LCNZ Update 29 May 2013

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

Be Still
During the closing service this coming Sunday at St Johns Halcombe, the ‘choir’ (Barbara, Anne, Heather, Julia, Dennis and me) will sing the first verse of the well-known song, Be Still and Know that I am God as a lead-in to our prayer time.

It’s not easy to be still when your church is closing … or when there’s a Convention to prepare for … or when the deadline for that assignment is getting ever closer … or when you’re still waiting for reports on earthquake damaged property … or when plans get mucked up by unexpected complications … or when the phone doesn’t stopping ringing and the ‘in-box’ keeps filling up faster than the ‘sent’ box … or when … or when …

I must admit that I’m struggling at the moment to be still; there’s just so much to do, and I’m the sort of person that thinks that if I slow down and maybe even come to a stand-still … well then, maybe things won’t get done.

Leanne and I both lead very full lives at the moment and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of time left to be still. However, in the midst of this busyness we made a decision at the beginning of the year to commit to regular weekly Home Group ministry. In the middle of all the demands of life that tell us whatever you do, don’t slow down and be still, we take an hour each Wednesday evening (make that 1½ - 2 allowing for travel), to be still in the presence of God, his Word, and with others who belong to him.

And guess what? As we drive home or farewell others who have come to our place, it never occurs to us that we’ve wasted our time by taking some time to be still with God.

As life got busier and more demanding for Martin Luther, he said the more time he needed to spend in prayer and with God.

So whatever it is that has your mind racing and your life at high-speed, slow down, stop even … be still and know that God is God.

• Heavenly Father, help me always to put my trust in you. Send Your Holy Spirit to calm my soul. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

Closing Service - St Johns Halcombe - Sunday 2nd June
This Sunday we expect a congregation of between 150 and 200 people to gather at St Johns for the closing service of this congregation.

The remaining members have assisted me in wonderful ways to make sure that the closing service will be a time of thankfulness and gratitude to God who has richly blessed these people and this place since 1875. Part of the service involves the ‘carrying out’ of various items, furnishings, documents etc., and the gifting of some of these items to other congregations in the LCNZ.

In a similar rite during worship at Convention at Botany on the following Sunday (9th), St Johns last chairperson, Barbara Wishnowsky, will assist me in giving these gifts to pastors and delegates from other congregations in the LCNZ. In this act, the memory of God’s blessing will continue to live.

A wee reminder that there be a special ‘Thank Offering’ during the closing service to (1) acknowledge the blessing of God through this congregation over many years, and (2) to make money available for a new ministry somewhere else. Out of closure and ending, it is our hope that such an offering will help to bring renewal and new beginnings in another place. St Johns and Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) plan for this ‘Thank Offering” to support a ‘new start’ Village Bank project in Cambodia.

All pastors and congregations of the LCNZ have received information on this project and have been invited to gather a special offering or to make a special thank offering ‘donation’ to be placed on the offering plates on Sunday. Of course, anyone who attends the service is also invited to make their offering.

• Closing Service – 10.30am, 2nd June
• Pastor Harry Wendt – preacher
• The ‘Halcombe Lord’s Prayer’ will be sung after we leave the church
• Lunch – 1.00pm at the Halcombe School
• 'Walk of Faith’ First Edition – a journal produced by Anne Somerville (Te Punga)

Pastor Dan Weise
Friends, in my haste the other morning to get news of Pastor Dan Weise’s death to you, I think I failed to mention that he had served as pastor in the following LCNZ locations – the Manawatu, Hamilton and Tauranga.

Celebrating 100 Years of Hope - Sunday 16th June
The current church building of St John's Lutheran Church Hope is celebrating its 100th year this year. There will be a morning of celebration on Sunday June 16th with a service and shared picnic lunch. The whanau at Hope are extending a warm invitation to all members and friends of the LCNZ, to join them for this great chance to thank God for all of his goodness. The service will start at 11:15am with lunch to start at 12:30pm.

Pastor Chris Janetzki writes – it would be great to have you come and join with us to celebrate the many years of blessings that this building has been.

Manawatu Call
Last Sunday after worship, the members of the Manawatu Lutheran Parish (St Lukes Palmerston North and Trinity Feilding) voted to extend a call to Pastor Rodger Russ – currently serving the Woodville Parish in Adelaide – to be their next pastor. I was quite overwhelmed by the positive and joyful tone of this meeting but wasn’t surprised. We had asked for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and we got it.

Please pray for Pastor Rodger as he considers this call, as we did on Sunday –

• Lord God Heavenly Father, we pray for Pastor Rodger, that he may be sensitive to your will and to our ministry needs and vision here at St Lukes in Palmerston North and Trinity Feilding as he considers submitting himself to our call and to the visitation of your Holy Spirit. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Church Workers Conference - 5th, 6th, 7th June - Hamilton
The Church Workers of the LCNZ gather in conference next week from Wednesday to Friday at St Matthew Hamilton. Our guests are Verena Johnson and Glen Schulz – the LCA’s lay-worker formation officers, and they will be making presentations on Team Ministry, Support Structures and Self Care. And Harry Wendt might pop in as well.

• Thank you Lord God for providing pastors and lay-workers to support and nurture us as we grow in faith in you. Amen.

LCNZ District Convention - 8th & 9th June - Botany Lutheran Church
The LCNZ family gets together for convention at the end of next week. We will meet under the LCA Synodical theme of Where Love Comes to Life to discuss, decide, report, pray, worship, debate, laugh, remember, celebrate etc. Here’s what you need to know –

• Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th June at Botany Lutheran church, 150C Harris Road, East Tamaki, Auckland.
• LCA Guests include retiring President Dr Mike Semmler, Debbie Venz (LCA Business Manager), Colin and Ruth Hayter (Board for Missions), Pastor Brian Shek (LCA Asian Ministries Coordinator), Verena Johnson and Glen Schulz (Board for Lay Ministry), and John Henderson (Bishop Elect of the LCA).
• Handing over of the Halcombe gifts during Sunday morning worship.
• Plenty of remits to discuss and decisions to make with an aim of focusing the church on its mission, which is God’s mission – His love in Christ for the world.

We’ve been extremely busy here in the National Office, so apologies for the delay in getting the final copy of the Book of Reports out to pastors and delegates. These will be posted by ‘fast post’ tomorrow.

As we prepare to gather –

• Guide us, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, so that this synodical convention may promote your work among us and build up your holy church. Direct all our discussion and debate, so that we may discern your will for us and make right decisions on the matters before us. Keep our focus on your commands and promises to us, so that we may be bold in our mission to the people of this land. Make us ready to listen, slow to criticise, and willing to cooperate with each other, so that we may promote the unity which you have given us. Encourage and inspire us through this convention, so that we may be better equipped to serve you as your priestly people; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer. Amen.

Kia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou; the Lord be with you.
+MARK
Pastor Mark Whitfield BTh MSM
Bishop of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Pihopa o te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa

Special LCNZ Update - Two Deaths in the LCNZ Family

Kia ora koutou dear friends,

I am writing this special update to inform you of the deaths of the following people; dearly loved members of the LCNZ family -

• Joan Mooney (nee Eggers). Joan died at her home in Christchurch last week aged 84, after being discharged from hospital having suffered a stroke. Her funeral will be at St Pauls Lutheran Church, Burwood, Christchurch at 11.00am on Wednesday 29th May.
• Pastor Dan Weise. Dan died shortly after midnight early Saturday morning (May 25). He had a massive heart attack on Monday morning (May 20). Former interim pastor at St Martin and colleague of Dan Wiese at Hosanna Lutheran Church in Mankato, Minnesota wrties - The heart attack was "out of the blue." It has stunned everyone. He participated in the worship service last Sunday, May 19. New Zealand had a big impact on Dan and Marilynn's life as well as ours (Gene and Pat). We think of NZ often.

Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has destroyed death and brings immortal life through the gospel. Let us remember with thanksgiving what God has done through Joan and Dan. We give thanks to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord for Joan and Dan, and we commend their loved ones to your grace and comfort, in the name of the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Nga mihi (greetings) me arohanui (and great love) to you all in the name of Jesus.

+MARK

LCNZ Update 10 May 2013

Grace and peace to you from God
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

Local – Lively – Loving
Yesterday Christians around the world celebrated the Festival of the Ascension. The Ascension of our Lord might, at first glance, seem to be something of a ‘removal’ of his presence from those of us still ‘down here’ on earth. Instead it is an event that reminds us of the intention of God to be even more fully present with us through his Holy Spirit.

In the First Reading for the Ascension Jesus tells his disciples to – wait for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:11).

And the gospel for the coming Sunday (Easter 7) says this – I made known to them your name and I will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them (John 17:26).

The Ascension reminds us that Jesus intends to live within us. His Spirit, the fullest possible presence of Christ, the very love with which the Father loved Jesus, locates itself within us.

The noticeboard on the Anglican Church in our suburb reads – LOCAL-LIVELY-LOVING. It’s meant to describe who they are as a faith community … (1) a group of people who live and worship and minister in a particular location, (2) a group of people who love life and who live the new life of Christ within them, and (3) a people of God imbued with the love of God in Christ, enabling them to reach out with Divine love to their community.

I think that LOCAL-LIVELY-LOVING also describes what it is that’s happening at this Ascension time. Despite what appears to be a ‘removal’ of Jesus from us ‘down here’, the promise is that God through his Spirit will locate himself even more locally in us, infuse us with the resurrection life of Christ, and thrust us into the world even more intentionally to love others with the love of Christ.

• Lord God, by your Holy Spirit, locate yourself in us with the resurrection life of Christ, and by the power of this same Spirit, make your love come to life in us. Amen.

Prayer in Preparation for District Convention
Members and friends of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand (LCNZ) – especially those living near Marton – are invited to gather for a prayer time as the church prepares for District Convention. This prayer time is scheduled to take place while the Council of Synod (COS) are meeting in Wellington.

• 25th May 2013, from 10.00am to 2.00pm, with a short break for lunch.
• Specifically prayer will be offered for COS, LCNZ Convention, the nominations process etc.
• All LCNZ congregations close to Marton are invited to support this time of prayer.
• Congregations further afield are asked to pray on this day as well – in small groups or however.
• This prayer time will be led by Lutheran Support Ministries (LSM).

Installation of Pastor Jim
On Sunday the people of God from St Pauls Wellington and St Francis Mauriceville West gathered at St Pauls Wellington to welcome Pastor Jim Pietsch as their new pastor. I preached on words from the First Reading (Easter 6C) from Acts, where Paul was invited to come over here (Macedonia) and help us, and told Jim that we thank God that he heard the call to ‘come over here’ to Aotearoa to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and that he said ‘yes.’

• Lord God, thank you for Pastor Jim. Through him make Jesus known to many. Amen.

Thank-Offering – St Johns Halcombe – Village Bank Cambodia
As you know, St Johns Halcombe will close on Sunday 2nd June. The remaining members have asked that there be a special ‘Thank Offering’ during the closing service to (1) acknowledge the blessing of God through this congregation over many years, and (2) to make money available for a new ministry somewhere else.

Out of closure and ending, it is our hope that such an offering will help to bring renewal and new beginnings in another location.

The members of St Johns have contacted Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) and together with ALWS we are planning to support a Village Bank project in Cambodia through this Thank Offering. Chey Mattner from ALWS wrote –

• Our initial thinking is that funds which contribute to a Village Bank in Cambodia would be an appropriate project. These funds can be accessed by people in the community to start a “new life”; people who would otherwise not have the income or credit history to open up an account with a commercial bank. The loans are repaid, so the contribution keeps on giving, well beyond the closure of St Johns.

I am going to send all pastors and congregations of the LCNZ information on this project and invite each congregation to gather a special offering or to make a special thank offering ‘donation’ which will be given at the closing service of St Johns on the 2nd June.

Specific Ministry Pastors (SMP) Preaching Workshop
Next week Pastor Phil Husband (Whanganui) and Pastor Tat Ming Tsui (Botany) will be in Adelaide at Australian Lutheran College (formerly the Seminary) attending a preaching workshop with other SMPs from around the LCA.

Our church is very intentional about providing on-going support and learning opportunities for our SMPs, and we’re glad that Phil and Tat can avail themselves of this opportunity next week. We wish them both every blessing as they travel, meet together, learn together, and especially as they come back to us encouraged, inspired and even more equipped to serve.

• Lord God, thank you for Phil and Tat and the specific ministries they are called to in Whanganui and in Botany. Bless them richly through their learning in Adelaide next week, that they may be even more of a blessing in your church here in Aotearoa. Amen.

Visit of Rick Erickson – Cantor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York
Next week, St Pauls Lutheran Church in Wellington will be blessed to host Rick Erickson who is the Cantor (Church Musician) of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York (read more about him in the paragraph below).

If you’re in Wellington during next week, or even if you’re not, there are ways that you can connect with his visit –

TUESDAY 14th

• Rick will be interviewed by David Morris on Radio New Zealand Concert. We don’t know the exact timing of this interview, but it may be sometime in the afternoon.

WEDNESDAY 15th

• Rick will appear on ‘Up-Beat’ in a shorter, more conversational-type interview, also on Radio New Zealand Concert. This will probably be a ‘live’ interview at around 12.10pm.
• Rick will also conduct a lecture-recital called, The Organ as Preacher, at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul (5.30pm-6.30pm).

FRIDAY 17th

• Rick will play a lunchtime recital at Wellington Cathedral of St Paul (12.45pm-1.15pm).

SATURDAY 18th

• Rick will be Guest Cantor, directing the music for the Bach Cantata Vespers at St Pauls Lutheran Church, Wellington (5.00pm).

SUNDAY 19th

• Rick will be Guest Organist for worship at St Pauls (10.00am).

Rick has been Cantor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, New York since 1992. In his role as Cantor he directs the Bach Vespers series and oversees the musical life of the parish. As organist Rick has appeared in the United States, Germany and Sweden as recitalist, hymn festival leader, and lecturer. He has performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the Pastoral Musicians Association, among others. A noted hymn improviser, Rick has recorded for Naxos, JVrecordings, and Augsburg Fortress. The New Yorker has hailed his playing as “exemplary Bach.” Holding degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Superior, and the Eastman School of Music, from which he also holds the Performer’s Certificate, his teachers have included Lucile Hammill Webb, Russell Saunders, David Craighead and Gerre Hancock in improvisation. Rick Erickson has recently been appointed Music Director of the Boulder Bach Festival in Colorado. This new undertaking complements his ongoing service at Holy Trinity.

Coming Soon
A Popular Report of Convention will be available here for viewing and download on or before Friday, 3 May. An 80-page full-colour Synod Edition of The Lutheran will be published by mid-May, for distribution to every Lutheran household in Australia and New Zealand in late May. Subscribers will receive their copy as usual, in their mailboxes. Non-subscribers may pick their copy up from their church.

Looking Ahead

• 13th -19th May Visit of Cantor Rick Erickson to Wellington
• 2nd June Closing Service at St Johns Halcombe – Pastor Harry Wendt (USA) will be the guest preacher
• 8th – 9th June LCNZ District Convention, Botany Lutheran Church

Kia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou; the Lord be with you.
+MARK
Pastor Mark Whitfield BTh MSM
Bishop of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand / Pihopa o te Hāhi Rūtana o Aotearoa