Christian Care Sunday Resource Launch

God’s love comes to life through care ministries every single day in our Lutheran congregations, aged-care and community services. This year, the LCANZ invites your congregation to celebrate this Christian care by setting aside one Sunday (or worshipping time) in your gathered community to acknowledge, bless and honour those people and organisations engaged in care work.

Whether this is visiting those isolated in their homes, providing meals for people in crisis, playgroups, kids clubs and youth groups for community interaction and a place to belong for children and care givers, right up to the running of residential care facilities, independent living villages and social work services – everyday people are providing care 365 days of the year.

The Christian Care Sunday project provides resources for congregations to celebrate the care roles and work, both formal and informal, of Lutheran church members and our employees in Lutheran aged-care and community services. You can get started today, by heading to www.lca.org.au/ccs to download the free resources and start planning your Christian Care Sunday celebration.

There are a range of free resources to support you, including intergenerational resources provided by Grow Ministries. Ready-to-Go worship services (on PowerPoint and as printable documents) are available for download, together with a Worship Planning Page liturgical resource with suggestions for songs, drama, visual arts, bible readings, prayers and spoken responses.

We hope this opportunity to reflect on, plan for and celebrate Christian care in your community reminds you of our inspiration and energy for all these neighbourly good deeds – it is because God loves us that we care.

The way we care for our neighbour transforms the world – why not celebrate these acts of kindness and compassion together with your church sometime soon!

Additional note for congregations:

If your church follows the Revised Common Lectionary, 31 October 2021 is a wonderful time to celebrate Christian Care Sunday, as the reading for the day is the story of the Good Samaritan – the story Jesus told when he was asked “Who is my neighbour?”. Jesus reminds us in Luke 10: 27-28 that our calling as Christians is to love – God and our neighbours – and as the LCANZ we commit to being a place ‘where love comes to life’.

If you would like any help planning your Christian Care Sunday celebration, you can be assisted by the Project Officer, Anna Kroehn (anna.kroehn@lca.org.au). You can give your feedback on the resources and share your celebration stories by filling out the feedback form at https://forms.office.com/r/vTQGknzPbM.