Just another LCA Agencies Sites site
Richard Schwedes is Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Australia (NSW/ACT). Richard told Hope Mornings that Easter reveals God’s love (in Jesus!) never gives up on you or anyone else.
By Emma Hansen, ALWS Refugee Settlement Officer
2025 marks a significant moment in the history of Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS), as celebrate our 75th anniversary; a milestone that reflects the dedication of countless supporters who have trusted us to be the hands and feet of the Lutheran church in some of the most hurting parts of the world. From Papua New Guinea to South Sudan, our work has reached the displaced, the forgotten, and the vulnerable.
ALWS’s story began in 1950 at the Bonegilla Migrant Centre, a repurposed military training camp, near Albury Wodonga. It was here that we first ministered to World War II migrants, escaping war torn Europe, providing practical care and pastoral ministry.
It was a full-circle moment as we returned to Bonegilla to celebrate our 75th Anniversary. This was something I had eagerly anticipated… the place where our church’s legacy of care for the most vulnerable began would now host a celebration of everything we’ve accomplished over the past 75 years.
“Table of Eight” Book Launch
The weekend’s celebrations kicked off with a heartwarming and memorable event—a book launch for Brian Neldner’s memoir, Table of Eight. Brian Neldner, a forefather of ALWS, was instrumental in shaping the legacy we celebrate today. Brian’s story is one of dedication, humility and faith, and it includes some funny stories too. The evening was a beautiful display of admiration as almost 100 people, from all over Australia, gathered at St Lukes Lutheran Church, Albury to hear from Brian and purchase his memoirs.
Bonegilla Walk My Way!
The following morning, we had the big walk! As community members gathered from across the Riverina and beyond (from South Australia to as far as Mackay, QLD!), a real sense of family flooded the site. It was such a joy to see some familiar faces- long-time supporters- and some new ones too. Among the mix was the Mayor of Albury, former ALWS Program Manager, Leah Odongo, and Brian Neldner too. The day started with some speeches from former Executive Director, Chey Mattner, Leah Odongo and Bishop Paul Smith, before the walkers set off on their 10km walk.
Together, walkers retraced part of the journey taken by the early migrants, walking along the picturesque rail trail towards the historic Bonegilla Rail Station. Spirits were high as walkers caught up with friends on the trail, and some even whistled the merry tune that Bishop Paul Smith encouraged us with in his blessing. Upon return, the walkers settled in for an afternoon of cultural dances, food, coffee and ice-cream.
ALWS Thanksgiving Service at St Lukes
For those with energy left, the celebrations continued the following morning at St Luke’s Lutheran Church, Albury, where we filled the church and gave thanks to God for 75 years of ALWS.
Bishop Paul shared a sermon on the prodigal son and the joyous exchange that is made when we come in our weakness to the Father, receiving His favour and mercy in its place. He compared this exchange to ALWS’s work of “gospel service” in countries that most need a display of the Fathers radical love. The message was very encouraging for the ALWS team.
One of the most touching moments of the service was singing the Christmas blessing as photos from the field filled the screen. It was a beautiful visual depiction of how our Lutheran church lives out our faith in generosity to those in need.
As the service concluded, there was a deep sense of unity between our ALWS team and the congregation of St Luke’s. It was great to be in fellowship together.
As we continue to celebrate 75 years of service, I am reminded of the village that has led us here. As I reflect on the weekend, I can’t help but feel profoundly blessed to have a passionate family of supporters around us, without whom, we could not do the work we do. In each of these Albury events, I felt a strong sense of family and solidarity, perhaps in ways that I haven’t seen or felt before. It is an absolute joy to serve on behalf of these generous, compassionate and unwavering Christians. Here’s to the next 75 years of ALWS.
Emma Hansen serves the Lutheran Church as ALWS Refugee Settlement Officer; supporting local congregations as they welcome approved refugees to Australia through the Federal Government’s CRISP program. For more information contact Emma on emmah@alws.org.au
In 2021, the members of St Peter’s, Port Macquarie, were encouraged to consider telling their personal stories of faith as part of the annual Stories of Life writing project. Five members of the congregation were among the fifty authors included in this year’s anthology: The Labyrinth and Other Stories of Life in which ‘ordinary’ people share their extraordinary experiences of God’s grace.
The contributions from St Peters include a miraculous rescue at sea, surviving cancer, praying for rain in a time of drought, a story of adoption, and a story of a young man who decided to focus life on service to God after missing a commercial flight that crashed into Sydney Harbour in 1961.
‘When I wrote, ‘Lord, help me be a mother’, I was asked to share ‘my’ story with a group of ladies during a fellowship day 15 years ago as part of the inspiration message for that day. I prayed for guidance from the Lord to help me show everyone what an awesome God we have and hoped that by the end of my talk, they would see how God had touched and still touches my life in a very special way and how blessed I am because of it!
‘I have always been encouraged to write my story down so it could reach others facing that unknown direction in their lives. Stories of Life gave me the opportunity to share that one glimpse of God’s beautiful plan for me.’
– Sherry Thompson, contributor to Stories of Life
LCA pastor Dr Mark Worthing, who is one of the editors of Stories of Life, attended a special Port Macquarie launch of the book on 9 January 2022. Anyone interested in submitting a story for next year’s Stories of Life collection is encouraged to visit the group’s website.
‘The reason I wanted to share my story, The Mt Morgan Prayer Meeting, in The Labyrinth book is God’s goodness and mercy to the people of Mt Morgan. If ever there was a town that needed help, it was Mt Morgan!
‘By God’s grace, it was a miracle happening, and believe as a result, many lives were changed! Praise God.’
– Tony Koch, contributor to Stories of Life
Pictured from left to right: Sherry Thompson, Toy Koch, Jenelle Franci, Mark Worthing (editor) and Aileen Huf.
It was almost five years ago when I first had conversations at women’s retreats and synods on the importance of forming a network amongst pastors’ wives in the LCA. Jenny Bartholomaeus had similar ideas and Tanya Cunningham played a part in encouraging the idea too! You see, although being a pastor’s wife can seem to be quite a lonely role, where you move regularly across the country, changing home and job and spiritual networks, she is never truly alone. God works constantly to place ideas and people in our lives who will encourage and support His church and His people.
A pastor’s wife is part of a unique community of women who support their men and often lead ministries within the context God has placed them. However, despite modern technological advances, pastors’ wives often don’t find each other and share their unique journey with each other. The nature of our husband’s work means we will live many kilometres away from the nearest LCA congregation. Our lives are so busy we don’t prioritise actively connecting with other pastors’ wives.
We are trying to change that by having annual retreats. Jenny and I organised the first one for 2020, pre-Covid. We had everything from the theme to the gift bags sorted but Covid interrupted. By the time we managed to run “Precious…and loved” in 2021 we had changed accommodation and dates a few times. It was a wonderful weekend together with an immediate sense of sisterhood which I’m afraid included a promise of “What happens on retreat stays on retreat”. Importantly, the need for an annual retreat was established in NSW and planning for 2022 began. Karen Hannola joined the organising team as our speaker for the theme “Blessed” and we were truly blessed with tools and advice on helping our husbands and ourselves identify and deal with stress.
The aim of our retreats is to provide a safe space for relaxing and bonding over our shared vocation as pastors’ wives while learning more about each other as individuals with other vocations and spiritual interests.
It is such a valuable experience to realise that other women share your stresses and worries, other women have intimate experiences with God because they live in ‘The Manse’ and other women know exactly what you need prayer for and how to pray for you. This shared connection defies age, culture, language and background. We are spiritual sisters.
Whenever the pastor is involved in disciplinary action or is part of some kind of congregational investigation (either as victim or an accused person) his whole family is involved in his struggle. This is almost the only occupation where your wife and/or children may be judged and/or verbally or spiritually attacked because of your occupation and they have no legal protection. They are not paid employees of the LCA. This can be a very scary experience, especially when we live far from our families and we don’t know what the future holds. Please pray for pastors’ wives and pastors’ families, by name, and cover them with God’s protection and comfort. No matter how ‘good’ a pastor is, Satan is always looking for other people to use to bring him down, divide the church and distract from the gospel. Pray against gossip, deception and unforgiveness.
Your pastor and his family are spiritually connected to your church, whether the family is fully involved or not. Pastors naturally want to protect their family, but it is also the whole congregation’s role to support the pastor’s family; to help them assimilate into the local community; to respect the experiences and traditions they may bring with them; and help them know where to go when they need help. Your pastor’s wife may be a quiet partner in his life who doesn’t say much but she needs as much prayer, if not more, as your pastor. Your pastor’s wife might appear confident and unafraid of confrontation or leadership however, she too needs your support and prayers. Remember, if we’ve learned anything over the last two years it’s that people don’t always wear their feelings on the outside. Depression and loneliness are easily masked behind emojis and memes, and carefully curated photos of happy times. Ask her if she needs your prayers but give her your public voice of support too.
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10
Each retreat we always include times where we reflect on the blessings in our lives, the blessings of living in a manse and the blessings of being present in others’ lives during their best and worst days (baptisms, marriages, funerals). We thank God for those people in congregations who are welcoming and friendly, sometimes physically providing support and sometimes providing deeper emotional support in times of trial. We look forward to providing an annual retreat for pastors’ wives from all over New South Wales and pray that your congregation is encouraging and supporting her, enabling her to attend.
Our District is thankful for a number of committed volunteers who have taught Scripture in schools for many years. Here are some of their reflections.
There is always a real need for teachers. I loved it! I especially enjoyed teaching the younger children. The students were very responsive. We loved singing, loved action songs, role playing the story and playing memory games to recall a story or learn a Bible verse.
There is always more to learn when reading the Bible, digging deeper and doing more research not only when preparing lessons but also in one’s personal devotional life.
In NSW, we are very fortunate that we are still allowed within the classroom to teach SRE. There is a serious shortage of SRE teachers, with some teachers teaching the same story at two schools each week. I would strongly encourage anyone who is able to take up the challenge. You will be supported on a local level, and you will find it very rewarding.
– Monica, SRE teacher for over 30 years
After about 40 years of teaching SRE, sadly it’s time to call it quits. I looked at this as my main area of mission.
I enjoyed the interaction with the kids so much and have been so blessed over the years. I loved connecting with the kids, sometimes seeing them in the street and even being introduced to their mums! Sharing stories about Jesus and Bible foundations with children is such a special privilege.
– Joyce, SRE teacher
Teaching SRE is one of the most ‘under the radar’ missions we can do! Our churches don’t value the opportunity it gives us. It is such a privilege to teach SRE. It might be the only time a child hears about God! We have people who come to our church because of what they learned in SRE as children.
– Kathie, SRE teacher
Many Lutherans have volunteered to teach Scripture classes in NSW government schools for decades. Special Religious Education (SRE) is valued by families, schools and the Department of Education (DoE) as an important part of a child’s development.
Many denominations, including the LCA NSW and ACT District, have met the requirements of the NSW DoE as ‘approved providers’. All schools require a professional approach to any sort of voluntary work that is undertaken in the classroom. Authorisation and accreditation of SRE teachers ensure that children are being delivered relevant and educational content in a safe and age-appropriate way.
Christian SRE teachers are active committed members of their local church, able to confirm their belief in Christian teachings. They care deeply for children and are able to teach and connect with them appropriately at their developmental level.
All SRE teachers are required to complete child protection training, a Working With Children Check and accredited SRE training before entering a classroom.
If you feel called to be an SRE teacher or are interested to find out more, please speak with your local pastor, or contact Kaye at the District Office. We are always looking for more volunteers. Encouragement, support and training are provided. See more details here.
‘How can they know if no-one tells them?’ (Romans 10:10-15, CEV).
Thank you to all our current and past SRE teachers who have volunteered their time so generously over the years.