Lutheran Women of Victoria & Tasmania Conference
The 55th Annual Convention of Lutheran Women of Victoria and Tasmania was held on Saturday 14th May 2022. It was hosted by the Slovak Ladies Guild of Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, Seabrook. The Theme for the Convention was ‘Being Strong in the Lord’ based on Ephesians 6:10-18. Opening Worship was conducted by Pastor Jan Havjar from Seabrook, after which Anna Bovdis, Elena Lomen and John Sklenar, Chairman of Christ the Lord congregation, welcomed the 62 attendees and LWVT President, Jenny Gellert opened the Convention.
Guest Speakers for the day included Pastor Richard Fox, Director of Lutheran Media, Erin Kerber from International Missions, Anna Krohn, who spoke on the topic ‘The Witness of the Myrrh-bearing Women of the Gospel’ and Ross Smith, LLL Chief Executive Officer. In the absence of Pastor Lucas Matuschka, LWVT Spiritual Advisor, due to illness, Pastor Richard Fox conducted the Bible Study based on Ephesians 6. Grace Kroehn, President of Lutheran Women of Australia delivered her annual report.
Memorial Candles were lit in memory of 18 ladies who passed away during the year and the founding members of the Slovak Lutheran Ladies Guild of 45 years ago. The Seabrook Slovak Social Club, dressed in traditional costume and entertained everyone with traditional hymns and songs. An explanation of the significance of the costumes was provided by Elena Lomen and there were exclamations of surprise about the special bridal headdress. A display of Banners provided extra interest and Grace Kroehn also brought the LWA Banner. A special highlight of the day was the delicious and lavish food that the Slovak ladies provided, especially a 55th Birthday Cake to commemorate the occasion.
To close the day Bishop Lester Priebbenow provided an up-date of church news and conducted the closing devotion during which he presented special encouragement cards to the LWVT Executive Members, who are all serving for another year. The Offering of $2,475 went to ‘Good News Lutheran College’ Tarneit.
By Val Tischler
Secretary LWVT
