Church & school reconnect
From door-to-door there are just 50 steps separating Langmeil Thanksgiving Church and Faith Lutheran College Junior Campus in Tanunda. So when contemplating a name for the church’s outreach initiative to reconnect with the school community, 50 Steps seemed the perfect choice.
Established 175 years ago, the school was started by the pioneering Langmeil Lutheran Church. Reconnecting through the 50 Steps initiative has felt ‘like something of a homecoming’ for many of the participants says Sid Wrangles, 50 Steps coordinator.
“Many of the volunteers involved in the outreach are actually ex-teachers and some of them are in fact the school’s alumni. Most of us are in the 65-plus age group, but present as energised and useful veterans, working across intergenerational lines.”
A pool of around ten 50 Steps volunteers from the church are ‘on-call’ for various school activities, providing practical support and building relationships with the school community. From helping the youngest students learn to use knives safely in their Home Economics class, to taking part in creative endeavours like woodwork, German instruction, music, gardening and puppet making during the school’s end-of-term ‘Faith Time’ group, the volunteers have their work cut out for them. Assisting at the school’s Safe Cycling day was a recent highlight (with Sid making an appearance as ‘Professor Puncture’ to induct students into the ‘ancient art of puncture repair’!), as well as being invited to lead school assemblies, and presenting students with their first Bibles.
“It has been a pleasure helping the students grow into the next generation of Barrosans that love to make, create and sing,” says Sid. “The students really seem to appreciate our grandparental profile in the school and love to tell us their stories, opinions and hopes for the future.”
The connection between the school and church has given the congregation the opportunity to relocate their intergenerational service, known as ‘Fuel’, to the school’s Harvest Centre. Sid says it’s been great to see a number of Faith students attend the service, with a post-church sausage sizzle an opportunity to meet their families.
“For our volunteers and congregation it felt as though our church was coming home, and we were completing a circle that started over a century and a half ago. We are looking forward to what God does next.”
Photo courtesy Faith Lutheran College
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