• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • LCA Portal
  • Staff Login
  • Login to (old) LAMP
  • LCA Online Donations
  • IT Help
  • Contact

Lutheran Church of Australia

where love comes to life

MENUMENU
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • A BIT ABOUT US

      The Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant church in the world, with over 70 million members. This website tells the story of Australian and New Zealand Lutherans, following Jesus Christ – where love comes to life. Whoever you are, whatever your story, you're welcome here with us.
    • MORE ABOUT US

      • OUR PEOPLE
      • OUR LOGO, OUR MISSION
      • OUR BELIEFS AND TEACHINGS
        • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE – VIDEO SERIES
      • HOW WE WORSHIP
      • OUR STRUCTURE (GOVERNANCE)
        • NOMINATIONS
      • OUR HISTORY
      • LUTHERANS WORLDWIDE
        • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE
          • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE – VIDEO SERIES
        • HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
  • THE LATEST
    • THE LATEST

      • COVID-19 UPDATES
      • CHURCH@HOME RESOURCES
      • CHURCH@HOME WORSHIP
      • DAILY DEVOTION
      • STORY OF THE WEEK
      • SPREAD THE WORD bulletins and announcements
      • NEWS
      • FEATURE STORIES
      • COLUMNS
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • LCA FACEBOOK
    • THE LATEST

      • NEW! CHRISTIAN CARE SUNDAY
      • BULLETIN INSERTS
      • CALLS – EMPLOYMENT – VOLUNTEERING
      • eNEWS LISTS
  • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES
    • DEPARTMENTS

      • DEPARTMENTS – OVERVIEW & SEARCH
      • DISTRICTS
      • OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
        • LCA INTERNATIONAL MISSION
      • LOCAL MISSION
        • CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY (GROW MINISTRIES)
        • CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY
        • LUTHERAN MEDIA
        • CARE MINISTRIES
        • GOD’S LOVE OUR CARE
        • CHRISTIAN CARE SUNDAY
        • NEW & RENEWING CHURCHES
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

      • MINISTRY SUPPORT
        • CHURCH WORKER SUPPORT
        • COMMUNICATIONS
          • THE LUTHERAN
        • FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
          • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
        • LUTHERAN ARCHIVES
        • PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
      • EDUCATION & TRAINING
        • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN COLLEGE
        • LUTHERAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA
      • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN WORLD SERVICE
      • FINKE RIVER MISSION
      • LLL
        • LUTHERAN TRACT MISSION
    • COMMISSIONS & MINISTRY GROUPS

      • COMMISSIONS
        • SOCIAL AND BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS
          • LUTHERANS FOR LIFE
          • CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOMESTIC & FAMILY VIOLENCE
        • THEOLOGY AND INTER-CHURCH RELATIONS
        • WORSHIP
          • VISUAL ARTS
      • MINISTRY GROUPS
        • DEAF MINISTRY
        • LUTHERAN NURSES
        • LUTHERAN MEN
        • LUTHERAN SINGLES
        • LUTHERAN WOMEN
        • YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY
  • SERVICES & RESOURCES
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • OVERVIEW & SUMMARY
      • BIBLE READING PLAN
      • BULLETIN NOTICES
      • BUSINESS PARTNERS
      • CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE
      • CHILD SAFETY
      • CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY (GROW MINISTRIES)
      • CHRISTIAN CARE SUNDAY (NEW!)
      • COMMUNICATIONS
      • CONGREGATION WEBSITES
      • CONSTITUTIONS
      • DAILY DEVOTIONS
      • DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS & THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS
      • EMPLOYMENT & VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
      • ENEWS
      • FORMS
      • HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM
      • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
      • LAMP2
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • OVERVIEW & SUMMARY
      • LCA DISASTER & WELFARE FUND
      • LCA FACEBOOK
      • LCA LEARNING HUB
      • LCA LOGO
      • LCA POLICIES & STANDARDS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
      • LCA SONG
      • LUTHERAN ARCHIVES
      • CARE MINISTRIES
      • NEW & RENEWING CHURCHES
      • REGULAR ELECTRONIC GIVING (REG)
      • STORY OF THE WEEK
      • STUDY ASSISTANCE
      • STUDY GUIDES
      • TELECOMMUNICATIONS
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • TRACTS
      • WORSHIP
      • WORSHIP LIVE STREAMING AND DVDs
      • VOLUNTEERING & EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
    • CONFERENCES & TRAINING

      • TRAINING – Continuing Education for Pastors
      • TRAINING – Professional Standards
      • TRAINING – LCA Learning Hub
      • TRAINING – Campaign against Family & Domestic Violence Resources and Training
      • TRAINING – New Horizons
      • TRAINING – Renew Mission Life
      • TRAINING – Grow Coaching
  • PROJECTS & EVENTS
    • PROJECTS, CONSULTATONS & EVENTS

      • OVERVIEW: PROJECTS, EVENTS, CONSULTATIONS & DIALOGUES
      • CONSTITUTION REVIEW
      • ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE ADJUDICATION AND APPEALS REVIEW
      • CALL PROCESS REVIEW
      • LUTHERAN AGED CARE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
      • WORKING GROUP – COMMISSIONS & INQUIRIES
    • PROJECTS, CONSULTATIONS & EVENTS

      • OVERVIEW: PROJECTS, EVENTS, CONSULTATIONS & DIALOGUES
      • CONVENTION OF GENERAL SYNOD 2021-22
      • RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN
  • FIND A …

Cross-cultural ministry blessings

1 July 2020

by Pastor Matthias Prenzler
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

I can still remember one of my first experiences of worship in a strongly multicultural context. I was a student and a group of us went to visit the Catholic cathedral in Adelaide. People from every continent were worshipping together that day and it struck me that Christianity is a truly global religion!

Spend some time thinking about the church where you are a member. What sort of family names do people have? What does this say about their ancestry? Were any people born overseas? If so, where were they born? Do you have any people who come to worship wearing traditional dress or speaking another language?

I often hear people talking about ‘German’ Lutherans, but if you dig a bit deeper you will find that our congregations are much more culturally diverse than we realise.

Read Acts 1:6–11. What does this reading say about Jesus’ plan for the gospel?

Jesus sent his disciples out with a message for the world! Jesus may have been in Jerusalem when he died and rose again, but the good news of his victory was not supposed to stay there. Jesus’ plan was for the word to go out from Jerusalem into the rest of the world, calling people everywhere to return to God and receive forgiveness in Jesus’ name.

Read Acts 2:5–11 and look back over the list of places. Many of the names will seem strange, but do you recognise any of them?

People were gathered there from all over the known world! God’s plan for the church was coming to fruition!

Through the people who heard the gospel in their own tongue, the good news of Jesus was beginning its journey out from Jerusalem and into the rest of the world.

Now dig deeper. Think more about verse 11: ‘… we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’

Have you ever been in a situation where everybody was speaking in a language that you couldn’t understand? If not, imagine what it would be like. How did it make you feel? Lonely? Isolated? Left out?

Now imagine you are in church and everything is in a different language!

Would it make any difference if someone came alongside you and helped translate for you? What would it have been like for people at Pentecost when God came speaking to them in their own native languages? What does this say about God’s desire for ‘… all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth’ (1 Timothy 2:4)? 

Read Revelation 7:9–17.

This is a picture describing the church as it is! All around the world, Christians are worshipping in their own languages and with local customs and practices.

In multicultural countries like Australia and New Zealand, it is a blessing to be able to worship together with people from different cultural backgrounds. It allows us to learn from one another’s life experiences, to see God at work in new and different ways, and even to understand ourselves and our own culture better.


Pastor Matthias Prenzler serves Victoria’s Goulburn Murray Parish, including the multicultural community of St Paul’s Shepparton, which includes many people from Burundi, Congo and South Sudan in Africa, and Trinity Echuca.


This feature story comes from The Lutheran July 2020. Visit the website to find out more about The Lutheran or to subscribe.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT cross-cultural, multicultural

« Social media – ugly or a blessing?
Prospering in exile »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Church Worker Support
  • Church@Home
  • Columns
    • #youngsavedfree
    • bring Jesus
    • Dwelling in God's Word
    • Going GREYt!
    • Little Church
    • Movie Reviews
    • Rhythms of Grace
    • Stepping Stones
  • COVID-19 response
  • Cross-Cultural Ministry
  • Daily Devotion
  • Feature Stories
  • Features Homepage
  • LCANZ Bishop
  • New and Renewing Churches
  • News
  • Our Lutheran Family
    • New Zealand
      • Palmerston North, St Lukes
    • Victoria-Tasmania
      • Hobart St Peter's
  • Presentations & Papers
  • Reconciliation Ministry
  • Story of the Week
  • Uncategorized

Tags

Aboriginal/Indigenous aid ALC ALWS appointments awards bishops children church workers COVID-19 cross-cultural ministry ecumenism forms fundraising Grow Ministries international International Mission LCA bishop local mission Lutheran Education LWF music new and renewing churches NSW NZ ordination pastors PNG policy prayer professional standards Qld Reformation refugees Royal Commission SA-NT schools social issues technology training Vic-Tas WA women in leadership worship youth and young adults

Archives for all Posts

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • Don't be the last to find out!

    Join over 4000 people receiving LCA eNews in their inbox every fortnight. It brings you the latest of everything, including updates from this page. It's free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

    Sign up here

    Footer

    Quicklinks

    • HOME
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

     

    • SERVICES, RESOURCES & TRAINING
    • PROJECTS & EVENTS
    • FIND A …

    Contact us

    197 Archer Street
    North Adelaide SA 5006

    08 8267 7300
    email us

    © 2022 Lutheran Church of Australia

    Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

    Designed by LCA Communications