Welcome to Wodonga Lutheran Parish
Welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to having you worship with us!
Looking for a new church home? Talk to any congregation member about your questions, concerns or comments. Also, please feel free to contact the Pastor or call the church office at (02) 6024 7072. Facilities are Handicapped accessible.
More Information Here you will find details of our Parish, our people and activities.If you cannot find the information you are looking for, please contact us.
Holy Week Services - 2019
Holy Week is a very special and sacred time in the Church year, in which Christians all over the world remember and celebrate the last week of Jesus' earthly life. There are many different ways of remembering and celebrating.
"Holy Week is really a season within a season: an intense final week of the Lenten fast in which the final days in the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth are played out in the reality of the present moment." -- Richard Giles, Times and Seasons.
Maundy Thursday
On this day, Christians remember that last night of Jesus' life. Services often revolve around the celebration of the Passover turned Last Supper. On this night, Jesus and his closest friends and disciples celebrated the Passover, an event which celebrated freedom from Egyptian slavery 1600 years before, at a time when the Jewish people lived under Roman oppression. It was a very appropriate but dangerous time to celebrate freedom! Jesus takes two of the food items of the Passover meal, unleavened bread and wine, and gives them new meaning and significance. Jesus encourages his followers to see the bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood, which would be violently taken from him the next day.
Many Christian services this day celebrate Eucharistic hospitality as a way to remember that last night Jesus spent with his friends and disciples.
On this day, Christians are reminded that we too are called to participate in the renewing of our relationship with God and each other and with the world in which we live. We are also called to live as people who are set free from guilt and shame and oppression and violence.
Wodonga Lutheran Parish will be celebrating Maundy Thursday at St John's on Thursday, April 18 at 7:00 pm.
Good Friday
This is a day on which Christians remember Jesus' death by crucifixion. In the Roman world, crucifixion was reserved for those who resisted the Roman presence in the Holy Land and its ideologies. Many tens of thousands of people died in this terribly painful way. Good Friday is called 'good' not because Jesus died, but because of what we experience of grace, forgiveness, joy, peace and love, as a result of that death. Services are often solemn reminders that standing up for one's faith and for the integrity of one's beliefs can sometimes lead to persecution...even death. Wodonga Lutheran Parish will be celebrating Good Friday on April 19 at 8:30 a.m. at St Mark's and 10:30 a.m. at St John's.
Easter Sunday
Easter is probably the most holy day and celebration of the Christian religion, with Christmas as a close second. On this day, Christians celebrate the resurrection, Jesus' overcoming the finality and the confines of death. Different Christians understand the events of this day in different ways with different theological perspectives and meanings. However, this day represents newness of life to all Christians, regardless of their perspective.
Easter is a day to celebrate God's emphatic 'yes' to us all, and God's emphatic 'no' to those things which keep us from understanding and experiencing our fullest potential as people of faith. We celebrate, joyfully, that we are loved by a God of radical grace and acceptance! Wodonga Lutheran Parish will be celebrating Easter on Sunday, April 21 with a Sunrise Service at Sumsion Gardens at 06:00 am, Holy Communion at St Mark's Yackandandah at 08:30 a.m. and Holy Communion at St John's Wodonga at 10:30 a.m.
You are most welcome to join us for any and all of these services!
May the peace, joy, love, grace and hope of the Easter season be with you and with all those you love today and everyday!
News from the Lutheran Church of Australia
Bishop John Henderson - The Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Australia issues a periodic Heartland News and this can be viewed by following this link and reading on-line Heartland eNews focussing on Annunciation.
Lutheran Church of Australia - The national body of the Lutheran Church continues to support our local Parishes and Churches. To see what is going on take a look at the latest eNews by following this link and reading on-line LCA eNews for 20 March 2019.
LCA International Mission - Global Partners - Local Church seeks to follow our Lord in His mission to the ends of the earth to make disciples of all nations. We partner with, support and resource local people in mission. LCA International Mission newsletter and February Prayer Calendar 15 February 2019.
LCA Ministry with the Ageing - As part of the Board for Local Missions our vision is seeing care for the ageing as a significant and flourishing ministry of the church. LCA Ministry for the Ageing newsletter for 14 February 2019.
LCA Grow Ministries - Grow Ministries - exists to support a national vision for children, youth and family ministry in the LCA. LCA Grow Ministries newsletter for 28 February 2019 On Your Ears.