Bethlehem News

On Sunday afternoon, we welcomed Pastor Stuart and Julie Kleinig to Wagga Wagga. The Kleinigs are originally from South Australia and have three daughters. Pastor Stuart was ordained in 2000 and initially served in Victoria, then moved up to Dalby in Queensland. Now they are here to serve at Wagga Wagga and Milbrulong and we feel so very blessed to have them with us. Pastor Stuart was officially installed by Pastor Robert Bartholomaeus (Acting Bishop of NSW District), with assistance by Pastors Ian Kotzur, Darren Kupke, John Simboras and Clem Zanker. Members of both congregations also took part in the Installation Rite and many, many warm greetings were sent from our neighbouring parishes and from all over Australia.    So many people have ensured that the work of our church has continued throughout the vacancy, however Michael's dedication to this congregation was especially recognised at the end of Sunday's service. And then, of course, we fi...

In preparation for the arrival of our new minister, the manse has been given a bit of a face-lift. The bathrooms have been updated, the walls painted, the carpet replaced and the tiles around the kitchen wall are now a beautiful white.  On Saturday it was all hands on deck to give the rest of the place a good scrub.

Our Parish Picnic was held at the Lutheran School this year. It was a glorious day with heaps of delicious food to be eaten and a few friendly (competitive) games to play, which revealed some hidden talents among us! Everyone had a great time and hopefully we'll be able to do it all again soon. A beautiful day to sit and chat in the sun. Don't mind if I do! Kings of the Castle. So much to talk about! Ball-thrower extraordinaire! How did he do that? Just ease it in. Precision! Precision! The best fun of the whole day!

The title of Top Ten Pin Bowler has been decided for 2016.  Bethlehem members gathered at the lanes for the contest, which was hard fought by all in two tough games. Some great life-long rivalries were rediscovered.... ...and we saw some wonderful demonstrations of grace, style and skill (you know who you are) but there could only be one winner on the day (plus a "ladies" and a "junior"). Ian triumphed with a score of 236; Dawn carried off the ladies title with 168 and Steph, in the juniors, ended the day on an impressive 183. The day may remain long in some memories as "The Battle for Lone Pin".  The pain was shared by many but the struggle brought us together and next year we hope to gather again to remember.

We had a very little Sunday School class today, so we managed to have a bit of extra fun with our superhero-sized listening ears! The lesson was all about Samuel who heard a voice in the night. At first he thought it was Eli calling him, but Eli told him it was actually God speaking. Samuel went back to bed and said "Speak Lord, I am listening." And from then on, God spoke to Samuel many times and it was Samuel's very important job to tell the people everything that God had said. And in case you missed the news today, jump over to  www.waggawagga.lca.org.au  to see our church's new website.