10 June 2014

In recent weeks I have attended District Pastors Conferences and Synods in South Australia and Queensland. Soon I plan to go to similar events in Victoria. While some regard Synods as ‘out of fashion’, they are vitally important gatherings for our church. They lift us out of our local situations and give us a bigger picture of the LCA and what is going on. Generally, people find much more mission and ministry is being done by and among us in Christ’s name than they thought. Synods can only be as good as the people who attend them. If you want to make a difference to the life and decision making of our church, why not attend the next District gathering near you? Why not even become a delegate for your local congregation or parish? My emphasis at these meetings has been the things that bind us together – primarly our faith in Jesus Christ and our belonging together as family. I have been pointing pastors and delegates to the core documents of our church, such as the Constitution (Article III Objects, and the unalterable clauses in Article II Confession), and the Augsburg Confession (1530) Article IV Justification by Faith. I have been surprised by how infrequently we read these things even while we debate what it means to be Christians and Lutheran. These are clear, well written statements about what we believe, have agreed on and are committed to. Why not look up our foundational documents on the website here. If you are looking for the Ausburg Confession and don’t have a copy, it is widely available in English for download with a simple web search.

Do you want to help in South Sudan?

Many Lutheran congregations in Australia and New Zealand have strong connections with South Sudan and are feeling called to respond to the crisis currently unfolding there. From the Australian end Lutheran World Service is associated with Lutheran World Federation programs in South Sudan and refugee camps in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, where many South Sudanese are fleeing to. For a number of years ALWS has partnered with and funded LWF programs in Jonglei State in South Sudan and Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya and is currently accepting donations for these projects. The conflict is complex and ever-changing. If you or your congregation have queries about the situation in South Sudan, or are considering ways of responding through your own networks, ALWS is open to helping congregations the best it can with the information and living links it has with people on the ground in the country. To find out more contact ALWS on 02 6021 5329 or go to alws@alws.org.au

Graduate Pastors

In recent years we have generally ordained our graduate pastors in a single batch in December each year. This year, however, we have two mid-year ordinations. They are:

Tony Traeger – ordained at St Marks Underdale SA on Sunday 8 June by Bishop John Henderson, and called/assigned to the Katanning Narrogin Parish in Western Australia

Dylan Miegel – to be ordained at Emmanuel, Toowoomba, by Bishop Noel Noack, and called/assigned to the Gympie Parish in Queensland

Neuendettelsau Summer Schools

For 20 years the LCA has been invited to send participants to Summer Schools conducted by our mission partners at Mission One World in Bavaria. Many LCA pastors and laypeople have been the beneficiaries of these schools. This year Mrs Chelsea Pietsch of Grovedale, Vic, is attending from 7-27 July. The topic will be: God of Life, Lead us to Justice and Peace: Lutheran Churches and their Role and Responsibility in Society. As an international gathering this will be a very powerful and pertinent topic.

Bishop’s business

One of my responsibilities is to represent our church in a wide variety of gatherings and meetings. Here is a list of recent and upcoming events which might interest you: 

• In January I was the preacher at the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea on Karkar Island. That church is about to celebrate its 128th anniversary, and they have again asked for an Australian guest preacher. Pastor Matthias Prenzler will attend. 
• The Asian Regional meeting for Lutheran World Federation related Churches, held in Kuala Lumpur. Some of these churches also have membership in the International Lutheran Council. 
• National Council of Churches in Australia – the Executive of this organisation met last week in Sydney. During the meeting we spent time with Justice Peter McClelland, the Commissioner in charge of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. I also spent time with him at the National Heads of Churches meeting in November 2014. We farewelled the General Secretary, Rev Tara Curlewis. 
• The Synod of the Lutheran Church Canada – Bishop David Altus is currently attending this gathering on behalf of the LCA. 
• The Council of the Lutheran World Federation – this is the governing body of the LWF between 7-year Assemblies. This year the Council meets in Medan, Indonesia, the first time on Asian soil. The LCA is an ‘Associate Member’, so I am attending as a guest observer the second week in June. 
• In July I will join a group of Lutheran Principals as they visit the ‘Lutherlands’ in Germany. Along the way I will meet with the various leaders – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England. 
• In October I will be visiting North America, responding to a number of invitations, and meet with the 60 Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the leadership of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and also (hopefully) our Canadian cousins in the Lutheran Church Canada.

I do not expect to have so many engagements of this type in future years. They are so many in 2014 because it is my first year as your Bishop. People in our partner and colleague churches want to meet me and learn more about our church in Australia and New Zealand.

We also get a steady stream of international visitors to the National Office in North Adelaide SA.

Your brother in Christ,

John Henderson

Bishop