"Who am I?" "What am I doing?" Have you ever stopped to think about why you are doing what you are doing?

It might be that you seemed to fall into the position. Perhaps doors opened or doors closed. Perhaps you have carefully planned and studied for your pathway. Maybe uncle Peter was on the interview panel...

However you ended up here it is not by coincidence... nor are you the only one who has taken your exact journey. God's hand is in yours regardless of how many rocks you've climbed or hits you've taken....remember Joseph's diversion in the well that led to Egypt.

God trusts and enables you through your experiences and His gifts to have the right tools to do your work...His work. 

May you have the courage and confidence in Him to have the same trust in yourself! Be empowered to be a mission and ministry encourager in your community...be the hands that surround you!

Things will change, doors will open and close, you'll discover gifts you didn't know and the journey will surprise you...but God's presence and his purpose for you as part of His church remains constant....called for a purpose.

May you be mission and ministry encouragers where God has placed you.

Scattered throughout this e-news are some statistics for Lay Ministry in 2014. It makes for interesting reading....Note that the figures change constantly (now over 180 Lay Workers) since I put the graphs together.

These statistics are gleened from LAMP so they will reflect the categories that you entered. If you'd like to change a category or title for your ministry...please do so through LAMP

There are dozens and dozens of voluntary people who fit into the category of Lay Workers ...but as yet we haven't identified these congregational leaders in ministry and mission who have a sense of call to serve God and their congregation. If you know of someone who fits here...get them to contact us...we'd love to provide them with support and encouragement.

Ben and Rachel Grulke (above).... Manawatu Lutheran Parish
Let me start by saying our God has a wicked sense of humour. My whole life I was brought up in the Lutheran church, I guess I kind of had no choice, seeing as though my father is a pastor. I had points where I rebelled against my parents and God, but no matter how hard I tried, He wouldn’t let me go.

After school I decided to become an intern at Warrambui where I struggled and didn’t have a very good year. I did how ever meet The One, she was nothing like I expected and we started off despising each other. The next year came and we dated long distance while I decided to become a personal trainer leaving aside all notions of Christianity. I did my course but couldn’t find a Personal training job so I started searching anywhere; I found a job driving a refrigerated van for Woolworths, it was a pretty sweet job until one day I rolled it, when a witness came to help me he told me that his expectation was to find someone dead inside. However, all I had was a small red mark on my head. By the time I went to hospital the red mark was gone. At that moment everything I have ever believed in hit me, I felt God’s calling and while in my arrogance I defied him and ended up working for a gym, he never forgot me. By the end of 2011 I had been at the gym for a year and hated every moment of it, because I could hear God calling me elsewhere. I proposed to the girl and moved to NZ to be with her. That is where I met Pastor Lee Kroehn who unknowingly helped me to listen to God. When I accepted the calling I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It feels as though I blinked and ended up here at the Manawatu Lutheran Parish.

My time here, whilst being brief, I have noticed the amazing impact that God has in the lives of young people. I took the job here and was truly passionate about the youth group. But further in whilst still discovering all the ministries I was to care for I fell in love with the junior programmes, these programmes are filled with kids who see the world differently to us and the more time I spend with them the more I see the world through God’s eyes not tainted by man. Here at St Luke’s we have 5 children’s programmes. Our Youngest Group is for Parents with small children who are not yet at school, we call it Little Doves.  We also have two Sunday school programmes, Tot Time (2-5) and Sonshine (5-10), a school holiday programme for primary school aged Children called Turbo Time, and Junior Youth Group.

The Vision here is a family of God reflecting his love to our community, where God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit- grows us by grace to be disciples of Jesus. While I share the parish’s vision mine is just simply to Serve God. My vision in ministry is to guide children to God. God spoke to me through my life and told me that my meaning of life is to help children come to Him, by equipping them with the knowledge and passion to follow Him. He told me He will do the rest.

GREAT BED TIME READING!

The Lay Workers handbook has been updated and includes an easier to use contents page. The handbook is detailed and contains very useful information and resources for Lay Workers, Pastors and Congregations. If used, it WILL help you in your ministry, team building and calling. It's aimed at being a guide from when a congregation first has the idea to call a Lay Worker through to when a position ends. It will soon be available on the web site.

I strongly encourage you to have a copy available and become familiar with its contents. If you have suggestions for inclusions into the handbook...let us know. Click here to request a copy

DONNA Gunn was installed into her pastoral care role at Eventide in a service in the chapel on 12 January. The  installation was performed by chaplain, Pastor Richard Taylor, pictured above with Donna, in the chapel.
Donna has been serving in this role since July, and has been an encouragement and support to the unit residents at both Eventide and Hamilton Village.

 May 18-22, 2015.       Keep the date free.....

If you'd like to be on the planning team, click here

Lay Worker numbers in States and Districts.....

A Big Day Out is planned for SA Lay Workers for September 24th.... as SA doesn't have a Church Worker Conference. Venue and details to follow.

Dean Eaton: Director for Chaplaincy Ministries LCA SA/NT

Chaplains on Mission
Chaplaincy is one of the most credible and potent points of missional contact with the Australian community. This is why the LCA SA/NT has formed the new Department for Chaplaincy Ministries. Dean Eaton commenced in 2013 as Director for Chaplaincy Ministries to oversee the further development of existing and new chaplaincy roles in partnership with Lutheran communities. Currently the department is supporting thirteen Chaplains in Hospitals, three in Correctional Services and three in Tertiary institutions with plans to recruit at least another fifty in the next few years as Sports, Industry and Corporate Chaplains. Click here to contact Dean

Lay Ministry by Position categories

* This varies as some people have multiple roles and only one will have been identified

Fred has published a new book titled Psalm and Prayers of the "better covenant". This is a great Lent and Easter resource. For details about the book and how to order, click here.

If your goal is to frustrate—or even exasperate—your team, here are thirteen ways to do it.
1. Don’t be responsive.
2. Cancel meetings at the last minute.
3. Reprimand them in front of their peers.
4. Change your mind frequently.
5. Don’t bother stating your expectations.
6. Always ask for what they don’t have with them.
7. Focus on superficial things rather than substance.
8. Assign them work, then micromanage the process.
9. Do all the talking.
10. Never recognize them.
11. Catch them doing something wrong.
12. Communicate that you are the fount of all wisdom.
13. Be moody.
There you have it. And if for some crazy reason you don’t want to frustrate those you lead, you can just invert these suggestions and do the opposite.  Michael Hyatt blog site

A breakdown of the Ministry Worker category from the previous graph

We know Lay Ministry can be extremely rewarding and we also know it can be demanding and lonely at times.

Do you need help in your ministry with any of the following areas....?

• working as a team
• developing an effective ministry plan
• gaining a support team, pray team, mentor
• understanding study options
• clarifying working conditions
• connecting with others in similar ministries
• someone to be a listening ear

as well as finishing a position well and review options......

We can and do help....contact the Lay Ministry Office

A breakdown of the Chaplains category..