Church initiative welcomes new residents

In 2024, an idea emerged during a meeting among pastoral assistants at Victor Harbor Lutheran Church in South Australia. Soon after, 12 church leaders from various denominations across the South Coast met to explore how they could work together to welcome and connect with the new residents moving into the area. Statistics show that moving house is often considered one of the most stressful life events, and Victor Harbor is a rapidly growing area, with many new residents.

The ministers agreed to establish a program in which new residents would receive a welcome visit and gift from a member of a local Christian church. The initiative has since become known as the Combined Churches Welcome Pack Project. With care, this plan aims to provide opportunities for new relationships to grow.

In October 2024, the Victor Harbor Lutheran Church received a $10,000 LCANZ Local Mission Seed Project Fund grant to support the project. Since then, the project has been shared with local churches across the South Coast, and a development team, made up of lay volunteers from across the many churches, has been formed. The development team has now met four times.

On 2 February 2025, the Combined Churches Welcome Pack Project was officially launched during an ‘Eat Together Pray Together’ event, which drew around 400 Christians from churches across the South Coast.

In short, the project is all about Christians going out, speaking peace and building relationships with the people who have moved into the area.

Work has already begun on creating an introductory magazine and a supporting regional website at www.greatsouthcoast.com.au

A key factor in the project’s success is the willingness of local Christians to respond to God’s call to become a ‘welcome to the Great South Coast’ visitor. These visitors will be coordinated systematically to deliver welcome packs to new residents and, where possible, grow neighbourly friendships that may help new residents become curious about the faith and local churches.

To ensure that God has the best opportunity to be at work through these visitation efforts, all official visitors will undergo visitor and evangelism training. This training, provided by Encounter Youth – an organisation that trains the Green Team to have faith conversations at the Victor Harbor Schoolies Festival – will equip visitors to engage in discussions about faith in everyday life. Two identical training sessions will be offered at different times in May.

During the launch event, the 400 people from across the churches broke into small groups to pray that God would send workers into his harvest field, equipped to engage in faith conversations confidently. By the end of the event, approximately 10 per cent of those present had signed up to attend visitor and evangelism training! Our official visitors will be commissioned at a Great South Coast ‘Church Together’ worship gathering in June 2025.

We are truly blessed to be involved in ministry here in Victor Harbor at such a significant time. We give thanks to God for how he is leading his church to work together in mission.

Nigel Rosenzweig is the Welcome Pack Project Leader for Victor Harbor Lutheran Church, South Australia, and a pastor at Victor Harbor Lutheran Church.

Victor Harbor Lutheran Church was one of 10 congregations that received grants through the inaugural round of the LCANZ’s Local Mission Fund. The fund has been established to help congregations, districts and agencies as they seek new ways of reaching their neighbours and their local communities with the gospel. Expressions of interest for 2026 grants will open in mid-2025. Click here for more information.