in-person sessions of the 20th Convention of General Synod approach, LCANZ members are asking whether the ordination question will be on the agenda once again. It will be. Six proposals on the topic have been presented for discussion by delegates. Three of them refer to the Theses of Agreement. The following document has been prepared for delegates and other church members interested in this conversation. Endorsed by the General Church Board, it provides a summary of the proposals about ordination to come before Synod, as well as the status of the Theses of Agreement.

Ordination of women and men – the proposals before General Synod

Six proposals relating to the ordination question are before the 20th General Synod and will be considered at the in-person sessions in February 2023:

  • three proposing to remove TA 6.11 from the Theses of Agreement
  • one proposing that the LCANZ allow two practices of ordination
  • one proposing that the General Church Board (GCB) work through the theological, constitutional and governance requirements in establishing one church with two different practices of ordination, and reporting back to General Synod in the form of a proposal for discussion and potential endorsement
  • one proposing to give a peaceful dismissal to those congregations unable to live under the current teaching of a male-only pastorate and exercise their right to withdraw membership from the LCANZ.

Some proposals refer to the Theses of Agreement, particularly TA 1.4 and TA 6.11. The GCB is aware that, across the church, there are various levels of understanding of the Theses of Agreement and has approved the following summary.

Theses of Agreement

What are the Theses of Agreement?

The Theses of Agreement are the common consent of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia (UELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia (ELCA) on matters of doctrine which were in dispute between them. They were adopted by the respective churches in the mid- to late-1950s.

The journey to union of the two Lutheran churches had a number of false starts in the early part of the 20th century. The concerted effect to renew union discussions began in 1937–38, but it was not until 1941 that the official meetings of representatives of the two churches began. The various theses were adopted by the joint committees between 1948 and 1956. Aspects of Theses 5 ‘The Church’ were adopted by the joint committees in 1965.

Although the clarification on matters of doctrine was predominantly settled with the adoption of the Theses of Agreement by both churches, the way forward on cooperation and fellowship was only resolved with the Document of Union, which was registered by the churches in 1965. The Theses of Agreement was recognised in the document as acceptance of the expression of the common consent of the two churches and was made part of the Document of Union.

At the constituting convention of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) in 1966, the General Synod adopted the LCA Constitution and resolved other matters regarding the amalgamation of the new church. The Theses of Agreement is not part of the LCA Constitution; however, its status as a document of the church has been articulated since the constituting convention in 1966.

Theses of Agreement relevant to the office of the ministry

Theses of Agreement (TA) 6 defines the teaching of the LCA on the office of the ministry. TA 6.1 to 6.10 refer to God’s institution of the office and the responsibilities and authority of those called to the office as recorded in Scripture and in the Lutheran Symbols of the Book of Concord of 1580. TA 6.11 refers specifically to prohibiting women from being called into the office of the public ministry.

None of the five proposals before the General Synod seeking the ordination of women and men disputes TA 6.1 to 6.10. Three of the proposals seek the removal of TA 6.11. One calls for the LCANZ to allow two practices of ministry in the church. Another calls for the LCANZ to work through the theological, constitutional and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination.

Use of Theses of Agreement 1 as the basis of proposals to allow the ordination of both women and men

Three of the proposals refer to TA 1, ‘Principles governing Church Fellowship’, specifically paragraph 4 (TA 1.4).

TA 1.4 can be summarised as follows: that where differences in exegesis (interpretation of Scripture) exist that affect doctrine (the church’s teaching) and if agreement cannot be reached following ‘combined, prayerful examination of the passage or passages in question’, divergent views arising from such differences are not church-divisive, providing that:

  1. There be the readiness in principle to submit to the authority of the Word of God;
  2. Thereby no clear Word of Scripture is denied, contradicted or ignored;
  3. Such divergent views in no wise impair, infringe upon, or violate the central doctrine of Holy Scripture, justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ;
  4. Nothing is taught contrary to the publica doctrina of the Lutheran Church as laid out in its Confessions;
  5. Such divergent views are not propagated as the publica doctrina of the Church and in no wise impair the doctrine of Holy Writ.

The full text of TA 1.4 can be found on the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations page on the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/cticr

294

The power of the humble lentil

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by Matthias Prenzler

Legumes such as lentils are an essential part of the East African diet. They’re nutritious, filling, long-lasting, and cheap. But would you ever see legumes as agents for mission? Never underestimate the mission potential of the humble lentil!

In October 2021, Shepparton in Victoria was hit hard by the Delta COVID outbreak. At one stage, a third of the city was in hard quarantine, and essential services like supermarkets were struggling to keep up.

The lockdowns were felt keenly by African members of St Paul’s Lutheran Church, who were cut off from their families, community and church. Our congregation did our best to attend to the physical and spiritual needs of members. One of the only ways we could do this within restrictions was by delivering care packages of culturally appropriate food items, including lentils. These fed the belly and the heart. It also gave us an opportunity to pray with people, satisfying the needs of the soul as well.

But where do you get large quantities of lentils during a pandemic? I rang Gavin Schuster, a farmer from Freeling in South Australia and a member of the Light Lutheran Church. He asked members of his church, and although nobody had any lentils available, they sent money to enable us to purchase legumes locally. Soon after we invited Light Lutheran Church to consider a mission partnership with Goulburn Murray Lutheran Parish.

With the assistance of Craig Heidenreich, the LCA’s Cross-Cultural Ministry Facilitator, and Brett Kennett, LCA Victorian District Pastor for Congregational Support, we have been looking to establish mission partnerships. As well as financial support, these partnerships aim to provide opportunities for prayer, sharing of skills in cross-cultural ministry and mutual encouragement.

For the past six years, the Goulburn Murray Parish has been blessed by the ministry of Kathleen Mills, a deaconess from the USA who has been instrumental with ministry work among the Shepparton African community. Her position has previously been funded by a generous grant from the LCANZ’s Board for Local Mission, but this funding ended in May 2022.

On 31 July 2022, a delegation from St Paul’s Shepparton visited Freeling for a mission festival. Members of St Paul’s African choir sang, Kathleen shared a presentation on her work in the parish, and representatives of the two church bodies signed a Memorandum of Understanding. It was a very joyful and encouraging start to the partnership, and we look forward to seeing it grow and develop.

Light Lutheran Church is raising funds for mission through the work of some innovative farmers from the church. The farmers received permission to crop a plot of government land if they used the profits for charitable purposes. Last year, they got a bumper crop that earned four times what they expected. What did they grow? Lentils, of course!

Pastor Matthias Prenzler serves the Goulburn Murray Lutheran Parish in Victoria.

The full version of this story first appeared in the Victorian District including Tasmania’s District eVoices.

295

Working to keep us cyber-safe

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The scale of cyber-security threats has increased exponentially over the past few years. This is not only in the volume of attacks but also the sophistication of hackers, who are constantly developing new ways to attack organisations and individuals. Churches are not immune.

Cyber attacks were ‘relatively rare’ when he started working for the church in 2010, says Daniel Wiltshire, who leads the LCANZ’s team of IT specialists. Today his small team defends the church against as many as 15,000 attacks a day. These attacks might be designed to infiltrate (or ‘hack’) a network or steal money or data. Extortion attempts can arrive as ‘phishing’ emails or fake websites.

Daniel and his team have been working with LCANZ members to introduce new security measures to better combat the hackers. These include passphrases (rather than passwords) and multi-factor authentication on LCANZ email accounts.

Brett Hausler, Executive Officer of the Church, adds that cyber security is not only the IT team’s responsibility. ‘This is our problem’, he says. ‘Every time we log in on our laptop or device, we’re a potential target for thieves. So, it’s important that every one of us takes these threats seriously and does everything we can to protect ourselves and every person we interact with.’

To learn more about measures you can take to protect yourself and others, go to www.lca.org.au/cybersecurity

MEET THE LCANZ IT TEAM

After Daniel Wiltshire, a 26-year veteran of the IT industry, the next longest-serving member of LCANZ IT Services is Nathan Vosgerau, who began a traineeship with the team in 2014. Keenan Manto, who also joined in 2014, left earlier this year to work in school-based IT support. New to the LCANZ team in 2022 are Ashley Rice, who previously worked for six years with internet service provider Internode in Adelaide, and Roya Amini, who most recently worked in IT support in construction in Sydney. Brisbane-based web developer David Mau is a part-time member of the IT team.

Formerly based at Australian Lutheran College prior to a 2016 move into the church’s national office, the LCANZ IT team of that era looked after the needs of approximately 200 people. It now serves around 4000 people, including pastors and other church workers, volunteers, congregation office holders and Synod delegates.

HOW DOES THE IT SERVICES TEAM SERVE THE CHURCH?

LCANZ IT is committed to developing systems and processes to support rapid, reliable and effective sharing of information across our church, including access to the wide range of LCANZ resources to support mission and ministry in local contexts across Australia and New Zealand. The team also provides advice to congregational leaders about their church cyber security needs.

296

How to create a beautiful picture

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by Anne Hansen

I really enjoy doing a jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces are emptied onto a folding table and then comes the sorting – putting colours together, finding the edge pieces and starting to put the outside border in place to then work towards the middle.

It takes effort, concentration, good lighting and a lot of time to finish a puzzle. Recently I did one with my mother. There were so many sky pieces that looked the same and that also seemed to match the water pieces. We had to look at them so carefully and make sure they were put in the right spot. I found a couple of pieces that were incorrect and that made finishing the puzzle impossible. Every piece had its own place from which to be a part of making up a beautiful picture.

SPIRITUAL LIFE CAN BE A PUZZLE TOO

With our spiritual life and that of our family, we tend to get the border happening – baptism, first communion and confirmation – but what about the middle? We may have trouble getting all the pieces in the right places, especially when other things distract us and take away our concentration.

I have even been tempted to give up on some puzzles, just like we may give up on feeding our spiritual life – reading the Bible daily, praying for others, worshipping with a fellowship of believers and serving others inside and outside of the church. Working as God wants them to, all these things together make a beautiful person complete and whole.

It’s not easy. In fact, it is easier to give up, but God encourages us to put in one piece at a time and gently guides us when something doesn’t quite fit.

Our lives are created as a puzzle and it takes a lifetime to complete, but we have to start somewhere.

RESOURCES TO ENCOURAGE GROWTH

Lutheran Tract Mission has many resources to grow your life and the lives of your family members and friends. Have a look at our website at www.ltm.org.au and choose ‘Find Resources’, then click on ‘Christian Growth’. You will find about 200 different tracts under this category to encourage you.

Grow your spiritual life one day at a time and encourage your friends to do the same. When you choose a tract to help you, grab another for a family member or friend. Time with God will grow your life into a beautiful picture – one piece at a time!

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer.

297

Practical tips to become a ‘greener’ congregation

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by Neil Bergmann

Most governments committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade and reaching net-zero by mid-century are also committed to protecting habitats for vulnerable species, and addressing pollution and waste management. Many individuals, families and companies are investigating how to reduce their environmental impact, too. Congregations also have a role to play in developing more sustainable communities. Here are some practical ideas for promoting creation care within your faith family. Each congregation will respond differently to its local needs.

WORSHIP

  • Have some sermons about creation, and about our stewardship of creation.
  • Include specific petitions in the prayer of the church celebrating God’s providential care for all creation and our role as stewards.
  • Decorate the church building with artworks that celebrate creation.
  • Have a service outside, surrounded by nature.
  • Plan to celebrate the Season of Creation in September 2023.

WASTE

  • Choose a sustainable alternative to single-use plastic communion cups. As well as reusable glass individual cups, biodegradable sugar-cane-based single-use cups can now be ordered from Australian Christian Resources (shopACR.com.au).
  • For morning teas and shared meals, move from single-use disposable plates, cutlery and cups to reusable ones.
  • Have the option of providing your weekly bulletin in email format as well as in paper form.
  • Compost food waste and ensure recyclables go into the right bin.

FOOD AND GARDENS

  • For morning teas and shared meals consider sustainable food choices using locally sourced ingredients.
  • Share homegrown fruit and vegetables amongst congregation members.
  • Set up a community garden that also collects community compostables.
  • Plant a native garden and set up some picnic areas for use by the whole community if you have enough space.

ENERGY AND TRANSPORT

  • Look to use energy-saving lights and appliances.
  • Consider solar panels on the church roof, or choose a GreenPower plan from your electricity retailer.
  • Consider ridesharing for trips to and from church.
  • Consider installing bike racks and electric vehicle charging points and encourage walking to church for those who are able and live nearby.
  • Replace some meetings with online ones, especially if people travel far to attend.

GETTING YOUR CHURCH ORGANISED

  • Establish a creation care committee and develop a plan suiting your community’s interests and abilities.
  • Involve young people in the congregation, in your wider family and the local community. They have passion, energy, and ideas.
  • Do a sustainability audit.
  • Host a community creation-based film night.
  • Consider applying for a Five Leaf EcoAward – their Basic Certificate provides an easy framework for more sustainable congregations. (The awards are an Australian ecumenical environmental change program specifically designed for churches and religious organisations.)
  • Contact Lutheran Earth Care (lecanz@lca.org.au) – we’d be happy to help.

Neil Bergmann is the Chair of Lutheran Earth Care Australia and New Zealand.

298

LCA Yearbook to be discontinued

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The LCA Yearbook will no longer be published. The decision has been reached for a number of reasons, including:

  • the potential for the personal information of pastors, other church workers and volunteers to be inappropriately used
  • related to the above, the church’s inability to ensure compliance with statutory privacy legislation and policies
  • its questionable usefulness, as the Yearbook data invariably becomes out of date even before it is published
  • the high staff resource cost required to produce it.

While it is recognised that some people will miss having a physical LCA database, it should be noted that everyone with access to the LAMP2 online database will find essential information about congregations and church workers on that.

In addition, contact details for congregations and their worship service times and locations will be readily available via the LCA website from early 2023.

299

Chance to learn more about digital ministry

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With the doors of the church being opened online and digital mission and ministry opportunities growing, LCANZ Local Mission is hosting an online Digital Mission and Ministry Forum next month.

Designed to help support, inspire and connect people serving in this area of mission and ministry, the forum on 5 November will include presentations and discussions on the opportunities, challenges and supports available to help you and the people in your church. Keynote session topics will include Digital Evangelism, Digital Discipleship and Opportunities in Digital Mission and Ministry, while there will be panel discussions on the topics: digital word and sacrament ministry, digital tech possibilities and what’s happening in digital mission and ministry in the LCANZ and what are we learning?

Speakers will include LCANZ pastor Rev Dr Tim Stringer, CV Global’s Director of Innovation Stuart Cranney, Greg Murray of Alpha Australia and Glenice Hartwich of St John’s Lutheran Church Unley in South Australia.

For more information, including registration details, go to www.lca.org.au/local-mission 

300

God’s own adventure

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Going GREYT! 1 Peter 4:10

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.

by Helen Brinkman

When John Belani arrived as a young single man in an Austrian refugee camp in 1957, he was seeking a life of adventure in the Congo.

At 23, the cabinet maker had left his homeland of Slovakia and knew no-one in the camp of 2000 people. He was set on migrating to the central African nation in search of rainforest hunter-gatherer people (pygmies) and wild animals.

However, the sound of hymns coming from a nearby hall led him not only to his future wife, but an unexpected change in plans.

‘I was walking through the camp and heard singing at a church service, led by a pastor from Slovakia who was preaching in Hungarian’, recalls the Victorian octogenarian.

‘After the service, there was a young girl and we met. She wanted to go to Australia, but I wanted to go to Congo. I was a silly young man looking for adventure.

‘No-one could convince me otherwise, and I didn’t know whether I should follow my brain or my heart.’

That lovely ‘young girl’ was Anna, who was from a town 25km from John’s hometown, who would become his wife and life-long companion – in Australia.

‘I thank God every day that he brought me to this lucky country through my wife’, says John, who’s now 87.

The Lutheran World Federation sponsored the pair to travel from Austria to Australia by ship in January 1959.

Their first stop was the Bonegilla Migrant Centre near Wodonga in Victoria, where they stayed for several weeks, awaiting the start of the Mildura grape harvest.

On their third day there, the camp chaplain organised for John and Anna to be married at the Lutheran church in nearby Albury, New South Wales, lending them a small van. The entire wedding party squeezed in for the trip.

After the grape picking season, they settled in Melbourne, welcomed by the local Slovakian community, and John went back to his trade as a cabinet maker.

Instead of pygmies and wild animals, they found peace and freedom.

But they certainly haven’t missed out on adventure!

They have made mission trips to Papua New Guinea and South Sudan.

‘My wife and I love to travel and have been truly blessed to be able to see many places where we have had the opportunity to serve our Lord by sharing our time, talents, and resources’, John says.

Their year in PNG in 1962–1963 was a personal favourite. Sparked by an article in their church paper calling for builders to volunteer their time to teach the locals the trade, John and Anna journeyed to the island of Siassi, also known as Umboi, off the coast from Papua New Guinea’s second biggest city of Lae. There, they built a classroom, house and dormitory for the local high school.

Two trips to South Sudan in 2007 and 2010 also remain close to their hearts, where they were moved by faith to plant a Lutheran church, school and orphanage, which they still support.

John still recalls his most dangerous activity during his African travels – taking a dip in the crocodile-infested River Nile. He couldn’t resist the lure of the mighty river he’d heard of all his life! He emerged unscathed.

‘We thank God every day we have been blessed with good health’, John says.

‘God blesses us with more than we need, many times more, and we’re just giving it back to those who need it.’

Just after his 80th Birthday, John was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to his local Laverton community. This includes co-founding the Good News Lutheran College in Tarneit, Melbourne’s west, and the Slovak Social Club in Laverton.

John also donated land to build the Christ the Lord Slovak Lutheran Church in Laverton in 1974, where the pair still worships. They’ve been active members since, coordinating a monthly lunch and fellowship group for pensioners for almost 40 years.

John still works four days a week in his Laverton construction company with son Joe. He spends Thursdays with Anna and works in his garden, tending his vegetables.

‘Family is my single-greatest passion, and I am humbled to share my table at our weekly family dinner with my children, grandchildren and now also my grandchildren’s partners’, he says. ‘Together we pray and give thanks for our time. Lively conversations covering many and varied topics are keeping my mind active and connected across the generations.’

Reflecting on his life, he adds: ‘I strongly believed God had a plan for us. Philippians 4:19 tells me that God knows me, he knows me as a sinner and he tells me that I am his and he is mine, there can be no closer relationship.

‘And whatever I need he will provide. Nothing and nobody can upset me because God is with me, he is guiding me, and he will provide for me and everybody despite our sins.’

Helen Brinkman is a Brisbane-based writer who is inspired by the many GREYT people who serve tirelessly and humbly in our community. By sharing stories of how God shines his light through his people, she hopes others are encouraged to explore how they can use their gifts 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