Vale Pastor Tim Jaensch

Pastor Tim’s Funeral
by Bishop Paul Smith

On Saturday 30 March, friends, family and colleagues of Tim and Sue Jaensch and their family, gathered at St John’s Lutheran Church, Corinda to commend Pastor Tim, LCAQD President Emeritus into the everlasting arms of our Good Shepherd, Jesus. Those who attended have widely attested that the funeral was certainly a “Tim Jaensch” kind of “hope-filled” event, with celebration of the Lord’s promise of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

The core text for Pastor Paul Thiele’s funeral sermon was Romans 8, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Tim gave a good account of the hope within him and proved himself a faithful servant in his call to preach the good news of life and salvation through the work of Jesus on the cross. We pray for Tim’s family: his wife Sue and their children and grandchildren and the extended family, as they grieve.

Following is a tribute written by Kathy Matuschka, who serves as our LCAQD Assistant Ministry and Mission Director. Kathy is also a member and leader amongst the people of the Good News Congregation at Middle Park, where Pastor Tim and Sue have worshipped since Tim’s formal retirement.

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A Tribute to Tim Jaensch, mentor and friend
by Kathy Matuschka

My reflections of Tim centre on the past six years, when Tim retired and settled fully into membership at Good News, Middle Park.

Tim Jaensch embodied the love, joy and peace of Jesus, his friend, whether in his ‘on time’ as a pastor, or his ‘off time’ as a brother, husband, father, grandfather, train-lover, craftsman, musician or friend.

According to his brothers, he was an encourager from the start, delighting in others’ creativity and success. Tim also shared his advice and wisdom … but only if you asked for it. As I found my feet as a lay reader at Good News, Tim was there to appreciate and commend me, well before I believed for myself that I was doing well.

Tim invested in the generations to follow, whether sitting peacefully in the middle of the band playing his guitar, engaging children through his children’s talks or in casual conversation, or spending time with his family. In his retirement, while he enjoyed the space to create his model village, his delight in sharing it with his grandchildren and asking their advice for future developments, seemed to be the bee’s knees for him.

We will grieve the joy of seeing Sue and Tim side by side. Their love for each other was so radiant that it provided warmth, light and shelter for those nearby.

At Tim’s funeral last Saturday, Pastor Paul Thiele began his address by reminiscing about Tim, and finished by speaking about Jesus. As Tim’s life had become so hidden in Christ, I hardly noticed the transition!

Dear Jesus, thank you for people like Tim, who embody your love so profoundly. Thank you for those stories like Tim’s that reach the public eye and for those others that are recorded in our hearts and minds. Amen.