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| Advantages of Visiting People in a Parish We submit the following as a report on our visit to Lekubu Lutheran Parish in South Africa as an encouragement and model for congregations of the East Central Synod of Wisconsin to visit their sister parish in the Western Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa . The blessing and benefit of this trip was entirely the work of Almighty God and the amazing presence of God in and through the people of Lekubu. Please recognize that Lekubu is no ordinary parish. Lekubu has a member serving in the South African Parliament, a retired couple who was the first exchange pastor sent to Germany 30 years ago, and a dozen members who work as teachers or administrators in the public school system and who use English regularly. Most parishes will not have the interest, experience, and ability of Lekubu, but we pray our experience can serve as an example for what can be possible. Advantages of Congregation-Parish Visits While visits to the Western Diocese and their visits to our Synod have been very helpful and necessary to begin and maintain this Companion Synod relationship, we want to lift up the advantages we saw in our visit to our sister parish: • We had significant interaction with the same people over a two week period so that we were able to begin moving beyond politeness and acquaintance into a caring friendship. Is not this the heart of companionship – not to simply know about but to actually care about a specific people and place? • We were immersed in the life and culture of one village getting to know them and their culture more deeply. • Entering deeply into the life of a congregation in such a different setting stirs the mind deeply to consider what is Christianity, what is culture , and where is it necessary to support, challenge, or change the culture. • A sister congregation-parish relationship carries a sense of long-term commitment and accountability. This is evident in the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis that they prepared for us. This creates an atmosphere and perspective that being the church is not simply a matter of pleasing ourselves (our local congregation), but that others are watching and learning from us so that we are called and accountable to be a healthy, ministering congregation in our immediate locality; to be faithful in the proclamation of the Word and administration of the Sacraments; and to be involved in learning and growing with others. • Projects, support, and interactions are likely to grow out of this relationship. This visit helped to establish understanding, trust, mutuality and appropriateness to any such projects. • A visit can take this relationship past the point of being dependent on the whim and interest of the pastors so that it becomes a commitment and act of the people of the congregation.
Clarification of Sister-Congregation Relationship with the Diocese The four of us met briefly with Bishop Ditlhale and more indepth with the Executive Secretary and the Assistant Treasurer of the Synod. We learned: • We observed that the Diocese has a huge administrative task with the Diocese, the Centre and Camp Marang. We also wondered at the amount of time and resources we were taking from the Bishop and Diocese staff. It was entirely different at Lekubu. There we felt our time was mutually rewarding, the experience directly relevant, and we saw many possibilities for our ongoing relationship. • The Diocese officers appear open to whatever we choose to do in the congregation-parish relationship as long as we keep the Diocese informed and send any money through them. This increases the accountability since the Diocese will also insist the money is used by the parish as designated. Pastor's salaries and many congregational projects are paid by the Diocese so that this system is well in place.
These are an amazing people! Their spirit and the Holy Spirit's work in them deeply touched us, we learned much from observing the grasp Christian faith has on them, and we are united in a deeper bond and understanding of the oneness of the church in Jesus Christ. Our language, traditions, and lifestyles differ in many ways, but the unity in Jesus Christ is far greater. Representatives of Grace Lutheran Church, Tomahawk - back - |