Continuing German-speaking ministry at St John’s in Perth
St John’s Lutheran has been offering German-speaking worship services and ministry as part of their congregational work for decades.
The most recent leader of the German language services and ministry is Maria Rudolph, who graduated from ALC with a Bachelor of Theology and Ministry in 2021 and also happens to be a German native speaker. She was installed into this ministry role during regular Sunday morning worship at St John’s, Perth, on 13 March 2022. Maria has come into this role at just the right time!
‘I am finding as I minister to the German-speaking congregation members in Perth, the war in Ukraine has had a deep impact on the post-war migrants’, Maria says.
‘There is a profound need for prayer in this situation with people very alarmed that for the first time since the end of WWII, there is an extensive war on European soil again.
‘There is a deep need for extra pastoral care as people’s painful and suppressed wartime memories are surfacing. Experiences of daily trips into air raid bunkers, of fleeing the Russian army themselves, of the terrors of war, are resurfacing and causing nightmares and other traumatic symptoms in people who thought it was all in the past.
‘It is also important to think of the members of Russian and Belarusian origin at this time who mostly feel horrified by Putin and the Russian aggression and do not agree with the war at all. These people need to be shown extra love at this time.
‘Many elderly people of German descent can still recall the times of World War II when they were suddenly mistrusted and illtreated for being of German descent although they had nothing to do with Hitler fighting a war in faraway Germany. In fact, at that time, some Lutheran communities and congregations were targeted by fellow Australians simply because of their country of origin.
‘Times of war and conflict are always times we must go the extra mile to show inclusion, care and Christian love to all people. This promotes the gospel of peace we seek to proclaim in the face of trouble and violence.
‘In the German Christian community in Perth, we do this through extra prayer, lighting of candles and moments of silence during worship as well as through increased pastoral care with the members we know are struggling particularly during this time of war in Ukraine.’
