My first column as the new pastor of St Johns Southgate

My name is James Winderlich and I serve as the new Pastor at St Johns Lutheran Church, Southgate. St Johns Pastors have enjoyed a long association with the Southbank News, and I am grateful for the opportunity to regularly contribute. 

I love seeing diverse people and their communities thrive, and I want to be a part of that happening at Southbank.

Together with our dog Oscar, my wife and I moved to live and serve at Southbank earlier this year. Since then, we have soaked up so much of what this beautiful and vibrant setting, which has been faithfully cared for by the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation for millennia, offers with its diverse sights and sounds, scents and flavours, and rich human and animal encounters. Oscar, a 15-year-old corgi cavalier cross, is already known to some of you through our regular walks along Birrarung and Southbank Promenade. 

St Johns has been part of the Southbank story since 1861. Our original community was located not far from our current site, which is now at 20 City Rd, where we are nestled between the HWT building, Quay West Suites and the Southbank Apartments. We believe that St Johns, with its physical resources, exists to benefit the wider community and we look for ways to do that. We want to value and celebrate the diverse and interconnected lives of the people who we share Southbank with. 

We are offering a special event on October 6 to give thanks for and bless the animal companions who share our spaces. Oscar and I meet some of those life-enriching companions on our walks. Included in this are also the wild companions who naturally fill our urban space, such as our city’s significant bird life. I can’t imagine a day without their presence. 

Within the Judeo-Christian tradition animals are not only regarded for their material and functional benefits but they are also regarded as kin. We share common and sacred stories with animals, and the general health, emotional and social benefits of lives with animal companions are well attested. What special regard do your own faith and reasoning traditions have for animals?

The October 6 event will happen in two parts. St Johns will hold its regular church service at 9am. This service will include a special focus on the goodness that God provides to human lives through animals, both wild and as companions. The service is open to people who would like to attend with their special companions, but we also acknowledge that this might not suit everyone. So, at 10.15am we will move to the lower courtyard where we will briefly celebrate, give thanks for and bless our animal companions. The lower courtyard is at the 20 City Rd level, immediately outside of St Johns main entrance. As you participate, we ask that you adequately attend to your own wellbeing, your animal’s wellbeing, and give appropriate consideration to the other people and animals who will be there. 

I love my Southbank home with its rich culture, stories and traditions. I love seeing people and their communities thrive in this place. Join me on October 6 to thank God for the special creatures who contribute so much to that thriving. •