The fittingly named “Hochkirche” in Tarrington, Victoria.
Well, how about this? I’m doing a bit of research on the net to find out about the burial places of my ancestors, and (Lo and Behold!) I find this German website with nifty pictures of a lot of Australian Lutheran “country” churches. Josh has just been talking about these wonderful buildings which he encountered on his recent trip to the Barossa Valley. Now you can get an eyeful too.
I propose that
1) We replace the absentee monarch of Australia (who is also the Monarch of Great Britain) with an elected Australian monarchy.
2) The elected monarch exactly replaces the current monarch in the current constition.
3) The elected monarch has exactly the same powers, duties and responsibilities as those of the current absentee monarch. All the monarch's functions are carried out by his/her personal representatives (as is currently the case): federally by the Governor General, and in the states by the State Governors.
4) The Governor General and the Governors continue to be selected and appointed as they currently are, that is, by the premier with the approval of the monarch.
5) The monarch is elected to sovereignty over Australia for life, but his/her sovereignty is strictly non-hereditary.
6) The elective body is the "college of electors" comprised of the state governors and federal governor general.
7) The election of the monarch must be a unanimous decision on the part of the college of electors.
I was pastor of this congregation from 2008-2010. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was there when these German folk came and took this picture, It’s a beautiful church inside as ell, very Anglican in ambience, and a wonderful pulpit to preach from. All built on the sheep’s back, of course (in 1926).
I was pastor of this congregation from 2008-2010
Of course you were!
Yes, we had to return to Queensland for family reasons, otherwise I’d still happily be there pastoring the good folk at Tarrington and Warrayure.
where is Tarrington.In the Wimmera ?
and Christine you have me intrigued are you originally an Aussie or came and stayed over here for a while.
Matthias,
Tarrington is a village 6 kms east of Hamilton, 80kms roughly north-west of Warrnambool, in the heart of the best wool growing country in Australia. Lately they’ve taken to cropping since the winters aren’t so wet, but previously it was too wet to grow crops – an unusual problem to have in Australia! Tarrington was settled by Germans and formerly called Hochkirche until 1918, when it was re-named after a local landmark estate. Interestingly, the village was home to a German printing press which used to produce books and church reports for the wider Australian German Lutheran community until the press was moved to Adelaide to become an integral part of the early Lutheran Publishing House. Interesting that these early Lutheran pioneers could scratch together enough resources for such an endeavour, whereas now the Lutheran Church of Australia apparently can’t find enough money to produce a desperately needed new hymnal and service book, let alone to produce good Lutheran resources for its congregations. Sigh!
Thank you Pastor and Christine for your replies .
The LCA cannot find money for a new hymnnal ? Goodness gracious me to quote a well known Qld lutherna politician of yesteryear. Pray God that they do not use anything out of Hillsong-Hymns Awful and Murdered.
Christine regarding the Mennonites ,Stephen Nolt professor of history at Goshen College in Indiana,may be able to point you in the direction of your Mennonite ancestors. He along with two other Mennonite scholars -Donald Kraybill and David Weaver- Zercher -,wrote an excellent book around the shootings at the Nickel Mines West school ,entitled AMISH GRACE
Makes me wonder again which German Lutheran church my mom, sister and I attended when we lived in Mildura.
I’ll have to see if my mom kept any records in her personal papers.
I am glad that Ebenezer Mission is on this list ,and can someone clarify for me that this Mission was in fact a Moravian outreach initially? If it is then what has happened to any other Moravians who came to australia? Did they become Lutherans in fact
and Christine you have me intrigued are you originally an Aussie or came and stayed over here for a while.
Hi Matthias,
No, I am originally German-born, Bavarian specifically. My mom’s people were Lutherans who left Salzburg, Austria for East Prussia and my dad’s people came from the German state of Hessen and settled in Bavaria.
Along with many other German families we immigrated to Australia in the early 1950’s, living first in Mildura and then Adelaide. For a nature-loving kid like me seeing the flora and fauna of Australia was awesome, not to mention the beautiful beaches which I still miss. I enjoyed our three years there very much, after which time my dad got a good job offer in the U.S. and off we went again. I’ve lived in Idaho, Pennsylvania and New York.
So, even though my first language was German I learned English in the Australian schools! That’s why I still have a fondness for the Queen!
I am also curious about the Moravians, as I recall there were also some Mennonites on my mom’s side of the family. My dad’s side is Roman Catholic.
Christine