New premises for the Lutheran church
Preaching from the gospel of John, the Bishop called on the congregation to be a source of God's love to the community.
WITH the 750-seater church crammed to capacity and at least another 50 members preparing lunch in tents, the dedication of the new Lutheran Church building in Birdswood took place on Sunday.
The service started with a procession around the building, led by Bishop Phembukuthula Buthelezi and the 32 pastors of the Lutheran church who were present, as was the Catholic priest.
After that a memorial plaque next to the entrance was unveiled by the bishop, who then officially dedicated the church and once indoors blessed the altar, pulpit and baptismal font.
Preaching from the gospel of John, the Bishop called on the congregation to be a source of God’s love to the community.
After the choir sung, the official service ended with Holy Communion.
A number of VIPs were introduced and welcomed, including uMhlathuze Deputy Mayor Vera Gumbi, Bishop PP Buthelezi, M. Schultheiss (representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission from Germany), retired Pastor PG Braun also from Germany, Greg Hendricks from TJ Architects and Rob Shepherd from Unicorn Sholoza, who helped greatly in the construction.
Speeches were made by M Schultheiss – representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission from Germany, who had sponsored R268 000 towards the building cost; Pastor Joe Lüdemann of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in South Africa; and Pastor PG Braun.
Deputy Mayor Gumbi thanked Rev Gensicke and the Richards Bay Lutheran congregation for building ‘such a beautiful church’ and extended greetings from the uMhlathuze municipality.
