Calls – Employment – Volunteering

Seeking Expressions of Interest – Constitution Review Working Group

The General Church Board (GCB) is inviting expressions of interest from people who are interested in serving on a working group that will be responsible for the preparation of a position paper that responds to key issues and questions that are relevant to any ongoing discussion about the LCA’s constitutional arrangements.

This work was authorised by resolution of the General Synod in October 2021. The GCB will submit the Working Group’s paper and any associated proposals to the in-person sessions of the 20th Regular Convention of General Synod in 2022.

The GCB is looking for members with a commitment to the mission of the church and with relevant skills, qualifications and experience in one or more of the following areas:

a) theological expertise and knowledge
b) governance, especially church governance
c) legal and compliance
d) church structures and relationships.

If you are interested in serving on the working group, or if you know of someone who might be interested, contact the Executive Officer of the Church, Peter Schirmer (peter.schirmer@lca.org.au) for more information and a copy of the working group’s draft terms of reference. Please complete the expression of interest form found here and send it to paul.argyle@lca.org.au

Nominations for the working group will close on Tuesday 16 November 2021.

Seeking Expressions of Interest – Ecclesiastical Discipline Review Steering Committee

The General Church Board (GCB) is inviting expressions of interest from people who are interested in serving on a steering committee for an initial two year period, that in:

• 2022 would be responsible for the preparation of an initial report for GCB ahead of General Synod on the scope and associated resourcing and associated costs required to implement the recommendations arising from the work of the review team into the LCA’s Ecclesiastical Discipline, Adjudication and Appeals policies and processes.
• Late 2022 and 2023 would be responsible for establishing an implementation plan and overseeing the initial phases of that implementation, subject to General Synod resolutions adopted at the in-person sessions in 2022.

This work was authorised by resolution of the General Synod online sessions in October 2021. The GCB will submit the steering committee’s report and associated proposals to the in-person sessions of the 20th Regular Convention of General Synod in 2022.

The GCB is seeking members of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) who have a commitment to the mission of the church and with relevant skills, qualifications and experience in one or more of the following areas:

a) scoping projects and programs of work
b) high-level theological expertise and knowledge
c) child protection, and preferably with a good knowledge of the report and recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
d) complaints handling or a related field
e) judicial or legal background that is relevant to the matters within the scope of the terms of reference.

If you are interested in serving on the steering committee, or if you know of someone who might be interested, contact Executive Officer of the Church, Peter Schirmer (peter.schirmer@lca.org.au) for more information and a copy of the steering committee’s draft terms of reference. Please complete the expression of interest form found here and send it to peter.schirmer@lca.org.au

Nominations for the steering committee will close on Tuesday 16 November 2021.

We need people (young, old and in-between) to volunteer as extras in an exciting new LCA film project introducing the essentials of Lutheran faith and practice. Email the project officer David Modra if you would like to be involved.

Lutheran Archives, Bowden SA

Lutheran Archives (at Bowden SA) is inviting expressions of interest from people who would like to assist with:

• Scanning historical photographs
• Indexing historical church registers and papers

Both collections capture a rich and diverse part of the history of our church, which we are hoping to make increasingly easier to search and access online.

The volunteering opportunities are available for 1–2 days per week on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays (or parts thereof, at your choice).

We are looking for people who are interested in the history of our church and who are comfortable with using computers, including learning scanning software and databases where applicable. Having some knowledge of German is useful, but not essential. All training and ongoing assistance are provided.

If you are interested in volunteering for one of these projects, or have any questions, please email Adam Kauschke (Archivist, Lutheran Archives) at Lutheran.Archives@lca.org.au

LCA International Mission is always seeking volunteers for work with our overseas partner churches. There are all sorts of opportunities for people with all sorts of skills. Take a look at the LCA International Mission website for videos and stories about short-term and long-term volunteering opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Are you a professional or serious amateur photographer? Do you want to use your photography gifts and skills to serve God and his church? LCA Communications is developing a talent bank of photographers to cover events, and to create a stock library of excellent photos for all of us to use copyright-free.

Interested? Email or FTP to Linda Macqueen, LCA Communications (linda.macqueen@lca.org.au) no more than six original photos that demonstrate your ability and photographic interests. Ideally, you'll send some photos that could form part of our stock library, eg people at worship or prayer, church gatherings or functions, sacraments, people portraits. Low resolution is okay, even desirable, provided you understand that we will ultimately need high-resolution images for our print applications. We do ask you not to photograph children without their parent's or guardian's permission. Please also provide your contact details.

If selected to join our volunteer photographic team, you'll need to sign a release form that gives us permission to use your images; you can retain the copyright though. I'm looking forward to seeing the excellent images coming my way!