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451

From small beginnings, big things have grown

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by Graeme Huf

The story of the LLL is unique. It shows how the vision of one person, Mr Ben Koch, has given many people the opportunity to serve God, his church and use their God-given resources and talents to advance the sharing of the gospel.

Since its inception in 1921, the mission of the LLL has been to provide aid to the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) and its various church bodies in business and financial matters.

The original intent was to raise capital to support church development by providing low-interest loans. As loans were repaid, new advances could be made. This basic premise of raising deposits and providing loans has remained the core function of the LLL for 100 years.

We are thankful for the strong connections and relationships the LLL has with congregation members, church leaders, school and care communities, and the support of our depositors and borrowers who believe in and value the mission of the LLL.

As a separate legal entity, LLL operates independently of the LCANZ, but with the clear purpose of benefitting the church by providing loans for projects and supporting the LCANZ’s wider ministry and mission through gifts, donations and allocations. Over the past century, the LLL has helped to build churches, schools and respite and aged-care facilities, buy manses, assist mission work in Australia and abroad, and fund and administer a range of programs and activities in support of the church.

The LLL has achieved much in its first 100 years. While it now operates in a significantly different regulatory, social and economic environment to the one when Ben Koch first established the institution, the LLL’s purpose and commitment to supporting the work of those who proclaim Christ as Lord and Saviour remain unchanged.

Our Lord has blessed the work of the LLL. We thank you for your ongoing support as we look with confidence to our next 100 years!

Graeme Huf chairs the LLL Australia Board.

452

‘I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds it’

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by Ross Smith

As I reflect on the past 100 years of LLL operations, I thank and praise God. I am in awe of what God has achieved through the trust of our supporters. As the CEO with the responsibility to continue that, I acknowledge and honour our founder Ben Koch and all directors and staff who have faithfully served the LLL during this time.

The supporters of the LLL are the lifeblood of all that we do. Without them, all our missional work would not be possible. Safeguarding the interests and the security of our depositors and supporters is of the utmost importance. Our partnership with depositors is important as we walk side-by-side, together in mission, and I thank God most deeply for each supporter, past and present.

Today we operate in a very different business environment. Since becoming an ADI (Authorised Deposit-taking Institution) in February 2019, we have been operating in a very challenging financial market. However, with God’s help and in his time, we will continue meeting these challenges. I am confident the skill set of the LLL Board, management and staff will continue to meet future borrower needs as it is especially important that depositors, borrowers and LLL continue to work in partnership to support the LCANZ.

The work of the LLL is to assist the mission of the Lutheran Church of Australia in two ways – by lending to church bodies and through grants from surpluses generated on capital funds.

Going forward, the LLL Board and Executive Management Team are looking at our strategic objectives. Now, as an ADI, we are looking at the best options to deploy the funds entrusted to us to:

  • Continue to enhance measures to protect depositors’ funds
  • Fulfil the missional intent of our supporters
  • Improve our ability to operate as funding partners for our schools, aged-care centres, congregations and other church projects
  • Grow our capacity to provide long-term sustainable support of the LCA

We thank God for our blessings as we look to the future.

‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now’ (Philippians 1:3–5).

Ross Smith is Chief Executive Officer, LLL Australia

453

First-ever online General Synod sessions run smoothly

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The first-ever online sessions of a Convention of LCA General Synod have run smoothly overall, thanks to the diligent pre-Synod work done by most delegates.

Overwhelmingly, the delegates who attended one or more of the 10 online training and practice sessions offered before the two-day event were prepared and ready to fully participate in General Synod. Some initial problems were experienced around the long delivery time of emails sent to delegates using the OpaVote online voting system. To remedy this, an alternative ‘show of [electronic] hands’ method of voting was introduced for proposals, with OpaVote retained for elections.

Approximately 400 people participated in the online sessions of General Synod, including 375 lay and pastor delegates, chairs of boards, councils, committees and commissions, and non-voting consultants. In another first, among the delegate cohort for the 20th General Synod were six Aboriginal delegates from the three new Language Area Agreement groups from Central Australia, some of whom joined General Synod from Yirara College in Alice Springs, while others took part from Hermannsburg.

Participants were supported by more than 80 people working on the technical and administrative aspects of running the live, online and interactive General Synod, which was hosted by Concordia College in suburban Adelaide. As well as providing an outstanding venue, a number of the college’s technical staff assisted the LCANZ team with the video, audio, switching, livestreaming and recording components of the event. The technical aspects included livestreaming worship services from Queensland and Victoria.

Bishop John Henderson, who had announced that he would not be standing for re-election as LCANZ bishop, was formally thanked for his service in the role. During a rite of farewell, at which his wife Valmai and other members of his immediate family were present, he presented personal reflections on his nine-year term as bishop.

Delegates elected Pastor Paul Smith to be the next LCANZ bishop and Pastor Neville Otto as Assistant Bishop. They also elected the General Church Board to serve the LCANZ for the 2021–24 synodical term. This latter decision required Synod to pass a motion to give effect to the new GCB serving from the conclusion of the 2021 online sessions of Synod.

God-willing, the second part of the 20th General Synod will be held in person. The venue and dates, still to be determined, will be advised as soon as details are known.

All sessions of Synod, including worship services and the report of LCANZ Bishop John Henderson, are available for viewing on the General Synod website at www.generalsynod.lca.org.au/livestream

Members of the church might also like to view, download and share with their congregations the agency and department videos that delegates watched during their breaks at www.generalsynod.lca.org.au/videos

454

Former LCA secretary elected assistant bishop

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The General Synod of the LCANZ has elected Pastor Neville Otto, senior pastor at St Paul Box Hill in suburban Melbourne and former Secretary of the Church, as assistant bishop of the LCANZ.

Elected during the online sessions of the LCANZ’s historic two-part convention on 2 October, he succeeds Rev Dr Andrew Pfeiffer, who has served as assistant bishop since 2015 and who did not stand for re-election.

Before serving at Box Hill since 2019, Pastor Neville was the LCA Secretary of the Church from 2009 to 2018, also filling the role of LCA Mission Director from 2009 to 2014.

He served in the role now known as district bishop (then president) for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 2005 to 2009, and in parish ministry in Alice Springs and Sydney after being ordained in 1995.

He and Rev Dr Stephen Pietsch, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Director of Formation at Australian Lutheran College, were the two candidates nominated for the role by the LCA’s General Pastors Conference in July.

Assistant Bishop-elect Neville, who will continue his ministry at Box Hill, took on the new role from the end of part one of the Convention of General Synod on 2 October.

General Synod is scheduled to reconvene for in-person sessions in September-October 2022.

455

Lutheran Women leaders installed

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The Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Executive Committee has been installed to lead the LCANZ auxiliary for the next three years.

The installation by LCANZ Bishop John Henderson of LWA President Grace Kroehn, Vice-President Maureen Turner, Secretary Val Schild, Treasurer Beryl Smith and Extra Member Dianne Adams took place on Sunday 3 October during worship held as part of the Convention of Synod at Concordia College chapel Highgate SA. LWA custom is to elect an executive of members from the state in which its next convention is to be held, in this case, South Australia. However, Western Australian Dianne Adams is part of the team as WA does not have a large enough membership to host national conventions and does not form a standalone executive team.

Incoming President Grace said the new committee had ‘hit the ground running’, holding its first meeting on the same day as the installation. She also acknowledged the work and the disappointment of the outgoing executive from Lutheran Women of Victoria, which had planned and prepared the LWA Convention scheduled to be held in Horsham in September, only for it to be cancelled due to COVID-19 shutdowns, restrictions and uncertainties.

‘We feel for them having put in all the work and preparations for the convention only for it not to have eventuated’, she said, passing on thanks to outgoing President Wendy Habel and fellow executive members Irma Dymke, Linda Niewand, Irene Geer and Leonie Hateley. Grace, who finished a four-year stint as Lutheran Women of South Australia-Northern Territory president in May this year and had previously held a range of positions at district level, also said the new LWA executive intended to make use of any items purchased or prepared for the cancelled convention for the 2024 event if at all possible.

With the 2021 national meeting unable to go ahead, LWA delegates conducted some business by postal ballots. The ratification of nominations for the new LWA executive was done via Zoom internet conferencing in June.

Backed through district, parish and congregation-based Lutheran women’s groups, which meet for fellowship, study, fundraising and other forms of service, LWA is committed to supporting 11 projects within the LCANZ and its partner churches overseas.

These include Aboriginal missions; Australian Lutheran World Service; LCA International Mission programs and partnerships in Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand; support for overseas students studying at Australian Lutheran College (ALC); the ALC Women’s Auxiliary and the ALC Pastoral Ministry Assistance Fund.

456

Queensland welcomes new bishop

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Pastor Mark Vainikka has been installed as the new bishop for the LCANZ’s Queensland District.

Watched via livestream by family members interstate and overseas, including his parents, who were in lockdown in Victoria, Bishop Mark was installed on Sunday 19 September during a service hosted by Redeemer Lutheran College, Rochedale, by District Bishop Emeritus Noel Noack. Due to COVID-19 travel restriction concerns, Bishop Emeritus Noel represented LCANZ Bishop John Henderson, who shared words of encouragement for the new bishop via a video greeting, which was played during the service. Bishop Emeritus Noel also preached at the installation service on the gospel text of Mark 9:30–37, focusing on verse 35: ‘Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all”.’ Queensland First Assistant Bishop Ben Hentschke, Second Assistant Bishop Nathan Glover and Bishop Emeritus Paul Smith, the immediate past bishop, assisted with the service.

Many of the participants in the service represented the parishes and schools Bishop Mark has served in ministry since being ordained as a pastor of the LCA in 2002.

Elected unopposed as bishop during the Queensland District Convention of Synod at Eight Mile Plains in June, he succeeds Bishop Emeritus Paul, who served in the role since June 2015, did not seek re-election, and is now bishop-elect for the LCANZ.

As well as serving in parish and school ministries, Bishop Mark was previously the LCAQD vice-president/assistant bishop for eight years, first assistant bishop since 2018 and the full-time first assistant since 2019. Addressing District Synod after his election, he said: ‘It’s very humbling. You have entrusted me to be your bishop. It is a call to serve you.’

Bishop Mark was born in Helsinki, Finland, and was baptised in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. He migrated to Australia with his family as a child and was an active member of Mikael Agricola Finnish Lutheran Church, Melbourne.

Mark married Minna in 1988. They have three adult children.

458

Blessed by working together

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JESUS IS GOD’S LOVE.

HE GIVES US NEW HEARTS –

TO LAY ASIDE OUR OLD WAYS,

TO BELIEVE AND FOLLOW HIM,

TO LIVE WITH HIM EVERY DAY.

HEARTLAND

Rev John Henderson

Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia

God willing, when this edition of The Lutheran is published, the 2021 online sessions of the LCANZ 20th Convention of General Synod will have successfully concluded. Synod will have elected a new bishop, assistant bishop and general church board and made some essential technical changes to constitutions. Delegates will be poised to resume the meeting in 2022 for matters requiring greater discussion.

Over 56 years we will have held 20 conventions. That’s one for every 1022 days. Combined with district conventions, these form a veritable wall of church meetings for the LCANZ. By way of contrast, Australian Catholics are gathering for a Plenary Council (somewhat like a synod) in early October, and this will be their first such meeting since 1934 – 87 years ago! Catholics have the same trepidation about an online meeting that we do and have asked for our prayers. They face a great challenge since they are not a single unit. Catholics in Australia are a collection of 34 separate dioceses (sections of the church entrusted to the leadership of a bishop) under Rome.

Gathering the Lutheran synod so frequently takes large amounts of human, physical and financial resources. Quite honestly, it’s a taxing way to run a smallish church like ours. Leadership and delegates alike make sacrificial commitments to the process.

So why do we do it? Why not each go our own way and do our own thing? Congregations, parishes, districts, schools and other institutions all have local decision-making capabilities and a large degree of autonomy. New Zealand is a national church in its own right but chooses to be a district of the LCANZ. What do we have together that we do not have on our own?

Well, I can’t describe it better than St Paul does in 1 Corinthians 12: ‘A body isn’t really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body … Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body’ (19–27 CEV). Paul is writing about individual believers being equally honoured as parts of the church. The same principle applies to the collective units we call congregations and districts, as well as schools and other forms of mission. God has given us to each other. We need each other to be complete. By working together, we keep each other honest about faith and our life in the Lord Jesus. We gain a wider view of the church and its mission, and a fuller understanding of the gospel than we otherwise would have.

Collectively, we have greater wisdom and insight. In addition, by sharing God’s gift of physical resources, we can do so much more in mission than if we all stayed in our own small corners.

By extension, in its small corner the LCANZ gains even more when it joins with other Christians who are also part of the body of Christ. We frequently undervalue the giving and receiving of ecumenical gifts. And even further, we who are still in this life gain even greater blessings when we are awake to our union with the church eternal in the presence of the risen and ascended Christ and his heavenly Father. But those are aspects for another ‘Heartland’ …

For now, despite the initial effort and cost involved in gathering as a synod, I pray we will continue to do so gladly and wholeheartedly, in a spirit of Christian love and cooperation. Walking together as Synod, confessing our common faith as Lutherans, preaching the gospel of Jesus and receiving the sacraments as one body in him, we bless one another and receive blessings in return. God be praised that he enables us to share the rich gifts of faith and life with our fellow believers in such a rewarding way.

459

Editor’s letter

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When LCA International Mission’s Pastor Matt Anker, Erin Kerber and Nevin Nitschke and I discussed possible cover ideas for this edition we kept coming back to one subject: baptism.

As we walk with our overseas church partners, we share in the call to ‘make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit …’ (Matthew 28:19). Baptism goes to the heart of all mission – whether local, regional or global. It is central and essential to the Great Co-mission we have with the triune God and with all believers.

Where there are baptisms, God is growing his church. Where there are adult baptisms, people who have been without the hope we have are coming to know Jesus as their Saviour and Friend – and that gives cause for great rejoicing in heaven (Luke 15:7) and on earth.

Of course, if we stay focused only on what we see happening within the four walls of long-established congregations in Australia and New Zealand, many of which may be shrinking, it can be easy to miss that joy and the vitality and passion that new believers can bring to a faith community. (Naturally, there are exceptions to this experience, including some of our church-plant communities and multi-ethnic ministries).

But for our overseas partners, many of whom face far greater financial, logistical and spiritual challenges to mission and ministry than we do, witnessing people being transformed by God’s awesome, unbounded love and forgiveness is a regular blessing. And we are privileged to share some wonderful stories in this edition about lives changed by the freeing power of the gospel.

It is indeed a great blessing for our LCANZ to be able to serve with, support and learn from these international friends in their kingdom work through LCA International Mission, and you’ll read about some of the many ways in which that’s already happening and how you can be involved. Along with volunteering and giving, prayer is a vital support for our regional church friends and this month’s prayer calendar is also dedicated to these relationships.

I hope and pray that you’ll be excited, encouraged and inspired by what you read in these pages.

Lisa

PS – I’ve been disappointed to learn that some of our subscribers are having to wait many weeks for their copy of The Lutheran – in fact, my own home-delivered September copy took more than two weeks to arrive from one part of Adelaide to another! If you are experiencing long delays in getting your copy, you may wish to contact your local Australia Post outlet and let them know. We lodged the September edition for postage on 31 August.

460

Knowing Jesus drives out fear

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by Nevin Nitschke

In the cool morning air in northern Thailand, a young woman looks at green rice fields across a flowing stream, all still partly in the shadow of the forested mountains. The lush vegetation that seems intent on blanketing her Lua community village is filled with the sounds of life. So much so, that it is almost possible to hear the growth in the plants that were once home to tigers and elephants.

Khun Daw reflects on her past and the fear her family felt from the tight hold spirit doctors had on their lives. These fears were enhanced by the closeness of life in a small community, being enclosed by nature and surviving as ‘foreigners’ whose forebears came from nearby Laos less than a hundred years ago. She remembers when each day was ruled by what the spirit doctor allowed and demanded.

As Khun Daw rides her motorbike through the valley, she recalls when she first found hope – the moment that led to her freedom from fear. Even at 13 years old she knew her family was falling apart. Her father escaped the harsh reality of his life through heavy drinking, which led to constant fighting between her parents at that time.

Khun Daw’s head and stomach often ached with pain, needing regular hospital visits. The control of daily life by the village spirit doctor felt like a vice.

As she turns her bike off the main road and begins the climb up a dirt track, she remembers the moment she asked for help, not from her mother or the spirit doctor, but from an evangelist who visited their home. ‘Who is Jesus and what is the Bible?’, she had asked.

On her climb up the mountain road, she passes a marked field. It is marked to show that the spirit doctor had once forbidden crops to be planted there. It is another reminder of the fear that once controlled them. At the top of the rutted track, she stops next to a simple building that has become the heart of this community. Only three local families now don’t have a relationship with Jesus, but even they will attend the church service she is about to lead.

Life has changed. Khun Daw first believed 10 years ago. A month later, her mother became a Christian. Later, her father learned to trust Jesus and stopped drinking. Khun Daw’s health improved. Even the local spirit doctors were coming to know the love of Jesus, through the love shown to them by his followers.

As Khun Daw begins to lead the worship service, she does so as part of a team of 11 evangelists. All of them know what it is to be freed from fear. Each one serves with a desire to share with their communities that there is only one God and that he gave his life for them. Fear is fading and God’s love has produced joy, trust and hope.

Nevin Nitschke is an LCA International Mission Program Officer.

For more inspiring articles about how God is changing lives of people throughout PNG and South-East Asia, go to www.lcamission.org.au/category/stories