02 Botany
Botany Lutheran Church
Beyond inadequacy to Christ’s sufficiency
Our report to the 42nd Convention of Synod (2023) concluded with two questions:
- What does the future look like?
- What do you think God might be up to next?”
Botany Lutheran Church has reached two significant milestones in 2025:
- March 2 – We relocated to Botany, using the Chapel of St Columba Presbyterian Church for our regular Sunday worship and ministry.
- April 6 – Pastor Mark Tung was ordained as a pastor by Bishop Paul Smith and installed as a Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) for Botany Lutheran Church by Bishop Richard Schwedes.
We thank God for these ‘mustard seeds’ moments, which can further strengthen and enable its ministry.
Pastor Mark Tung writes:
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus! It has been a rich and meaningful season for our church community. I want to briefly share a few highlights and some thoughts for the months ahead.
- Ordination Celebration – 6th April
By God’s grace, the ordination/installation service took place on April 6th. It was a truly joyful and moving day, marked by the presence and support of fellow pastors and members from across LCANZ congregations, as well as visitors from Taiwan. Thank you to everyone who prayed, served, and celebrated with us. It was not only a personal milestone but a moment of affirmation for the mission and future of Botany Lutheran Church. - Daily Bible Reading Podcast – Gospel of Luke
I continue to produce daily Bible reading podcast, available in both Chinese and English. The current series through the Gospel of Luke has provided rich spiritual nourishment and encouraged deeper personal devotion among listeners. - Future Outreach and Ministry Vision
Looking ahead, we are praying and preparing for new outreach initiatives to connect with families in our local community. Two areas we are developing:
- Chinese language classes for young children
- Conversational English classes for Chinese migrants
- Holiday Programs for young children
These ministries aim to build bridges of friendship and faith with the community we aim to reach, and we hope they will open new doors for sharing the Gospel. Additionally, we are exploring the possibility of holding an end-of-year family camp, should we welcome two or three new families into our church life. Please join us in praying for growth and for God’s leading in this season of outreach and planting.
In closing, thank you for your continued love, service, and prayers. Let us press on together, encouraged by Christ’s love and the hope of His Kingdom.
Pastor’s wife as a unique calling – Patsy Chen
On 28–30 March 2025, Botany Lutheran Church (Patsy Chen) and Mountainside Lutheran Church (Julie Kitchen) co-hosted the LCNZ Pastor Wives Retreat at St Francis Retreat Centre in Auckland. The theme, Connect with God, encouraged pastors’ wives from across New Zealand to pause, rest, and be refreshed in God’s presence. Through Scripture, prayer, and heartfelt sharing, we reflected on how to pray, hear God’s voice, and overcome distractions. The peaceful setting provided space to recharge spiritually and emotionally. Deep bonds were formed, and a strong sense of unity blossomed. We left renewed, supported, and strengthened in our unique calling as pastor’s spouses.
Personally, becoming a pastor’s wife is a significant life change moment. The retreat offers a valuable space for reflection, support, and encouragement as women navigate this unique calling together.
When you lead or attend a small church – David Pang, Chairperson
Botany Lutheran Church’s goal is to grow a healthy congregation that can sustain itself as it fulfils the ministry of the Great Commission. In leading and attending a small church, we have learned the following:
- Do ministry without a building. Doing ministry without the burden of the cost of a building is particularly liberating. As a portable church – renting venues and facilities – we enjoy the flexibility of a strategic, cost-effective way of establishing a new presence in a new location and reach out to the community immediately, which previously would take months and years.
- Make every Sunday special. As a small church, Sunday gathering for worship, sermons, and table-fellowship is at the heart of the church life. Planning as many ‘Easter’ Sundays as possible in the ministry calendar can build forward-looking momentum.
- Ministry plans are written in pencil. Growing a small church is a journey that requires commitment, vision, and strategic action. It is a pathway that holds the promise of transformation and revitalisation for the church. Sustaining high learning agility and ministry adaptability is critical here. Often, the next steps, even if it is just making a minor change, can make a difference for the congregation to remain motivated and enthusiastic about the journey ahead.
- Narrow your ministry options. How much a small church can do is measured by human, financial and other resources. You can still dream big and have big visions but they need to be laser focused and do a few important things pivotal to making things viable.
- The past is formative. Botany’s journey has been marked with ups and downs, more downs than ups to be honest. But the past must be formative – lessons learned rather than ‘more of the same’ for the future. Mark 2:22 is instructive: And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. The wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine needs new wineskins (NLT).
- Change is constant. Pastors and church leaders will face many “Who moved my pulpit?” moments when retiring outdated modes and models of ministry. Contestation of ideas is normal. Some people are, by nature, contrarians. But “Be prepared!” like Scout Masters would normally say. How do you engage in change and grow the church amidst ministry conflict? What do you do when plans go awry? How do you prepare the stakeholders to make wise and future-oriented decisions?
- Waiting is not wasting. Trust in God’s timing. Understanding the times and know what to do make us better strategic thinkers (1 Chronicles 12:32). Too often we miss our Lord’s perfect timing because we want Him to act in our favour immediately. The Psalmist reminds us of the importance of patience and perseverance in challenging times. “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalm 130: 5.
- Doing ministry is a marathon rather than a sprint. Let’s be clear, there is no ready-made formula for growing your church. Here is a stark choice: Do you want to go faster or farther? If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go – African proverb.
- “When ministry becomes a yoke too hard to bear!” It has been said that empty pews are a pastor’s weekly health care crisis. Erik Braunack-Mayer, a pastor in a declining rural church in Australia asked, “Why is ministry so hard?” “How do I remain upbeat and inspired, while watching my little rural congregations slowly (or rapidly) die? (The Lutheran Journal, Vol 52 No 1, May 2018).
Weighted down by the ‘empty pew’ syndrome is common among mainstream and small churches in urban settings too. ‘They are growing. We’re not.’ Many pastors and church leaders are preoccupied with ‘How can we do the same, too!’
A pastor describes the challenges of pastoring and growing a church graphically: Ministry is done in the trenches. But that’s not your job alone! Faithfulness is the key. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV). By focusing on faithfulness releases you from the constant mental anguish of the outcome. - God is still working in and through the church. Keep Christ at the centre of your mission. The real strategic church builder is Christ himself: “I will build my church.” Matthew 16:18. Constant conversation around vision-mission is critical to clarity and alignment of plans, programmes and activities in uncertain times. More importantly, it can strengthen the longevity of commitment, and, therefore, the church, to the Great Commission and Great Commandment.
Awakening & Stepping out on faith: Lord, teach us to pray!
- Is God big enough for our doubts and challenges?
- What needs to be done to keep the kingdom-minded ministry in full view – from Future-focused to Future-ready?
- Are you finding renewal in the rhythms of challenging circumstances?
The Apostle Paul’s prayer for spiritual growth (Doxology) offers us all assurance and encouragement:
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Botany Lutheran Church,
April 2025
Financial reports
Botany: https://lca.box.com/shared/static/ec1ka9nflwsvg0gz0to00ll7r44e4rdr.pdf
