After many, many years of being active members of Lutheran congregations my husband Gordon and I sold our farm and retired to the township of Grenfell in central NSW so that our youngest child could finish his schooling before seeking employment in Sydney. Our nearest Lutheran congregations are now 100 kilometres away in all directions, and the nearest Lutheran women’s fellowship is the same distance. I miss the fellowship of Lutheran women’s gatherings very much. …
If nothing else, the recent pandemic has taught us to be adaptable.
At our congregation in Box Hill, Victoria, we’ve had added overlays which have further confronted members and friends and caused pain. Change and disruption to certainties we took for granted have been our close companions for some years now. We have closed our beloved house of worship and relocated our worship home and, sadly, we’ve also experienced congregational conflict on other issues.
Where were you in 1951? I was a little kid then, running off to the local school across the road from our church: St Paul’s. Lunch times I’d sometimes spend at my grandparents’ house. Up the back steps in time to hear my grandmother’s favourite radio serial “Blue Hills” and the smell of some freshly cooked sultana cake. But that wasn’t her only passion. She was a regular church member – a leader in her …
“Time waits for no man” marching on relentlessly; This very moment a part of time that will never happen again. Days and seasons— they and we move on – change. Days and seasons, each in its own time and beauty; God’s wondrous creation – growing, blossoming, fruiting and dying; Beginning and ending; God is always there – the creator of time. Endless time? no, endless God. Everything that happens in this world happens at the …
Receiving “new things” “New” is what is given to us through Christ Jesus, and worked in, and into, us by the Holy Spirit, our God-given Helper. Last month we took time in Isaiah 43, where the Lord says, “See, I am doing a new thing”, using the metaphor or picture of bringing life into dry wasteland, relating that to his people. It’s amazing that every day the Lord is doing new things! He makes everything …
Work is a Gift What do you do for a living? This is often one of the first questions we ask when meeting someone new. When we are in the final years of school (if not before) we start to think about what we want to do next, and plan how best to prepare for our ‘dream job’. I was very fortunate that I decided at the age of eight I was going to be …
Twelve ladies from Katanning and Narrogin joined together at Dome Café in Katanning on 10 December 2020 for their annual advent lunch get together. It was a beautiful day and the lunch was very tasty. This was complemented by our favourite drink of choice. The best part was getting together, and we didn’t need to wash up! We were each presented with four Ferrero Rocher chocolates and a handmade tile coaster by Sigrid with “Jesus …
Come on a journey with me and I will give you more than you can imagine! Opening my Bible to Ezekiel 34:11–16 with a heading The Good Shepherd of Israel little did I know what a ride it would be! A chance to prepare a Retreat for the women of NSW/ACT was like a gift that came from a freshwater spring. An amazing pathway back in March 2019 with the title Pathways to the Good …
Eighteen months ago, we travelled to Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. I had stayed in the same area in 1981 so was keen to revisit. Back then I fell in love with the people and the place and thought, “This is what heaven will be like”. The scenery is spectacular from the plains of Medan through the four-hour drive into the mountains and across the seemingly bottomless volcanic crater lake. There are aspects of …
Firstly, thank you to all our beautiful generous ladies, who baked and made and decorated and voted and laughed and chatted and voted some more. You are all a wonderful blessing in our community! So, we: gathered, greeted, laughed, voted, sang, listened, prayed, sang, discussed, voted, clapped, thanked, prayed, chatted, and voted some more. Then we had afternoon tea (Yum!) and voted again! Yes, we even fitted in some serious “meeting stuff”! Our Leadership …
The year 2020 has been challenging for our Immanuel Church, Woden, Guild Ladies as I’m sure it has been for all small groups around the country. Seniors’ luncheons were cancelled indefinitely. Retreat, fellowship days, Convention, ACT Church Women services, were all cancelled. Church services were live-streamed – thanks to the technical wizards who made that possible – and the rhythm of all our lives was changed, seemingly overnight! Phone calls, though, are a poor substitute …
Tanunda Lutheran Home Inc (TLH) is one of the larger Aged Care Facilities outside the metropolitan area in South Australia, situated in the picturesque town of Tanunda in the heart of the Barossa Valley. It offers a high standard of independent living accommodation in 98 units and, as of 25 January 2021, 108 in the Residential Care Facility including a dedicated dementia wing. Having lived in New South Wales for over 40 years, and only …