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Restoring unity in truth

by Stephen Hultgren

As part of the lead-up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, an ecumenical working party of Lutherans and Catholics has been planning a program of projects and events to jointly commemorate the occasion. One is a series of articles, written by Lutheran and Catholic authors from around Australia, to be published in both Lutheran and Catholic publications. The fifth piece in our series of six is by Dr Stephen Hultgren, lecturer in New Testament at Australian Lutheran College and director of the Australian Lutheran Institute for Theology and Ethics (ALITE).

Despite the division of the church in the 16th century, we need to remember that the Lutheran confessors intended unity. The Augsburg Confession (1530) proposes a doctrinal basis for it.

A Lutheran reflection on restoration of unity in truth and in the gospel does well to begin with article 7 of the Confession. The confessors state ‘it is enough for the true unity of the church to agree concerning the teaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments’. This statement is both essential and dangerous.

It is essential, because it indicates what is non-negotiable in Lutheran confession: the right teaching of the gospel. The statement is dangerous because Lutherans have too often viewed this in an overly simplistic way. If agreement on the ‘teaching of the gospel’ means agreement on the doctrine of justification, then Lutherans might conclude justification is the only doctrine that matters for unity.

Article 7 does not intend this approach; rather it rejects the notion that unity requires agreement on traditions, rites or ceremonies instituted by humans. The confessors had in mind various non-biblical ceremonies and ordinances that were of human institution rather than of divine mandate.

But the Lutherans would have been first to argue that unity requires agreement on all doctrines deriving from the Bible. After all, article 7 is embedded within a presentation of 21 articles the confessors say are in accord ‘with the pure Word of God and Christian truth … teaching [that] is clearly grounded in Holy Scripture and is, moreover, neither against nor contrary to the universal Christian church’.

The restoration of unity in the truth presents an ongoing challenge. Will Lutherans, while rightly insisting on the doctrine of justification as central, resist the temptation to read article 7 in an overly simplistic way? That runs the danger of denying the shared heritage of Lutherans and Catholics across 2000 years. Will the Roman Catholic Church, while rightly insisting on the unity of all truths of faith, be careful never to obscure this most precious truth of justification? The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, agreed to in 1999 by the Lutheran World Federation and the Roman Catholic Church, is a sign of hope.

In paragraph 18 Lutherans and Catholics agree:
‘[T]he doctrine of justification … stands in an essential relation to all truths of faith, which are to be seen as internally related to each other. It is an indispensable criterion which constantly serves to orient all the teaching and practice of our churches to Christ. When Lutherans emphasize the unique significance of this criterion, they do not deny the interrelation and significance of all truths of faith. When Catholics see themselves as bound by several criteria, they do not deny the special function of the message of justification.’

May God restore our unity in truth!

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Partnership starts at birth

by Keren Loffler

Churches are recognising the importance of partnering with parents and resourcing faith in the home, as well as the vital role intergenerational relationships and participation in a church community play in growing faith in children. The Lutheran congregation at St Paul’s, Box Hill, in Melbourne is implementing strategies to walk alongside families as they learn about God’s grace and Jesus’ love for them.

The partnership with the child and their family starts at their birth and baptism.

At St Paul’s, new babies are welcomed through our cradle roll with a card and gift. From the time of the child’s baptism we assign congregational sponsors to welcome the family, pray for them, walk with them on their faith journey, make contact on baptismal anniversaries and present a ‘faith chest’ (pictured below).

Faith chests include articles such as bunny rugs and baptismal cloths made and embroidered by members of St Paul’s, a photo book, tracts and other items, and are a place to store reminders of the baptism. They were introduced in 2002 as a way of linking more closely with those who are baptised into God’s family and become part of our local church family. These are another way of encouraging the family and stressing our involvement in this amazing event.

Following the baptism the family is let know about available resources and ministry opportunities they will be invited to over the years. This includes a first baptism anniversary milestone, when the children gather with family, godparents and congregational sponsors to share memories of the baptism day, celebrate and learn about some of the resources for faith at home. Baptism birthdays are celebrated with a card and tract sent each year – one girl was so grateful to receive hers she made a thank you card.

Children and parents/carers are invited annually to take part in our Milestones Ministry (similar to Grow Ministries ‘Faith Trail’). These include steps such as first communion and receiving a Bible, as well as beginning school and prayer.

During worship the child is blessed and presented with a handmade milestone pebble. The pebbles remind the family of the event and encourage further discussion at home – one family has displayed their collection of pebbles on a board at home, and are thrilled when they can add a new one. We then have a teaching session in which families explore the topic with activities and discussion.

Participation in intergenerational worship is valued at St Paul’s, with children welcomed with toy bags and activity sheets related to each week’s Bible readings. We have members present children’s addresses and children can also serve as acolytes. The Creative Worship Team seeks to consider the needs of children and families in worship, especially during church festivals and seasons.

Each Sunday morning we have a time of children’s ministry called FISH. FISH stands for Families Integrating Sundays and Home, implementing the vision of the child, youth and family team linking what happens in worship on a Sunday with supporting families in their faith journey throughout the week.

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Learning from the young ones

Immanuel Lutheran Church at Novar Gardens in suburban Adelaide is situated between a Lutheran college and primary school which each bear the same name, meaning ‘God with us’. Its geographical setting gives the church extra opportunities to minister to and serve children and families. Church pastor Nigel Rosenzweig says it is a privilege to serve the Lord – and learn from children – in this context.

Many of us were positively influenced by children’s ministry when we were young. It was in these years that we discovered who we are in Christ and the mission God invites us to participate in.

Children’s ministry involves sowing into receptive soil before the troubles of life come and make growth harder. Being involved in this ministry can transform not only the present generation but also influence generations to come, because children are actually the church of both the present and the future.

Every congregation needs to ask the hard question, how are we working together to nurture our children? In recent years I have discovered that children’s ministry is best done with all ages together.

Sunday school still has value in enabling age-appropriate teaching, but I no longer see it as the only way our church should provide children’s ministry. I believe the tide is turning towards doing children’s ministry more often in an all-age environment.

The church is not just for adults – it is for people of all ages who journey together and inspire each other as the Spirit leads us and helps us grow up in Christ. I believe adults can learn as much from being church with children as the children can learn from adults!

Children make great learners. They also make great missionaries. God can reach parents through their children! When parents see their children engaged, they too become receptive to new learning.

When we invest our time and energy into engaging with our children and are willing to enter into their world, we are creating a better present and shaping an amazing future. ‘Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time’ (Deut 4:40).

There is also great significance in the old saying: ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. All generations can work together to support families in passing on the faith to the next generation.

When children’s ministry is working well, children model for adults what it means to be receptive.

In churches, as in homes and in schools, we have a precious opportunity to sow the seeds of faith into the lives of children and families. If there is a worthy investment we can make with our time, talents and resources, it is in children’s and family ministry.

Children have so much potential. They are missionaries, they are the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, the apostles and prophets in our midst. The question really becomes: will we listen and learn and let them lead?

Sowing seed bears fruit

The Holy Spirit is leading children to grow in their faith through the presentation of the gospel at Immanuel Primary School.

From time to time children are led to express their interest in baptism. Last month four children from three school families were baptised. Sometimes these baptisms occur in the regular congregation, while at other times joint school and church services are held and members of the congregation are invited to be part of baptism services at the school.

When children learn about baptism, they also learn about the many different ways water is applied in baptism. More children are expressing
a desire to be baptised by ‘full immersion’ and so far Immanuel has been able to accommodate this request with help from ecumenical partner churches (see top photo above).

The congregation has a deliberate plan to further develop its partnership
with the primary school to support the faith formation of families. A year
ago the church reformed an Immanuel campus spiritual life team which brings together leaders from the college, primary school and congregation to further enhance the spiritual life of the entire Immanuel campus. This is already bearing fruit!

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Are your neighbours being served?

by Andrea Cross

This year is a special one for our Longest Lutheran Lunch – 2016 is the 50th birthday of the Lutheran Church of Australia. And what better way to thank God for 50 years of blessing than by reaching out to others with his love. This year our Longest Lutheran Lunch theme is ‘Sharing the Gift of Service’.

The 50.500 committee asked me to develop a ‘recipe book’ to inspire people in congregations, schools and aged-care communities to share the gift of service through their Longest Lutheran Lunch in 2016.

I reflected on the task and sought God’s direction, but there was not a glimmer of an idea in my head. I reached for my laptop and asked the internet. This is what appeared on the screen: ‘What do you want to do before you die?’

I discovered that a Presbyterian congregation in the US had created a simple project by constructing a wall coated in chalkboard paint with the phrase ‘Before I die I would like to …’ on it. They provided chalk and invited the community to share responses, launching the project with a community lunch. And there was my link – they launched it with a lunch!

This idea morphed into my 20 Top Tips of Service for the Longest Lutheran Lunch 2016. Your lunch (or dinner or breakfast) can take whatever form you like. It doesn’t have to be held on 31 October or the closest day to Reformation Sunday. Just make it an event that shares the gift of service.

Four top ways to serve

Backyard Blitz Picnic

Allocate helpers to make a picnic lunch for volunteers working on someone’s backyard. Once lunch is served, sit with the residents and the volunteers and enjoy a picnic together which provides everyone with enough energy to finish the job!

Student-free Day Brunch

Offer to provide brunch for teachers on a student-free day at your local school. Cook a barbecue of egg-and-bacon muffins, and serve some slices, fresh fruit, juice, tea and coffee. Watch the teachers interact with the visitors and each other. It’s a real staff morale booster!

Meals on Wheels – Longest Lutheran Lunch style

Cook up a storm in your church kitchen for the elderly, someone who is recently home from hospital, a newly engaged couple, a young family, or anyone else who may enjoy being treated to some home-cooking. It is such a blessing to receive the gift of a meal at your doorstep. Stay a while and chat if it suits.

Clean-up Community Lunch

On a beautiful day, spring-clean your church while playing gospel songs loudly enough for neighbours to hear. Finish with a barbecue lunch and invite anyone who’s walking past to stay for a bite to eat.

Andrea Cross is Coordinator of Longest Lutheran Lunch. To discover Andrea’s

20 Acts of Service lunch ideas, visit www.longestlutheranlunch.org.au and click on Lunch Ideas, or visit the Longest Lutheran Lunch Facebook page. Jot down some ideas that might work at your place, bounce around some lunch-with-service ideas, and register your lunch event on the website – and help other congregations find inspiration for their own community service ideas. You can also contact Andrea on 0400 425 254.

Lacey Rudolph, Dalton Cross, Dusty Cross and Jemima Olsten with baby daughter Romy demonstrate an idea for an act of service – helping a local agricultural society set up for the town’s annual show, with a lunch to follow for committee members. If your congregation has links to a local service or interest group, could you get a team together to hold a working bee for members and then serve them lunch afterwards? Another act of service could be to help the group clean up after an event such as a country show, a scout jamboree, a bowling club tournament, a school fete or a car club rally.

During this synodical term, 2015–2018, the LCA/NZ reaches two significant milestones: in 2016 the LCA’s 50th birthday; and in 2017 the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. 50.500 faith.freedom.future invites us to celebrate and commemorate these special anniversaries – with thanks to God for his past blessings, and in the sure hope and confidence that he is building the LCA/NZ for the future.

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Joy in our common faith

by Elizabeth Delaney

As part of the lead-up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, an ecumenical working party of Lutherans and Catholics has been planning a program of projects and events to jointly commemorate the occasion. One is a series of articles, written by Lutheran and Catholic authors from around Australia, to be published in both Lutheran and Catholic publications. The fourth piece in our series of six is by Sister Elizabeth Delaney, a Sister of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict and General Secretary of the
National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).

Why do I find joy in our shared faith?

It is not so much the statement of faith but the journey to this day that encourages and gives me hope. Glimpses of the way ahead for our churches deepen this hope.

‘When the Western Church divided at the time of the Protestant Reformation the understanding of the doctrine of justification was at the heart of the separation.’ So begins the 1998 document Justification, A Common Statement of the Australian Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue. The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, signed on 29 October 1999, echoed this. These documents illustrate the journey our churches have travelled.

I am an enthusiast rather than a scholar of ecumenism, and so it is the ecumenical statements in these documents which cause my spirit to leap.

The quote often attributed to Spanish poet Antonio Machado that ‘We make the path by walking’ comes to mind. The Joint Declaration exemplifies this principle. For while the participants understood they had taken some steps, they knew more were to come: ‘[The Declaration] does not cover all that either church teaches about justification’.

The Australian statement also recognises the need for further discussion and elucidation, reminding us this growth is the work of the Spirit: ‘It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead and guide us into an ever fuller understanding of this central truth of the gospel’.

I frequently look back, recognising new learning, often from mistakes. I love to see a similar learning in theological understanding – not just for myself, but for my church and all our churches. The participants in the international dialogue affirmed the Declaration was ‘shaped by the conviction that in their respective histories our churches have come to new insights’.

Receptive ecumenism provides a wonderful framework for our churches to continue to discover new insights.

Following the signing of the Joint Declaration in 1999, on 23 July 2006 the Methodist World Council affirmed the Declaration with a Statement of Association. At the NCCA Forum in Brisbane in 2007, one of the church leaders commented, ‘Perhaps our church might consider associating with the Declaration’.

May many church leaders take such steps!

We offer together…, we have been able to do behind this apparent difference … we have come to see … we recognise …. How frequently the pronoun ‘we’ is used in the Common Statement. And each use is deliberate.

May we, urged on by God’s Holy Spirit, broaden its use.

The way we have travelled so far gives me joy in the belief God’s Holy Spirit is guiding our churches together along a wonderful path!

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Making church dementia-friendly

by Chris Materne

When you or someone you love is diagnosed with dementia your world changes forever. Dementia affects thinking, behaviour and the ability to do everyday things.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and typically begins with memory loss. Other types of dementia bring different dysfunctions, but ultimately people with dementia face increasing impairment.

While there is no cure for dementia, neither the rate of decline, nor the trajectory of declining capacities is set in stone or predictable. Drugs may slow the progression of dementia for some people, but these are not always well-tolerated.

There are, however, many things we can do to support people with dementia to ensure they have good quality of life. There is strong evidence that social engagement has positive benefits.

Churches and faith communities provide opportunities to help people with dementia maintain social connections. The rhythm of familiar worship practices can be comforting, while music can have a strong effect that may result in better memory and ability to converse with others (see Heidi Smith’s story, pages 10-11).
Social gatherings and Bible study groups may also be enjoyable for those living with dementia.

People with dementia may not remember activities they have been involved with, but the feelings they experience will remain. There are many small things we can do to make our churches more ‘dementia-friendly’.
For example:

  • Encourage members to wear clearly visible name tags
  • Print off PowerPoint slides as older people may miss having something to hold and read in church
  • Ensure signage is clear and easily recognisable
  • Set up a space a person with dementia can retreat to if they feel overwhelmed
  • Pray for and with people living
    with dementia
  • Ask a person with dementia whether they would fold the church bulletins. This type of contribution can have a powerful impact on
    self-worth
  • Be flexible to help people living with dementia feel supported and encouraged – something that has been enjoyable once may not be on another day.

Dr Chris Materne completed a PhD in 2012 after investigating memory rehabilitation in people living with dementia. She was previously employed at the Flinders Centre for

Ageing Studies at Flinders University and Domiciliary Care, before taking up the role of LCA Church Worker Support Department manager this year.

Stimulating activity ideas

  • Walk on the beach with a person living with dementia, talk about what you can see, hear and feel
  • Have an ice-cream and talk about being a child
  • Play dominoes or Scrabble. It doesn’t matter if you don’t follow the rules – the idea is to have fun!
  • Make a jigsaw puzzle from photos of people important to the person with dementia
  • Look at photos of places they have visited and talk about them
  • Take a drive and look at autumn leaves, full reservoirs, grapes on the vine, Christmas lights …
  • Do some gentle exercise together
  • Do a craft activity – even if they can’t follow a knitting pattern, they may be able to knit squares that could be sewn together as a blanket, or wind wool for another knitter
  • Find out whether a local men’s shed has familiar tools they may enjoy using
  • Go together to a local amateur sporting event
  • Read the newspaper together
  • Listen to music and sing along to favourite songs and hymns
  • Read the Bible or pray together, and start a prayer journal to record what you have been praying about

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Living with dementia

No cure but God’s promises

by Colleen Fitzpatrick

My confirmation text offers me comfort and encouragement and is one I often recall: ‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 1:3-6).

The promise in that text applies to all of us – no matter what age we are, or what frailties we have.

My husband has his birthday in August and I’m wondering what sort of tacky messages will emerge on his birthday cards. Will there be references to uncontrollable bodily functions? Or will there be bottles of wine (he likes an occasional glass), golf clubs (he has terrible ball skills), or sailing boats (he comes from Port Adelaide)? Or a reference to the fact he is getting older and must be entering his dotage?

One of the challenges of ageing is the increasing frailty of people around us. We also develop a growing awareness of our own declining health and wellbeing, whether physical, emotional or mental. One of the scariest possibilities may well be dementia – whether it is a personal diagnosis or affecting someone near and dear to us.

Some people choose to accept what is happening, and adapt their lifestyle accordingly. Others will seek information and treatment if it is available. Both are valid choices.

There is no magical cure for dementia. But you can get help and support from sources such as Alzheimer’s Australia at fightdementia.org.au or on 1800 100 500 or, if you are in New Zealand, www.alzheimers.org.nz or 0800 004 001.

And if living with dementia is your destiny, God will always be there for you and for those dear to you. I love the pictures in these words: ‘There is no-one like the God of Jeshurun who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms’ (Deuteronomy 33:26,27).

Recently I wrote a booklet on dementia for Lutheran Media. Through it I shared the stories of some courageous and generous people, regarding their experiences living with this debilitating and seemingly indiscriminate disease. For them and all of us, there is hope through the promises of God. The following are excerpts from that booklet.

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Music stirs memories

 

by Heidi Smith

Since her childhood Heidi Smith has known about the influence music can have on people’s physical and mental wellbeing. And having played organ and piano for church services in congregations and aged-care facilities since she was a teenager, she has seen positive changes in people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Now as a chaplain, she uses music therapy as one avenue to support people living with dementia.

I grew up with music and singing as part of my home life. We had family devotions, singing Christian hymns and songs within that intergenerational setting. My grandparents loved to sit around the piano and sing while I played. My siblings and I used to put on
concerts for elderly ‘shut-in’ people in our lounge room and music was a great connector for community building in that space.

I can’t really remember a time when I didn’t ‘hang out’ with elderly people in care and those living with dementia. My grandmother was diagnosed with dementia and lived with us before moving into a nursing home. Our youth group sang carols in the local hospital at Christmas, and the way people diagnosed with dementia responded by clapping, smiling and singing encouraged me to focus on the power of music to help connect people to their memories.

Additional research in music therapy theories supported my earlier observations.

I have worked professionally for six years with more than 40 residents living with dementia since becoming a full-time Lutheran Community Care (LCC) chaplain at Immanuel Gardens Retirement Village, Buderim Queensland, and now at Zion Lutheran Home, Nundah Queensland.

While at Immanuel Gardens, I led story and song sessions. The village had ‘old-time’ large print songbooks and residents would choose songs, calling out the numbers they wanted. Many residents living with dementia love hunting for numbers, since numbers are often the last written texts people remember.

I would play the piano and sing the chosen song with everyone joining in. Residents living with dementia loved to tap and clap along to the music.

As a chaplain at Immanuel Gardens, I also led church services for people who at that time lived in
a ‘secure wing’ due to their diagnoses of various forms of dementia. During those worship times, I noticed amazing behavioural changes which occupational therapy students doing research also noted: some residents moved from random roaming, looking off in the distance and/or aggressive behaviours, to walking into the room for church and sitting down. At church, they sat together, holding a hymnbook, looking up the numbers of hymns and singing together. Many would model earlier learned ‘church behaviours’, such as sitting quietly and listening to Bible readings and a sermon. They prayed the Lord’s Prayer and confessed the Apostles’ Creed together, while others joined in rituals such as crossing themselves.

One man who hardly ever spoke would sing with gusto for various hymns – I learned he had been an Anglican choir boy. A woman, who needed to be fed by staff since she was unable to remember how to feed herself, ate lunch with her utensils straight after church. And a resident who ordinarily isolated herself, turned and shook her neighbour’s hand during the ‘passing
of the peace’, then remained holding hands until the next song.

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Why I’m not celebrating the 500th anniversary

Standfirst: As part of the lead-up to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, an ecumenical working party of Lutherans and Catholics has been planning a program of projects and events to jointly commemorate the occasion. One project is a series of articles, written by Lutheran and Catholic authors from around Australia, to be published in both Lutheran and Catholic publications. The third article in our series of six is by Rev Dr Stephen Pietsch, lecturer in pastoral theology and homiletics at Australian Lutheran College, Adelaide.

Why I’m not celebrating the 500th anniversary

Breakout quote: What has come to light for Catholics and Lutherans through this dialogue is shared joy; joy in Jesus Christ and his reconciling grace.

by Stephen Pietsch    

Now, please do not get the wrong idea! I fully intend to mark this event and give thanks for aspects of it. I am enthusiastic about Luther and his legacy to the church. But I will not be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

For many centuries the western church has been divided and its catholic and apostolic integrity has been fractured. Its testimony to the world has been damaged. On the Lutheran side, some have fashioned a ‘hero-protestant’ Luther, who ‘refounded’ Christianity. The Reformation was seen as a renewal almost as profound as Pentecost.

On the Catholic side, Luther has been seen as the ‘wild boar who was let loose in the vineyard’, who brought sectarian schism and mayhem not only to the church, but to all of society.

Both mythologies are well off the mark. It is now widely realised that the tragic split of the church was neither inevitable nor necessary. In his fascinating 1996 article, The Catholic Luther, Luther scholar David Yeago observes:

…the Reformation schism was brought about … by contingent human choices in a confused historical context defined less by clear and principled theological argument (though that of course was present) than by a peculiar and distinctively sixteenth-century combination of overheated and ever-escalating polemics, cold-blooded Realpolitik, and fervid apocalyptic dreaming.

Human weakness resulted in what might have been a true reformation becoming a deformation.

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Lunch first for young campers

by Andrea Cross

Ninety Victorians made history on 29 June, but it had nothing to do with the upcoming federal election or end of the financial year!

They all participated in the first Longest Lutheran Lunch (LLLu) in the world for 2016! These people were campers, cooks and leaders at Christian Life Week (CLW), held at Tandara Lutheran Camp, Halls Gap, in Victoria’s Grampians National Park, and hosted by Lutheran Youth of Victoria.

I was chief cook and, along with my assistant Dee Simons from Dunkeld, prepared more than 1000 meals and served 52 litres of ice-cream during the week for the campers.

Service is this year’s theme for the annual Longest Lutheran Lunch and the young people at CLW learned about servanthood during their week at camp. They shared their faith and their Christian love through service, which reflects the very purpose of the LLLu.

CLW’s history-making lunch is proof that sharing the gift of hospitality and service isn’t confined to just one day of the year. While the LLLu is designed to fit on or around 31 October, Reformation Day, it doesn’t mean we can’t attach it to any other church celebration throughout the year.

There are many opportunities to share the gift of service through hospitality. Here’s a couple to consider:

Victorians are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lutheran Youth of Victoria (LYV). They have earmarked the weekend of Reformation Day to reminisce and remember – a perfect opportunity to make Saturday’s lunch a Longest Lutheran one!

As the whole LCA, we are also celebrating our 50th birthday. So it’s no surprise the LLLu will be running under the 50.500 banner this year. We encourage you to use the theme ‘Service’ when you plan your lunch (or dinner). Think about ways your get-together can reach out into your community.

Please share your plans and ideas on the Longest Lutheran Lunch Facebook page.

If you’re stuck as to what to do, contact me so we can build any grain of an idea into a fabulous service event. We want to encourage everyone to consider how our congregations and communities can be places where people see God’s love coming to life.

Register your event here – longestlutheranlunch.org.au/register/

Andrea Cross is the coordinator of Longest Lutheran Lunch.
Website longestlutheranlunch.org.au
Contact her on 0400 425 254 or at hello@longestlutheranlunch.org
or follow the Longest Lutheran Lunch Facebook page.

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