Sowing the seeds for God’s mission

The dynamics of our congregation at Immanuel Lutheran Church in the rural town of Kadina in South Australia have changed. While our numbers are increasing, we don’t have a youth or family presence like we used to.

But having been awarded a Local Mission Seed Project Fund grant by the LCANZ, we now have the opportunity to reach out to those who have not heard the good news of Jesus, as well as to those who have heard it but put it away.

Inspired by an article in the June-July 2024 edition of The Lutheran about the Local Mission Fund, our congregation met for discussion after church one Sunday. We acknowledged the urgent need to act and considered possible mission ventures. A small committee committed to review suggested options and put an application together for a grant.

We noted that in the 2021 Census statistics for our Copper Coast region on Yorke Peninsula, 8,707 persons – or 58 per cent of the total population – did not identify with any religion. There were 356 people who indicated they were ‘Lutheran’, yet our communicant membership is 106. Where are the other 250? The potential harvest in both areas is large!

The consensus was to invite New Zealand evangelist Ian McCormack who, similar to Saint Paul, had a glimpse of eternity and was given a second chance at life. While Ian had considered himself an atheist, he is now an ordained minister and preacher for Jesus and has spoken in more than 60 countries worldwide. From an earlier approach by one of our members, Ian advised he was happy to come and speak at Kadina and in the Copper Coast region.

Our aim in asking Ian to visit and share his testimony is to attract unbelievers, people who have doubts, those who wonder if there really is life after death or what life is about and those who consider themselves to be atheists. We are extending invitations via a bulk Australia Post mail out and using local television, newspaper and social media. The venues will be the three town halls of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo. Ian has also agreed to speak at Maitland Lutheran School and Harvest Christian College in Kadina.

We have invited the other Copper Coast Christian churches who are part of the local inter-church fellowship, to join with our outreach. Their response has been very positive.

Pastor Jeremy Smith is doing a great job in proclaiming the gospel to our congregation. We pray that our outreach program will also help bring this message to many more in our community.

Our follow-up is a key priority for us so that people will:

• Feel welcome in our church
• Get to know who Jesus is
• Experience what the love of God means
• Come to faith in Jesus as their Saviour.

We are also working with other local churches to host an Alpha course, which introduces participants to the core principles of the Christian faith, as the basis for this follow-up. Pastor Stephen Schultz, the LCANZ’s Assistant Bishop and the SA District’s Assistant Bishop for Mission, has also agreed to conduct a mission workshop at our church in early March to help us with our preparation.

Our outreach meetings are scheduled for early May this year. We seek God’s help in our preparation, our planning, our fine-tuning and to overcome the challenges that may face us.

One unexpected challenge has been that Ian has had a scheduled surgery he was due to undergo in December postponed. However, he remains committed to coming and speaking and reassured us that, ‘our lives are in God’s hands, not doctors or hospitals’. Ian is a man of great faith, and we too must grow in our faith!

Our members are excited by this mission venture and thank the LCANZ for making the Local Mission Fund grants available. Please pray with us that through it, the Lord would bring many people into the saving grace of Jesus.

John Meier is the Local Mission Seed Project Fund coordinator for Immanuel Lutheran Church, Kadina. South Australia.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Kadina was one of 10 congregations that received grants through the inaugural round of the LCANZ’s Local Mission Fund. The fund has been established to help congregations, districts and agencies as they seek new ways of reaching their neighbours and their local communities with the gospel. Expressions of interest for 2026 grants will open in mid-2025. Click here for more information.