Extraordinary, amazing, singular, exceptional are words to sum up the LWSA-NT In Stitches Retreat held at Immanuel College, Adelaide from January 17th-19th. Pastor Reid Matthias (of the “Little Church on The Prairie” fame) welcomed retreaters to the fabulous new venue for the 2020 retreat. Pastor Reid is a storyteller, and he did have us in stitches as he shared stories of his journey growing up at Rake, Iowa, on the Prairie in the USA. Pastor …
Do you like a laugh? Then read Girt. Our National Anthem tells us that Australia is “girt by sea” but did you know that girt is an old-fashioned word for “encircled”? Hunt explains this with humorous overtones. Did history classes at school bore you because you had to learn about the Tudors and the Stuarts rather than about Australia? Then read Girt and learn about Macarthur, a couple of Wentworths, Flinders and others. Hunt informs …
Our happy, caring and enthusiastic group of ladies meet on the third Tuesday afternoon of the month in our church hall, or sometimes we have home meetings. We take turns to read a devotion and host afternoon tea. We have our Bible studies which are taken from the Lutheran Women magazine. For our roll call we choose a hymn verse which is particularly meaningful to us. Our entertainment takes on various forms: going out for …
Located in Theresa Park, 55km southwest of Sydney, you will find a place called “Canaan of God’s Comfort”. It is home to the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Australia, a small community of Protestant sisters who have been living and working in Australia since 1979. They are part of a larger international sisterhood whose origin and main centre (Kanaan) is in Darmstadt, Germany. Founders Mother Basilea and Mother Martyria prayed for revival amongst the young …
There is something special about intentionally wanting to become a multiethnic church that feels so new and invigorating but at the same time wonderfully challenging. It’s been hard to put into words what the experience is like for us at Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena, in Adelaide, with our relationship with our Indonesian community but I often like to picture our church to be on a journey to become like opal stone; a church which is …
Bethlehem Women’s Guild, Adelaide, has enjoyed many blessings with Bible studies being led by Pastors Pearce and Pfeiffer, and in 2019 Vicar Peter Noble. Bible Studies are usually taken from Lutheran Women magazine. We are in our 127th year. We had a big celebration in October 2018 for 125th birthday and invited other guilds to share this milestone with us. On the Sunday, we had a community lunch with the congregation to mark the occasion. …
Under all the different coloured skins from all the different cultures of our world, the same hearts pump the same coloured blood. Thank God for our diversity and unity. People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God. Luke 13:29 (GNT) Photo credit: Robert Turner
Through ALWS, Lutheran women from Australia reach out to touch the lives of women in some of the world’s poorest countries. Angok Kongor, from South Sudan, shares how God has used your kindness in training her in cooking and business to open a way through all the challenges she has faced … “When I was a girl, I lived in South Sudan. My father died when I was small. He was a soldier and he …
Theme: F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely on God) So we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 Gladstone Ladies Fellowship was the host for the Rally/Retreat held on 14,15 March 2020 and we were blessed to have the company of ladies (and some menfolk) who came from far and wide. Thank you to all the 41 ladies …
Begin with prayer. When I first joined the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) as an adult convert, many well-meaning church members would automatically change my surname to Zanker because, as I was told, everyone knows there are no Ankers in the LCA! In my second parish where the secretary’s surname was Zanker, she kindly started referring to herself as ‘zAnker’ to make me feel more at home. What a remarkable act of hospitality! While it …
When God “Breaks” Your Heart Earlier this year, before international travel became the stuff of daydreams, I made it to East Indonesia to visit Compassion Australia projects and my tiny but sunshiny sponsor child. Compassion Australia is an International Christian charity and child development organisation. Before leaving, I asked God to butterfly-cut my heart. As may have come across in the last few devotions, this year has been tiring on my spirit. Caring had become …
A few years ago, the magazine I edit used the theme Built on Bedrock. Tsunamis sometimes happen and we watch on television as buildings crumble and are washed away. I think about Christ’s illustration in Matthew 7:24–27 of the different results for the man who built his house upon sand and the one who built upon rock. Bedrock … just what does it represent in our lives? Some might identify it as sound doctrine or …