Tree Planting to Commemorate 175 Years of Lutheran Education in Australia
On this occasion of commemorating 175 years of Lutheran schools in Australia, the act of planting a tree signifies our desire to remember, to celebrate and to give thanks for the many blessings God has showered upon Lutheran schools. We give thanks for the many leaders, teachers and most importantly students and families who have shaped and contributed to the Lutheran school family during these years.
We have chosen a Silver Birch tree to be planted outside our Hall that we may see and watch grow.
Trees are a symbol of growth and we thank God for the growth of Lutheran schools from the beginnings of the first school to the 86 schools and 59 early learning centres across Australia.
The tree can also help us symbolise the work of Lutheran schools. The tree’s roots remind us of how the school community is firmly grounded in God’s word and encourages students to grow deep into the love of our God.
The strong trunk can be a symbol of the Christian faith at work in our lives providing a strong core for our way of being in the world. The branches, leaves and flowers can remind us of the way each of us gives expression to the faith that is alive within us.
In Psalm 1 we read of those who have grown their roots deep in God’s love…
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
As we celebrate the way in which our loving God has blessed all Lutheran schools and our school in particular, let us give thanks in prayer.
Prayer of thanksgiving God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace:
We thank you for the gift of life: for the breath that sustains life, for the food of this earth that nurtures life, for the love of family and friends without which there would be no life.
We thank you for setting us in communities: for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by choice, for schools who cultivate our knowing, for children who lighten our moments with delight.
We thank you for this day: for life and one more day to love and be loved, for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and peace, for your grace and one more experience of your presence,
for your promises: to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.
For these, and all blessings, we give you thanks, eternal, loving God, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.