LCNZ Update 28 December 2012

Kia tau ki a koutou te atawhai me te rangimarie o te Atua
願 父 神 所 賜 的 恩 惠 和 平 安 與 你 們 同 在
Grace and peace to you from God

Call News
I write to inform you that last Sunday, Pastor Lee Kroehn announced to the members of the Manawatu Parish  that he had accepted the call to St Johns Lutheran Church in Unley, Adelaide, South Australia. I won’t write  much here, but will rather save it until the time draws closer for Lee, Anna, Owen, Imogen and Jonah to leave  New Zealand. Suffice it to say that we commit them to the Lord’s continued protection and care as they  complete ministry with us here in the LCNZ and as they prepare to return “home” to begin the same ministry of  God’s love come to life in Adelaide. Thank you Lee and Anna, together with your children, for sharing life and  ministry with us here.

Continue to pray for them, and pray also now for the members of the Manawatu Parish as they begin seeking the Lord’s will with regard to a new pastor.

Ma te aroha o te Karaiti; with the love of Christ

+Mark
President – Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa

LCNZ Update 21 December 2012

Kia tau ki a koutou te atawhai me te rangimarie o te Atua
願 父 神 所 賜 的 恩 惠 和 平 安 與 你 們 同 在
Grace and peace to you from God

All My Heart This Night Rejoices
Today I attended the funeral of an elderly man whose earthly life had been transformed into the life that endeth never, simply and profoundly because he belonged to and was loved through life and death, and into life again by the one born in the manger. He was a friend of Jesus; Saviour of the world. You too are invited again to kneel at the manger; to receive Jesus as your friend and Saviour, and to hear him invite you to share eternity with him –

Hark! a voice from yonder manger
    Soft and sweet,
    Doth entreat:
Flee from woe and danger.
Children, from all ills that grieve you
    You are freed;
    All you need
I will surely give you.

And you may reply –

Dearest Lord, Thee will I cherish,
    Live to Thee,
    Die to Thee;
Thus I shall not perish,
But in life that endeth never,
    Joyfully,
    Peacefully
Dwell with Thee for ever.

Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen Paul Gerhardt 1607-1676 (LHS-24)

I pray that this Christmas it will dawn on you once again, how blessed you are to belong, by your most holy baptism, to the God whose love comes to life in Christ, born at Bethlehem. Because of this baby … swaddling clothes and all that stuff … oh yes, and a cross … because of this one – Immanuel – you will dwell with Him for ever. May your heart rejoice this Christmas and always.

Christmas Worship Throughout Aotearoa
Wherever you are – except way up north or way down south (or out at the Chatham Islands) – there is a  Lutheran Church waiting to welcome you to Christmas worship.

Check this out –
Mountainside, Mt Wellington, Auckland

• Christmas Eve, 6.00pm (with Children’s presentation) and 11.00pm (Carols and Readings)
• Christmas Day, 10.00am

North Shore, Auckland

• 23rd December, 5.00pm, Carols and Readings

Botany Lutheran Church, Botany, Auckland

• No Christmas Eve service – will be joining with Mountainside.
• 22nd December, 7.00pm, Carol, drama and Christmas dinner (yum yum)
• 23rd December, 10.00am, Carol and Lessons, Holy Communion
• Christmas Day, 10.00am, Carol, reading and lesson, Holy Communion

St Matthew Hamilton – 27 Abbotsford Street, Whitiora, Hamilton

• 21st December, 7:30pm, German Readings and Carols Service
• 23rd December, 10:00am, Lessons and Carols Service
• Christmas Day, 9:00am, Divine Service with Holy Communion (H.C. liturgy set to carol tunes)

Tauranga Lutheran Fellowship – Community Centre, Carmel Country Estate, 11 Hollister Lane, Ohauiti, Tauranga

• 23rd December, 10:00am, Divine Service with Holy Communion (H.C. liturgy set to carol tunes)
• Please note there is no service on Christmas Eve or Day

Kawerau Lutheran Church – 256 -258 River Road, Kawerau

• 23rd December, 7.00pm, Divine Service
• Please note there is no service on Christmas Eve or Day

Whakatane Lutheran Church – 27-29 Hinemoa Street, Whakatane

• 23rd December, 9.30am, Divine Service
• Christmas Day, 9:30am Divine Service

Marton/Halcombe

• Christmas Eve, 7.30pm – St Johns Lutheran Church, Kimber Street, Halcombe – service led by Bethney Stafford
• Christmas Day, 10.00am – St Martins Lutheran Church, 94 Pukepapa Road, Marton – service led by President Mark Whitfield

St Lukes Palmerston North

• Christmas Eve, 7.00pm
• Christmas Day, 10.00am – Contemporary Worship with Holy Communion
• 30th December, 10.30am – Combined Worship

Trinity, Feilding

• 23rd December, 9.00am
• Christmas Day, 9.00am – Worship with Holy Communion

St Pauls Wellington

• 23rd December, 10 a.m.
• Christmas Eve, 7 p.m.
• Christmas Day, 10 a.m.
• 30th December, 10 a.m.
• 6th January, 10 a.m.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church/The Wetlands Chapel, 130 Burwood Road, Christchurch

• 20th December, 7:30pm – Scandinavian Christmas: Informal Multi-Language Worship with Scandinavian Society, supper after.
• 23rd December, 10am – Advent 4: Informal Inter-Generational Worship (Faith Inkubators) with Holy Communion, morning tea after. 
• Christmas Eve, 7:30pm - Traditional Christmas Readings & Carols, with Holy Communion.
• Christmas Day, 9:30am – Informal Jesus’ Birthday Celebration (including birthday cake!), with quake-displaced Emmett Street Church.
• 30th December, 10am – Christmas 1: Contemporary Worship (without Holy Communion), morning tea after.
• 6th January, 10am – Epiphany: Traditional Liturgical Worship (without Holy Communion), morning tea after.

Church Organ Available
Mountainside Lutheran Church have an Allen Digital organ available to any parish/congregation in the LCNZ. Keith Duncan writes –

The Allen 225 in Mountainside is now surplus to the parish requirements. I have been asked to approach you to determine whether any other parish in the LCNZ would be interested in the Allen. Allen Digital Organ – MOS series 2, Model 225, manufactured 1981-82. Full 2 manual AGO console with moving stop tabs – 32 note pedal board.

National Office Closed During Christmas / New Year
21st December – 8th January 2013 Office closed
21st December – 30th December President Mark on call
1st January – 8th January President Mark on leave – please call Vice President, Pastor John Davison on 07 8395768 during this time in emergencies

Ngā Mihi O Te Kirihimete
My wife Leanne, and children – Chelsea, Brittany and Charlotte, together with me, thank you all for your aroha and support throughout 2012. Many of you have been the means by which God’s love has come to life in our lives just when we needed it, and we thank you for that.

May Jesus – Saviour, friend of sinners, Son of God, Prince of peace, baby in a manger (etc.) – be Immanuel (God with you) now and throughout 2013.

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete; Christmas greetings and blessings to you all, from the Five Welly Whitfields.

Me te aroha nui ki a koutou katoa; lots of love to you all.

+Mark
President – Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa

LCNZ Update 1 December 2012

Kia tau ki a koutou te atawhai me te rangimarie o te Atua
願 父 神 所 賜 的 恩 惠 和 平 安 與 你 們 同 在
Grace and peace to you from God

Rhythms of Life
My youngest daughter, Charlotte (7) and I have a rhythm to Thursday afternoons between about 4:05pm and 5:30pm. It goes a bit like this –

4:05pm

• I collect Charlotte from her after-school sports program.

4:05+5 seconds pm

• Charlotte reminds me that its “treat day.”

4:15-20pm

• We go to New World supermarket at Chaffers and Wakefield Street to buy soup and ciabatta bread for evening meal.
• Once the soup and bread are in shopping basket, we head down the confectionery aisle. Charlotte chooses her ‘treat’ … usually a chocolate-covered licorice log thing.

4:25pm

• We drive home and as we pass the stadium, we always have a little conversation about the next cricket or rugby game that’s advertised on the big signs, and we always try and beat each other to spot the next train on the suburban line that goes past our street. We usually always invent new spoonerisms as we drive up the gorge to our home, and make each other laugh.

4:30pm

• We arrive home and Charlotte asks if I’ve checked for mail. She checks for mail, and then we head inside. She unpacks her bags, finishes any left-over lunch, turns the TV on to Disney Channel, while I make myself a cuppa and then fall asleep reading the suburban paper in the comfy chair near the sunny window.

5:30pm

• I get the soup cooking and thinly slice the ciabatta bread, in readiness for a family that will now come and go in dribs and drabs through until about 8:45pm.

That’s just one little piece of the rhythm of our lives; I’m sure you have rhythm in your lives too!

I’m writing this on the eve of the beginning of a New Year. Sunday is Advent Sunday which marks the beginning again of the rhythm of life called the Church Year. Once again – just as each Thursday afternoon is ‘once again’ for Charlotte and me – we embark on a familiar journey which will have us (1) prepare for the first advent/coming of Jesus Christ, (2) his birth, (3) his ministry on earth, his suffering, death and resurrection, (4) his ascension into heaven, (5) his provision of the Holy Spirit, and (6) that post-Pentecost period when we as Church are empowered and inspired and encouraged to fulfil our baptismal calling to proclaim the mighty acts of the one who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9).

So, “Happy New Year” to you all! I pray that as the year unfolds, you again will be embraced by the rhythm of the salvation story that God tells through various sections (chapters and movements). And can I suggest that every day of this New Year you allow yourself to be embraced by an even more ‘personal’ rhythm of life … a rhythm that begins (and ends) with these words – in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit – a rhythm that begins new each morning as we remember whose we are, and who it is that we serve.

• Stir up your power, O Lord, and come, that by your protection we may be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins, and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Prayer for Advent Sunday)

100th Anniversary of Ordination: Hamuera Te Punga
On Sunday 16th December at 11.00am at Halcombe Lutheran church, Pastor Trevor Jurgens will lead a service to celebrate the 100th year since Hamuera Te Punga was ordained as a Lutheran pastor in South Chicago, USA. During the service the congregation will be invited to sing the Halcombe Lord’s Prayer (bring your best voices; it goes up real high towards the end!) which was brought to Halcombe by Hamuera's wife, Lydia.

• Thank you Lord God, for your gift to this church of Pastor Hamuera Te Punga. Thank you for calling him to be a shepherd and overseer to care for your flock. Thank you also for his whanau who continue to worship and serve you through the Lutheran Church of New Zealand. Amen.

50th Anniversary: Harrison St Community Church/St Johns Whanganui
On Sunday 9th December, our sisters and brothers in Whanganui will be gathering in worship, thanksgiving and fellowship to celebrate God’s faithfulness to them over the past 50 years. There is much to thank God for. Just the other day, Pastor Phil sent me the following email –

This is a small thing for a big church but for us it is cause for a celebration. We are having a small ceremony to welcome a family into our church. First time in years. We are also moving to two tables at communion. We have gone from 12 to up to 21. Keep praying we are working really hard and at times it is difficult to find time but God will find a way. Cheers and blessings Phil.

Praise God for this, and let me suggest that you send a greeting and a message of encouragement to Whanganui on this special day.

• Heavenly Father, continue to fill this congregation with your gracious presence, and build up your people through your gospel as they continue to gather here and call on you. Give them the joy of your salvation as they gather to thank and praise you at this anniversary time. Amen.

Nau Mai; Haere Mai: Janet and Pastor Brian Schwarz
We welcome Janet and Brian to New Zealand for a short stint of locum ministry in Wellington and the Wairarapa. Thank you so much for your willingness to come and at such a busy time of the Church Year too. We hope and pray that you will enjoy your time with us, and that your ministry amongst us will be a blessing both to you and the people of God you serve.

• Thank you Lord God for providing pastors for your church and especially for those who come and fill in during vacancies. We thank you for Janet and Pastor Brian. Give them joy in their time of ministry amongst us. Thank you for their ministry of encouragement among us. Amen.

Servant of Christ Award: Buster Kells
Buster Kells from St Lukes Palmerston North is to be a recipient of the Servant of Christ award for 2012. For health reasons however, Buster and Joan were not able to travel to Adelaide in November for Buster to receive his award. Plans however are being made for a special event to coincide with worship at St Lukes Palmerston North in late January when I will read the citation to Buster and present him with his award. There is also a plan to acknowledge this during LCNZ District Convention in June next year. The full citation (which will be read in all LCNZ congregations on Advent Sunday) reads –

Servant of Christ Award 2012 – Citation for Albert Joseph (Buster) Kells
A journey begins with a single step, but sometimes even a long journey does not take us far from where we began. The value and significance lies not in the distance covered but in the quality of the journey itself. Buster Kells has lived and served in Palmerston North, New Zealand, all his life. Since his baptism as an infant in 1934 he has been a member of St Luke’s Lutheran Church. He graduated from Palmerston North Boys’ High School as Dux Ludorum in 1952, receiving the Hanney Cup for all round excellence in sport and scholarship. Also an accomplished musician, he played the piano for school dances. After further study he worked throughout his life as an accountant and stockbroker in the city of his birth. Buster married Joan in 1957 and they have four children.

A natural leader, Buster never sought the limelight, but he was glad to be able to serve by providing administrative and financial expertise to his Church. In the faithful following of his vocation Buster has served Christ and his people. His record of 35 years as a member and the administrator of the Lutheran Homes Trust Board in Palmerston North speaks of someone who, in the Lord’s name and with a minimum of fuss, does what needs to be done for the sake of those in need. He was for many years a member of the New Zealand Lutheran Laymen’s League Board and the Church Council and Finance Council of the LCNZ. He also served as a member of the LCA’s General Church Council.

His service in St Luke’s Lutheran Church covers most aspects of congregational life, from small group leader to chairperson and treasurer, to organist and choir director. He also found time to be on the cleaning roster and filled the role of the local LLL promoter and treasurer. Simply put, Buster is ready and willing when something needs to be done. He has a true servant’s heart. Even after he handed to others the reins of the elected leadership of the congregation, he remained willing to serve by helping with other projects including the St Luke’s Centenary in 1982, the 125th anniversary celebrations in 2007 and the Church Building Committee in 1986 and 1987. A gifted speaker, for decades he was a natural choice for MC at parish social events.

Buster has played an encouraging and supportive role for all his pastors down through the years, as well as LCNZ presidents and other leaders, being happy to share his knowledge and wisdom and to be a sounding board in regard to the issues of the day. His pastor Lee Kroehn writes –

Buster is a hard-working, faithful member who has served both his local parish and the wider church with enthusiasm and integrity. His love for the Lord is evident in all that he does for both the church and the community.

In the Manawatu Buster is well known and respected as a Christian whose name is synonymous with the Lutheran Village independent living units which stand as a model of Christian involvement in the community. Through the efforts of Buster and others, the Lutheran Village enjoys a very positive relationship with both the community and the government, culminating in the national award of ‘Residential Trust of the Year’ in 2004. A steadfast and humble witness to his faith, Buster is also a Justice of the Peace and was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for community service in June 2005. He has also served on the Palmerston North Hospital Board.

Upon the recommendation of the Honours Committee, the Lutheran Church of Australia recognises Buster as a fitting recipient of the Servant of Christ award. He represents all those who faithfully hear their Lord’s call and use their gifts and talents as Servants of Christ through their vocations in both church and society.

• We thank you gracious Father for Buster and for his servant-heart and work in the Manawatu parish and in the LCNZ. We commend him and his wife, Joan, to your continue grace and love. Amen.

Call News
Please continue to pray for Pastor Lee, Anna, Owen, Imogen and Jonah Kroehn, as they continue to wrestle with the call Lee has received to Unley / Concordia College (Adelaide). Pray also for the folk in the Manawatu Parish as they journey with Lee and Anna through this call process.

• Lord God, pastor and keeper of the flock, reveal your will for Pastor Lee. Amen.

College of Presidents / Ordination
This coming week I head to Adelaide for the final College of Presidents meeting for the year, and also to attend the Service of Ordination for graduates from Australian Lutheran College, which will be held at Concordia College on Sunday 9th December. Graduate placements are as follows –

Perry Hart to Waikerie South Australia
James Leach to Brinkworth South Australia
Dean Mills to St Michael’s Hahndorf/Bridgewater South Australia
Sam Modra to Tabor Victoria
Ken Schultz to Alice Springs Northern Territory
Tim Spilsbury to Whyalla South Australia
Kees Sturm to Coonalpyn South Australia

• Heavenly Father, bless these men in the ministry of your gospel. Make them faithful pastors, patient teachers, and wise counsellors, so that your people may be gathered for praise and strengthened for service; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Visit of LCA Business Manager
Next week, the Business Manager of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA), Debbie Venz will be in Wellington, working with our new LCNZ Administrator, Robert Hagen. Debbie will assist Robert in understanding the administrative processes and connections between the LCNZ and the LCA.

• Lord God, thank you for calling people into tasks of administration and management in your Church. Thank you for Debbie and Robert; bless their work of support for your church. Amen.

Competition Winner
Jonathan Stolk from Whanganui supplied the winning entry in the colouring competition to supply a new title page for the LCNZ Directory which picks up on our synodical theme – Where Love Comes to Life. Congratulations Jonathan! Your prize is prize a family pass for 2 adults and 2 children to a movie of your choice.

• Gracious Father, thank you for Jonathan, and for his gift to our church of a new drawing for the cover of our directory. Thanks for all the good things that you have blessed Jonathan with … especially his talent on the football field too. Keep him, and his Mum and Dad (Margreet and Adrian) safe in the love of your dear son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Council of Synod
The report from last weekend’s Council of Synod (COS) meeting will appear in the next issue of The Olive Tree, due out before Christmas.

Mā te Atua koe e tiaki
God be with you …

Pastor Mark Whitfield BTh MSM
President – Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa
Secretary – New Zealand National Church Leaders Meeting (NCLM)