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‘Women of Purpose’ – Gippsland Women’s Retreat

In October the annual Gippsland Women’s Retreat was held in the Lutheran church in Sale, with 19 women, one baby, and our pastor taking part. This event has always been a great blessing to those able to attend, and this time was no exception.

Representatives from our five (small to very, very small) congregations took part in the planning over the previous months. It was decided to alter the usual format, and have women preparing and presenting a series of shorter Bible studies, rather than one longer pastor-led study, which has been the main part of the morning program previously. Pastor Tony led the opening devotion. We also managed to surprise him with an impromptu role in the afternoon program (see photo).

The theme “Women of Purpose” was explored through the lives of four women in the genealogy of Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 1. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba were each used by God and recorded for all posterity as significant forebears of our Saviour, in the fulfillment of God’s purposes for all humankind. Their very colourful and challenging stories were explored.

The afternoon program included monologue-type skits by four Biblical women, whose stories are inherently part of the story of their husbands, without the Bible giving much, or even any, information about them. They would have been women whose life also was fulfilling God’s purposes, and we could easily imagine the situations those roles may have put them into. Mrs Noah, Mrs Job, Mrs Jonah and Mrs Pilate led us on journeys of humour, along with serious musings that all still pointed to God’s love for His people.

An offering in support of the training of youth ministry leaders in LCANZ raised $485. Singing and other activities filled out the day. Shared lunch and cuppas before and after the program gave opportunities to catch up with friends, get to know others, and strengthen ties between the far-flung congregations of our parish.

Big thanks are due to everyone there, and especially to our Heavenly Father whose Word is an unending source of treasures, and who has a special purpose for each person in His big story.

50th Anniversary at Leopold

The hymn “Now Thank We All Our God” was sung with gusto at the conclusion of the service to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Leopold.

The service was officiated by Pastor Robert Wiebusch, assisted by Libby Jewson (daughter of Pastor Theo Harms, who was an assistant pastor at Holy Trinity), Pastor Don Heyne, (who was pastor at St John’s Geelong and also served at Leopold), and Leopold member, Paul Huf.

Holy Trinity members were joined by numerous people who had ties to the congregation.

A scrumptious lunch was served by Holy Trinity members, along with an impressive anniversary cake, which was cut by Chair Kath Wade, and Vice-Chair Doug Pohl.

St Paul’s Box Hill – Open Day

On Saturday 16 September, St Paul’s Box Hill opened its doors to friends, neighbours, and visitors for the first Open Day at their new site, 1201 Riversdale Road, Box Hill South.
The beautiful weather encouraged many people to venture through the doors, to meet Box Hill members, enjoy fun activities, sample the all-day morning tea, and browse items on offer at a number of stalls.
The day also included tours of the new church interior and musical offerings.

Photos from Box Hill Members and Friends Facebook page:

Installation at Tandara Lutheran Camp

On Sunday 16 July, Jade Liebelt was installed by Pastor Hans Peethala (new to Horsham) into a Traineeship at Tandara Lutheran Camp. Her role includes working in a tight-knit team to deliver successful camps, which may be school children and staff, youth groups, Lutheran and other church groups and a variety of community groups.

Trainees become part of the face of Tandara to clients and visitors, and the role involves a variety of jobs, from programming to cleaning, cooking and study. Jade is currently completing a Certificate 3 in Sport and Recreation, and also undertaking the Certificate in Divinity (undergraduate) at ALC.

Jade chose to do the Traineeship at Tandara as it provides a great opportunity to grow as an individual and to get an experience of work-life outside of school. She hopes to grow in her faith and learn many new things during this experience.

Jade’s Traineeship began in January 2023 and will finish in November, 11 months total.

If this has sparked an interest in you, more information on Traineeships at Tandara Lutheran Camp can be found HERE.

Vicar Jacob – God’s Call Answered

More about my journey …

Towards the end of high school, I showed some interest in possibly studying to become a pastor, but I did not follow this up – although the idea of only working on Sundays was appealing!!

While I completed my Bachelor of Health Science, I boarded at ALC, which is one of the ways that God shaped my faith – I was in a community of many young Christians, and also got to know the Pastoral students. When at ALC I tried to get to Chapel when my studies and workload allowed, which was followed by morning tea. One morning over a cuppa I bravely said that I had no pastors in my family, so I was safe – and it was mentioned to me that I would make a good pastor. So, I wasn’t quite as safe as I had thought!

After this many people commented to me that I would make a good pastor and asking me when I was enrolling. I kept saying that I wasn’t sure about it and that the Church needed good lay people too and I could contribute with music.

After finishing my degree in Health Science, I did a bit of work in the field, but didn’t really find my niche. I was offered full-time work at the ALC Refectory. My sense of call strengthened over the years that I worked in the Refectory, and a variety of people continued to encourage me to study at ALC. My response changed from “no, that’s not for me” to “yeah, next year.” That was the line for a couple of years. It was always “next year.”

In 2018 I had quite an experience of God’s protection when I was up in Cairns during the wet season. I went swimming and somehow I got caught in the current, although the water was not very deep. I then realized that I was going to bump through the rapids and down the waterfall. I prayed to God to protect me and my head as I bumped through the rocks. It was a very real possibility to me that I might not get out of this one. I was then caught under the pounding water at the bottom of the waterfall, and once again prayed for a breath of air. At the last moment, I got half a breath of air. I then had to swim across the canyon to a rock plateau before I went down the next waterfall. After giving a thumbs up to my aunt I then had the challenge of climbing out of the gorge (without my glasses or shoes!). At the top there were no footholds to get me over the edge, so I dragged myself over with my elbows. Amazingly, the only mark I had on my body was a small mark on my left leg. Psalm 91:11-12 came to my mind immediately: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

As time went by, I continued to say that I’d work another year before starting studies. But God had different plans. On the Sunday evening on the 2018 Ordination service I was sitting with some friends who were over for Ordination – they asked if I was enrolling and I said “No, I want a good story and if God wants me he’ll have to make it clear” and one of them responded with “Well, when God wants you, He’ll get you there regardless”. The very next day I was made redundant.

It was almost as if a weight had been lifted off of me when I finally enrolled. Since studying I have enjoyed delving into God’s Word and learning how to share this with others. My vicarage at the Goulburn Murray Parish has been particularly enjoyable, and perhaps my favourite part has been making connections with so many people and walking with them on their journey.

Good News! College and Congregations Collaborating

Good News Lutheran College is honoured to have been part of the Western Region Forums facilitated by Pastor Brett, both this year and last year. We have been able to learn so much about what is happening in our congregations and schools, as well as feeling that we have grown in our understanding and appreciation of the community beyond Good News and St Philips.

The discussion at the forums has inspired us here at Good News Lutheran to develop plans which we hope will give expression to the value we hold for our Lutheran Community, its history and its future.

Firstly, we currently have plans to distribute our school’s buses to communities further away from the inner-Melbourne areas on weekends, creating an opportunity for members of the Bethany congregation in Sunbury and St Marks in Melton to unite with St Phillips for the Easter Sunday Service.

We hope that our plans will eventually serve other churches that do not have a pastor whilst simultaneously assisting us in assessing whether this is an appropriate way of lending a helping hand to those other churches in need.

In addition, our 2023 Good News Worship and Mission Captains have spent every week since January focusing their service initiatives on issues that are more within “our own backyard”. They believe that while it is important to help those overseas, it is equally important that they understand their own privilege and blessings in such a wonderful country.

Our immediate mission focus then, has two elements; helping the homeless and appreciating our Lutheran history.

To this end, the Captains are planning to visit places in the city to determine what the greatest need is, where the greatest geographical area of focus is, and what they might be able to do to provide for those who are homeless. They will embark on multiple trips to the city, with the aim to show God’s love and grace to those less fortunate each time.

The Captains will also be visiting the Bethany Congregation in Sunbury to learn more about the history of the mud brick church and collect photos and information about the value it holds in the Lutheran community.

A naming plan is also underway at the College which will recognise the work and contributions of Lutheran congregations in Victoria. The plan envisions that buildings of the College will be named after Lutheran congregations that have aligned with our college values. The first building to be named in this way will be ‘Bethany’ after the Lutheran congregation at Sunbury.

We are hopeful that members of the Bethany congregation will be able to take a tour of the building in due course. We give thanks for the legacy that will flow from the congregation, through our students, into the wider world.

We want to educate our students on the history of the Sunbury community and let it be a reminder of the values we aspire to in our own lives. Our intention is to honour the Bethany congregation, so that the building that carries its name will also carry a positive, loving and uplifting presence within it, helping our students grow to be the best people they can be in the future.

Pictured: St Marks Melton and Bethany Sunbury members who travelled to Wyndham Hobson’s Bay Lutheran for this year’s Easter Service, courtesy of Good News Lutheran College.
(Photo supplied by Fiona McAuliffe.)

Introducing – Peter Russell

Our newest member of the Vic-Tas District Office is Peter Russell, who has now started in the role of Executive Assistant and Project Officer (Tuesday to Friday).
Peter shares a little about himself below. Please welcome Peter when you next phone or visit the office!

“My wife and I emigrated to Australia from South Africa in 2012 with our three children, all of whom are now married to Australians. We are additionally blessed with two wonderful granddaughters.

“I have a background in Information Systems, focusing on providing software solutions to business across multiple industries. As an encourager, I enjoy finding solutions towards helping others, and I am blessed to have this opportunity to serve Bishop Lester, Stephen (DA) and the district.

“I am looking forward to using the skills acquired during my business career, and particularly around data, automation and storage, to improve how we effectively use the vast body of information we have, to serve the Lutheran District.

“I also hope to contribute to the spiritual well-being of the team, and I look forward to getting to know and working with the congregations and people of the Vic-Tas District, as well as the wider church staff.”

Priceless, not Worthless

Read 1 Peter 2:2-10

While on my morning walk, I came across a pile of bluestone rocks discarded on the nature strip. On top was a piece of paper with one word written in large letters, “FREE.” The next day I noticed that the stones, rejected as worthless by one gardener must have been claimed as precious by another.

The Apostle Peter writes about a “Living Stone” which was also rejected as worthless. However, the master builder chose this stone to be the most important stone in the entire building; not just any building block, but a priceless cornerstone to support the entire structure.

This, of course, is a picture of Jesus. He was always the Living Stone, but he was rejected by humans. People considered him worthless! They saw him as a stumbling block, a rock of offence. They rejected him. They crucified him. In God’s sight, though, he was chosen and precious – priceless. God raised him to life on the third day. He restored that Living Stone to its rightful place, as the priceless Cornerstone of the church of the living God; “the Cornerstone of a whole new world,” as one songwriter puts it.

What difference does that make for us? Peter writes to those who put our trust in Jesus, “You are like living stones,” crafted in the image of the Living Stone. It was we who deserved to be rejected as worthless, but God allowed the most precious stone of all to be rejected in our place; thrown on the scrapheap of death. When the Living Stone was raised to life, he made it possible for us to become like living stones too, rescued, restored, and repurposed as part of God’s eternal spiritual house.

We are not “just another brick in the wall”, as Pink Floyd might have once told us. With Christ as Cornerstone, we are “like living stones built into a spiritual house.” Peter reminds us: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people …Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

It is good to take some time to reflect on what that means for us. In Christ, we are by no means worthless, but like him we are priceless in God’s sight.

We can give thanks for the Privilege of being rescued and restored by God and built, like living stones, into his spiritual house.

We can give thanks for the Presence of Christ, the Cornerstone in our midst through his saving Word and Sacraments, sustaining and building us up as God’s holy people.

We can give thanks for the holy Priesthood that Christ has given us to exercise before God, each other, and the world.

St Peter reminds us that, in response to God’s undeserved love, we should Come to him daily in repentance and faith in the assurance of his forgiveness.

Having tasted that the Lord is good, we should Crave the pure spiritual milk so that we may grow in the gift of God’s Salvation.

As a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, we should regularly Consider our calling to proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Because Jesus, The Living Stone, was rejected as worthless, yet became the Cornerstone, chosen and precious in God’s sight, we can also give thanks that, in Christ, God will never consider us worthless, but will always look upon us as his priceless possession.

Groundbreaking and blessing

More than thirty years ago, Wodonga Lutheran Parish took a step-in faith and bought land in West Wodonga to establish a Lutheran School and to relocate the St John’s congregation to the school site. In 2017 the decision was made by the congregation to begin the process of moving to Victory Lutheran College, by having plans drawn for a suitable worship space.

Over the last three years there have been many setbacks and delays, some due to a VCAT hearing, COVID lockdowns and restrictions and other delays in the building industry. All of these setbacks were certainly sent to strengthen the Parish members in the knowledge that everything works in God’s time, and not ours.

On Sunday, 4^th December the vision, from thirty years ago, to move to Victory Lutheran College took another step towards becoming a reality with the Groundbreaking and Blessing of the church site at Victory Lutheran College. Pastor Joshua Muller of the Wodonga Parish read from Ephesians 2 v 19-22 ‘You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined togethe4r and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit’, blest the ground and offered a prayer of safety and protection to all who would be working on the construction.

Pastor Joshua Muller together with the Parish Chair, Jenny Simboras, Mr Tim McInnes Building Committee Chair, and Mr John Alatalo member of the Parish Council and owner of Alatalo Bros, builder, broke the ground to begin the construction, which is expected to take 12 months.

To God be the glory!

Relationship Building to the Ends of the Earth!

St Paul’s Box Hill congregation has been discussing and discerning the call of Jesus to us in mission. His words in Acts 1:8 have been a focus “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The congregation has pondered what we can do to share the love of Jesus in our local situation (our Jerusalem), in distant and unfamiliar places (Judea and Samaria) and in those far flung places around the world (and to the ends of the earth).

Building relationships and partnerships in the gospel (Philippians 1:3-6) has been a guide and motivation.

The initial step has been taken to build such a relationship with GKPS (Simalungun Protestant Christian Church), Jalan Jenderal Sudirman – in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia (through a connection made by St Paul’s Pastor Neville Otto in his previous role as International Mission Director, LCANZ.)

Originally formed out of the Spirit led efforts of a German missionary in the early 1900’s, the congregation has continued to grow in the Lutheran traditions with a membership base of over 2000. Of North Sumatra’s population of around 15 million people almost a third are Christian (principally protestant) with Pematangsiantar (300,000 population), the second largest city. The Simalungun are an ethnic group of the Batak peoples whom make up the largest proportion of the North Sumatran population.

In late October, in an on-line meeting, members of the St Paul’s Mission Co-ordinating Team joined Pastor Neville as he rekindled acquaintances with representatives of GKPS, including Dr Ridwin Purba (a leading layperson in the congregation), pastors and senior leaders. The building of new relationships was evident as we shared the stories of our congregational life, with the use of on-line media certainly proving that the ends of the earth are not so far away at all!

In committing to further on-line discussion, there is a willingness to continue towards a closer partnership in sharing the gospel, learning from each other in ministry and mission, keeping our congregations in prayer and developing new ways for joint congregational involvement.

In faith, we look forward to the Holy Spirit’s leading and power, as together St Paul’s and GKPS, witness to the gospel.

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