Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the

Transcription

1 Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (NIV) 1

2 CHURCH DETAILS Glynburn Road, Glynde SA 5070 Office Hours: Wed Fri 9 am 1 pm Website: CHURCH CONTACTS... Pastor Wayne Boehm Ph: (w) Ph: (h) wayne@glyndechurch.org Office Contact Angeline Joimol Executive Assistant Ph: Fax: office@glyndechurch.org (Until August) Cross-Cultural Coordinator Barb Mattiske Ph: barb@glyndechurch.org (Until August) Oh, What a Family! 'Yes', Jesus said to them, 'and I tell you that those who leave home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for me and for the gospel, will receive much more in this present age. They will receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property and persecutions as well; and in the age to come they will receive eternal life.' (verses 29,30) (read Mark 10:17-31) My goodness, it's tough! What Christians are required to do for God in this passage. No wonder so many aren't as committed as Jesus expects them to be! This passage isn't really about what people are to do for God even though that's the way Peter understood it, too. Really, it's about how much we receive from God because we are part of the Christian community. When we are truly part of the Christian community we are truly blessed with people around us who are 'like family' to us. That is why we have 'hundreds of mothers, brothers, sisters, children' and have access to hundreds of houses too. The Christian community is one where encouragement, support, love and hospitality are par for the course. We don't really lose our own families; as a family, when God is our life, we all gain. We can also expect to face some persecution, because we are part of the body of one who suffered very much for the message we now proclaim. But, no matter what we face, we know we will be given the strength to cope and the words to win over our persecutors. EDITORIAL TEAM... Jess Edgecomb jmedgecomb@bigpond.com Fleur Kupke fleurkupke@hotmail.com Colleen Bradtke ncbradtke@optusnet.com.au Father of many children, I thank you that you have time for me and all my brothers and sisters. Through your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. (adapted by Lutheran Media, from a devotion written by Rev Bob Turnbull in the LCA book God s Promises for each day. More than 300,000 people were diagnosed with dementia last year. Where s hope? Watch & order Dementia Searching for Hope resources at 2

3 Contents... From the editor... This Mother s Day is my first as a Mum to my son James, and I am feeling very blessed and excited to be celebrating it with him. However, Mother s Days in the past have been quite difficult for me to face, particularly after the birth of my stillborn twin boys Albert and Benjamin. If you look through the junk mail in your letterbox, or go shopping at this time of year, it would seem that Mother s Day is all about buying your Mum a new dressing gown, giving her breakfast in bed and a heartfelt card. While this is a lovely thing to do, this day can also leave many women in our community feeling isolated and unhappy. I believe Mother s Day celebrations are for all women, not just those with a child in their arms. There are women in our community mourning a mother that they have lost, wishing for a child that has died, hoping for the joy of a positive pregnancy test, or wanting to meet the right person to be able to start the family they have longed for. All women deserve to be celebrated and nurtured on this day. In honour of the women in our community, this issue is focussed on nurturing and care of others. Please wish all the women in your life a happy Mother s Day and give out carnations with reckless abandon as a sign of affection and care! Fleur Kupke Article Page number Devotional thoughts 2 From the editor... 3 From Pastor Wayne From the Chair Glynde Celebrations 8 Farewell to Krishna 9 What s on in May Christmas in June Concert 12 Alpha 13 From the Cross Cultural Coordinator Infertility awareness Building Redevelopment Update 18 Worship Calendar 19 Out and Glynde 20 3

4 From Pastor Wayne... Hi! I m back on deck again after a week s break during the School Holidays: back to serve our Lord together as we seek To reveal and celebrate God s love, so that all may know Jesus and worship Him. Sometimes we are tempted to think, Nothing much is happening things are just more of the same. Well, it s anything but! There are lots of things happening in our church and in our ministry with our Lord Jesus. Let s think about just some of the things that are happening here: *Contact with our community We are blessed to have many, many bridges to the community around us through Playgroup, Mainly Music, English classes, monthly Markets, Church 4 Kids, craft and our music events to name just some of our many bridges. These bridges provide us with ways of getting to know many, many people in the community around us. Thank God for the people from all races and cultures that we have contact with through these bridges. And thank God for all those who give of their time and their energy to make these bridges possible. *Fundraising/Fellowship opportunities As part of the fundraising for our redevelopment, many fellowship opportunities will be available, including a Walkathon, a Quiz night, a Progressive Dinner, and a Wine and Cheese night. The first of these is the Walkathon coming up quickly on the 15 th May. Come along with your friends and others for this Walkathon, and in the process of walking together and enjoying a BBQ together, we can raise some money for our redevelopment. Who knows how God will use the conversations that we have with friends and others on this walk, and in the other Fundraising/Fellowship opportunities coming up! 4

5 *Redevelopment of our building At our Half-Yearly Meeting at 1pm on Sunday, 22 nd May, we will be discussing our redevelopment plans. Our aim is to install a lift in our building, so that our whole building, upstairs and downstairs, can be used for ministry to both abled and disabled. In the process of providing this lift, much of the rear of our building, including the toilets, will be upgraded for a cost of some $1,000,000. If we can raise more than this promised amount, then the foyer and the front of the church can also be redeveloped. Please think and pray about how you can be involved in this upgrade of our facilities for the Lord s ministry. * Coffee and Chat on Friday mornings We are at present ordering signs for our Signboards, signs which read Coffee and Chat and have a big coffee cup on them. Cappuccinos and other hot drinks will be offered on Friday mornings in the Café area, together with cakes and biscuits. It will be a place to which you can invite friends to come and chat, and maybe chat about more important things. *Alpha Alpha is a way of introducing your friends and others to meet Jesus. Alpha will begin here this coming Thursday, May 5 th, 2016, and will run over a period of some 10 weeks. Each night from 6:30-7:00 pm, a free meal will be provided, and then from 7:00-8:00 pm, we will watch a DVD, focusing on questions like - Is there more to life than this?, Who is Jesus?, Why did Jesus die, How can I have faith? and so on, and discuss these topics at our tables. We will finish with a free supper of coffee and cake from 8:00-8:30 pm. Please think and pray about how you can help, and bring a friend along so that he or she can be introduced to Jesus! *Faith Families We as a church will continue to promote you and family members, or you and friends, or you and neighbours having a meal together and using the Faith 5 bookmark suggestions as an activity together after your meal. Faith 5 involves: SHARE READ TALK PRAY BLESS your highs and lows a Bible verse or story about how the Bible reading might relate to your highs/lows for one another one another Faith Families are an alternative to Small Groups: they provide you with a non-threatening way to chat about your faith with one another, and encourage one another in your walk with Jesus. These are just some of the things that are happening in our church as we seek to serve our Lord Jesus. May God bless us as we reveal and celebrate God s love, so that all may know Jesus and worship Him. And especially, may God bless the Mums among us as we head towards Mother s Day next week! Pastor Wayne 5

6 From the Chairperson... Key Ministries, Key Decisions Thank you to everyone who has been part of building key ministries in our community of faith - this last month has been very busy as Pastor Wayne has led us in worship and Barbara Mattiske has taken up the role of Cross Cultural Outreach Coordinator (replacing Tamara Martin while she is on leave) with Angleline Joimol backfilling the Executive Assistant role. Many thanks to Vivien Kupke who has also undertaken the Executive Assistant position while Angeline was on pre-arranged leave. Our Board for Ministry met with a focus on the Alpha series which will begin in May and started conversations about building faith families at Glynde as part of our vision for Thank you to Michael Edgecomb and the team of people who are committed to this ministry of the gospel. Our redevelopment project has been a key focus as we take further steps towards upgrading our facilities. It is wonderful to report that the work of reconfiguring the LCC offices upstairs has commenced and is well under way - please have a look at how things are changing. Thank you to everyone for making adjustments to accommodate this work - especially to Lighthouse Kids and the Korean church who use this area for ministries on the weekend. Thanks to Klaus Schulz for the time he has spent in coordinating and working on many tasks to progress this project. He is now looking for support from congregational members and friends to help paint the walls - and then this work will be done! In relation to the main upgrade of the building, key decisions now need to be made. John Kupke, Ben Pfitzner and I met with the LCA SANT District Administrator and Treasurer to talk about the process for obtaining a loan from the LLL. This meeting went well and valuable advice was received. The Redevelopment and Upgrade Working Group and the Executive have held combined meetings with the building project manager (Marshall & Brougham) and the architect (Phillips & Pilkington) as final drawings and costs of the building have been received. As detailed information has been received, a dilemma has emerged in relation to the project. Firstly, the scope of works has needed to change as different structural and design matters have become evident. Also the 6

7 detailed costs and the trade-offs associated with a staged approach to the whole building plan mean that new choices may need to be made about which parts of the project can be built. Accordingly, the combined Executive and Redevelopment and Upgrade Working Group decided to prepare a number of options for the congregation to consider at the half yearly meeting. This meeting will be held at 1:00 pm on Sunday, 22nd May Details of the options, the pros and cons of each option and a recommended course of action will be circulated next week to give us time to reflect (and pray) about the best way forward for our community in making our church a more welcome, accessible and functional place for worship and outreach. Please come to this meeting and help us decide what is the best way forward for the future vision and ministries of our church. Don t forget to sign up to receive your monthly full via ! Just go to our website or Facebook page Glynde Lutheran Church. To start receiving yours today! May God bless you all, Helene Schulz 7

8 As always, we love sharing in the many celebrations around the Glynde community. Here are a few snapshots of some of the recent events and celebrations that were had. This will be a regular segment, so if you have something to celebrate, please send us a photo so we can celebrate with you in Baptisms... Cooper (top picture) and Lily (bottom) were baptised into God s family and welcomed into the Glynde community on April 10th. Cooper is the son of Kath and Justin, grandson of Jeff and Val and great grandson of Doris! Many generations joined to celebrate his baptism. Lily is Marco s granddaughter and joins the Glynde family with her brother Kane who was baptised earlier in February. Hello Piper! A beautiful baby girl was born into the Kremer family on April 5th. Congratulations to Adam and Karlea on their new daughter Piper Lee! Eli seems very excited to have a new baby sister. 8

9 Books... Lois, Krishna, Barb & Colleen A few months ago a Nepalese man named Krishna walked into our church, here at Glynde. He doesn t really know why - except that he has always enjoyed discovering, and he had never seen a church before. Krishna was warmly welcomed by many at Glynde and it was quickly discovered he would like a bible, so we gave him an English one. However, a bible in his own language would be so much easier for him to understand. We thank God that Lois immediately knew who to contact the Bible Society and arranged for a bible to be delivered and it was received with great joy! Krishna, his wife, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter have come along to Glynde Church, joining with our Playgroup and Mainly Music, making many friends. Every week though, Krishna would have questions, and ask for more books I think he has nearly read every book in our church library, along with his Nepalese bible! He also took notes, and would walk around with his hard covered journal, and you knew when it opened, more questions were to come! Krishna s time with us has quickly passed and it is now time for him to go home. Wednesday morning we sat in the church. As he looked around in wonder and with questions he said that he knows he needs to share what he has learnt about Jesus with the people back in Nepal. That there is a God full of grace, who loves us all, who gave His Son to us all. Krishna then said, if only he had a Hindi bible, he could read both, and have a greater understanding so that he could share with those back home. One quick phone call again to Lois, who contacted the Bible Society again, and one Hindi bible was here. Sunday, we said goodbye to Krishna. He takes with him 3 bibles so that he can continue to study and to share with those in Nepal. He thanks everyone for their warmth and friendship, but he told me that he believed the people here at Glynde are the books. The books whose pages share not only their knowledge, but their love of God and the joy of being in God s family. So, those Bibles and those pages, not only are they God s word, but through seeing and hearing from the people of Glynde, those pages came to life to Krishna. You are a part of those special books! We pray that Krishna continues to grow in his knowledge and love of Jesus, and we pray that he may return to visit us again, with his Bibles and his hard covered journal! Barbara Mattiske 9

10 Get Glynde... Sunday Monday Tuesday 1 9am Worship HC Worship HC Community Lunch Korean Worship 8 Mothers Day 9am Worship Worship Korean Worship 2 5pm Waratahs 7pm KYB 9 5pm Waratahs 7pm KYB 3 9:30 Craft 7pm Quilters Craft 7pm Quilters 7.30 Exec 15 9am Worship HC Worship HC 12noon Walk-a-thon Fundraiser Korean Worship 22 9am Worship HC Worship HC 12:30 Korean Worship 1pm Half-Yearly Meeting 29 9am Worship Worship Korean Worship 16 5pm Waratahs 7pm KYB 7:30 Adelaide Benefit Concert practice 23 5pm Waratahs 7pm KYB 7:30 Adelaide Benefit Concert practice 30 5pm Waratahs 7pm KYB Craft 7pm Quilters Craft 7pm Quilters Craft 7pm Quilters

11 What s on in May? Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Playgroup 7pm Craft 7.30 BFM 7:30 Prayer Group 9.45 Mainly Music 6:30 Alpha 9:30 KYB 7pm Thrive Youth 10am Girls Coffee morning 10am English Class Playgroup 7.30 Prayer Group 9:30 KYB 10am English Class 9:30 Women s Fellowship 7pm Craft 9.45 Mainly Music 12noon Cards 6:30 Alpha Playgroup 7:30 Prayer Group 9:30 KYB 8am Bloke s Brekky 11am Magnolias 7pm Craft 9.45 Mainly Music 6:30 Alpha 7pm Thrive Youth 10am English Class Playgroup 7.30 Prayer Group 9:30 KYB 10am English Class 7pm Craft 9.45 Mainly Music 12noon Cards 10am-2pm Markets 6:30 Alpha 1 June Playgroup 7:30 Prayer Group 9:30 KYB 10am English Class 7pm Craft 9.45 Mainly Music 6:30 Alpha 7pm Thrive Youth 11

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13 What is Alpha? Alpha is a 10 week course that can be run in churches, bars, coffee shops and even homes worldwide. Each week participants will share in a meal, participate in an interactive session exploring the basics of the Christian faith and have the opportunity to ask and discuss questions in an open and honest way. Rather than giving participants all the answers, Alpha provides a safe nurturing environment to discuss those big life questions. Alpha is not just for those who are new to Christianity, but a great environment for all of us to explore our beliefs with each other and the community around us. Starting Thursday 5th May at 6:30pm and open to all. What Alpha offers, and what is attracting thousands of people, is permission, rare in secular culture, to discuss the big questions: life, death and their meaning The Guardian. See Michael Edgecomb or Pastor Wayne if you would like further information. 13

14 From our Cross Cultural Coordinator... God made you - God made you You are made in His image Special you see There is nobody else like you This is one of the songs sung at Mainly Music the other day. And when you look around our Glynde community, you see that God has indeed made many people. We are all different from different countries and cultures, from different cities and suburbs and from different families. We look different and we speak differently. Sometimes we share the same thoughts and beliefs and sometimes we differ. But here at Glynde we share the same vision. To reveal and celebrate God s love, so that all may know Jesus and worship Him. This is the reason I decided to take on this role for the coming 6 months as Cross Cultural Worker. That is the statement I am working to to share God s love to all people of all cultures within the Glynde community. I believe I can help (with your help) to create that link between our Glynde community and the many groups meeting here. 14

15 So far I have joined with Playgroup and Mainly Music during the week. What a joy the Playgroup is! A lovely group of children from 9 different cultures who meet together. What a joy it was to see how friendly this group is yet many struggle with the same language, but the friendship and joy they share is obvious. Next term we are starting a new activity program, where we are hoping to share some God-based activities look out you may even see us touring the world with a tour of the inside of our church! If you have some free time why not come and join us, have a chat and spread God s love and friendship. Mainly Music is a growing group as well with over 30 children attending most weeks. This great Christian program shares a mix of secular and Christian songs and rhymes with dancing and activities. Once again, there are over 10 different cultures attending and is a wonderful opportunity to listen, be a friend and share God s love. Many people from Glynde help on Thursdays and without them, Mainly Music would not exist so a huge thank you to all who help and once again, we would love more people to help, to listen and join in. it is an opportunity for people attending to realise that those of us from the church are not scary or different, but we are all the same, made in God s image. Oh, and English class, again, what a wonderful surprise! Once again, a caring group from many countries, all helping each other and encouraging each other with the English language, but also encouraging as friends. And I learnt a lot the week I was there - on native birds!!! The chatter over morning coffee was fun, with lots of laughter. Even though we didn t all have the same native language, you would never have known. How fortunate we are to have people from Glynde who God has given talents to be able to share in teaching English. Just like the Mainly Music song, we are all unique and special, but we are the same. We share the same concerns - job opportunities, children s education, language, friendship, questions like how do I fit in this church community, in this city, in this country? I feel God is calling not only me, but us all, to be that link to our church community, to listen, to befriend and to share.. especially to share God s love and word. Over the coming months I pray that we can work together in making that link strong: because God made me and God made you, You are made in His image and there is nobody else like you! Barbara Mattiske Cross Cultural Coordinator 15

16 Infertility Awareness... The second Sunday in May is the day we celebrate the gift of mothers. As we celebrate Mother s Day this year it is good to remember that this is not necessarily a happy day for everyone. Many women who have wanted children haven t been able to have them due to circumstances or infertility. We need to remember those who have suffered miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a child. They are still mothers but can feel such grief when their children are no longer with them here on earth. We should also remember those whose mother is either not with them any more or those whose relationship with their mother is estranged or difficult. May we keep them all in our thoughts and prayers. Days that are portrayed in the media as being happy can be especially hard for those who are grieving. In Australia, statistics show that 1 in 6 couples fail to achieve pregnancy after 12 months of trying. Infertility is either primary where the couple has not had children yet or secondary where couples have conceived a child or children in the past. Above picture: The powerful sculpture entitled Memorial for Unborn Children by Slovakian artist Martin Hudáček 16 Primary infertility is becoming more understood as more people become open about their difficulties. In years gone by, this was not talked about and many couples suffered in silence. Even today there are people who find it difficult to talk to others about it and they feel the sting as people admonish them for taking too long to have a baby, as if it is their choice. As many of you are aware, Enzo and I took many years to conceive Joseph. We are obviously on the other side now with him in our arms but I will never forget the feelings of grief, jealousy and anger that I experienced during that time. Infertility did not necessarily bring out the best in me. I feel incredibly lucky to have a son but I have friends who have not been so lucky. In our modern times with advanced medical techniques, there is the perception that everything is fixable. Many more children are now conceived through some sort of fertility treatment. However, that does not mean it works for everyone. IVF is also not an easy fix. It is a grueling, stressful, uncomfortable and expensive experience. Those that are successful are lucky.

17 The pain that is felt by couples experiencing secondary infertility is often not acknowledged or understood. People suggest that they should be happy that they already have a child. Many couples in this situation feel their family is unfinished or feel sad that they are unable to give their child a sibling. They can also feel guilty or ungrateful for not being happy with the child they have been given. It can be a very lonely position to be in. There are things that we can all do to remember people who may be experiencing primary or secondary infertility. Please don t assume that a couple is waiting to start trying to have a baby. They may have been trying for some time already. For those of you who are having children, if you do become pregnant be conscious of how you announce your pregnancy. I really appreciated those of my friends who took the time to contact me personally when they became pregnant when I was still trying. I felt very guilty about the sadness or jealousy that arose when I found out someone was pregnant. It was not a nice feeling. When people let me know by text or it gave me a chance to grieve. Don t tell them they should go on a holiday or relax or stop trying. It doesn t necessarily work. It is also very hard to relax when you are grieving for what hasn t happened yet. I am grateful that through my journey, I was able to reach a place of peace with pregnancy announcements and well-meaning comments but it took many years. Throughout the years I had the privilege of talking to many of you about the situation. Some of you shared your experiences that would have been heartbreaking. Many of you prayed for Enzo and me throughout those years. I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciated the love and support I received from my family at Glynde Lutheran Church. I am now a mother. I am lucky to have Joseph. I am hesitant to say that God blessed me with a child as I don t like the implication for those that have been unable to have a child. I don t understand why some women do not have children that would be incredible mothers, but there are many things in this world that don t make sense to me. Only in heaven will we know why. There are some wonderful Christian resources for people experiencing infertility including a book called Hannah s Hope by Jenni Saake and a forum for women experiencing infertility called Hannah s Prayer. There is also a very comprehensive website about infertility from America, So this Mother s Day let us always treat people around us with empathy and compassion. Let us try and put ourselves in their shoes. It can still be a day of celebration for many of us but with consideration for others. Rachel De Angelis 17

18 Redevelopment Update Our Architect and Engineering Consultants have made the designs and detailed drawings. Our Builder has received many quotes (about 100!) from various trade sub-contractors that have tendered to complete the works. Our Redevelopment Working Group and the Executive have met with Architect and Builder. Together we have reviewed the totals from the quotes. We have looked at options for cost savings to keep us within budget for the agreed scope of works. Unfortunately, the quote totals are significantly higher than originally anticipated. Some of this cost increase is due to various design problems that were discovered during the detailed design process. Our Half-Yearly Meeting (22 nd May) will be the opportunity to decide the next steps. Unfortunately, due to my work roster, I will be away and unable to be there personally to present the various options and answer questions that you may have. Another representative from the Working Group will be there to present instead. We have already spent significant funds on our architect, engineering consultants, and lift deposit. Our Congregation s Members have continued to donate to and fundraise for our Building Fund Account. However, we are not yet receiving funds at the rate that was promised on the commitment forms. Please continue to pray for guidance and wisdom in the lead-up to our meeting. This has left our congregation with some decisions to make about what we should build (scope), and how much we can afford to build (cost). We may have to make some difficult choices that will depend upon what we value higher as a congregation. Please also consider how you may be able to contribute, as we need funds for our building to proceed. John Kupke Redevelopment Working Group Chairman 18

19 MAY Worship Calendar Easter 6 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Based on a Meditation a.m. H.C. Two fathers, two feasts by Max Lucado (2) a.m. H.C noon Community Lunch Ascension Acts 1: a.m. Headed to our Father s land a.m. Plus Testimonies * Thanks for Mums Pentecost Acts 2: a.m. H.C. All we need is air, sweet air a.m. H.C. Trinity Matthew 28: a.m. H.C. Batter my heart, three person d God a.m. H.C p.m. Half Yearly Meeting Pentecost 2 Luke 7: a.m. H.C. Our faith life survey: how do you rate? a.m. H.C. Baptism of Piper Lee Kremer JUNE Pentecost 3 Luke 7: a.m. H.C. Jesus, Thou art all compassion a.m. H.C noon Community Lunch, Plus WOMEN S FELLOWSHIP 90 th BIRTHDAY Pentecost 4 Luke 7: a.m. Do you want to be a more loving person? a.m. Plus Testimonies Baptismal Anniversaries (April-June) Pentecost 5 Luke 8: a.m. H.C. Calm the storm a.m. H.C. Pentecost 6 Luke 9: a.m. H.C. Who switched the price tags? a.m. Church for Kids 19

20 Children enjoying Mainly Music with Vivien Baptismal celebrations, April 10th 20