Bethlehem News

Synod elects LCA's fifth national leader General Synod has elected Rev John Henderson to be its fifth national leader. After his installation in July, he will be the Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). 'I am so deeply appreciative and humbled in relation to the task you have placed in front of me', Pastor Henderson said. 'This will steer the course of the next several years of my ministry, if not until the end. 'We need to be a listening church. I learnt that last Thursday at General Pastors Conference as we discussed the same issue that has been before us here this afternoon [the ordination of women].  'We are anxious. Some of us are fearful. But we trust in our Lord and Saviour. He has not abandoned us – even when things seem chaotic and strange in this church we love so dearly. We are called to give expression to that Christ, the centre of our faith, to our dying day. 'I hope that in Christ's name I will be worthy of this task.' In h

Endless Praise, a faith ministry based in Sydney, shared some beautiful music with us at worship on Sunday April 14th. When Holy Communion came around they moved to the choir loft. The team were like "Angels from the Realms of Glory".

Last Sunday, April 7th, we had 42 members of Bethlehem Lutheran spend 90 minutes in an exercise of Asset Mapping, which is taking stock of Christ's provisions and beginning again to intentionally look to the future,. Remembering that we are parts of the body of Christ,  all members are valued -- and have something to share. I'm writing this from my prospective as an Intentional Interim Pastor whose call revolves around preparing the congregation for a successful pastorate of the next pastor who will be called. This Saturday we will be gathering at our Lutheran Primary School in Wagga Wagga for a morning of Strategic Planning. Pastor Rob, Interim

For all of you who have iPads. You can now get The Lutheran magazine for free from the App Store. Just search for "The Lutheran" and you will be able to download the April edition. It is really an excellent media experience, and even has some instructions on how to navigate through our official magazine. I know that I will be letting my children know about this. I'm interested in reading about 'Messy Church' in this issue. Pastor Rob Erickson

Bethlehem Lutheran Church News  11-14 Athol St., Wagga Wagga NSW 2650 Bethlehem “At the School”, Tamar Drive Phone: 02 6925 1294 News Blog: www.lcawagga.blogspot.com From the Chairman Dear members of Bethlehem, I can report to you, that following the AGM held on the 3 rd of March the new Church Council met for the first time. The following people are the members of the new Church Council: Rhonda Lieschke,   Reg Miegel Margaret Kleidon,   Michelle Astrup Michael Lieschke,   Graeme Wenzke Bob Pfitzner,   Malcolm Kohlhagen The following people are also assisting us in an ex-officio capacity: Pastor Robert Erickson Pastor Albert Gast Dr. Ken Albinger As Pastor Robert’s time will come to an end on the 30 th of June we are making preparations to call a new Pastor. To help us prepare to call, Pastor Robert will lead an asset mapping session after service on the 7 th April and a strategic planning workshop on Saturday 13 th April