Inside this Issue - Redeemer Lutheran College

Chaplain’s Column
College Council Leadership
The College Council of Redeemer, like the P & F, is one of those
bodies staffed by volunteers.
With Mr Col Vietheer’s retirement from the role of Chair at the
end of last year, Mr Ross Warbrooke was elected as the seventh
College Council Chair. Ross Warbrooke attains the position of
Chair following a decade of service to Redeemer’s Council with,
God willing, many more years to come. Ross Warbrooke is a
parent of the College and a highly respected, active member of
the Lutheran Church.
Welcome Hub
Redeemer’s wonderful Chapel has served the college and Our
Saviour Lutheran Church for a decade. The Chapel is not only a
spiritual focal point for both communities, it is a highly utilised
facility for mass gatherings of all kinds and to this end it is one
of the college’s greatest assets. In partnership with Our Saviour
Lutheran Church, Redeemer is seeking to enhance the Chapel’s
serviceability so that its benefit to both communities, in the
future will be outstanding as it has been in the past decade.
This project is about providing better catering and amenities, this
project will substantially benefit the youth ministries of both Our
Saviour Lutheran Church and the college. It will likewise benefit
Redeemer’s promotional and community building programs such as
Grandparents Days and Awareness Day, to name but two of many.
Our Saviour Lutheran Church will oversee an appeal for this project
and take responsibility for any construction loan that may be
required. We look forward to this development and the blessings
that it will add to the Redeemer – Our Saviour partnership.
Our Changing Educational Paradigm
In the last twelve months government initiatives have brought
tremendous blessing to Redeemer, specifically the Multi-Purpose
Centre and the School Pride projects.
As indicated in the media, government initiatives in education at
both the State and Federal levels continue to be rolled out at a
revolutionary pace. With Australian Curriculum (formally National
Curriculum) upon us as well as the Kindergarten and Year 7 in
to High School initiatives, Redeemer’s curriculum planners and
managers are being kept very busy. These developments, as in
all Queensland schools, will have a major impact on the college
in the next few years, and Redeemer will embrace these changes
as necessary.
Redeemer however must remain true to its educational values and
to this end through this period of rapid change we will continue to
endeavour to deliver the curriculum using processes that embrace
the individuality of each student, while challenging them to reach
as high as they are able with the talents that they have been
blessed with, always to the service of others as modelled by Christ.
Mr David Radke
Principal
Unless God Builds It...
For 30 years Redeemer has been well
served by its building and grounds.
We today enjoy an extremely beautiful
and pleasant campus. This year we are
adding to the buildings again. Buildings
exist to support communities and not
communities to serve buildings. We see
this in two of the new buildings this
year. The Multi-Purpose Centre provides
another large meeting space, as well
as undercover area, sporting venue and meeting place for the
community. The new ‘Welcome Hub’ addition to the Chapel
is also designed to increase the facility of Redeemer’s most
distinctive building. It adds the room and facilities to support
the community gathering around the events of the chapel.
Both of these additions to our landscape however will only be
the place of community, they will not be community itself.
They can support and enable the life that we will share
together, but they cannot create it.
Of course, Redeemer does not lack for healthy community.
Redeemer has a reputation for a strong caring and supportive
ethos. We strive to be a place where all can find a place and
experience support, along with excellent teaching. But even
more, as a Christian school, Redeemer recognises that we need
more than good buildings, or even good human community
or skilled education. To really achieve what we desire, we need
the presence of God. Psalm 127 says, “Unless the Lord builds
the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Without the divine
grace, we cannot be what we want to be. Indeed the best of
human community only comes from the presence of God and
a people who live out the character of God.
“
Redeemer has a reputation for a strong
caring and supportive ethos. We strive to
be a place where all can find a place and
experience support, along with excellent
teaching.
”
King David wanted to build a ‘house’ for the Lord, but God told
him that he would rather build a ‘house’ (the Hebrew word also
means ‘household’) for David. David wanted a building for God,
but God wanted to create a community for David. In this 30th year
of Redeemer we continue to pray that God will build a community
for us. For the last 10 years the chapel has helped us to put God
at the centre of life here at Redeemer. If our dreams are realised,
the Welcome Hub will serve his mission among us, God will
continue to build us as a community with himself at the centre.
God bless
Pastor Matt Thomas
Chaplain
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