1201 Riversdale Road
Box Hill South VIC 3128
Phone 03 9236 1200
This edition of District eVoices includes
Events across the District taking place in 2022
including LYV Empower youth ministry training event
Lutheran Men of Victoria retreat
Tandara 500 Camp and Kids Camp
Continuing Education for Pastors and Lay workers
Plus news including
The Chinese Lutheran Church of Victoria 30th anniversary celebration
Positions available in the District
Links to LCA department eNews
Read more the current edition and past editions HERE
This edition of District eNews contains
Hanging on and hanging together. That has been the status of St Matthew’s Footscray over the past two years, as we have dealt with a pastoral vacancy and Melbourne’s series of COVID lockdowns. In the absence of a pastor, the leaders of our little (even littler since the lockdowns) congregation have not only handled the same lockdown fatigue and pressures as the rest of us, but stepped in to keep our church functioning and connected. We have been meeting through Google Meet each week. Although not all of our parishioners have joined us online, our numbers have been boosted at times by relatives from around the country, whose own congregations have not been able to meet.
“Being able to connect every Sunday has kept the community together,” said Vanessa Williams, the St Matthew’s council member who has coordinated, put together and run the online services, with the help of LCA resources.
“It’s been wonderful to see everyone on screen every week,” agreed Ruth Borchert, our church deacon. “So many congregations have absolutely nothing. It’s a long time without a pastor and difficult times. I think we can just be thankful that not too many things have happened in our congregation over the past two years.”
As well as allowing connection with distant family members, the online services have also enabled connection with members of our own church family, Ken and Esther Cross, who have continued to worship with us from their new home and workplace in Utopia, two or three hours’ drive from Alice Springs.
While this period has had its challenges (including some break-ins to the vacant church premises), it has also had its unexpected joys. One of these has been our new relationship with the VECA Hope Church, a Vietnamese congregation, who recently started sharing our premises. They happen to have quite a bit of building expertise in their congregation and have already helped revamp our kitchen and renovate our church hall. The timing of the new partnership meant that they have only had one service, which they combined with a celebratory lunch to which we were all invited, but it was a blessing that the timing of that event fell between lockdowns.
“They worked hard to be ready in time for that one service and they did,” said Simon Lienert, St Matthew’s chairman.
“It wasn’t because of COVID that they wanted to be ready for that date, but it turned out it was just about the only weekend in between lockdowns that we could physically worship at the church.”
It is perhaps a sign that, even more than the resilience that has helped us hang on to our worship tradition and each other in a new way, God is hanging on to us. While we are holding on, waiting for a return to physical services and the invigoration of a new pastor, we can be sure that God has other new blessings for us and our future.
by Sam and Bec Lienert
Sadly the regular program of Lutheran Women of Victoria Retreats have almost all been cancelled due to restrictions across the State. The women of Launceston decided to continue on with the event with the assistance of Pr Stuart Kleinig (restrictions on gathering are not currently in place in Tasmania). Twenty two people attended from all over the state. The day opened with singing songs from the All Together song books accompanied by Pastor Stuart playing his guitar, making it extra special. A delicious soup and pizza lunch followed.
The presentation was very interesting as we hear little of the importance of women in the bible. Elizabeth and her cousin Mary Magdalene were discussed as being such strong believers and certainly made a huge impact on our true faith in Christ.
An offering of $265 was received in support of the Australian Lutheran World Service.
We are so blessed and thank God we are able to get together for such a wonderful morning of fellowship. We are hoping our Victorian ladies will get here next year and present at the retreat. Surely third time lucky. We’ve had our practice now for next year, so please encourage as many as possible to come to Launceston for the retreat.
We thank Pastor Stuart and his wife Julie for coming and for Pr Stuart’s leadership of the retreat. Many thanks also to Joanne Ebdon for being the contact person and for all the work she did to make sure the retreat day went ahead. A big thank you also to our Launceston ladies for all the work they carried out, making soup, sandwiches, slices and setting tables.
Thora Burch – congregation chair Bethlehem Lutheran Church Launceston.
In a first for the LCANZ, the church’s next Convention of General Synod will be held in two parts – an online meeting in October 2021 and an in-person meeting in 2022.
LCANZ Bishop John Henderson announced the change in a special eNews to the church on 10 June after the General Church Board (GCB) decided on the move on 9 June. The six-day face-to-face convention scheduled to be held in Melbourne from 28 September to 3 October will not go ahead.
‘After making every effort to hold the Convention by the usual means, ongoing uncertainty about travel restrictions, exacerbated by the recent lockdown in Victoria and its potential flow-on impact in parts of Queensland and New South Wales, meant the time had come to make the very difficult call on a COVID contingency plan’, Bishop Henderson said.
Taking into account the extraordinary circumstances relating to COVID-19, the GCB unanimously agreed to hold the 20th regular Convention of General Synod in two parts: an online meeting in early October 2021, which will then be adjourned until the meeting resumes in person at a location to be determined in September or October 2022.
‘The GCB has adopted this approach, a first for the LCANZ, so we can keep the regular constitutional cycle of three-year synodical terms and make the necessary decisions in a timely and orderly way, allowing proper opportunity for consideration and discussion’, Bishop Henderson said. ‘With the risks to travel at present, that will mean an online format in 2021 and an in-person meeting in 2022, God willing.’
The 2021 online component of the Convention, likely to be held over two days, will be for essential business items necessary for the regular transition into the next synodical term, such as the election of the LCANZ bishop, assistant bishop and GCB; board and council reporting; and voting on essential constitutional and other matters that for various reasons cannot be held over until 2022.
Delegates will receive the Book of Reports, which also contains proposals to General Synod, before the 2021 meeting.
The 2022 in-person component of the meeting, likely to be held over two to three days, will be for matters of a theological or doctrinal nature and the proposals that will require robust ‘live’ debate in the usual Synod format.
‘The planning team will do its best to make sure all delegates can participate in both the online and in-person components of the Convention’, Bishop Henderson said.
The General Pastors Conference (GPC), scheduled for 6–8 July 2021 in Tanunda South Australia, will now not be held in person at that time. The GPC planning committee will advise all pastors of the revised arrangements as soon as practicable.
GPC will still need to ensure that nominations for LCANZ bishop and assistant bishop reach the opening session of Convention of General Synod in 2021 and that its advice on theological and doctrinal issues reaches delegates suitably in advance of the second meeting of Synod in 2022.
Regarding General Synod, GCB was mindful of the financial risk to the LCANZ and its parishes in the event of a snap COVID lockdown in Melbourne. Also taken into account was the considerable burden a physical Convention of General Synod in Melbourne would place on ‘already exhausted leaders, pastors and people in Victoria, the state that has borne the brunt of the COVID pandemic in Australia’.
‘In making this weighty decision, the GCB has considered not only the potential impact on delegates and others but also the risk to the wider church’, Bishop Henderson said. ‘While the financial risk is one factor, there is also the possibility that any decisions made by a depleted Convention of General Synod might later be contested as not being fully legitimate.’
As details about the online component of the convention become available, registered delegates will be informed via the Synod eNews, and there will be regular updates in LCA eNews for the wider church.
Bearing in mind that specific details for the new format for Convention of General Synod are not yet available, if you have questions or concerns, please contact the General Synod planning team via synod@lca.org.au
This week’s eVoices includes a message of encouragement from Pr Lester, District Bishop, as we enter another period of lockdown, plus some of the business of Convention of Synod from last week. the most recent updates on COVID restrictions are included.
We are also excited to include news of the appointment of Suzanna Bowman as the local coordinator for General Convention of Synod taking place in Melbourne later in the year. we would love to hear from those contemplating offering volunteer support to this national event.
28 May District eVoices
Empower – make (someone) stronger and more confident; unfetter; enable;
A result of COVID is that some events and meetings are no longer tied to a physical location with the benefit that more people can attend events that might have previously have been out of the question for travel or time reasons. This in turn can mean more sharing and learning on how different organisations work with ministry and mission.
On Saturday 40 people met online from across Australia (and two from California!) for Empower 2021. Meeting under the theme of Setting our Sails to Catch the Wind, attendees heard from seven guest speakers, sharing knowledge and experience across topics such as Images of the Spirit, The Spirit as an Agent of Mission and elective units on Lutheran 101, Listening, Dwelling in the Word, Praying the Psalms and A Life of Worship.
One attendee commented ‘I found today’s Empower event so encouraging and uplifting! It has been a while since I have spoken with others about our faith and so today was such an amazing experience to be able to share our testimonies and hear God’s Word from such biblicaly knowledgeable Pastors and speakers…’
Empower is held annually in the District aiming to lift and support emerging young leaders and those who work with youth and young adults, but is not limited to this audience. Sunday Night at St John’s (SNAS) recommences Sunday 28 February and standby for news on Easter Camp.
Includes the DCC approved guidelines for Online meetings, an upcoming LYV Online Retreat, a short report on the online pastor and lay worker event and information on a coming workshop, How Change Comes to Your Church. Go to the District News page to read more.
Introducing the LCA Reconciliation Action Plan
As we are reconciled with Christ through his death and resurrection, as Christians, God calls us to be reconciled with one another (2Cor 5:18,19).
Since 2015, I’ve been blessed to be involved with a small team who have been working with people from across Australia and with Reconciliation Australia on a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for the LCA. You’ll be able to read more about this in the May edition of The Lutheran magazine and the LCA RAP website www.rap.lca.org.au
Many people are already supporting the ministry of the LCA with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in areas such as Central Australia. Thank you for this important support.
The LCA has demonstrated historical leadership in our relationships with First Nation peoples, however, this is not the end of such engagement – it is the beginning.
Developing an LCA RAP is an opportunity to grow. Like the baptised new life we live reconciled in Christ, each day is a new beginning and a new opportunity to grow in relationships with those around us.
Wherever it is that we are as church, where you are as a baptised member of God’s family, its clear that many First Nations peoples are located somewhere close by in Australia’s cities, towns and rural communities. This means perhaps in your own community! The LCA RAP will help us all to consider what this means for us. And asking the “what does this mean for us?” is very much the Lutheran question isn’t it!
The LCA Vision for the RAP, inspired by the gospel of reconciliation in Jesus Christ, our Church’s vision for reconciliation, empowered by the Holy Spirit is…
‘to bring to life an expression of our ministry that helps all peoples understand, value and respect the histories, cultures, lands and contributions of First Nations peoples; to recognise and honour our common humanity and for equity in opportunity to flourish, so together we can grow as God’s people’
What can you and I…what can we do together during National Reconciliation Week and beyond?
I simply suggest a couple of starters:
Consider how you can grow in your relationship with your Lord who by his cross has reconciled you to God in grace.
As a child of grace how can you grow in learning to bring love to life in recognising new opportunities to understand, value and respect the contributions of First Nations and peoples and our ministry of grace in Christ? Check out the Lutheran and the RAP website.
I’d love to hear from you as well.
Neville Otto
E neville.otto@lca.org.au
What is National Reconciliation Week?
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities. In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first NRW.
In 2000, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of NRW, to show their support for reconciliation.
Today, NRW is celebrated by businesses, schools, organisations, and individuals Australia-wide. Hundreds of NRW events are held each year. You can find an event near you at www.reconciliation.org.au
1201 Riversdale Road
Box Hill South VIC 3128
Phone 03 9236 1200
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