Beginning in mission

The story of our mission outreach at Wodonga Lutheran Parish in Victoria began by acknowledging the truth that to meet our strategic vision, we had to ask ourselves some hard questions.

Our vision is to be a welcoming, compassionate and growing church in which Christ’s love inspires transformation and growth in individuals, their families and the community, with a faith that endures forever.

But how can we do this when our challenges reflect the challenges being experienced through many parishes within the LCANZ? How can we effectively communicate the message of Jesus to more people, more often and in more places when it is difficult to sustain growth within our own parish?

To answer these questions, we used our strategic plan as the framework and cut our outreach planning into ‘bite-sized’ pieces so that it did not overwhelm us. We concentrated on what needed to be done and how best to do this, before looking at funding. After all, our strategic plan starts with Jeremiah 29:11: ‘“For I know the plans I have for you”’, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.’

So, firstly, we considered the time needed to give this outreach the best chance of success. Our strategic plan is over three years, and the outreach program is intentionally aligned with this plan. We believe this allows us to experience what works and what doesn’t, helping us to refine processes and strategies and build a self-sustaining system that will endure. In doing so, we will allow people to explore what it means to be a Christian and we can walk with people in their faith journey.

Secondly, it became apparent that we needed to appoint a coordinator rather than relying solely on church members. Such an appointment provides value in terms of consistency and focus, planning and execution, volunteer support, accountability, reducing burnout among church members and sustained engagement – this is particularly important given our engagement with Victory Lutheran College in Wodonga. A role description was developed for a 0.6 FTE mission and ministry coordinator position.

Thirdly, we identified risks associated with the program and how we could overcome or mitigate them. This exercise was important and informed us of other resources needed before we established our budget.

Before taking our plan to the members, we applied to the LLL via the Victorian District, for a $25,000 mission outreach grant. By God’s grace, our application was successful, encouraging us to press on in our mission.

But there was one more amazing twist to our story – the establishment of the LCANZ Local Mission Fund. We give glory to God for the establishment of this fund and for the support we have received to increase the mission and ministry coordinator role to 1.0 FTE.

Many initiatives are being planned and implemented, including close engagement with the college. We look forward to sharing these stories in future.

Ron Asquith is the treasurer of Wodonga Lutheran Parish, Victoria.

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