• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • LCA Portal
  • LAMP2
  • 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

      • NEWS
      • DAILY DEVOTION
      • PRAYER POINTS
      • PODCASTS
      • ONLINE WORSHIP
      • RESOURCES
      • TRAINING & EVENTS
      • WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • LCA FACEBOOK
    • THE LATEST

      • ORDINATION RESOLUTION WAY FORWARD
      • CALLS – EMPLOYMENT – VOLUNTEERING
      • eNEWS LISTS
  • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES
    • DEPARTMENTS

      • DISTRICTS
      • OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
        • LCA INTERNATIONAL MISSION
      • LOCAL MISSION
        • CARE MINISTRIES
        • CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY (GROW MINISTRIES)
        • CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY
        • LUTHERAN MEDIA
        • NEW & RENEWING CHURCHES
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

      • MINISTRY SUPPORT
        • CHILD SAFETY STANDARDS
        • CHURCH WORKER SUPPORT
        • COMMUNICATIONS
        • FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
        • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
        • LCA INSURANCE
        • LUTHERAN ARCHIVES
        • PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
      • EDUCATION & TRAINING
        • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN COLLEGE
        • LUTHERAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA
    • COMMISSIONS & MINISTRY GROUPS

      • COMMISSIONS
        • SOCIAL AND BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS
          • LUTHERANS FOR LIFE
        • THEOLOGY AND INTER-CHURCH RELATIONS
        • WORSHIP
          • VISUAL ARTS
      • AUXILIARIES AND MINISTRY PARTNERS
        • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN WORLD SERVICE
        • FINKE RIVER MISSION
        • LLL
          • LUTHERAN TRACT MISSION
        • LUTHERAN NURSES
          • PARISH NURSING
        • LUTHERAN WOMEN
        • MERCER (SUPERANNUATION)
  • SERVICES & RESOURCES
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • CHILD SAFETY RESOURCES
      • CHRISTIAN CARE SUNDAY
      • COPYRIGHT GUIDELINES
      • CYBER SECURITY
      • DAILY DEVOTIONS
      • DISASTER & WELFARE FUND
      • DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS & THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS
      • DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE, PREVENTION OF
      • EMAILS
      • EMPLOYMENT & VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
      • ENEWS
      • ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING GUIDES
      • FORMS
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
        • BORGFELDT LEGACY
      • GROW DISCIPLES
      • GROW KIDS
      • HEALTH & WELLBEING
      • HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM
      • LAMP2
      • LCANZ LEARNING HUB
      • LCA FACEBOOK
      • LCA INSURANCE
      • LCA LOGO
      • LIVESTREAMS
      • LUTHERAN EARTH CARE
      • MINISTRY REVIEWS
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • PODCASTS
      • POLICIES
      • REGULAR ELECTRONIC GIVING
      • SAFE CHURCH TRAINING
      • SOCIAL MEDIA
      • STANDARDS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
      • STUDY GUIDES
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • TRANSFER FUND
      • VIDEO SERIES – WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE
      • WEBSITES
      • WORSHIP PLANNING PAGE
      • VISUAL ARTS
  • TRAINING & EVENTS
    • TRAINING

      • TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES – OVERVIEW
      • LCANZ LEARNING HUB
      • SAFE CHURCH TRAINING
      • CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR PASTORS
      • CAMPAIGN AGAINST FAMILY & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESOURCES & TRAINING
      • NEW HORIZONS
      • RENEW MISSION LIFE
      • GROW COACHING
    • EVENTS

      • LOCAL MISSION APPEAL
      • SEASON OF PRAYER 2023
      • CONVENTION OF GENERAL SYNOD 2024
      • CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY CONFERENCE 2023
      • DIGITAL MISSION AND MINISTRY FORUM 2022
    • PROJECTS

      • ORDINATION RESOLUTION WAY FORWARD
  • FIND A …

Marvel at the work of God’s hands

1 November 2019

by Helen Beringen
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

From the vastness of Antarctic mountain landscapes, to the rich diversity of the Galapagos Islands, Bunty Meyer has felt the awe of God’s creation throughout his adventurous life.

And just as the Psalmist marvels at the work of God’s hands, so the 84-year-old New Zealander has appreciated his opportunities to admire God’s handiwork.

It was 1980 when Bunty first stepped foot on Antarctica to rebuild the sleeping accommodation at Scott Base, New Zealand’s science station in Antarctica. A return trip to the continent’s McMurdo Dry Valleys in 1984 took him to the majestic Dias, a geological formation which rises above the Wright Valley, where Bunty recalls: ‘I swear I felt the presence of God’.

‘I expected to see a burning bush or hear a voice tell me to take my boots off because “this is holy ground”.’

This amazing moment is part of a rich tapestry that makes up Bunty’s life. It is a life grounded in a deep faith which was recognised this year through the Lutheran Church of Australia’s Servant of Christ Award, for 60 years of humble and faithful service to the church.

It was a huge honour for Bunty, born Kenneth Evan Meyer in 1935 to farming parents in Raetihi in the central North Island.

By 1954, when the then 21-year-old moved 240 kilometres north to the picturesque city of Hamilton, Bunty recalls petrol selling for one pound for six gallons ($2 for 27 litres) and countryman Edmund Hillary being celebrated just months earlier for climbing the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest.

By then, Bunty was making enough money shearing sheep to buy his first beloved Chevrolet car. It was also at about that time that the Lutheran Church of New Zealand investigated building a church for Hamilton’s St Matthew Lutheran congregation.

The congregation had been meeting in the city’s YMCA building for weekly worship. It wasn’t long before the young Bunty joined his father Louis and a core group of members, to build the church.

So began the New Zealander’s lifelong service to his local community (and his lifelong love of large American cars).

It was ‘all hands on deck’ for the church construction, which was made watertight in time for its official dedication on 8 September 1957.

‘It was all volunteer labour apart from the bricklaying’, Bunty recalls. ‘My dad put down the flooring … he must have made a good job because it’s still there and it doesn’t creak!’

Four years later Bunty wed the ‘attractive and vivacious’ Wilma, and together they raised four children. God helped them through the death of their second daughter Andrea in a road accident in 1988.

The 1980s’ deregulation of New Zealand’s oil industry led to Bunty and Wilma selling their Shell service station to see more of the world.

‘We purchased a motorhome, the first of about five, and saw a lot of our beautiful country’, Bunty says.

That was followed by a two-month cruise across the Pacific, and on from Tahiti to London, taking in the Pitcairn, Galapagos and Easter islands, as well as the Panama Canal, the Azores islands and on to England.

‘A great trip, and it gave an insight into God’s creation’, says Bunty.

His busy work life, which had also included running the family sheep farm and working in the dairy industry, did not hinder Bunty’s involvement in most aspects of church life, from serving on committees and as a small group study leader, to youth group facilitator and lay reader.

His long involvement in working bees even extended to modernising the St Matthew church manse.

In the 1990s Bunty extended his volunteer roles southward, to the St David’s Lutheran congregation in the small town of Taumarunui, 160 kilometres south of Hamilton. As the congregation was without a pastor, Bunty led monthly services, often accompanied by Wilma, until congregational numbers forced the closure of the church in October 2008.

A former member at St David’s, Judy Barker, recalls the spiritual support he provided to the Taumarunui locals.

‘For many years he steadfastly provided spiritual nourishment as well as good down-to-earth friendship’, Judy says. ‘Throughout his time both in Taumarunui and in his

ongoing membership at St Matthew in Hamilton, his love for God has been reflected in his love and commitment to his fellow Christians, and his family, and we give thanks to God for this!’

Blessed with seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, Bunty suffered a stroke last year which curtailed many of his activities.

While service has been a hallmark of his life, the Servant of Christ award he received in March this year came as a complete surprise.

‘I felt totally unworthy of it, very proud, but very humbled’, he says. ‘The good Lord expects me to do something, so I just see what I can do.’

Quite fitting, given that a favourite hymn of Bunty’s is Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah.


Helen Beringen is a Brisbane-based writer who is inspired by the many GREYT people who serve tirelessly and humbly in our community. By sharing stories of how God shines his light through his people, she hopes others are encouraged to explore how they can use their gifts to share his light in the world.

Know of any other GREYT stories in your local community? Email the editor lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

This feature story comes from The Lutheran November 2019. Visit the website to find out more about The Lutheran or to subscribe.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT NZ

« Friends in knead, friends indeed
Reaching the sick and sad »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

These categories are under construction. More links will be added soon.

Serving with you in …

  • Worship & Growing Faith
  • Local Mission
  • Ministry Support
  • Education & Training
  • Partners in Ministry

Serving you where you serve …

  • Church Workers (Pastors and Lay Workers)
  • Congregation Councils
  • Worship and Spiritual Growth Leaders
  • Mission & Ministry Leaders
  • Children’s Ministry Leaders
  • Youth & Young Adult Leaders
  • Safe Church Coordinators

Serving you with …

  • The Latest (News)
  • Resources
  • Prayer Points
  • Events & Training
  • Ways to Get Involved

Tags

Aboriginal/Indigenous aid ALC ALWS appointments awards bishops children church workers COVID-19 cross-cultural ministry forms fundraising Grow Ministries international International Mission LCA bishop Local Mission Local Mission – Get Involved Local Mission – Resources Lutheran Education Lutheran Media LWF music new and renewing churches NSW NZ ordination pastors PNG policy prayer professional standards Qld refugees SA-NT schools season of prayer social issues synod training Vic-Tas WA worship youth and young adults

Archives for all Updates

  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • 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

    • 23 HOME
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

     

    • SERVICES, RESOURCES & TRAINING
    • FIND A …

    Contact us

    197 Archer Street
    North Adelaide SA 5006

    PO Box 731
    North Adelaide SA 5006

    08 8267 7300
    email us

    © 2023 Lutheran Church of Australia

    Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

    Designed by LCA Communications