from leadership
Reformation Day - Happy Birthday to the Lutheran Church
Today (I'm writing this on Wednesday) we celebrate Reformation Day - the birth of the Lutheran Church. We remember the remarkable life of Martin Luther.
Whilst the day may be foreign to many it is certainly significant for our church. Reformation Day recognises Martin Luther and other Christians who removed false doctrine and destructive practices from the Christian church during the 1500’s.
At the time, many clergy used fear as a tool to obtain money from poor and unsophisticated people. They told the people that they had to pay money to the church so that their sins and the sins of their families might be forgiven. The people bought pieces of paper called pardons and indulgences from the church to be confident that they would go to heaven when they died.
Luther was deeply disturbed by these and other abuses in the church. At the same time he was aware of his own sins and imperfections, and he tried very hard to make himself into a person that he thought God would like. Ironically, the harder he tried, the worse he felt. He thought he was growing further and further away from God, and that it was becoming impossible for God to like him at all.
In despair, he began a deep study of the Bible, especially the letters in the New Testament that were written by Paul, and he began to understand what Paul had told the early Christians over a thousand years before.
In his preaching and writing, Luther began to emphasize two main points: justification by faith and the priesthood of all believers.
Justification by faith means that Christians can never earn God's love or forgiveness. All that Christians must do is to accept God as God, and appreciate He will love and forgive them.
The priesthood of all believers means that every Christian has his or her own personal relationship with God, through reading the Bible and worshiping in his or her own language, and praying directly to God without anyone's going in between.
We give thanks to God for the Reformation and the opportunity to lead lives of faith, instead of lives of fear. The symbol of Luther and Lutherans everywhere is the Luther Rose.
David Wilksch
Thank you
A small yet passionate group of volunteers achieved stunning results at last Saturday’s busy bee at Williamstown, as we begin preparation for the M‘n’M 2019.
Thank you Matt Modra, Carl Heyne, Paul Kaesler, Cliff Kellogg, Bron Holliday and Peter Wilksch who managed to…
- prepare a site for the relocation of the shipping container previously used at school;
- receive the container and load it with M’n’M equipment;
- clean up and remove loose items that have ‘stockpiled’ over recent years;
- with chainsaws in hand, tend to a large tree that has become dangerous through termite infestation. A great deal of firewood and branches to be used for creative play back at school is the result; and
- slash / mow the entire site.
My sincere thanks for giving of your time to complete these tasks.
David Wilksch
Student absences
SCHOOL PROTOCOL: All student absences (sick days, holidays, appointments, etc) must be reported by the parent or caregiver directly to the school office.
Although clear and simple, miscommunication often occurs when we deviate from this process. The miscommunication can be embarrassing and frustrating for both parents and the school.
Often it’s our attempts to be generous and support one another that brings about challenges. Information might be shared with a teacher or other staff member, but in the busyness of school life, doesn’t always make its way to Sharon in the front office who manages these records and logs reasons for absences.
Whilst we appreciate and welcome communication with the classroom teacher, please in the first instance, provide this information to the front office. Many thanks.
David Wilksch
Creative Play
In the coming days the yard will be reset with a range of creative / nature play options for students’ free use during break times. Early next week the students will contribute to the development of guidelines to promote safety and respect at these activity sites. We’re excited, and know our students are keen to ‘start over’ and enjoy the gift of play spaces that really allow them to create and learn together.
The cooperation of parents and carers is important as we reintroduce these areas. The creative play areas that border the school oval are out-of-bounds after school, unless you are playing with and alongside your own child (supervision/observation from the playground is not OK).
After school as you chat and connect with other parents, your children are permitted to play on the southern end of the oval (OSHC, northern end) or the junior primary playground.
Thank you for helping us in this way.
David Wilksch
Darren, we celebrate with you - Invictus Gold!
Congratulation to school parent Darren Peters for the achievement of GOLD in the archery at the 4th Invictus Games. Well done Darren - we loved reading about and tracking your journey towards and through the games.
Find out more about Darren's success.
Fundraising for Junior Diabetes
Julian (2F) and his family (as well as Miss Frahn and Mrs Evans) spent last Sunday fundraising for Junior Diabetes by participating in the annual JDRF One Walk covering a distance of 4.6km along the Glenelg foreshore.
Congratulations on raising $4,790.40, which was way above your target!
Anyone wishing to donate to this cause, or read the story, is welcome to visit the fundraising page here.
Yet another achievement
Student achievements are worth celebrating, and another of our students has made her mark in a significant way.
Crystal (4L) represented SA at the Inline Hockey National Championships during the first week of the school holidays.
The under 11’s team, for which she was an alternate captain, finished the competition in 3rd place, receiving a bronze medal.
However, her biggest achievement to date is that she has now been selected to represent Australia as part of the Junior Women Development Australian Team (Inline Hockey) who will be competing in the 2019 AAU/Junior Olympics to be held in Hawaii next year.
As you can imagine, this is an extraordinary opportunity for Crystal and one which she is extremely proud of achieving, especially at such a young age. Well done Crystal!