Inspiration

by Linden and Janet Huxtable

What started in 2015 as a simple but unique idea – using the LCA Churchwide Office car park on Ward Street in North Adelaide to raise funds during AFL games – grew into a decade-long faith outreach that welcomed thousands of footy fans and raised nearly $90,000 for our Lutheran Church ministries.

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.

Pentecost Sunday was a day of double blessings in Victoria, as more than 300 people gathered across three congregations to celebrate the Holy Spirit’s work in their communities. In Geelong, 21 young people were confirmed, while at Knox, seven children were baptised during a special service.

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.