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1

Thank you, caregivers!

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by Tania Nelson

These last few years of pandemic living have been hard for everyone but have been particularly challenging for health and care workers.

We know that compassion, gratitude and thanksgiving are good for our personal mental health and also for the health of our communities. We also know that everyone benefits from mutual encouragement and goodwill.

The LCANZ Committee for Care Ministries has launched a range of resources to help congregations and Lutheran aged care and community services celebrate the care work in our local neighbourhoods that happens 365 days of the year.

With that in mind, we are inviting every LCANZ congregation to host a Christian Care Sunday celebration this year. We invite you to look at the Christian Care Sunday resources on the LCA website www.lca.org.au/ccs and choose a day in 2022 to celebrate with your local community.

You might choose a day from the lectionary, or a day that focuses on a particular helping vocation (nursing and other medical professions, social work or aged care), or a day that highlights the needs of a particular vulnerable people group. You can find a calendar of days to choose from here www.lca.org.au/ccs-resources

Whatever day or week you choose, thank you for taking the time to express gratitude to those who participate in care ministries in your congregation and local community. The LCANZ wants to be a place ‘where love comes to life’, and we want to thank everyone for bringing that love to life through these challenging years of pandemic living and natural disasters.

Dr Tania Nelson is LCANZ Executive Officer – Local Mission.

2

Celebrating the diversity of God’s people

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by Anna Kroehn

This month on 3 December, the International Day of People with Disability (IDPWD) is observed. And this annual event is a wonderful opportunity for our church to celebrate the great diversity and creativity God has shown in making humankind.

We know God loves us all, and we know God made each one of us with a purpose and gift to share with the church and the world.

The Christian Care Sunday project has recently released new resources for worship that celebrate people living with disability and the carers who support people with disabilities.

 You can access the resources from the LCANZ’s Worship Planning Page (www.lca.org.au/worship/wpp) or at www.lca.org.au/ccs-resources365 

SET ASIDE DATE TO RECOGNISE CARERS

The LCANZ encourages every congregation to set aside one Sunday each year to celebrate the care work in our congregations and communities – the month in which IDPWD is observed is a wonderful opportunity to reflect, plan and celebrate Christian Care Sunday.

We give thanks for the work of organisations such as Lutheran Services and Anuha in Queensland and Lutheran Care and Lutheran Disability Services in South Australia, who do vital work with people with disability, and their families, 365 days of the year.

For more information, contact me at anna.kroehn@lca.org.au

Anna Kroehn is LCANZ Christian Care Sunday Project Officer.

3

Connecting children to Christian care concept

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Christian Care Sunday, the LCANZ project which encourages congregations to celebrate and thank God for ministries of care, now offers children’s and preschool ministry resources.

These include preschool and children’s ministry starter kits to connect under 5s and children aged 5 to 12 with Christian Care Sunday, colouring and art resources on the topic of compassionate action and love in action, a special prayer with actions, and intergenerational worship resources, many of which are provided by the LCANZ’s Grow Ministries.

To find them, go to www.lca.org.au/ccs/christian-care-resources and click on the ‘For Kids’ tab.

4

Chance to recognise carers

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by Anna Kroehn

National Carers Week, marked this year from 10 to 16 October, is a time to recognise and celebrate the 2.65 million Australians and 430,000 New Zealanders who provide unpaid care and support to a family member or friend. Many people in our Lutheran communities are carers and we remember and celebrate them this month!

RESOURCES FOR REFLECTION

Messages of Hope by Lutheran Media has excellent resources that reflect the reality of being a carer and offer hope through this season. Episode 2 of the ‘Chronic Pain’ series at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKlaRVk6rUY&t=2s explains what it means to be a carer and how to support carers. You can order a discussion guide at www.messagesofhope.org.au/product/chronic-pain-ebook/ to use as a Bible study with your small group or family; it can also be packaged with the Chronic Pain DVD series available from www.messagesofhope.org.au/product/chronic-pain-dvd/

Let’s give thanks to God for carers, honour their work, and support them in this essential role.

IDEAS FOR A CELEBRATION

  • Download the Christian Care Sunday resources at lca.org.au/ccs and plan to include a prayer for carers in your worship service in Carers Week.
  • Host a morning tea for carers to chat and connect – perhaps even virtually over Zoom.
  • Celebrate the carers in your community with a card, a coffee voucher or chocolate bar, or a prayer of blessing. Order cards or tracts from Lutheran Tract Mission https://www.ltm.org.au/

If you would like support to celebrate National Carers Week or Christian Care Sunday in your congregation, email me at anna.kroehn@lca.org.au

Anna Kroehn is the LCANZ’s Christian Care Sunday project officer.

5

Expressing thanks for Christian care

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by Anna Kroehn

Many people know the story of the Good Samaritan. When an expert in the law asks Jesus, ‘Who is my neighbour?’, he answers the question with a story and another question. Our neighbour is the person in need in our place and time.

In our communities, people offer loving care to their neighbours in different ways. Recognising this care and thanking God for it are the aims of the LCANZ’s Christian Care Sunday. Developed from a proposal to the 2018 Convention of General Synod, the project has gathered resources to help congregations celebrate, honour and bless people engaged in care. This includes congregational care ministries, individuals in formal and informal care roles, and Lutheran aged-care and community services.

Every LCANZ congregation is encouraged to celebrate Christian Care Sunday, choosing a Sunday in the next year to suit their calendar and local organisations.

LCANZ Bishop John Henderson blessed and endorsed the resources during an online launch on 18 August, saying: ‘It is the love of Christ who compels us to care for one another fully, giving ourselves for each other as he has given himself for us. May we always thank God for those who have cared for us in life, as we too, in our turn, care for others.’

WHAT DO THE RESOURCES INCLUDE?

There are Christian Care Sunday resources to help choose a date, in line with the lectionary or other relevant celebrations, while intergenerational worship resources have been provided by Grow Ministries and liturgical helps in line with the Commission on Worship’s Worship Planning Page are available too – including a ‘ready to go’ service order.

The resources are available for free to download from the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/ccs

Once your congregation has held an event, please give us your feedback on the resources at https://forms.office.com/r/vTQGknzPbM

Email me at anna.kroehn@lca.org.au if you need assistance planning your Christian Care Sunday celebration.

CHRISTIAN CARE SUNDAY IDEAS

  • Pray for your local care organisations – including Lutheran aged-care and community services
  • Invite a guest speaker to talk about their care work – a doctor or nurse, social worker or chaplain
  • Provide a special morning tea for your local aged-care staff team, child-care centre or medical centre
  • Write a thank you card to a care professional who has helped you
  • Ask a local care service how your church community can support their work
  • Surprise your pastor, lay worker or chaplain with a gift card, coffee voucher or bunch of flowers to thank them for their care work

Anna Kroehn is Christian Care Sunday project officer.