Thanks and Farewell Nevin

Greetings!

Today marks the end of Nevin Nitschke’s service as Mission Facilitator in the SA/NT District. On Monday 3rd June Nevin will begin work as the LCA’s Director for Lay Ministry. Nevin has been part of the district’s mission team for over 3½ years during which time he has worked tirelessly to inspire and resource mission in our Church. God has been good to us in giving us Nevin for this time. Many seeds have been sown and the mission conversation in our congregations, schools and other agencies has grown during this time. We thank Nevin and wish him well as he moves into his new role.

In the last year a dozen one-day mission workshops have been held across the SA/NT district, the most recent being a Naracoorte on the 18th May. Nevin designed this workshop and put together the handouts and PowerPoint for it. He and I presented it together. The feedback sheets we received after each event have been consistently positive with many people sharing how they have been helped. Nevin also took the lead in organising the district mission conference in Murray Bridge two years ago. He has served with distinction with the Anglican and Uniting churches in organising and running the mission shaped ministry courses in Adelaide. Nevin has also mentored individuals and mission initiatives across the district. As a member of our office staff team Nevin has been part of the glue that holds us together, with great ideas and his wacky sense of humour. We will miss him, even if he is just up the road.

Funding for the Mission Facilitator position was cobbled together from a major legacy for mission in the district and a Zinnbauer Mission Fund grant with the balance coming from LLL grants to the district. That allowed us to call Nevin for a 3 year term. DCC then agree to provide funding from unspecified legacies for an additional 15 months which would have taken us up to the end of this year. We have plans in place to seek further funding for 2014 and beyond, but they are based on building on the work that Nevin has already done. Those plans will now need to be reworked and since we don’t have funding available we are unable to advertise the position at this time. Rather we have asked DCC to allow us to use the funds already allocated for short-term contracts and projects which we work out a longer term strategy. DCC has graciously agreed. We are therefore having a fresh look at how the department for mission can best do its part in helping to fulfil the mission of the SA/NT district which is “to resource, encourage and focus its communities to grow in Christ and make him known to all people.”

God bless!
Steen Olsen
Mission Director
LCA SA/NT District