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The Warracknabeal congregation celebrate 50 years

As far back as 1891 Lutherans worshipped at Warracknabeal, first in a private home, but only in 1923 did this Congregation dedicate it’s first Church Building. The name “Our Redeemer” was chosen in the same year. In 1962 a resolution was passed to build a new church building. This became a necessity after the amalgamation of the two Lutheran Synods on Australia in 1966 and three outlying Congregations closed and joined Our Redeemer. Architects Von Schramek and Daws of Adelaide was chosen to design the new building and on February 13, 1972 the new building was dedicated. Now, exactly 50 years to the day, the Our Redeemer Congregation celebrated the 50th Anniversary of their Church Building.

Bishop Lester Priebbenow preached at the Thanksgiving Service, followed by a BBQ lunch followed. A time of reminiscing was enjoyed as Trevor Nitschke (Secretary of the original Building Committee) and Jack Kranz (former Chairperson of the Congregation and Building Committee member) shared some of the interesting moments of how it all happened. Trevor and Jack are in the photo cutting the 50th Anniversary Cake. In the other photo two of Our Redeemer’s older members (Ed, 101 years old, and Enid Schultz, 90 years old) are seen chatting with two of our very young members (Rudy, 4 years old and Tommy, 3 years old). In the third photo Pastor John Weier, Bishop Lester Priebbenow, Elaine Schultz (organist at the dedication of the Church and still blessing the Congregation with her organ and piano playing), and Trevor Nitschke.
The members and friends of Our Redeemer give thanks to God for these 50 years, and we are now looking to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the forming of the Congregation next year!

By Rev John Weier
Photos by Charlene McGinnis

Constitutions

The LCANZ model constitutions for congregations and parishes were updated in 2018 to reflect more contemporary governance models. It is recommended church councils review their constitutions about every five years to ensure relevance and also in order to inform all members of the constitution and by-laws that govern decision making.

You can read more information on the LCANZ website at https://www.lca.org.au/services-resources-training/model-constitutions-parishes-congregations/

In the Victoria Tasmania District District Church Council have appointed a sub-committee to assist congregations through the review of constitutions. You can contact the District Constitutions Committee via District Administrator Stephen Mildred stephen.mildred@lca.org.au.

Download Cover Note to Constitutions HERE
Download Model Constitution HERE

Changes to the constitution must be presented to the Congregation at a properly convened congregational meeting. It is suggested that your Working Group share a draft with the Victorian Constitutions Committee, before going to a formal vote of your Parish/Congregation, to get any relevant input. When the Constitution has passed a formal meeting, please provide the revised constitution and the relevant minutes to District Church Council via the District Administrator, for formal approval.

The Australian Charities and Not for profit Commission (ACNC) will will require a copy of the minutes of the meeting at which the constitution was changed and they need to see that a ‘special resolution’ was passed (as required in the constitution for all constitution changes).

Once the constitution is approved by your congregation/parish two signed copies need to be forwarded to the District Office. It is then ratified and signed by District Church Council and then returned to you for lodgement with the ACNC. An electronic copy of the constitution is retained by the District Office.

Water for the thirsty

On hot days any new water fountain is certainly popular with the passing public. This is certainly the case for the one in front of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Traralgon.
A new footpath/cycle path has steadily been extended and now links Traralgon with Morwell, passing by the front of the Traralgon Church. Suggestions were made to the local Council by church members about the benefits for joggers, cyclists, walkers, woofers and other users of a fountain.
Though it took some time and plenty of persistent discussion, especially by David Mirtschin, the Latrobe City Council together with Gippsland Water and Good Shepherd have now installed a park bench with an adjacent water drinking fountain complete with dog bowl, along the walking and bicycle path in front of the church. The water is supplied by the congregation via a pipe from its water supply. A welcome gift for the thirsty.

Social Trends and Mission Opportunities

Last week over 20 people from across the District attended an online presentation hosted by Pastor for Congregational Support, Brett Kennett, who shared some of the data from McCrindle Research . Mark McCrindle is well recognized researcher on social trends and impacts.

Pastor Brett highlighted the ‘rise of the regions’ as many people can retain their city jobs while living regionally. The reasons for the shift from urban and metropolitan to more rural and regional can include:
• Affordability
• A longing for ‘local’ community
• Quieter less ‘busy’ environment
• Decreased commute
• Desire to be out of the city and away from COVID-19 cases

The age demographic of people in this scenario tended to the over 50s but younger age groups were also represented.

A ‘takeaway’ was that COVID has changed the way church members and leaders think about church not just for now but into the future. We are challenged to think about how these yearnings for different lifestyle impact our church communities including that in the metro areas we may be farewelling people AND we may be called to help ‘introduce’ them to their next church community, AND they may continue to maintain a congregational relationship online.

One of Pr Brett’s key questions was, how can we, as Christians called to share the good news, respond to trends such as migration, yearning for community, but also working from home. We need to be prepared to make changes.

Following the presentation there was some time for sharing where people could talk about the challenges of sharing faith in this time, and other related topics.

This was the first of future online presentations. If you would like receive information about future online mission and ministry focused presentations please watch out for further events via District eNews and the District FacebBook page

McCrindle Rise of the Regions
McCrindle Top 10 tends for 2021

Click the link to find out more about McCrindle Research

Introducing Pastor Heath Pukallus

Hi I am Pastor Heath Pukallus

I was baptised and confirmed at St Mark’s Lutheran Church at Dalby on the Darling Downs in Queensland. I grew up on the family farm north of Dalby with my parents and two younger brothers.

My high school years were spent at Concordia College in Toowoomba as a boarder. From May 1986 to December 1998 I had a career in the television industry as a camera operator, video editor and audio console operator, working in Rockhampton, Canberra and Lismore in Northern NSW.

After meeting Erica Bochmann at a Lutheran Youth of Queensland ski trip in 1994 we were married at Taabinga Lutheran Church, in the South Burnett, Qld in 1996.

We moved to Adelaide where I studied at Lutheran Seminary from 1999 to 2003. Erica worked until we had our first two children, Dayna in 2000 and Shaun in 2002. Jemma our third child was born in 2008 at Chinchilla Qld.

I served in the South Western Qld Lutheran parish at Chinchilla from 2003 to 2009 and the Katanning Parish in WA from 2009 to 2012. I relinquished my call in Western Australia and returned to Queensland living in Kingaroy.

At the end of 2013 I was hospitalised with a severe headache where I was diagnosed with AV Dural Fistulas. They were malformations in the covering of my brain which could have turned into aneurysms. I had four operations to remove them with the complications of a stroke and a seizure in the third and fourth operations respectively.

Just prior to moving to Victoria I sold the plane I built and flew in WA and Qld. Erica and I have left our two oldest children in Qld. Jemma is attending Warrnambool College and Erica is commencing work at South West Healthcare as an administrative support officer in Mental Health Services.

Jesus’ rich layers of the Lord’s Prayer at the Sermon on the Mount has been a fascination to me. I also spend time considering and studying the effects of agape and heavenly eros on the church and our culture, now and over the past two thousand year, including how Luther reinstated the agape of the early church over eros.

In my call to the Warrnambool parish and the Victorian district, I wish to be exemplary in leadership explicitly as a confessor of the things Jesus has forgiven me and why he had to die for my sin. I pray in my death to self; God allows this beggar to show others the forgiveness of Jesus Christ is for them too.

Digital Evangelism & Connection

I recently attended a webinar from Partners in Ministry on ‘Digital Evangelism & Connection’ which was both interesting and uplifting. The pandemic has made so many churches turn to digital platforms to preach the Good News and keep connected with their members. At the same time, many ‘unchurched’ people are now actively seeking out the church.

One of the many take home messages from the webinar was that social media was just made for evangelism! It’s probably not surprising that it is much easier to click on a link to an online worship service/ church website/ social media page than it is to turn up at a church on Sunday morning.

And social media can turn anyone into an evangelist. How? We all have friends on Facebook that are not Christians or ‘lapsed’ Christians. If you comment on a post from a Christian Facebook page, your friends might see it (depending on your privacy settings of course). If you share a post from a Christian Facebook page, your friends will see it. That’s evangelism! You’ve just planted some seeds and who knows…maybe one will germinate?

Trudi Skene, Worship Co-ordinator, Outer Eastern Lutheran Church.

Partners in Ministry https://www.partnersinministry.com/

LCAVD Strategy Review

Leaders from across our Vic-Tas District came together on Saturday 9 May for our annual Strategy Morning, to share and discuss their thoughts on the strategic direction for our District. Participants included representatives from the Ministry and Mission Council (MMC), Lutheran Youth Victoria (LYV), Lutheran Education Vic, NSW/ACT, Tas (LEVNT), and our Camps.

The morning began by capturing the purpose of the time together, which included:

Discern the Holy Spirit’s plan for us / our District
Clarify and confirm our work
Hear updates on accomplishments over the last 12 months
A space to encourage flexibility and ability to adapt
Share observations and experiences, to better understand the current state of the District
Understand and deepen partnerships between various groups (incl. schools, camps, youth/young adults) and the District

Informative updates were presented by Pastor Brett Kennett (Congregation Support and Acting Bishop), Sabine Haeusler (MMC), Michael Benbow (LYV), Colin Minke (LEVNT), and Stephen Mildred (District Church Council Secretary).

After a time of fellowship over morning tea, DCC Chair, Tony Vong, led the group in a review of the Vic-Tas Strategic Plan. This plan helps to guide District Church Council on where and how to focus attention and energy in support of the ministry of the Congregations and Parishes in our District.

We thank all of the participants for the gift of their time and energies, to support the District Church Council in setting, reviewing and realising the strategic directions for the District.

Photo: Strategy Day participants.

One Body, One Hope

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
Grace and peace to you. 1 Corinthians 1:1-3a

We live in a deeply divided world.

Every day there’s a pressure that comes at us – sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully – for us to choose a side!

Political sides. Cultural sides. Ideological sides. Even religious sides. We are encouraged to locate ourselves within a group, to find our security in shared opinions, and to defend our place within the tribe.

Much of this feels natural. Belonging matters. Identity matters. It’s a natural thing to want to know who we are, where we fit, and who has our back when the world feels uncertain.

But there is a darker edge to this instinct. When belonging becomes alignment, and alignment becomes where we find our identity – divisions harden.

We begin to define ourselves not only by what we believe, but by who we oppose. Trust slowly shifts – from God to voices, movements, leaders, or narratives that promise certainty and control.

This phenomenon is often called ‘tribalism’. And while modern technology – think of the echo chambers of social media – has amplified it, tribalism is not a modern problem. It is an ancient one.

The apostle Paul confronted it in the early Christian church at Corinth. Believers were forming factions and attaching their identity to particular leaders – Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or even Christ himself, as though Jesus could be claimed as one party among others.

Paul responds with a confronting question:

“Is Christ divided?” (v13)

No, is the obvious answer.

The question speaks law to us when it condemns our own lack of unity. Behind it is a deeper truth. Tribalism is not merely a social problem; it is a spiritual one. It reveals our tendency to place ultimate trust somewhere other than God. When confidence in God’s goodness or faithfulness wavers, we look elsewhere for stability. We search for voices that sound certain, positions that feel secure, and groups that reassure us that we are on the right side.

In doing so, we quietly exchange faith for control.

This is the law at work – not as a list of rules, but as a mirror held up to the human heart. It exposes our propensity to trust authorities that cannot save us and to build identities that cannot hold us together.

Yet what is so striking in Paul’s letter is how he begins.

He does not start with rebuke. He does not open with correction or demand reform. To a divided and deeply flawed community, Paul’s first words include the following astonishing pronouncements:

“Grace and peace to you.” (v1)

“You do not lack anything.” (v7)

“God is faithful.” (v9)

That is the gospel’s disruptive power. As well as naming what is wrong, God, through his servant Paul declares what is true – and he does this right up front. Even before addressing division, God gives a gift. The Corinthians are not held together by their maturity, their unity, or their insight – but by God’s sheer grace.

And so are we.

The true unity of the human race does not come from agreement, shared ideology, or moral alignment. It does not arise from stronger leadership or better systems. It can come only from what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Is Christ divided? No! And there’s gospel for us in that question also!

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17).

At the cross, our false certainties are undone. Our pride, fear, and self-justification are exposed – not to shame us, but to forgive us. There, all human beings stand on level ground: equally in need, equally loved, equally redeemed.

In the resurrection, and delivered to us personally in our baptism, God gives us a new and indestructible identity – one that does not need defending or proving. We are reconciled to God, and therefore to one another. Not because we see everything clearly, but because Christ has acted decisively on our behalf and because we are baptised into Christ.

This is the only unity that can endure.

Not unity of opinion, but unity of grace.

Not unity achieved, but unity received.

As members of Christ’s one holy, catholic and apostolic – and invisible – church – one body scattered across cultures, nations, and traditions – we are bound together by something deeper than agreement: forgiveness.

In a world gripped by tribalism, we bear witness to a different reality – that reconciliation is possible, and that God’s mercy is stronger than our divisions.

This does not remove disagreement. It does not deny the ongoing pain and grief as we wrestle with our sin. It does not make discernment unnecessary.

But, most of all, it relocates our confidence. Through God’s promise in Christ our trust is redirected, from ourselves, and onto Jesus.

Our hope does not rest in leaders, movements, or our ability to manage uncertainty. It rests in Jesus Christ – his life, his death, and his resurrection for you, for me and for the sake of the world.

He is not divided.

And in him, we are not lacking.

God is faithful.

And that is enough.

LLL welcomes CEO Karen Pienaar

LLL has welcomed Karen Pienaar as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Karen is an outstanding leader who is deeply committed and well known to LLL having been a Board Director for the past seven years.

In August, she took leave from the Board to become Interim CEO following the resignation of Ross Smith, and embraced the role with great determination to understand every aspect of LLL at an operational level, how we serve our customers, and our mission.

Under her interim leadership, our future strategic direction was already being implemented and will continue under her guidance.

“I am absolutely delighted to be appointed the sixth CEO of LLL in the storied history of this wonderful organisation,” Karen said.

“During my time as interim CEO, I travelled to many states and cities meeting with the people of the Church and worshipping with you in service. I’ve been humbled by the warm embrace I have felt from all members of our community.

“I am thrilled by the opportunity to lead LLL into this next exciting chapter and look forward to continuing to serve you and our wider community.”

Karen brings deep expertise in financial governance, specialises in strategy and risk management, with particular strengths in group financial reporting, profitability analysis and forecasting. An accomplished C-suite executive, she has worked across transport, aviation and not-for-profit sectors.

Karen has a special interest in fostering leadership and development within mission-driven faith-based organisations. She is deeply committed to values-based governance and her collaborative style fosters strong and interconnected relationships across the executive and with the Board.

A devoted Lutheran who regularly worships at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Flinders Street Adelaide, Karen’s faith guides her core values of compassion, empathy and dedication. She looks forward to continuing and growing LLL’s strong support of the Lutheran Church.

Karen is passionate about forming deep connections with our customers to truly understand their financial needs aligned with their missional goals and ensuring LLL is agile in responding.

A strong field of local and interstate applicants applied for the position and the Board was unanimous in its decision to appoint Karen, who is the first woman to be CEO of LLL.

With this appointment, Karen will not be rejoining the Board, and we will recruit another Director in due course.

Seniors ‘BBQ and Singing’ at Knox

A group of 120 community and church members came together at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, Knox, on Wednesday 8 October to enjoy a meal and entertainment. This lively event is supported by the Knox City Council as part of their annual Seniors Festival.

The meal began with the singing of the Table Grace composed by Brendan Scott:

For these gifts laid here before us,
for the hands that prepared them for us,
for the fellowship around us,
we give you thanks, O God.

We enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken, sausages and salads, followed by fruit salad and ice-cream. We were very grateful to all our church and community volunteers who worked extremely hard to cook and deliver the meals to our tables with a smile. Catering so wonderfully for 120 people is no mean feat!

It was fitting that our entertainer was Brendan Scott, who provided an exceptional afternoon of songs and hymns and had many on their feet dancing with joy. Brendan tours Victoria and also interstate, and is very popular wherever he goes. We are also very fortunate that Brendan finds the time to be our Music Coordinator for the Ringwood-Knox Parish.

Photos supplied by Edwin Schoell

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