Feature Stories

by Craig Heidenreich

Sometimes, ‘mission’ is as simple as sharing a meal, asking a question or becoming a friend. That’s what members of St Paul Lutheran Church in Blair Athol in suburban Adelaide have discovered as they reach out to migrants from India and Afghanistan – one conversation at a time.

by Meighan Mills

The Mum Community (MumCo) at St John’s Lutheran Church Perth is a welcoming and nurturing space for mums – from pregnancy through to their children’s early school years. Meeting fortnightly, MumCo offers mums connection, encouragement and a timeout, supported by a team of dedicated ‘mentor mums’.

by Tim Castle-Schmidt and Merrilyn Beaumont

Nunawading and Waverley Lutheran Church in Melbourne’s east is based in an area where 60 per cent of people come from China. So, nine years ago, the congregation responded to God’s leading by providing weekly English conversation classes.

A growing mission partnership between Wodonga Lutheran Parish and Victory Lutheran College in Victoria reached a joyful milestone last month with the baptism of a Year 3 student during the parish’s family chapel service.

On 21 June, Lutheran Media marked 80 years of ministry with a thank you lunch attended by nearly 100 people at Kies Family Wines in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

Starting or expanding multiethnic ministries in church or school communities was a popular theme among LCANZ Local Mission Fund applications for this year, and St Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Brisbane hopes to build on its history of outreach among people of different cultures thanks to the grant.