Cleve Lutheran Parish celebrates 60 years
The Cleve Lutheran Parish celebrated its 60th anniversary since the amalgamation of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia (UELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia (ELCA) in 1966 on the last weekend in March.
The weekend started with a sold-out and brilliant ‘Kick off ya Boots’ dinner, film and interaction with cast members. The crowd were involved and totally engaged. John Gladigau (director, playwright and cast member) spoke before and after the film, along with cast member Dr Peter Hamilton, who played Harry. They shared about the importance of Mental Health and wellbeing, communication, looking out for one another and the Conversation Cards featured in the story and on the dinner tables.
Sunday was celebrated with a delicious pancake breakfast in the Lutheran Church Hall. People came along to join in not only the celebration of Palm Sunday but also to celebrate the amalgamation of the two Lutheran Churches 60 years earlier.
The Cleve Uniting Church along with many other visitors joined in with the celebrations. A Palm Procession led the festivities that marked Palm Sunday. Pastor Stephen Schultz, the Acting Bishop of the LCANZ brought the readings of the day to life. A rite of thanksgiving was shared, giving thanks for those dedicated to the service of God, and the many blessings within the parish realising that Jesus Christ is the foundation of it all. Wonderful music added to the celebration with keyboard, recorder, guitar and vocals.
After a beautiful morning tea, the crowd gathered again to recap the full history of the parish and its humble beginnings. Crossville, Yadnarie and Yabmana Churches history was all spoken of along with that of Cleve, Cowell and Lock who make up the current Cleve Parish. Many facts were learnt, including that Pastor Christoph Stolz was interned to a Prisoner of War camp in Sydney with the thought that he was a German spy! In the early years, a minister would come up on the train, staying with parishioners along the way. In the even earlier years, some rode a push bike!
The Cleve Parish Hall was built in 1960 and was the place of worship for the next six years. Cleverly, they left an area for the church to be built which happened around the same time as the amalgamation of the UELCA and the ELCA. At this time our new pastor, Dr Ivan Wittwer arrived.
The Cleve Fauna Park and kindergartens at both Cleve and Cowell were examples of Pastor Wittwer’s passions within the church and local community. Since then, Pastors Graham Jenke, Matthew Eckermann, Steven Jaensch, Ron Buchold and Keith McNicol have led the parish, which is currently in vacancy.
A celebration cake, made and iced by Anne Siviour, was cut by Pastor Stephen Schultz, Parish Chair Anne Siviour and the Congregational Chairs Carl Jaeschke (Cowell), Michael Zacher (Lock) and Tony Zwar (Cleve). A bountiful lunch was served for all those able to stay with much reminiscing and many more stories and adventures shared. Various books and albums prepared for the day were appreciated by all. A slideshow was also played on loop that highlighted the many blessings our congregations and Parish have received.
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