Confirmation classes will be held early in 1998. We ask parents of children 14 years and over to decide with their children whether they will participate in the classes. Please advise the TSA Office (Tel. (03) 9557 6713) before 31st October 1997 and an enrolment form will then be sent to you.

Why do we have confirmation classes in the TSA?

Guidance and protection by parents and others becomes less "acceptable" to children as they grow up. Youngsters must become increasingly responsible for their lives as they grow into adulthood. To make responsible judgements, knowledge is essential. But the knowledge gained at school is not sufficient. There is a spiritual side to every person, which determines the attitude and outlook towards life on which a satisfying and content mature existence depends.

In our community we provide confirmation classes to strengthen the spiritual side of, and to give inner strength to youngsters growing to maturity. We consider participation in these classes to be very important.

Dr. Rolf Beilharz

CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

On 28, 29 and 30 July, through the sponsorship of the Temple Society Australia, I had the good fortune to attend this conference in Melbourne. It was held by the Australian Multicultural Foundation with the assistance of the World Conference on Peace and Religion. Listening to, and discussing modern issues with great international and Australian leaders in Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam and many other religions was an enlightening experience for me. I have been so deeply touched by this experience that the ideas and impressions I gained will probably last me a lifetime.

One of the main thrusts of the three-day discussions was the importance of interacting with other faiths. In order to do this best, I learnt, we must first practice our own religion with confidence and high self-esteem. Once we are firmly grounded in our own faith, only then can we meet and interact unconditionally with other Christian and non-Christian religious groups. It was agreed that such interaction would be unconditional - we would not try to impose our beliefs on each other. We looked at practical ways of opening up to each other. Discussions also focussed on how immigrant religions become Australian. Many universal principles across religions were found. Our common intentions were in working towards peace, justice and harmony. My thanks go to the Temple Society for sponsoring me and to the Very Special Kids hospice for looking after Tamara for three days.

Irene Bouzo

SOCIAL CARE

Dear Friends,

Our local community health centres offer many courses and activities on a variety of topics pertaining to health. I am pleased to advise that the East Bentleigh Health Centre is offering an eight week programme especially for MEN. The needs of our men are often overlooked and this is a good opportunity for them to take part in something for their own health and wellbeing.

The program offers information and practical help to develop better communication in the family and workplace. The major themes are - stating your needs and wants clearly.

- making sure you understand the other person. - managing conflict

- negotiation skills - handling criticism - making conversation

- male and female expectations in relationships.

Dates: 15 October - 3 December 1997 (8 weeks)

Time: Wednesdays 7.30 - 9.30 p.m.

Venue: East Bentleigh Community Health Centre, Gardeners Road, East Bentleigh

Cost: $30.00 Enquiries & Bookings: Phone 9579 2333

Anyone can take part. You do not have to be resident in the area.

Best wishes and a speedy recovery to our sick and infirm friends.

Helga Anderson

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MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

AUS DEM GEMEINDELEBEN

ENGAGEMENT

Michelle Tearson & David Messner on 2.9.97

Unit 1/17 19 Martin Place Mortdale NSW 2223

Our congratulations and good wishes!

DANKESCHÖN

Zu unserer goldenen Hochzeit haben wir so viele Glückwünsche - Briefe, Karten und Ferngespräche - erhalten, dass es uns schwer fällt sie einzeln zu beantworten.

Wir sagen daher auf diesem Wege allen unseren herzlichen Dank für das liebe Gedenken.

Hans und Annemarie Kirchner

Das gleiche gilt auch für meinen Geburtstag.

Annemarie Kirchner

TRAUERFÄLLE IN DEUTSCHLAND

Am 25.6.97 ist Hermann Christian Lauer (91) friedlich eingeschlafen. "Nicht trauern wollen wir, daß wir ihn verloren, sondern dankbar sein, daß wir ihn so lange haben durften."

am 6.7.97 ist Lydia Wohlfahrt 82 jährig in Murrhardt gestorben. Sie gehörte zu der Mitgliedergruppe in und um Murrhardt die, obgleich die meisten nie in Palästina waren, trotzdem treue Tempelanhänger blieben.

Am 10.7.97 ist ein Rußlandfreund Max Bretschneider in Erkrath gestorben, ein Nachkomme von Johannes Lange. Seit 1934 lebte er in Deutschland.

Am 7.8.97 ist Gertrud Lorch geb. Geiger (72) gestorben.

Allen Trauernden drücken wir unsere Anteilnahme aus.

TEMPLER EXCHANGE REPORT

Michael Franz has been back for some weeks and has found a job in computer networking.

First of all I would like to thank all the people who were involved in making my trip to Germany possible. A special thankyou to Brigitte Hoffmann and the Klingbeils for welcoming me into their homes.

The grounds on which I was nominated for the exchange program was an idea that I had on how the TS members in Germany, Australia and around the globe could be brought closer together via the use of the Internet. Since I was interviewed, I have discovered that I am not the only person thinking along these lines. The Temple Society already has a Home Page on the World Wide Web and since returning to Australia I have had a chance to visit this site.

In the last few years the Internet has grown immensely and as a communications tool it is here to stay. Just over the last year I have seen a remarkable increase in the quality of information that can now be found. I hope as a Society we can embrace this worldwide phenomenon. I believe, as time goes on, it could possibly be the medium most important in "holding" our society together.

In Germany, the members of the Temple Society are spread over a very wide geographical area; being with the "youth group" it was painfully obvious that these people had not grown up together, nor really knew each other at all. If not friends "in the flesh", then at least maybe it would be nice if Templers could always be "virtual friends". There is a lot to be said about writing as a medium with which we express our thoughts and opinions and I can't think of a better method other than the Internet as the delivery mechanism for the exchange of these ideas, opinions and information.

Everybody has their own idea of what constitutes a Templer. I can see so often in the writings of the Templer Record that many people are grappling with the concept of what constitutes being a Templer and how that reflects on the Christian ideology that we as "Christians" are supposed to uphold. It would be interesting if a forum existed on our Web page inviting people from around the globe to participate in these sorts of fundamental issues which face not only us, but perhaps all Christianity and all faiths.

While I was in Haifa and Jerusalem on the Friedhofsreise, I was so astonished by the incredible level of interest in our history by the people there. We tried our best to provide these people with the information that they wanted. Through this experience I believe it would be useful for us to construct a web page in honour of the Templer German Settlements to complement the work of the Administration there, so people could access this information electronically. It would certainly be an invaluable promotional tool for the project and an excellent means with which we can distribute historical information into very appreciative hands - those of people who are working towards the preservation of our history in Israel. I know from my own experience that many interesting historical artifacts such as writings, family trees and especially old photographs have some worth to the German Colony Administration and the historians from Israel.

By establishing links to the outside world, rather than being so inwardly focussed on everything that we do, we have an opportunity not so much to promote our "cause" but to foster a bond that can instil pride in our ancestry and history, rather than being preoccupied with trying to build and hold together something that is limited in focus to what we have now. "Going international" we have a multitude of opportunities, through the Internet, to shift our internal focus to one that encompasses the globe. And we could start by bridging not just cultural and geographic, but also religious boundaries as well.

Michael Franz

ALTERSHEIM BAZAAR

When you have a small baby, it seems like a superhuman effort to go anywhere not within walking distance. Hein and I were not sure we'd make it to the bazaar this year, but we certainly were glad we did, even if we only arrived in the mid-afternoon.

Not only were we overwhelmed by friendly people wanting to meet Franz Peter and to congratulate us, but our boy won his first prize in the raffle. What a wonderful prize, too! A bag full of fabulous Decor storage products - something we've never had much of. It makes you feel like planning a picnic straight away. Thank you so much!

Even without the prize we would have had a great time - sparkling spring weather, delicious afternoon tea, jolly folkdancing, melt-in-the-mouth pancakes and community atmosphere that would be hard to beat. It is wonderful to be part of it all. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard in preparing for and running the day. It was great!

Annette, Hein & Franz Peter Hesse

CROSSING THE SIMPSON DESERT

The Simpson Desert lies in the south-east of NT, the north-east of SA and extends into Qld almost to Birdsville.

In Birdsville on Monday 4 August Heinz & Heidi Vollmer met us at the campground. Tuesday we filled our 4WDs with water, diesel and firewood, replenished food stocks, hoisted the bright warning flags on our aerials and tested our CB radios.

Wednesday we were finally off to meet the first challenge, `Big Red', the highest sand dune. With low tyre pressure, we were surprised to get over so easily only to find a signpost further on pointing to Big Red on our right. Well! So much for our egos. We forgot Big Red and drove on, crossing over dune after vegetated, red dune until we struck one which neither of us managed. As we pondered over what next, we heard Heidi say over the CB "he hasn't engaged 4 wheel drive". Oops! That remedied and, in our case, with the Discovery's centre differential locked, the dune posed no further problems.

We lunched at Eyre Creek near the sign that detoured all traffic 30km upstream due to the earlier wet. Carpets of wild-flowers rewarded us on this leg and with so much time spent photographing and viewing, we had to make camp before we reached the creek crossing. While setting up our tent a sandstorm almost flattened it and we had great concerns. Some makeshift stays helped allay these and soon the wind died down anyway. We then enjoyed a refreshing dip in the creek - this "bath" had to last for quite some days.

The rising sun woke us next day and soon we crossed the less than knee-deep creek. Ever-changing carpets of wildflowers delighted us - yellow, white, mauve, purple and some blue. After reaching the main track we soon faced several more, albeit small detours. An early lunch was needed to replace the bearings on one wheel of Heinz' trailer - all the balls were gone. That evening we set up the dining table under an olive tree, in reality an acacia called bullock bush.

On Friday we reached the Northern Territory, crossing many dry salt lakes between the dunes to arrive at Poeppel's Corner. Here one of us stood in each state (Qld, SA, NT) while the fourth took a snapshot of this. Now we travelled in SA. That evening we camped atop one of the larger dunes and studied the visible constellations using Heidi's star chart. Saturday we soon headed south, essentially driving along the dune valleys rather than across them and at times along crests with superb views. We came past the interesting Approdinna Attora Knolls, formed by the prevailing winds depositing gypsum there from the dry lake beds. After 34km we again turned west, now along the WAA line. The landscape was much drier now, yet there were still many flowers, even if less abundant.

Nights were usually quite cold but once the sun rose, it warmed up quickly and most days we were soon in shorts, T-shirts and thongs. The fifth night in the desert was unusually warm but a thunderstorm cooled it off somewhat. After breaking camp next morning, Heidi and Gisela started to walk ahead. They spotted fresh camel tracks and soon saw the three camels making them - these quickly disappeared. A bit later we all saw a well-fed dingo on the road which was quite at ease and only trotted off when we alighted from the cars.

By lunch time we reached Purni Bore. Vollmers had raised our expectations by telling us how nice a pool there was, where one could even control the water temperature. So our disappointment was great when we found only prohibition signs and a shallow, muddy puddle in place of the bathing hole. The newly-built shower facility, whilst welcome, could not compensate. The man-made bore is a haven for wildlife, especially large numbers of the twittering zebra finches and each morning we witnessed the flypast of huge, swirling flocks of budgerigars, their twittering waxing and waning as they flew closer to or further away from us.

Next stop, Dalhousie Springs; here we relished dips in the thermal pool, morning, noon and nights. On one walk we stumbled on to another, secluded spring-fed pool and we just had to take a skinnydip there. At the Dalhousie homestead ruins some distance away, palm trees grew bearing fruit. Heinz could not resist and climbed up using a tow-rope as safety belt. He shook off the dates while we others scrambled to collect them. In the excitement and with Heinz needing a complete wash and change of clothes, Vollmers' hats were left behind. By the time we realised and went back, they had disappeared - someone needed them more.

On the way to our next camp, Mt. Dare, the terrain changed to gibbers. One large stone bent the wheel rim on our car and caused a flat tyre only 1km from our destination. That evening we entertained ourselves with two heavy hammers to restore the rim shape while a large number of galahs serenaded us with their screeching. Next morning we crossed into the Northern Territory and traversed the huge, dry Finke River bed. Due to the recent wet everything here was lush and green and, as Heinz commented over the CB, we appeared to be driving through the Dandenongs. Camping at Old Andado that evening we reminisced about the experiences we had shared over the last two weeks while sipping Glühwein.

Next morning our ways parted: Heinz and Heidi headed north to Alice Springs and we south to the Oodnadatta Track.

Gisela and Volker Bulach

Thank you for sharing your adventures.

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PROFILE

DR. HENNIG IMBERGER

Parents: Heinrich Imberger, who lives beside the Boronia Hall and has rung its bell every Sunday for decades, and Erna nee Hennig - both were born in Jerusalem. Heini's forbears came from the Black Forest, Erna's from Leipzig.

Hennig was born in Stuttgart in 1941. He has two sisters, Dietlind Zwicker and Heidrun Messner, and twin brothers Heinz () and Helmut; between them they have provided him with six nephews and one niece.

The Imberger family migrated to Boronia, Victoria, in 1951; most of them still live there. Hennig was always a keen student and, having chosen the science course, graduated from Upwey High School in 1959 with the most honours. Being interested in how man-made equipment works, he went on to complete, in 1963, an electronic engineering degree at Melbourne University. Along the way he developed an interest in how man himself works and that led to a Master of Science degree and a research position as Physiologist at the Respiratory Function Laboratory of the then Repatriation General Hospital Heidelberg Vic. (where he continued to work until 1989). A Ph.D. in medical science followed in 1976 and a postgrad diploma in digital control in 1982. He has had papers published on his insights into lung mechanics and the testing of respiratory/cardiovascular function. - He is a deep thinker in whom people sometimes see a touch of the absent-minded professor. "A clear thinker, very conscientious in everything he does," said Otto Löbert.

Everyone who has spoken with Hennig knows of his passionate interest in the effect of diet on health. It was his frequent colds and skin problems that finally motivated him to try his brother Helmut's suggestion to increase the percentage of raw food in his diet. At first his cold got worse and he almost quit. Then he learnt that, since a more natural diet (more raw fruit and vegetables, less processed and cooked food) strengthens the body's self-healing powers, more toxins are eliminated, including through the linings of the nasal cavities, so it's usual for the cold to get worse for a while. Reluctantly he persevered and the catarrh improved, then disappeared and his skin cleared up. But the problems return when he goes back to less natural foods.

Hennig began to feel so much better in mind and body that he resumed his great bicycle ride, begun in the 1970s; to relieve a knee injury that would not respond to physio and cortisone, he had decided to try steady, prolonged exercise and rode his bike from Boronia to Burra in SA. There the unmade road proved too strenuous and he cycled back via Adelaide, 160km to the south. His knee has never bothered him since. In 1980 he drove to Burra then cycled north past the Flinders Ranges to Maree and up the Oodnadatta Track, then through Kulgera to Alice Springs, coping with "extended bumpy, sandy and muddy stretches, broken spokes, punctures and once becoming awash in a wide expanse of water." - What stamina! And what a sense of adventure! This also expressed itself in other camping and canoeing exploits he undertook.

Hennig is familiar with very extensive medical research in the clinical, epidemiological, animal experiment and biochemical analysis areas, "all confirming that so-called `chronic' disease is to a large extent the result of inappropriate lifestyle, with diet a major factor." In animal experiments, diet was found to very much affect the quality of the offspring's genes; the surprising finding was that defective genes can improve with improved diet.

In talking and writing about his experience and reading, Hennig hopes to encourage appropriate research. He mentioned a small sanatorium to the hospital, which was reluctant to pursue the idea but was able to offer him early voluntary superannuation, so that he could continue his research at home, saving much travelling time. He would love the Templers to build a little sanatorium with an associated organic fruit and vegetable garden, similar to the famous Bircher-Benner sanatorium in Zürich, on the Boronia land, also using the hall. It could provide an encouraging, informative environment for people who find it hard, in the face of uninformed criticism at home, to make lifestyle changes on their own. An idealist? - Why shouldn't we have dreams...

"Health is fundamental to all our activities" is Hennig's conviction; he is happy to discuss diet and health with people who are sincerely interested.

Hennig also has some strong opinions on competition and cooperation.

Darwin observed the importance of competition in plant and animal life - the "fittest" survived and led evolutionary development. Hennig says that in his experience the emphasis on "radical competition in an already highly interdependent society can be very counterproductive" - it leads to new discoveries, which could greatly benefit people's wellbeing, being ignored or even suppressed and basic care and safety standards being severely compromised.

Since Darwin's time, "clear examples of natural behaviour based on cooperative communal living rather than competition have also become evident". He considers his interest in the development of life perhaps the most important aspect of his story and points out that human beings have the ability, with guidance freely available from God, to attain a better, more cooperative life. (See his article in REFLECTIONS).

Radical competition can undoubtedly be a powerful driving force, but it encourages pollution, exploitation, cruelty, addiction, criminality and war. More enlightened individuals are motivated by foresight, care and compassion and realize that "purposeful communal activity brings high rewards of health, joy and inner fulfilment", benefitting not just the community but the individual as well. Even scientists are now observing that doing good - being of service to others - is good for one's health.

Templer activities have been part of Hennig's life since childhood. He enjoyed Junior Camp, Sunday School, German School, Sommerfests & JG. For 11 years he helped with Bastelgruppe, having inherited a way with craft from his artistic mother. Since 1975 he has "participated with interest as an elder". - He is sincerely grateful to the many who have helped along the way and hopes that in return he has been able to contribute, even if only a little, to the welfare of others.

The "great capacity for compassion and helping others" is something Otto mentioned, too, adding that Hennig is a very friendly, balanced person whom he's never seen angry or annoyed; "a strong, independent individualist and yet he has an excellent rapport with young people."

"Hennig sees beautiful things in what others see as ordinary; he's intrigued and delighted by some minute, miraculous detail in nature," says Marie-Anne Beilharz. "Although he's a bit of a hermit, he loves to communicate in depth, especially through the printed word, often sitting at his computer for hours on end to share his ideas - he wants to say everything, as if people needed to know every last detail."

Hennig has the last word.

"I'm sorry if I've disappointed some... I have slowly come to the realization that it is perhaps the building of an ever closer relationship with God which is by far our greatest asset and so I will endeavour to take, as well as I am able, the unique path God has prepared for me, and may he richly bless each and every one of us."

Editor

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HOME REORTS

Altersheimnachrichten

Der Basaar konnte im Freien abgehalten werden an einem wunderschön sonnigen Tag zwischen regnerischen Tagen. Armeen von Helfern stellten morgens alles auf und beförderten alles an seinen Platz. Am Nachmittag kamen z.T. andere Gesichter und noch mehr Helfer/innen. Dann, als die Sonne langsam im Westen versank, wurde alles wieder weggepackt und aufgeräumt; schließlich wankten wir erschöpft nach Hause. Fast $8,000 kam zusammen - $500 mehr als letztes Jahr - ganz prima!

Mit diesem TR kommt ein Blatt auf dem wir all den Leuten und Betrieben danken, die uns Preise oder Geld gestiftet haben. Wir gratulieren allen Gewinnern in unserer Lotterie - es gab über 30 Preise! Und ganz besonders danken wir all unsern Helfer/innen, die schon vorher oder am Tag diese Riesenarbeit möchlich machten. Ohne Sie schaffen wir es nicht. Ob Sie uns zwei Stunden, einen halben Tag, Waren oder Kuchen gestiftet haben, wir - und besonders die Heimbewohner - schätzen jede Hilfe.

Viele Gruppen aus unseren Gemeinden trugen bei: die südaustralischen Damen, Sydney, die Ba-Bo und Be-Mo Frauenvereine, die Jugendgruppe (mit Tatkraft und einer schwungvollen Volkstanzvorführung), Kids' Club, die Blaskapelle und die Playgroup.

Die Fundraising Gruppe legt nun eine wohlverdiente Ruhepause ein - ausgenommen die Weihnachtslotterie und das Planen für das silberne Jubiläum des Heims im März 1998. Wir würden gern eine Ausstellung von Fotos aus jenen frühen Tagen machen. Haben Sie Fotos die Sie uns leihen würden? Fotos von den Bauarbeiten und von den ersten Heimbewohnern und Angestellten, um zu zeigen wie sehr sich alles verändert hat. Bitte jetzt schon solche Fotos heraussuchen und ein Komitee Mitglied benachrichtigen.

Bei der Jahresversammlung des Heims im September wurden Brigitte Decker und Kurt Beilharz für 3 Jahre wiedergewählt. Theo Richter kommt neu dazu und wir heißen ihn willkommen. Wir danken Ernst Ruff, der aus dem Komitee ausgetreten ist, für all seine Arbeit als Komitee Mitglied und auch Harry Groll, der seinen drei-jährigen Dienst nun beendet hat.

Unser Heim braucht immer freiwillige Helfer/innen - für Gespräche, Aktivitäten, Ausflüge - eben für alles was das Leben unserer Bewohnen bereichern würde. Möchten Sie uns ein paar Stunden in der Woche oder im Monat schenken?

Sie können dem Heim auch durch von der Steuer abziehbare Geldspenden helfen. Wir nehmen jede Spende gern entgegen. Bitte überlegen Sie auch, ob Sie in ihrem Testament mit einem Vermächtnis an unser Heim denken könnten.

Nochmal herzlichen Dank von der Fundraising Gruppe, vom Komitee und den Heimbewohnern.

Home News

The bazaar was held outside as planned on a brilliant, sunny day sandwiched between two grey and rainy ones. Armies of volunteers spent the morning setting everything up and moving equipment to where it was needed. In the afternoon some of the faces in the army changed, and there were even more volunteers working. Then, as the sun set slowly in the west, we packed up, picked up and eventually staggered home. The profit for the day was very close to $8,000 - a $500 increase on last year's staggering effort.

Included with this TR is a flyer thanking all the companies which donated prizes or made cash contributions. Congratulations to all our raffle winners - there were over thirty prizes, some of which have gone to Qld. and Sydney. Most of all, thank you to all our helpers - both before the event and on the day of this major production. We cannot do it without you. Whether you gave up two hours or half a day, or donated goods and cakes, all is appreciated, especially by the residents of the Home.

There were many community groups which supported our fundraising effort: the Sydney Community, the South Australian Ladies Group, Bayswater-Boronia Ladies Group, Bentleigh Ladies Group, the JG (both with manpower and with energetic Folkdancing), Kids' Club, the Blaskapelle and Play Group.

The Fundraising Group is now taking a well-earned rest for the remainder of 1997 - except for the Christmas raffle and planning the silver anniversary of the opening of the Home in March 1998. We hope to mount a photographic display of those early days. Do you have any photos which you would be willing to lend to us? We are looking for photos of the building of the Home, the early residents and staff, to show how much we have changed. Now is the time to start hunting for these photos. If you are able to help out, please contact any Committee member.

The THA has just held its annual general meeting at which Brigitte Decker and Kurt Beilharz were reelected for three-year terms. Theo Richter has also been elected to the Committee. Welcome Theo! We thank Ernst Ruff, who resigned earlier from the Committee, for all his efforts as a Committee member. We also thank Harry Groll who has just completed his three-year term.

Volunteers are always needed around the Home - for conversation, for activity groups, for outings - in fact for anything which would add to the texture of the lives of our residents. Would you like to volunteer some time each week or month?

You can also show your support for the Home by making a tax-deductible contribution. All donations will be gratefully received. We also ask you to consider leaving a legacy to the Home in your will.

Thank you again from the Fundraising Group, the Committee of Management and the residents.

Ingeborg Imberger

FORTHCOMING SERVICES

12.10 Ba 10.15 Presentation Service & S.S.

12.10 SA 14.00 Service at Tanunda

19.10 AH 10.45 Service

19.10 CV 11.00 Service at Mt. Clear

26.10 Be 15.15 Service & Community Afternoon & S.S.

26.10 Sy 15.00 Service

OPFER BEI DER DARSTELLUNG

Bei Darstellungen sind wir für jedes unserer Kinder dankbar, besonders wenn es gesund ist. Es gibt jedoch viele kranke, auch schwerkranke Kinder - da leidet dann die ganze Familie unter dem Druck der Ungewißheit und der ständig nötigen Pflege.

Es wurde beschlossen, das Opfergeld bei der Darstellung am 12. Oktober einer einzigartigen Pflegeanstalt zu widmen, nämlich dem Very Special Kids House in Malvern, wo Kinder mit progressiven lebensbedrohenden Krankheiten in liebevoller Umgebung eine Weile aufgenommen werden können, so daß sie, und auch ihre Familien, etwas Ruhe haben.

Es ist das erste Haus in Australien, daß solche besondere Pflege anbietet, und diese ist nur durch Sponsoren und Spenden möglich.

Möchten auch Sie ihre Dankbarkeit für unsere gesunden Kinder durch eine Spende für das Very Special Kids House zeigen?

COLLECTION AT PRESENTATION SERVICE

At Presentation services we give thanks for our new babies, especially if they are healthy. However, there are many children who have problems, including very serious ones which are an enormous strain on the whole family.

The Very Special Kids House in Malvern is the first respite care house in Australia for children with progressive life-threatening illnesses. This unique facility, which eases the heavy physical and emotional burden of families with very sick children, depends on donations to be able to carry out its caring work.

It has been decided to dedicate the offering collected at our Presentation on 12 October to the Very Special Kids House. Would you consider showing your gratitude for our healthy children by helping to fill the collection box for this remarkable place?

You can also send donations to V.S.K.H. 321 Glenferrie Road Malvern Vic 3144.

See REFLECTIONS:

On Children and our View of Life

Editor

Café SONNENSCHEIN first opened it's doors on 14 August in the sunroom of the Altersheim. It provides the opportunity for our senior community to have a friendly chat over a cup of coffee and a piece of cake at neatly set tables.

Then there is the added bonus of an in-house "shop". On offer are a variety of goodies which can be purchased by our Hostel and Unit residents. Why don't YOU also lend support to our latest venture?

The Café-Shop is open every second Thursday from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. Our next Open day is on 9 October. Everyone is welcome.

Gisela Sawatzky

Commemorative Afternoon in the Bayswater Hall

Saturday 15 November at 2.30 pm.

Does it really take a tragedy to bring out the noble feelings in man? Is it necessary to have wars to bring us together in Tatura for a commemorative Service? Does it take a sledge hammer to crack the hard shell we let grow around our hearts? Is this nature's way to hide vulnerable softness from predators, like the hazelnut bush encloses its sweet kernel in a protective casing? Does it really take the destructive force of a bush-fire to make the eucalyptus seeds germinate?

One of the finest attributes of the human mind is that we can recognise the workings of nature. We can say, I see; and have the ability to rise above the need for sacrificial offerings to evoke compassionate emotions. Awareness of our feelings makes us responsible for the environment producing those feelings, responsible to foster a social environment conducive to create an atmosphere in which man's creative spirit can flourish.

Come to a friendly afternoon of togetherness with coffee and cake to muse over the topic. Come and welcome Peter Lange, the Regional Head for the TGD, who hopes to be here in November during the Tatura Remembrance period.

Our guest artists for the afternoon are Gudrun Beilharz and her husband, Peter Bartels, on piano and flute respectively. We look forward to your company.

Would our ladies please bring a cake to stimulate discussions.

Alfred Klink

COUNTRY VICTORIA GROUP

The next meeting of the Country Victoria group will be on Sunday 19 October at the home of Christa and Rod Lingham starting at 11 a.m. As in the past, all Templers are welcome to join us on this day.

We will be having a BBQ lunch so we ask that all those attending bring their own meat and a salad to share. Coffee and tea will be supplied, but a cake or slice to eat would be appreciated.

Linghams live at 22 Marina Drive Mt. Clear 3350. Maps are available at either the TSA Office or from me. We have started to compile an album of our gatherings and would appreciate any photos to put in it.

Hoping to see you all on Sunday 19 October at Mt. Clear,

Dot Ware

CONFIRMATION See FROM THE OFFICE.

STAMPS AND TELEPHONE CARDS

I would like to remind everyone that our telephone card and stamp collecting to raise money for the Templer Home for the Aged is ongoing. We have collection boxes at the Templer Home, at the community halls in Bayswater and Bentleigh and at the Office and we would appreciate lots and lots of stamps and phone cards.

Helga Anderson

TATURA

This year's Remembrance Day service is on Sunday 16.11.97 and our choir will be participating.

We intend to hire a bus to assist with the travel arrangements. Those preferring to travel by bus are asked to contact the TSA Office well before the event to help the organising.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

As usual, the December TR will include a list of members' Christmas greetings. This is an early reminder.

Names must be lodged at the Office by Friday 21 November, with a $2.00 donation to cover the administration costs.

JUNIOR CAMP 1998

Next year's camp at Point Lonsdale has been booked with the Toc-H Management from Monday 5.1.98 to Monday 12.1.98 inclusive. Further details will be provided in the coming months.

Camp leaders are again being sought, so anyone interested should contact the TSA Office.

Mark Herrmann
Business Manager

BE-MO COMMUNITY SOCIAL AFTERNOON 18 OCTOBER

This is the final reminder for our afternoon of eating, music, fun and reminiscing.

Where: Bentleigh Hall

When: 18 October from 3 - 6.30 p.m.

Food: Arabic

BYO: Drinks, cards, photos etc.

Please don't forget to book to help us with our catering. If you forgot to book by 1 October please do it as soon as possible.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

Ingrid Edelmaier for the Bentleigh-Moorabbin Community

ADVENT SINGING GROUP IN BENTLEIGH

Ladies and girls who are able to participate in the Advent celebration on Sunday 7 December are reminded that singing practices commence on Wednesday 22 October at 8 p.m. in the Bentleigh Hall. Please try to make it to this rehearsal as we will also be discussing dates and times for the remaining practices.

Remember, new faces are always welcome. Why not invite a friend or relative to sing with us?

If you have any old music from previous years, please bring it along for filing. Also remember to bring your folder if you have one.

Anne, Veronica & Annette

BE-MO COMMUNITY SPRING WORKING BEE

A working bee will be held at the Community hall in the middle or later half of November 97.

The exact date/time will be announced in the November TR.

Heinz Edelmaier

on behalf of Bentleigh-Moorabbin Community Council

NEW YEAR'S EVE 1997

This is to let you know that New Year's Eve will be celebrated this year at the Bentleigh Hall. As yet we can't give you any details as to what will be occurring, because they have not been decided yet. But whatever comes to pass will be great. There is a possibility that transport can be arranged (Bayswater/local) if there is a demand, so if you think you would/might plan to come to Bentleigh and would need transport contact

Ingrid Edelmaier or Judy Eppinger

BAYSWATER-BORONIA TEMPLER TENNIS CLUB

Ladies! Join in and be in the running for a new car (even if it is only a Matchbox car). Everyone is welcome to participate in the Mixed Double Social Day on Sunday 19 October. Play will commence at the Bayswater Courts at 10 a.m. and format will be informal. Players should register with Tony Beilharz or Manfred Decker

The usual barbeque lunch will be available and players are asked to bring afternoon tea to share.

Last month's Over 40's Social Day was most enjoyable despite the lousy weather and the poor turnout (was it the weather or the previous day's Altersheim Bazaar?) The hardy band who did turn out had a relaxed afternoon; it is rumoured that a couple of sets of tennis were even squeezed in between the showers and social activities.

Anyone willing to fill the vacant Club Secretary position should contact Carlo Mazzella, Tony Beilharz or Manfred Decker

Manfred Decker

BAYSWATER-BORONIA LADIES GROUP

More ladies kept arriving to hear Kay Sawatzky speak about jewellery at our September meeting. We saw some superb designs and gemstones in her photo album, as well as for real. Thank you Kay.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 21 October from 1-3 p.m. in the Altersheim sunroom. (Something else is going on at the Ba Hall that day).

Irene Bouzo will tell us about the Very Special Kids' House, Australia's first respite hospice for children who have progressive life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, muscular dystrophy and many other rare syndromes and genetic disorders. Families living with the uncertainty of having a seriously ill child survive on little or no sleep. It affects the parents and the other children. Everyone's health can suffer. Relationships suffer. Life can be frightening. Come along and find out how Tamara and Irene Bouzo and their family found a new home away from home, a unique place with loving and caring support.

This is the Hospice to which the collection at the Presentation Service in Bayswater is going. Everyone is welcome to come to our meetings.

Advance notice: At our Adventsfeier in December we would like to collect small gifts for the sick children at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton (babies to age 12) to brighten their Christmas. We'll have some suggestions next month for those who would like to participate.

Herta Uhlherr

COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE AND PICNIC

This will take place on Sunday 9 November. We look forward to seeing many Bentleigh and Bayswater-Boronia Community members. This is the main fundraiser for the Kids' Club and we would appreciate your support. See the Kids' Club Section for more details.

BAYSWATER-BORONIA COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

The Ba-Bo Community Christmas Celebration this year will be held on Saturday 20 December at 6 p.m. in the Bayswater Hall. The names of Ba-Bo Community children are already on our list, but if you are not a registered member of our community and would like your child (or grandchild) to receive a present from Father Christmas, then please let one of his two helpers know before 16 November so that your littley can be included.

They are: Brigitte Decker & Erika English

Please state your child's name, age and gender. We would appreciate a contribution of $5 per child towards the cost of the presents.

If you would like your child or grandchild (above the age of 4) to take part in the Christmas play on the night, could you please ring Susi Blackwell on 9764 2575 as soon as possible. There will be a dress rehearsal on Saturday 20 December at 9 or 10 a.m. in the Bayswater Hall and most likely only one or two practices prior to the night.

If your child would like to say a poem or sing a song for Father Christmas, could you please let me know beforehand, so that this can be incorporated into the program for the evening.

Thank you,

Susi Blackwell

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SYDNEY

Am Sonntag den 24. August trafen wir uns zur Mitgliederversammlung in Meadowbank um 3.00 Uhr nachmittags. Leider erschienen nur 15 Mitglieder; da wir jedoch nur 10 Mitglieder benötigen um beschlußfähig zu sein, konnten wir die Sitzung abhalten. Nach einer kurzen Ansprache von Harmut Beck erfolgte der geschäftliche Teil. Ich trug den Tätigkeitsbericht für den Zeitraum vom 1.1.96 bis 30.6.97 vor und wir beschlossen, von nun ab jeweils am 4. Sonntag im August die jährliche Mitgliederversammlung abzuhalten, um über das abgelaufene "Finanzjahr" (Juli-Juni) zu berichten. Herbert Steller gab den entsprechenden Finanzbericht, ebenfalls für den Zeitraum 1.1.96 - 30.6.97 und erklärte verschiedene Posten. Alfred Meyer wurde weiterhin als internal auditor bestätigt und Erni Weller und Erika Schulz erklärten sich bereit im Gemeinde-Komitee mitzuhelfen, wie es Ihre Zeit erlaubt und wenn "Not an Mann" ist. Heinz Beilharz soll unser Vertreter im Zentralkasse-Komitee werden.

Da niemand von den jüngeren Gemeinde Mitgliedern anwesend war, konnten keine weiteren Wahlen durchgeführt werden. Eine kurze Aussprache folgte und die Versammlung endete gegen 4.30 Uhr.

Nächster Termin: 26.10.97 - Saal, 3.00 Uhr Meadowbank.

We held our Annual Members' Meeting on Sunday 24 August 1997 at 3.00 p.m. in Meadowbank after a short service by Hartmut Beck. 15 members were present and received the activity report for the period 1.1.96 to 30.6.97 and also the financial report for the same period. Herbert Steller mentioned various entries and expenses and also informed us that our income increased due to the revised membership-fee structure, since most TSA members living in Sydney and country NSW nominated the Sydney Community to receive the share of their membership fees. But we also have greater expenses because of the need to transfer monies to Melbourne (like bank fees, photocopying, stationery, postage etc.).

Since none of our younger ones were present, we did not have an official election of Committee members. However, Erni Weller and Erika Schulz agreed to help whenever needed and when their time allows.

Four new people have become affiliated with our community and we welcome:

Peter Liebeskind, Robert Reitermeier, Mark Osarek and Lisa Madden. Heinz Beilharz was nominated to be the Sydney representative on the Board of Directors of the TS Central Fund and we had a short discussion about our Community Constitution and other local issues. The meeting closed at about 4.30 p.m.

Next date: 26.10.97 - Service 3.00 p.m. Meadowbank.

lse Birkner

SÜDAUSTRALIEN

Der Text für unseren Saal am 10. August war dem 7. Kapital der Offenbarung nach Johannes entnommen, sowie aus dem Lukas Evangelium, Kapital 16,10-21. Zum Beginn sangen wir Verse 1-3 von dem Choral "Lobe den Herren...", dann hörten wir, daß

das vornehmste Gebot ist: "Du sollst Gott lieben mit ganzer Seele"...

und wir sollten nie vergessen, daß gleich danach das nächste Gebot ist: "Du sollst deinen Nächsten lieben wie dich selbst." Wie schön beschreibt der 103. Psalm die Gnade Gottes. Wenn wir akzeptieren, daß "Gottes Wille geschehe auf Erden" (wie im Himmel) dann können wir innerlichen Frieden finden.

Wir beendeten die Andacht mit den beiden letzten Versen des angefangenen Liedes.

Unser nächster Saal ist am 12. Oktober in Tanunda um 2 Uhr nachmittags. Dieter Ruff wird die Ansprache halten.

Rose Asenstorfer

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JG SECTION

What a tremendous last month we've had - the bazaar was a fantastic success! Well done to everyone who participated on the day.

With the bazaar once again over, our weary bodies ached for a means to relax and recuperate. The pancakes/billiards night provided all necessary equipment for the task. The night started off at a leisurely pace, with Andrew whipping up a delicious thick batter which would hopefully keep hunger at bay at least until it was time for a Maccas run.

The people came slowly but surely as they prepared to show the rest what they were made of in our annual billiards competition. It was a hard run for most, but everyone emerged from the experience a better person. Elation and frustration were mixed emotions throughout the competition as a deserving Peter Herrmann finally clinched the victory. Pancakes were submerged under a hearty bolognaise sauce or sugar, lemon and jam as we feasted ravenously on the meal, despair in our eyes when we realised that we had run out of stock.

With the two main components of this stupendously enjoyable evening over, we were left to amuse ourselves in our own mischievous little ways. Many tried their hands at Yoga positions which proved to be a little `discomforting' to most. We also found that walking on your hands is not as easy as first thought.

The piano got a fine tuning as we displayed our somewhat creative talents. Jokes by the dozen were told and we journeyed to the nearest Maccas for a pre-midnight snack. As the night drew on, fatigue overcame many and in the early hours on Sunday morning, many retired to their humble abodes while others decided to fight their heavy eyelids. In all it was a sensational night. Thanks to Andrew for his culinary input to the evening and I hope everyone had just as much enjoyment as I did.

Karyn Kinder

JG SKIING TRIP 1997

Thank you to Darren Loebert for organising the day and for the use of his house on the Saturday night. I'd also like to thank all those who participated in making a very enjoyable event.

Tara Maree

ALL DAY ALL NIGHT

On Saturday 18 October there will be an All Day All Night at the JG clubroom. Breakfast will be provided and there will be lots of entertainment all through the night. There will be videos, billiards, music and a great time for all who attend. So come along and have some fun on 18 October!!

Darren Loebert

COMING EVENTS

OCTOBER

Sunday 5 JG meeting/folkdancing

Saturday 18 All Day All Night

Sunday 19 Folkdancing

NOVEMBER

Sunday 2 JG Meeting/folkdancing

Sunday 16 Folkdancing

Wiltrud has now departed our wonderful country and we all wish her well. I do know for a fact that she had a fabulous time. Have a great month everyone!!

Erica Anderson, Ed.

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CHILDREN'S SECTION

Hi Guys,

Is your family as football-mad as ours? Sometimes it's great to think that the end of the football season is nearly here. This year is worse than most, as my family are mad keen Bulldogs supporters and their favourite team has done so very well this year. Lots of people follow one football team or another, or even one sport or another. All winter we also follow the soccer trail around the countryside in this area and in the past we have followed netball and table-tennis as well. At least it keeps the kids and their parents occupied.

When I recently went to a football game with my crew I looked around and was amazed at the number of people who had come to watch the game. It was possibly the last game that the Bulldogs were going to play at their home ground at Footscray. Usually on a wet, miserable winter's day a lot of the people would have stayed at home, but not this time. They were all there in their blue, red and white cheering their team on and encouraging their children to do the same.

With pride they tried to pick all the different nationalities that were a part of the pre-match entertainment. When I really looked at the crowd, I was astonished that there were people from all over the world and the heritage of nearly each one of us was represented by one of the groups dancing on the ground or on stands around the ground.

Just as today we go to concerts, football matches or maybe to hear a play, in Jesus' time people would also go to whatever performance was on. In just this way crowds of people started to follow Jesus wherever he went. They wanted to hear what he had to say and to be there whenever he performed a "miracle". Sometimes his followers thought that it was too much for Jesus and tried to protect him from the crowds, but Jesus wouldn't allow that to happen, particularly when there were children around.

One day Jesus went with his disciples to a town called Bethsaida; he wanted to be alone with them because he wanted to hear about their adventures. The people in the district recognised Jesus and all wanted to be with him and hear him talk. Instead of ignoring them, Jesus welcomed all those who had followed him and sat down. To Jesus these people were like sheep trusting in him as the shepherd. He started to talk to the people about the Kingdom of God.

It started to get very late and the disciples suggested to Jesus that he should send the people away to get themselves something to eat. Today somebody would have set up a stand selling hot dogs and drinks. Long ago that didn't happen and the crowds were getting hungry; instead of sending everyone away Jesus told the disciples to find food for all these people.

All the food that these men could find were five loaves of bread and two fish. They didn't think that that would be enough for the five thousand people that needed to be fed. Nothing would stop Jesus though; he told the crowds to split up into smaller groups and sit on the grass. Then he took the loaves and fish and thanked God. After that he broke the loaves of bread and the fish and told the disciples to share the food amongst the crowd. When everyone had had enough to eat the disciples picked up twelve baskets of food from the ground. The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to those twelve baskets of food but I'm sure a good purpose would have been found for them. What do you think they did with them?

This was not the only time that so many people gathered to see and hear Jesus. The Gospels are full of stories about crowds gathering to listen to Jesus and to ask him to heal them or their friends.

Using paper, colouring pencils, materials, glue and anything else you can think of, make a picture of all those people sitting on the hillside eating the bread and fish and the disciples gathering all the left-overs. Perhaps you could make a picture of what you think they did with the left-overs.

Well, until next month,

Dot Ware

PLEASE, can you take over or contribute to the CHILDRENS' SECTION? Please consider, and speak to the editor or the Office.

END OF October TEMPLER RECORD. (Advertisements, Calendar, Rosters and TS Compass are not reproduced.)

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7 September

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TEMPLER RECORD

SEPTEMBER 1997

Index, No. 588

Reflections
From the Office
Members and Friends
Home Reports
Notices
Sydney/South Australia
JG Section
Children's Section
 

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REFLECTIONS

In der Tempelgesellschaft haben wir kein wörtlich genau festgelegtes Glaubensbekenntnis. Wir haben dafür ein Zielbekenntnis, nämlich das Trachten nach dem Reich Gottes.

Ich glaube jedoch, daß viele von uns das nachfolgende Gedicht voll bejahen können. Der Verfasser ist der katholische Theologe Ignaz Heinrich Karl Freiherr von Wessenburg (1774 - 1860).

Ein Glaubensbekenntnis

Ich glaube, dass die schöne Welt regiere
Ein hoher, weiser, nie begriffner Geist.
Ich glaube, dass Anbetung ihm gebühre,
Doch weiss ich nicht, wie man ihn würdig preist.

Nicht glaub ich, dass der Dogmen blinder Glaube
Dem Höchsten würdige Verehrung sei:
Er bildet ja uns, das Geschöpf im Staube,
Von Irrtum nicht und nicht von Fehler frei.

Christ lehrte Schonung, Sanftmut, Duldung üben,
Verfolgung war der hohen Lehre fern.
Er lehrt' ohn' Unterschied die Menschen lieben,
Verzieh dem Schwachen und dem Feinde gern.

Ich glaube, dass für dieses Erdenleben -
Glaub's zuversichtlich trotz der Deutler Zunft -
Zwei gute Hüter mir der Herr gegeben:
Das eine: Herz, das andre heisst Vernunft.

Die letzte lehrt mich prüfen und entscheiden,
Was ich für Recht und Pflicht erkennen soll.
Laut schlägt das erste bei des Bruders Freuden,
Nicht minder, wenn er leidet, warm und voll.

Sein Leid zu mindern und sein Wohl zu mehren,
Sei jederzeit mein herrlicher Beruf,
Durch Taten glaub ich würdig zu verehren,
Den hohen Geist, der mich und ihn erschuf.

Ich glaube an des Geistes Auferstehen,
Dass, wenn dereinst das matte Auge bricht,
Geläuterter wir dort uns wiedersehen,
Ich glaub und hoff es, doch ich weiss es nicht.

Dort, glaub ich, werde sich die Sehnsucht stillen,
Die hier das Herz oft foltert und verzehrt,
Die Wahrheit, glaub ich, wird sich dort enthüllen,
Dem Geiste klar, dem hier ein Schleier wehrt.

Und tret ich müde einst von dieser Erden
Hin vor des Weltenschöpfers Angesicht,
So wird er meine Taten alle werten,
Doch meinen "Glauben" - nein, das glaub ich nicht.

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READER RESPONSE

NACH PALÄSTINA AUSGEWANDERT

Die Nürtinger/Wendlinger Zeitung hat freundlicherweise der ältesten Bürgerin Lenningens, Frau Lydia Vollmer in einem ehrenvollen Beitrag, wie im letzten "Record" zu lesen war, Erwähnung getan.

Im dritten Abschnitt heißt es, der "Maurermeister Gottlob Höfer konnte wieder Häuser bauen bis zum Beginn des zweiten Weltkriegs" - ja, das schon -, wer aber aus seiner Arbeit gerissen, in Akko interniert und mit seiner Familie von den Engländern nach Australien deportiert" wurde, das wird wohl Frau Lydias Mann Otto Vollmer gewesen sein, den sie ja, wie es weiter unten heißt, 1921 schon geheiratet hat.

Es steht auch darin, der Kaiser Wilhelm (gemeint ist natürlich Wilhelm der II) hätte 1858, kurz vor der Gründung Wilhelmas, Palästina bereist. Das hat er aber nicht 1858, sondern 1898 getan: Wilhelma ist 1902 gegründet worden. Im Jahre 1858 gab es weder Kaiser (noch Tempelgesellschaft) denn Wilhelm I (Großvater von Wilhelm II) wurde erst 1871 zum Kaiser gekrönt.

Außerdem wurde die Kolonie nicht nur nach dem Kaiser benannt, sondern gleichzeitig und vor allem auch - ja so heißt es in einem Brief des Tempelvorstehers an den Generalkonsul - nach dem König vom Württemberg, der auch gerade Wilhelm hieß und von 1891-1918 in Württemberg König war. Er war ein persönlich sehr beliebter Herrscher und hatte wohl auch für die Templer im Heiligen Land etwas übrig. Er war der Nachfolger seines Onkels König Karl, dessen Frau Olga aus Rußland stammte, nach der, das sei an dieser Stelle auch vermerkt, die "Olgas" in Zentralaustralien heißen. Doch das ist eine andere Geschichte.

Wichtig ist, daß wir jetzt alle auch der Frau Vollmer noch einmal herzlich zum Hundertsten gratulieren.

Peter Hornung

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FROM THE OFFICE

ANNUAL REPORTS

REGIONAL COUNCIL OF THE TSA

1. Scope

This report summarises activities, affairs and administration of the Temple Society Australia during 1996/97. It highlights the more important aspects of the year's activities. All matters of significance concerning the Society and its members were consistently reported in the Templer Record throughout the year.

Members are asked to familiarise themselves with the report (and associated documents) so that it may be taken as read at the Annual General Assembly.

2. Members and Friends

2.1 The following new members were welcomed to the TSA: Emad Bouzo, Gary Etherington, Mandy Etherington, Connie Froeschle, Kevin Froeschle, Ulrich Hapke, Anita Heinrich, Bernhard Hoefer, Michael Löbert, Raymond Löbert, Helga Persztik, Marika Sawatzky, Erika Schulz, Günter Schulz, Michael Uhlherr.

2.2 8 children were born to members of the TSA, 8 further children were born to friends of the TSA

2.3 12 members of the TSA and a further 4 friends died in Australia during the year.

2.4 The following resigned their membership during the year: Mark Klink, Susanne Löbert, Waltraut Lubitz.

2.5 At 30.6.97 membership of the TSA was 640; including associate members the total number was 914.

3. Administration

3.1 The Regional Council consisted of the Regional Head, Rolf Beilharz; the two Deputy Heads, Otto Löbert (ex-officio) and Helmut Ruff (elected); the T.S. President, Dietrich Ruff; the Business Manager, Mark Herrmann; the Heads of the Community Councils, Ulrich Asenstorfer, Ilse Birkner, Heinz Edelmaier and Alfred Klink; elected Council members, Renate Beilharz, Irene Bouzo, Gary Imberger, Heinz Vollmer (sen) and Peter Weller; Walter Burkhardt (ex-officio) and Youth Group President, Nigel Gohl. The R.C. held 11 regular meetings.

3.2 Helmut Eppinger was TSA auditor for the financial year 1996/97.

3.3 The Board of Directors of the Temple Society Central Fund (Aust.) comprised the Chairman, Herbert Hoffmann, the Vice Chairman, Theodor Doh and the Directors Ulrich Asenstorfer, Walter Imberger (until his death), Dietmar Jürgensen, Oskar Krockenberger, Peter Leszinsky, Werner Struve. Mark Herrmann was Secretary of the T.S.C.F. (Aust.).

3.4 Auditor for the T.S.C.F. (Aust.) was Mr. Keith Jopp of Keith Jopp & Co.

4. Assets and Financial Matters

4.1 The Templer Home for the Aged continued to provide good service for our elderly members, even in a difficult financial environment. To allow the Home to function efficiently, more non-Templers have been admitted. Klaus Imberger is manager of the Home.

The Home's supervisor, Barbara Watson, retired for health reasons after many years of service. We thank her for her work.

New Government Regulations for Nursing and Aged Care will come into force in October 1997. These will require significant adjustments in the way the Home is run. The Committee of the Templer Home and the Regional Council see a difficult adjustment period ahead. Walter Burkhardt and his Committee have worked very hard and efficiently to keep the Home running smoothly. Please see the full report to be presented to the Annual Meeting of the Templer Home for the Aged Inc.

4.2 Tabulam Nursing Home has continued to function very successfully. Dr. Martin Schreiber is Director and Sister Gabriele Glöckner, the Director of Nursing. Please read Otto Löbert's report on Tabulam so that this also may be taken as read at the meeting.

4.3 The Temple Society Central Fund (Aust.) again managed investments flexibly to optimise returns in a difficult economic climate. The Fund was able to meet all requests for personal loans by members.

4.4 Unit Development at Bayswater

During the year one unit held by the TSA was sold to a member. Another completed unit held by the TSA is available for purchase. In addition, there are five vacant unit sites waiting for interested owners. We again appeal to our members to support this project by seriously considering moving into such a unit.

Four building blocks in Elizabeth Street remain available, following the sale of one block during the year.

5. Communication and Correspondence

5.1 Correspondence with the T.G.D. continued as in past years, ensuring a mutual exchange of information on a wide range of matters including items of general, historical, cultural and religious interest, members' well-being, community activities, elders' work and aspects of administration. In both regions, personal visits by members and friends from the other country contributed to mutual understanding at the personal level.

Karin Klingbeil, the Business Manager and elder of the T.G.D., visited the TSA for one month. Her visit was a great success. So far we have not reciprocated with a visit of a TSA officer and elder, but we intend that one of our office bearers will be able to visit the T.G.D. in 1997/98.

5.2 Correspondence from members and friends and enquiries and requests for information from outside bodies and individuals in Australia were dealt with as promptly as practical.

5.3 Irene Bouzo maintained liaison with the "German Language Association" on behalf of the Templer German language schools. See separate report.

6. Activities

6.1 At two Presentation Services, one at Bayswater and one at Bentleigh, 4 and 3 children were presented before the respective congregations. At one presentation in Sydney three children were presented. Two other children from distant areas were presented as part of two regular services at Bayswater.

6.2 Regular Sunday School was held for the children of the Bayswater-Boronia and Bentleigh-Moorabbin Communities.

6.3 During the year our marriage celebrants conducted or contributed to a number of marriages.

6.4 Our elders conducted 10 funerals in Melbourne, 2 in South Australia and 1 in Sydney.

6.5 Divine services, both in English and in German, were held regularly by our elders at the various community centres and in the Templer Home for the Aged. The services included special services for youth, for families and for other groups with particular interests. The number of special services is high, leaving very few Sundays on which there are no services in Melbourne. Templers from "Country Victoria" also met for 3 divine services and fellowship in different homes in various locations. Dieter Ruff continues to be an active member of the Glen Eira South Ministers Association. Kristan Laemmle-Ruff and other family members contributed to an Ecumenical Service on Good Friday in a local park, an initiative of this Association.

6.6 The Sydney Community continued its active life, holding monthly divine services. Dieter Ruff in May 1997 and Harald Ruff in June contributed to the work of the local elders Hartmut Beck, Ilse Birkner, Werner Ehmann and Otto Wurst. The Community has continued its close association with the St. Hedwig Homes for the Aged.

6.7 The small Templer Group in South Australia has continued to hold regular religious services and other activities. The services are usually conducted by Uli Asenstorfer. Dieter Ruff held a service in November 1996.

6.8 At four elders' meetings, elders discussed a range of practical aspects of our faith, including our divine services and cooperation with other groups. Helga Anderson, the Community Care Worker, reports to elders at every meeting. She continues to be supported by a small group of young Templers with appropriate professional qualifications meeting regularly. The elders have started to collect songs and music for a new hymn book for the TSA.

The Regional Council urges all members who have concerns of any kind to make use of our Care Worker, Helga Anderson, or of the elders for help in trying to overcome their problems.

6.9 The Kids' Club continues to provide activities for Templer families with young children. Kids' Club completes the chain of activities that maintain the interest of Templer children starting with Playgroup and continuing with Sunday School, Teenage Group, Confirmation, Youth Group into adulthood.

6.10 The Templer Choir has contributed to all relevant functions of the Temple Society in Australia. Organised with the Bentleigh Community a very successful cultural Schwäbischer Nachmittag, which was held in October.

6.11 The Australian-German Templer Exchange program between the T.G.D. and TSA continued very successfully under the guidance of Irene Bouzo. See separate report.

7. Sub-organisations

Our many community activities were strongly supported by the efforts and initiatives of the dedicated members of our many well-functioning sub-organisations. Reports of most groups accompany this report. Please read all of these so that they may also be taken as read at the meeting.

8. Committees and Working Groups

8.1 Templer Home for the Aged Inc.

Walter Burkhardt, Kurt Beilharz, Susi Blackwell, Dieter Blaich, Brigitte Decker, Dieter Edelmaier, Traude Glenk, Harry Groll, Mark Herrmann, Ingeborg Imberger, Ernst Ruff.

8.2 Tabulam Nursing Home Inc.

Otto Löbert, Theo Doh, Klaus Imberger, Walter Imberger (until his death), Wilhelm Imberger, Enno Schmidt, Winfried Weber.

8.3 Admittance Committee for Tabulam

Gabi Glöckner, Dr. Martin Schreiber, Mark Herrmann, Dr. Irene Wagner (Kemper), Eva Roten (A.G.W.S.).

8.4 Playgroup

Leader: Monika Herrmann

8.5 Kids' Club

Winfried Beilharz, Renate Beilharz, Susi Blackwell, Marianne Herrmann, Pam Edelmaier, Heinz Wagner, Carol Beilharz.

8.6 Sunday Schools

Bayswater: Christine Ruff

Bentleigh: Renate Beilharz

8.7 J.G.

Nigel Gohl, Brendon Glenk, Krista Imberger, Kathy Herrmann, Tara Maree, Silvia Anderson, Sarah Murray, Christina Haar and Renee Hawley, Richard Herrmann, Chris Blaich, Andrew Nicholson, Vanessa Adams, Monika Haar, Hilma Hoefer, Darren Loebert, Erika Anderson, Peter Herrmann, Karyn Kinder, Alysha Murray, Holger Messner.

8.8 Working Group on the Future of the TSA (TS 2000)

Rolf Beilharz, Renate & Tony Beilharz, Winfried Beilharz, Brendon Glenk, Rolf & Sonia Glenk, Traude Glenk, Mark Herrmann, Dietmar Jürgensen, Christine & Harald Ruff, Hermann & Herta Uhlherr.

8.9 Facility and Property Taskforce

Rolf Beilharz, Winfried Beilharz, Dieter Glenk, Dietmar Jürgensen, Gretel & Oskar Krockenberger, Ernst Ruff, Heinz Vollmer.

8.10 German Schools

Bayswater: Irene Bouzo (Coordinator)

Bentleigh: Ursula Fisher (Coordinator)

9. Literature

9.1 The Templer Record continued to be published regularly in 11 issues over the year. The bilingual character of the publication and its diversity of content, ranging from serious religious and philosophical topics to humour, were maintained. Contributions from many members have again ensured a stimulating and successful community effort. Print and layout of the T.R. have been updated. We value Herta Uhlherr's efforts as editor and Alfred Klink's contribution with computer layout and presentation.

The Templer Record Fest in August celebrated 50 years publishing of the circular in Australia. A special function in the Bayswater Hall with a large number of contributions and presentations was very well received.

The T.R., after editing out of personal telephone numbers and addresses, and other items requested by their authors, is now available on the TSA's homepage on the internet. This is one part of opening up the TSA to potentially interested persons who would otherwise not come into contact with us.

9.2 Die Warte des Tempels (the Templer Sentinel) is published monthly by the T.G.D. in the German language. It provides information about the religious thinking and the activities of the Templers in Germany. It is read by numerous members in Australia.

Until the T.G.D. starts its own homepage on the internet, the TSA homepage also puts the Warte and other items from Germany on the internet.

Rolf Beilharz - Regional Head

NOMINATIONS FOR ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Reference is made to notices published in the August T.R. The following persons were fully nominated and seconded for council and committee positions:

Temple Society Australia - Regional Council

Renate Beilharz, Harald Ruff,

The Temple Society Central Fund (Aust.) - Board of Directors

Heinz Beilharz, Dieter Glenk, Oskar Krockenberger (2 years)

Templer Home for the Aged Inc. - Committee of Management

Kurt Beilharz, Brigitte Decker, Theo Richter

Tabulam Nursing Home Inc. - Committee of Management

Klaus Imberger, Wilhelm Imberger, Winfried Weber

Mark Herrmann - Business Manager

REPORTS

TABULAM NURSING HOME

As this report is predominantly of interest to elderly persons who may have some difficulty with their English this report is going to be in German.

Wer das Rundschreiben "Templer Record" regelmäßig gelesen hat durchs vergangene Jahr, wird in diesem Bericht nicht viel Neues finden, da immer wieder das Neueste über Tabulam in den "Tabulamnachrichten" mitgeteilt wurde. Dieser Bericht erwähnt deshalb nur die paar wichtigsten Ereignisse.

Die Pflege der Bewohner und ihre Verköstigung verliefen wie erwartet - normal. Mit ihrer Beschäftigung und Unterhaltung wurde es ab Dezember wesentlich besser, da der Anbau der zu diesem Zweck vorgenommen wurde, drei Räume und ein kleines Büro am 14. Dezember eingeweiht werden konnte.

Diese Räume, mit ihren Einrichtungen (Küchen= und Fernsehnische, bequeme Sessel und große Glasfenster mit herrlicher Sicht auf die Berge, Veranda mit Blumenkästen, Bücherregale, Zentralheizung und =kühlung) ermöglichen mehr und mehrerlei Betätigungsmöglichkeiten mit den Bewohnern. Die Gesamtkosten (gerade abschließend zusammengestellt) sind $206,893; an Spenden zur Begleichung dieses Betrages sind bis Ende Juli $63,657 eingegangen, also etwas mehr als 30%. Seit etwa März dieses Jahres zeigen sich immer wieder Termitenschäden an Türleisten im Neubau des Heims (nicht dem Anbau für Beschäftigungstherapie). Eine Spezialfirma überwacht die ganze Bekämpfung dieser kleinen Feinde; ihr Nest ist wahrscheinlich unter der Betonplatte des Fußbodens. Es werden Fallen gestellt mit Köder und dann werden die Gefangenen mit Arsen bestäubt und ins Nest zurückgelassen in der Hoffnung, daß sie dort ihre Königin vergiften.

Finanziell konnten wir beim Betrieb des Heims mit den Zuschüssen der Regierung (etwa 80%) und den Beiträgen der Bewohner (etwa $26.5 pro Tag, die zusammen im Jahr etwa 20% der Gesamtkosten betragen) auskommen und wieder einen mäßigen Überschuß erzielen.

Der Verwaltungsausschuß ist sehr zufrieden mit der umsichtigen, tüchtigen und doch sparsamen Arbeitsweise von Dr. M. Schreiber. Dasselbe gilt auch für alle anderen Mitarbeiter. Die Harmonie im Heim ist vorbildlich.

Die Regierung hat neue Gesetze verabschiedet, die am 1. Oktober in Kraft treten. Sie haben zur Folge, daß ein großer Teil der Bewohner (einige "Pensioners", alle "Part-Pensioners" und "Non-Pensioners") mehr als den bisherigen Tagessatz von $26.5 bezahlen müssen. Diesen Zuschlag bestimmt das Department of Social Security mit Information vom "Taxation Department". Diese Zuschläge muß das Heim einziehen und effektiv an die Regierung weiterleiten. Außerdem werden auch vermögensabhängige Darlehen von neuen Bewohnern verlangt, von denen das Heim die Zinsen behalten kann sowie einen Teil (über 5 Jahre verteilt) des Kapitals (maximal $2600 pro Jahr) behalten kann.

Der größte Teil des Darlehens wird beim Verlassen des Heims zurückbezahlt oder beim Überwechseln in ein anderes transferiert. Bei Todesfällen geht die Rückzahlung an das Erbe oder die Erben. Aus diesen Einnahmen von den Darlehen sollen in Zukunft ein besserer Wohnstandard (nicht mehr als zwei Personen pro Zimmer), größere Sicherheit gegen Feuer (Sprinkleranlage), mehr Bequemlichkeit (mehr Platz pro Person, möglichst persönliche Naßzelle u.s.w.), sowie alle andern kapitalbedürftigen Verbesserungen und Reparaturen bezahlt werden, da die Regierung ab 1. Oktober 1997 keinerlei Kapitalzuschüsse mehr geben wird, wie es bisher der Fall war.

Über die Auswirkung und viele Einzelheiten dieser Gesetze hat am vergangenen 20. Juli in der Bayswater Halle eine Versammlung stattgefunden, die sehr zahlreich besucht war.

Otto Löbert
für den Verwaltungsausschuß

TEMPLER HOME FOR THE AGED INC.

During this period we progressed steadily if somewhat slower than anticipated. I hoped to be able to report that things are becoming easier for both staff and the committee and its members, but alas not as yet.

Foremost is the uncertainty created by substantial changes flagged by the government regarding aged care facilities. Without going into too many details I believe it is reasonably well understood that the new aged care regulations do no longer differentiate between hostel and nursing homes. In future they will be treated as a single age care instrument. Significant changes to funding arrangements are to be implemented by originally the 1st of June 97 but now postponed to the 1st of October 97. The aged care community is struggling to understand the implications of it all and we at the Templer Home are no exception. However, I think I can now, as the dust is settling, say that it is not all bad. It is the government's intention to provide first class aged care, with an obligation of any Home, hostel or Nursing Home, to continually improve care and accommodation standards and have proper monitoring systems in place to measure these improvements. All aged care facilities must obtain accreditation. This process is anticipated to take between 2 or 3 years. Initially certification of a home is granted, this means that a facility complies with minimum standards for safety, security, occupational health and safety and comfort. Accreditation is then phased in gradually starting in 1998 to replace certification (in relation to buildings and outcome standards). Residential aged care providers will ultimately need to be accredited to operate. Accreditation standards will progressively increase, to provide continuous improvement. Things will certainly not become any easier as these changes and improvements must be achieved with no more money input from the government (more likely less). In relation to the above I must tell you that unfortunately accommodation bonds (the old ingoing donation) will rise more frequently than in the past and the rises will most likely be substantial. Aged Care Victoria anticipates that figures above $100,000 will be required in many instances. Whilst this sounds horrific, remember, the bulk of this money is refundable when a resident leaves the Home, retention cuts out after 5 years residence in a Home, tax implications for a resident may also reduce considerably.

In our home lots of changes have taken and are taking place. A new rostering system for staff has been implemented, this was made more difficult because of our care supervisor Sister Watson's illness and subsequent resignation. We wish Sister Watson all the best for the future and thank her very much for 7 years of service to our residents and the Home. Sister Marianne McVeigh has stood in for an original 6 weeks which has now become 8 months. Sister Marianne is doing this despite difficult personal circumstances, we thank her very much.

We hope that our search for a new care manager will soon be successful, as there are many important items which must be addressed urgently. Despite our difficulties we have also achieved a lot. The renovation of rooms as they become vacant has been very successful. The process is capably handled by the maintenance committee and carried out largely by U. Hoefer our maintenance officer. Thank you Uli for a splendid job. A new security door lock system has been installed recently, this is an essential part to gain accreditation, even if it causes a bit of inconvenience at times. Remember it is for the security of the home and its residents and I am sure with time when everybody understands how it functions it will be fine.

We are about to go to tender for 4 new units and hope to start building very soon. Much work has also been carried out in bringing residents' agreements up to date, this is complete for the Hostel and we are working on the Unit resident agreements now.

The committee continues to be concerned about the occupancy rate of the home, we would like to encourage prospective residents not to put off the decision too long, ideally we would like to have a 100% occupancy at all times.

We believe this to be very important to improve the financial position of the home, another initiative of very high priority is the maximisation of care subsidies. This depends on better documentation and reporting. Our staff has attended a seminar on this subject, we are also receiving help from Tabulam management regarding this.

Our fundraising committee has done a wonderful job for us by organising a number of successful activities such as the doll's fair, Sommerfest, Garden Party, Sonnwend and the Bazaar. At this stage I would like to thank our donors for their support during the last year and encourage new donors to join them, we do appreciate your support. Our dedicated kitchen staff continues to provide wonderful meals, thank you! It is appreciated by all.

Operating the home is a big job requiring dedication and hard work, we are lucky to have both in our staff, a very big thank you to you all.

Thanks to our volunteers at working bees etc. We do appreciate your help and I would like to encourage more to come and give a hand sometime, it is really good fun and gives a good feeling when the job is done.

Finally thanks to my committee for their dedicated work, hang in there we are getting there!

Walter Burkhardt

CARE WORKER REPORT

The past year has been busy and rewarding for me. It is pleasing to note that the care worker service has been accepted by our community and that people feel comfortable in approaching me for advice to discuss any problems they may have.

Whilst my official working days are Wednesday and Thursday, I am occasionally called upon at other times for hospital visits or meetings with other professional bodies e.g. Guardianship board.

I have found it more efficient to concentrate my work efforts in the Bayswater area on Wednesday and in the Bentleigh area on Thursday.

At this point I would like to acknowledge the valuable support I receive from Mark Herrmann, our business manager and Klaus Imberger, manager of the Templer Home.

The Community Care Reference Group also provides valuable support. This committee meets every 4-6 weeks. We work on formalizing and improving the care worker service and I appreciate their input and ongoing support.

Every 6 weeks I visit an independent social worker for professional supervision. This person is highly qualified and gives me advice on various issues.

I am accountable and report regularly to the Elders of the Temple Society. To improve my skills I attend professional development courses as offered. Another aspect of my duties is the Telelink group which meets every second Monday. This enables 10 members of our community to meet over the telephone for 45 minutes for a happy discussion on many and varied subjects. Our participants are widely spread throughout the metropolitan area and this is a good way to keep in touch.

In conclusion I wish to thank the many members of the community who have given me their support.

Helga Anderson

JG PRESIDENT'S REPORT

The past financial year, I believe, has been a successful one for the JG. The majority of our events have been well attended, the organisation of these events no longer appears to be a problem and on an overall financial basis, we are healthy. This year we have also seen a greater involvement by our younger members in all of our events, which is an encouraging sign for the future.

Breakaway was again the first event of the financial year which saw four of our members search many areas in the West of Victoria for a Senior Camp location. The Lake Fyans Scout Camp was eventually decided upon as the best location to suit our needs. In August, the JG ventured to Mt. Buller for our annual ski trip which was again a popular and most enjoyable event. During the same month, the JG also assisted at the Altersheim Bazaar and our help was greatly appreciated especially since the JG contributed a lot more stalls than in previous years. The Pizza and Billiards Night that followed was, as usual, a fitting end to a long day.

In September, Bunter Abend was held for the first time in five years and was truly a magnificent night. The reason this event was probably the best event the JG has organised for many years was that practically everyone who has had anything to do with the JG over the last five years was involved. It is a pity that we cannot hold such an event every year as the response from the community was overwhelming. Bunter Abend also saw the revival of folkdancing which was also greatly appreciated by the community and definitely enjoyed by those involved. Thanks go to everyone who helped throughout the three days and hopefully this event can be held again some time in the future.

The All Day All Night held in mid-September was also a success, and while the November Car Rally was well organised, attendance was unfortunately poor. The Christmas Singing, however, had its highest attendance of all time with sixteen people turning up to entertain residents at Tabulam and the Altersheim. In late December Senior Camp was held at Lake Fyans and while Senior Camp was poorly attended in 1996, (average of fifteen people per night), this indicated to us that this event will have to be scaled down in the future to ensure it is economically viable to those who attend. But in saying this it must be remembered that Senior Camp, no matter how many people attend, will be deemed successful if the people who attended enjoyed themselves. This was the case in 1996 and hence we are all looking forward to Senior Camp in 1997.

In January, Watersports was held with approximately twice the number of people in attendance than at Senior Camp. According to reports, a fantastic weekend was enjoyed by all. During the month of February, Sommerfest was held and it was clearly one of the best Sommerfests the JG has organised for many years. Assisted by warm weather, we were able to make a profit between $1,500 and $2,000. The highlight of the day was the folkdancing which had not been seen at Sommerfest for many years. Folkdancing was a goal that we set for ourselves this time last year. The JG should all feel proud that this goal was achieved as the response from the community has been more than encouraging. A sincere thank-you must therefore be given to Christine and Harald Ruff for their tireless efforts in helping us prepare for both Bunter Abend and Sommerfest. In general, thanks go to the committee members for organising the stalls at Sommerfest and thanks also go out to every member of the JG who helped on the day as without you, Sommerfest would simply not be possible.

This year's Youth Saal was held in April with the topic being "What does religion mean to me?" While this topic definitely raised a few eyebrows, this thought provoking afternoon was enjoyed by all who attended. In early June we held our annual working bee for the Clubroom. Like last year the working bee was greatly needed and I am happy to say that the results were sparkling, even though one of the lights still doesn't work - and neither does the alarm.

In conclusion, I would like to personally thank the committee for their hard work and dedication throughout the year. More specific thanks, however, go to Brendon Glenk for his support as Vice President, Krista Imberger for again doing a very talented job as Treasurer, Tara Maree and Kathy Herrmann for their diligent work as our Secretaries and finally Richard Herrmann for again keeping our property in order. But it is because of the hard work of the whole committee that the JG's active membership is higher than it was last year - and this is considering the fact that we have less members, but are still able to ensure that events like Sommerfest are extremely successful.

But to ensure that the JG has a prosperous future, I believe that two main goals exist for the new committee. The first is that the new committee continues to encourage active membership within the JG - while the second is to ensure that the 1998 confirmation group is welcomed into the JG with the same enthusiasm as the last confirmation group was. And, if these two goals are achieved, I believe that the JG's future will be a successful one.

Nigel Gohl
J.G. President

PLAYGROUP REPORT

Another year of sharing Thursday mornings with a wonderful group of parents and children has slipped past and each year is as rewarding as the last - new friendships made and longterm friendships maintained.

Our numbers remain steady, growing in recent weeks to 15 children, almost all Templers. With several new babies, we make up a lively and busy group. Several parents travel up to half an hour to join us which is quite a commitment.

As in past years, our program included several excursions and Altersheim visits. Our beach visit early in the year to Mornington, to the appropriately named `Mothers' Beach' with its perfect conditions for toddlers, was a highlight.

Just recently we shared a special morning with many of our grandparents who also supported `Australia's Biggest Morning Tea' to aid Cancer Research (see earlier article). The morning was a hive of activity and a pleasure to be part of. Thank you to all our friends who supported this. We donated $116 - you were very generous with your gold coins!

Our major fundraising activity coming up shortly, is the yearly `Shopping Tour' which will take place on Saturday, 4th October to which we invite our many friends and hope that you can support us.

Nothing is achieved alone; our group relies on the help and cooperation of all and therefore I thank our parents for their creative input and constant cheery assistance which I appreciate very much.

And as always, I thank Heinz and Tony, and other helpers of course, for the ongoing maintenance which is required from time to time - thank you.

We welcome new members so if you would like to join us next year (enrolment for children aged between 2-4 years) please let me know soon.

Moni Herrmann

SUNDAY SCHOOL REPORT

Sunday School occurs twice monthly in the Melbourne region, usually coinciding with the services held in Bayswater, Boronia and Bentleigh. Attendance varies at all locations from a regular 4 to 6 children to up to 20 children depending on the occasion. The age of children attending ranges from pre-school to approximately 13 years of age.

The most exciting development concerning Sunday School has been the formation of a Sunday School Committee. Committee members are Carol Beilharz, Mark Herrmann, Susi Blackwell, Renate Beilharz and Christine Ruff.

The committee coordinates the curriculum of the Bentleigh and Bayswater/Boronia Sunday Schools so as to avoid overlap (some children attend both Sunday Schools). The teachers (Renate Beilharz - Bentleigh, Christine Ruff - Bayswater/Boronia) are writing up lesson plans and documenting resources so that we have a record of procedures used at both communities.

The major project of the committee is the development of a Sunday School booklet. The booklet is aimed at country members or others who cannot attend Sunday School regularly. It will eventually comprise 10 units covering the Temple Society. Each unit will contain a focus, story, discussion starters, bible reference, song, prayer and activities. Families are encouraged to work through units together. At this stage we are close to completing Unit one, which will be sent to families for trialing before we proceed further.

Christine Ruff, Renate Beilharz

GERMAN SCHOOLS

We have two flourishing little schools.

The Bayswater-Boronia German School classes are held on Fridays from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. There were 18 students enrolled this year, with one drop out leaving 17 children ranging from ages 6 to 15. There are 12 children from Templer families and 6 non-Templers. The pupils this year vary greatly in their levels of German language competence and age groups. This has necessitated several levels to be conducted within two classes taught by Doris Frank and Monika Herrmann.

The Bentleigh School has a total enrolment of 19 students. There are 13 students from Templer families and 6 are non-Templers. A new initiative this year was to change the class times from Saturday mornings to mid week times. This has proved much more successful for enrolments. The beginners and junior classes are held on Wednesdays from 4 pm to 7 pm taught by Josefine Hennel. The combined intermediate-advanced class is taught on Mondays from 6.30 to 8 pm by Barbara Sonntag-Imberger.

The Education Department has increased the annual per capita funding to $80 per student which is a great help. Until now the schools have always been able to comply with the Education Department's requirements for funding. These are becoming increasingly difficult to adhere to and require much more work on preparing curriculum and management statements.

The Bentleigh School has planned some special excursions this year and it is hoped that this can become a combined activity with the Bayswater School. The intermediate-seniors will go to the German Art Gallery Trail and the beginners and juniors to the Zoo Trail which has been modified since last time to suit these levels better.

One of the highlights this year is the publishing of a student resource book. "Nahrung und Gesundheit". This book was written and produced jointly by the two Templer schools. It will be launched later this year by the Education Department.

Ursula Fisher for the Bentleigh German School and Irene Bouzo for the Baywater-Boronia School

TS 2000 ANNUAL REPORT

The TS2000 group has been meeting each 6 to 8 weeks, and currently operates as an ideas forum, spending time discussing topics important to the TSA and the future growth of the society. Many of the new activities and proposals of recent times have been a direct result of the work of this group of people who are giving their time to further advance the TSA.

Any TSA members who are interested in being a part of this group, or even attending just one meeting to give us some fresh, new ideas, are welcome. Just contact any TS2000 member for details about the next meeting.

Some of the topics that have been discussed over the past year are:

* Internet - setting up a Temple Society page on the World Wide Web, both for public relations, and as a service to members.

* Delegating members as ushers, to welcome individuals when arriving at services.

* Membership concepts - how to cater for the wide variety of membership status.

* "Reconfirmation" course.

* TSA-2000: 50 years of Templers in Australia celebration.

Suggestions and recommendations developed from these discussions were presented to the Regional Council throughout the year, who then decided on appropriate followup actions.

Dietmar Jurgensen

AUSTRALIAN-GERMAN TEMPLER EXCHANGE SCHEME

There has been much activity this year, often behind the scenes. Ingrid Slip returned to Australia after an extended stay overseas and received a debriefing session. Wiltrud Tietz is currently here as our exchange guest from Germany, following in the footsteps of her brother Helge. Wiltrud has given much time and energy to volunteer work at the Templer Home for the Aged and the Tabulam Nursing Home. Wiltrud will also visit the Templer community in Sydney. Host families Uli and Inge Hoefer and Jim and Helga Anderson have made a valuable contribution in supporting the scheme this year by hosting Wiltrud.

Australian candidate Bernhard Hoefer is still in Germany and our other candidate Michael Franz has recently returned to Australia. Both Michael and Bernhard studied a German course at the Goethe Institute, were actively involved with the TGD programs and Michael joined the Israel cemetery trip. The Exchange Scheme Sub-committee has been active preparing systematic procedures for selecting, preparing and debriefing our future Australian candidates. Returned candidates from previous years have been active in preparing guidelines to assist with the initial arrival in Germany, and have taken part in sub-committee meetings and debriefing sessions of recently returned Templers. The contributions of all those involved in these activities are very much appreciated.

Irene Bouzo for the Exchange Scheme Sub-committee

COUNTRY VICTORIA GET-TOGETHER

When I sat down to write this report, I thought that it would be useful to go back over the notes I had made, when a group of about thirty adults and children met on the 26/3/95 in the backyard of Karin and Will Williamson's home in Bendigo.

On that day we had agreed that:

- we should meet on a regular basis four times a year,

- we begin each meeting at 11 am with some form of service, followed by a shared meal.

At that time we noted that distance would be a problem and the fact that we needed to be aware that not everyone would be able to join us every time. We also floated the idea that perhaps one of those meetings could be over a weekend. It was felt that this would allow those living further away a chance to join us too. At the same time it would allow for greater bonding, particularly amongst our children.

Reflecting on all this some of our aims are being met. We do meet on a regular basis, admittedly not four times a year but three.

Those three meetings have provided us with some valuable time together, during which country and Melbourne people have had a great opportunity to meet, hear other thoughts and discuss them.

Watching the young children running around together and interacting with each other, as well as with the adults, is wonderful. These children, both city and country, are the future of our Society and if for no other reason than that, these bonds need to be developed and strengthened. It is vitally important that this group be continued and supported.

We have attempted to keep in touch with those Templers living in Western Victoria, either by letter, phone call or through the Templer Record, to keep them informed and to let them know that they are always welcome to join us on any one of these Sundays.

It would seem opportune now to publicly thank all the elders who have travelled to Ballarat, Eppalock or Seymour to be with us and deliver some very thought provoking services. I would also like to thank all those Templers who have travelled to one or other of our meetings to join us on these Sundays and strengthen our voices when we sing, usually unaccompanied by music, in our different venues.

Finally if any Templers are ever in our area on one of our meeting days, remember that you are always welcome to join us for a pleasant way to spend a Sunday.

Dot Ware

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Die südaustralische Gruppe traf sich regelmäßig alle 2 Monate in Tanunda zum Saal mit anschließendem "Kaffeekränzle", weil viele der Mitglieder fast 100 km Anfahrt haben. Durchschnittlich waren zwölf Personen anwesend.

Im Oktober übernahm Dieter Ruff die Ansprache, und wir freuten uns, daß auch seine Frau Isolde dabeisein konnte. Bei dieser Gelegenheit schickten wir einen Scheck für $200 ans Altersheim, was uns Dieter und Isolde freundlicherweise besorgten.

Im Dezember freuten wir uns über den Besuch von Kurt Lorenz und Frau, die in Renmark wohnen.

Ulrich Asenstorfer

Die Frauengruppe traf sich monatlich (außer Dezember und Januar) und machte Handarbeiten. Manchmal wurde auch vorgelesen. Was hier nicht verkauft werden konnte, sandten wir nach Bayswater ins Altersheim.

Doch der Höhepunkt des Jahres war der 90. Geburtstag von Christel Stoll, den sie bei guter Gesundheit im Kreise der Familie und von Freunden feiern durfte.

Rose Asenstorfer.

SYDNEY COMMUNITY

In the past year since reporting at the last Annual General Assembly in September 1996, we held 11 Sunday Services and 1 Memorial Service. This Memorial Service was conducted on Friday, 13th September 1996 for Frederick Bechert, who died unexpectedly while on holiday in Germany at his cousin's place at Wittenberg on Elbe on 16.7.96. Fortunately no more funeral nor memorial services had to be held.

In giving our Sunday Services we were supported by 2 Melbourne Elders during the period of reporting - these were Dietrich Ruff, our President, on the 4th Sunday in May and Harald Ruff on the last Sunday in June. We gratefully acknowledge their contributions, since it stimulates the local members and friends. As in years before, our Thanksgiving Service was held on the first Sunday in March, combining it with the presentation of Children (Darstellung). Hartmut Beck presented 3 children: Daniel Martin Osarek, son of Mark and Julie Osarek, Tara Ruth Kelly, daughter of Bernard & Regina Kelly and Ricardo Jose Garcia-Villada, son of Lorenzo and Monika Garcia Villada.

Special events were: the annual bus excursion on 12.4.97, which this year took us to the Kangaroo Valley (south-west of Sydney), stopping at Fitzroy Falls and for lunch at the German Holiday Village, called "Feriendorf". Then we had a beautiful and restful community picnic at the Nurragingy Reserve at Doonside, enjoyed by young and old. Very popular is also our annual Bazaar, last year on 23.11, which was again quite successful; it involves mainly the ladies of the "Frauenverein", but also other members tend a helping hand including some of the younger people - a really great community effort! Luckily, we still have a number of "associated friends" who come along and buy the "Goodies" on offer! So, of the funds raised we can make, or rather we did make, donations to the Homes for the Aged at Bayswater and Blacktown and the Israel Cemetery Maintenance Fund, as in former years.

By the revised membership-fee structure we gained in income, since most TSA members living in N.S.W. Country (but also some within Sydney) nominated the Sydney Community to receive the share of their membership-fees. We also won 4 new "Friends" as members of the Community.

The Sydney Community Annual General Meeting will take place on 24.8.97 and I can report on its outcome at the AGA at Bayswater in September verbally.

Ilse Birkner

KIDS' CLUB ANNUAL REPORT

Our kids have had a wide variety of activities throughout the year. This has brought them closer together as well as giving them more to look forward to each month. The activities enjoyed in the last twelve months have included:

* Woodworking - where each child made either a Go-Kart, aeroplane or house.

* Camp Allambie where we enjoyed each other's company over four days in activities camp in Gippsland.

* A slightly damp bike ride and community picnic which failed to deter our enjoyment.

* Canoeing on Lilydale Lake.

* Cooking delicious damper at the Sonnwendfeier.

* A farm visit to Wagners' at Labertouche, feeding hay to the cows, watching the milking and riding the motorbike.

* A trip to the snow.

* A joint camp in Canberra with families from Sydney.

Plans for the coming year include:

* Bus trip to the Fairy Park at Anakie.

* Pottery

* Overnight camp out

* Joint Sydney/Melbourne family camp near Bega.

This year we have a new committee:

President: Pam Edelmaier

Treasurers': Heiner & Jackie Wagner

Secretary: Susi Blackwell

Committee: Marianne Herrmann, Renate Beilharz, Brigitte Decker, Winfried Beilharz and anybody who feels enthused to assist.

Hoping to see you and your family at our future events.

Winfried Beilharz

TEMPLER CHOIR

In the past year the choir again enjoyed to contribute to the main functions of the local Templer communities. Another important event was the 2 day seminar for choir leaders last spring. It was sponsored by the VDA (Verein für Deutschtum im Ausland) and held at the German Club Tivoli. We send 4 participants and since enjoy the rich fruit it brought us.

More recently we voted in a secret ballot not to participate in the 1998 Brisbane Sängerfest. It may be disappointing for some of us but in view of the high cost and the age of some of our singers, I think it was a good outcome.

Despite that both our 2 leaders Annette and Sonja have their first babies, we still hold our usual practices on Wednesdays and currently prepare for the Musikfest in September. We thank them for their leadership in the face of high demand from their families and or work.

Ulrich Hapke

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MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

AUS DEM GEMEINDELEBEN

ANNIVERSARIES

Congratulations to Heinz and Heidi Vollmer on their Ruby Anniversary on 28.9.97 and our very best wishes for many more years together.

Congratulations to Hans und Annemarie Kirchner on their Golden Anniversary on 6.9.97 and our very best wishes for the coming years.

BIRTH

Franz Peter Hesse (29.7.97)

Parents: Annette Wagner-Hesse and Heinrich Hesse

Thank-you

We have been very touched to receive so many congratulations on the birth of our son. We thank all relatives and friends amongst the Templers for their warm welcome to Franz and their kind wishes. Particular thanks go to members of the choir and the Bentleigh-Moorabbin community.

Annette and Hein Hesse

WEDDING

Hans Richter and Margaret (Todd) were married on 12.7.97

Our very best wishes for their future together.

BEREAVEMENTS/TRAUERANZEIGEN

Am 6. August ist unser lieber Vater, Opa, Urgroßvater und Bruder

Johann Decker

geb. 9.2. in Wohldemfürst, Rußland

ganz plötzlich aus diesem Leben geschieden.

Frau Hulda Wagner danken wir sehr herzlich für ihre lieben Worte bei der Trauerfeier und dafür, daß sie und ihr Mann den weiten Weg nach Wangaratta auf sich genommen haben.

Durch die liebe Fürsorge im Altersheim hat sich unser Vater dort daheim gefühlt; dafür sind wir sehr dankbar.

In stillem Gedenken:
Meta und John Selzer und Familie
Erika und Peter Wurster mit Familie
Grete Wurster
Anna Bilney
Helene Eppinger

Our dear cousin, auntie and friend

Elisabeth Charlotte Aberle

died in the early hours of the 6th of August peacefully in her sleep. We miss her very much.

Hedwig Wennagel
Krista & Jim Allan & family
Lis Wennagel & family
Anne Wennagel
Kay Wennagel & Michael Staindl
Paul & Mary Wennagel & family
Kurt Aberle
Kurt & Anna Eppinger

Wir danken allen, die bei der Gestaltung der Trauerfeier in der Bayswater Halle am 13. August geholfen haben, sowie allen Verwandten, Freunden und Bekannten, die uns ihre herzliche Anteilnahme erwiesen haben.

Freude die Fülle
und liebliche Stille
darf ich erwarten
im himmlischen Garten;
dorthin sind meine Gedanken gericht!

Mein lieber Schwager, unser Onkel

Rolf Norbert Breisch

durfte am 9. August 1997 im Alter von 86 Jahren für immer seine Augen schließen.

Ich und meine Familie sagen der Tempelgesellschaft und Tabulam herzlichen Dank für alles Gute und die Fürsorge während seiner langen Leidenszeit.

Lotte Breisch

We express our deep sympathy to all the bereaved families and their friends.

SOCIAL CARE

Dear friends,

In the last issue I wrote about hearing impairment. This month I will continue with some tips for talking to the hard of hearing.

Face the hard of hearing persons directly and be on the same eye level as them at all times. In other words, if they are sitting you should sit, if they are standing you should stand. Don't turn your back on the person to whom you are speaking or he/she won't be able to see your face. Keep your hands away from your face. Give him/her every chance to see all of your face.

Speak normally. That means naturally and this should be distinct and clear. Above all - don't shout. This is one of the worst things you can do to a hearing aid user. Remember that with a hearing aid shouting can cause great discomfort.

Sometimes it helps to speak a little slower, but not too slowly, as this will make understanding even more difficult.

Reduce background noise - turn off radio and T.V.

Try to be in a position where light is shining on your face. This will make it much easier for the hearing impaired person to see and therefore lipread you. If the sun or light is shining in the hearing impaired persons eyes it will be so much harder for him/her to understand you. If you are not making yourself understood, find a different way of saying the same thing.

Be aware that he/she may have difficulty understanding speech even with a hearing aid.

Communication means people talking with each other. If you can help make this easier and enjoyable, the hard task facing the hearing impaired person will become a lot less trying. It won't only help them. It will also help you.

best wishes, Helga Anderson

The above articles have been taken from the booklet "How can I help?" from Australian Hearing Services.

VISIT IN GERMANY

THEO AND SUSAN GRAZE 14/7-2/8 1997

We were privileged to be able to use the marvellous Templer flat for 3 weeks. We can't praise it highly enough - totally independent, yet friends are there when we need them. It is less than 10 minutes to the middle of Stuttgart by excellent public transport. The flat has a bed sitting room, kitchenette, bath room and small terrace. Sheets, towels, doonas, crockery, washing machine (in cellar), cutlery, iron, saucepans etc. are all supplied. We arrived to find a welcoming note from Karin Klingbeil. Karin was so helpful and friendly during our stay. We picked up the key from Ella Mutschlechner. Later, she thoughtfully arrived at the flat with 2 jars of home made jam, a bag of fresh bread rolls and information on where to shop etc.

A highlight of our stay in Stuttgart was the Templer Sommerfest on 26th July from 16.00 to midnight. Visitors were greeted by Peter Lange and included Martin Higgins from England, who is working in the archive. About 40 Templers aged from 5 to almost 90 thoroughly enjoyed themselves, first with coffee and cake, then with games organized ably by Christl Haenel, in which all ages joined in. After a BBQ of enormous steaks and sausages, expertly cooked by Tilo Hornung and bowls of delicious salads, more games were played. It was Rumi Hornung's 50th birthday and the "Gemeinde" gave her a present, the children drew a gigantic "Blumenstrauss" in chalk on the "Hof" and Joerg Klingbeil read out a poem he had composed in her "Ehre". Afterwards lots of us tried out the "newfangled half lying bike" Rumi had been given by her husband Dieter. We were impressed by our fellow Aussie Bernhard Hoefer - how well he mixed in and how obviously the Stuttgart Templers appreciated his commitment.

Suggestion for Melbourne - it would be great, if a similar flat could be organized for visiting Templers (not only from Germany, but from Sydney and Adelaide and other places) to use.

Suggestions for future visitors - to help the administration, ring up the day before you are due to arrive to get information about the key, parking space etc.

We can't recommend the flat highly enough - it was a wonderful base. We were sorry we couldn't stay longer. After 3 months "on the wallaby", it was a marvelous place in which to finish our trip to Europe.

Thank you TG Deutschland for your foresight in providing this haven - it certainly helps to strengthen the ties between the 2 communities.

The following article was sent in by the Haerings who saw it in their German Club newsletter and obtained permission to print it in our T.R. It might bring some smiles to our readers.

 

Es fiel mir auf...

Dass alles weiter entfernt ist, als vor einigen Jahren. Es ist sogar zweimal so weit, um zur Strassenecke zu gehen und ein Hügel war früher auch nicht da.

Das Rennen zum Bus habe ich aufgegeben, er fährt jetzt immer viel eher ab. Die Treppenstufen scheinen auch höher zu sein als in den goldenen Tagen, und die Zeitungen drucken mit kleineren Buchstaben.

Es hat auch keinen Sinn, jemand zu bitten, etwas vorzulesen, da ja jeder so leise spricht, dass man es kaum hören kann.

Zu den Kleidern wird zu wenig Stoff verwendet, besonders um die Hüften, und die angegebenen Grössen fallen viel kleiner aus.

Sogar die Menschen verändern sich, sie sind viel jünger als wir in ihrem Alter waren. Andererseits sind die Leute unseres Alters soviel älter als wir.

Ich traf neulich eine Klassenkameradin, die so alt aussah, dass sie mich nicht erkannte. Ich dachte an das arme Wesen, als ich mein Haar kämmte und in den Spiegel sah: wirklich, auch Spiegel machen sie nicht mehr so wie früher...

FROM GERMANY

RESTORATION ALONG `OUR' KOLONIESTRASSE

An article in the July/August WARTE will be of great interest to those Templers who know Haifa. It tells of the plan to restore and develop the "German Colony". For the TGD Archives, Professor Yossi Ben-Artzi gave Karin Klingbeil (recently in Israel with the cemetery working group) a fine, glossy colour brochure describing the future look of Ben Gurion Avenue, the former Templer Koloniestraße.

The brochure says the guiding principles are restoration and development. The aim is to reestablish the avenues, houses and gardens in their original style and to bring new life to the area with thriving commercial ventures that will help attract tourists to this heritage environment, which will extend from the harbour in the north to the beautiful gardens of the Baha'i tempel.

Individual projects proposed are:

* Widening the footpaths to the front walls of the houses,

* Creating public spaces along the avenue in the garden style of the Templers,

* Restoring the original facades of historical buildings,

* Adding trees like native fruit trees, carob and olive trees,

* Paving the avenue,

* Using original material to preserve the heritage feeling.

The renovated German settlement will become a historical and cultural drawcard for both tourists and locals."

This means strict conditions are imposed on the house owners. Prof. Alex Carmel spoke of a locksmith who told him his troubles. If he wants to stay in his home, he has to restore it and won't even be allowed to hang up his shingle. He said he could not fulfil these conditions. So a number of houses will change hands and not every house will be able to be saved.

The planning office, which is located in the beautifully restored former Ehmann house, has developed a little emblem , a round logo: in the centre is a historic photo of the settlement with its foundation date, 1869. Circling it are words in Hebrew, English and Arabic that indicate this is the German settlement. The Hebrew says "hamoshawa hagermanit chaifa".

The character of the former Templer settlement will naturally change. The ambitious plan which the City of Haifa is carrying out together with the Ministry of Tourism and the Israeli regional authority cannot prevent this change, since boutiques, small restaurants, cafes, art and craft and souvenir shops etc. are to be established there as well as museums, art galleries and theatres. The brochure calls this "new life in an atmosphere of nostalgia".

While we will most probably disagree with one or other point, we can take comfort in the fact that the plan to build a boulevard with elegant business premises on "the most beautiful street in Israel" was able to be stopped. We owe a debt of great gratitude to Professors Alex Carmel and Yossi Ben-Artzi for their tireless efforts to preserve the historical look of the "German Settlement Haifa".

Brigitte Kneher, Archivist of the TGD
Translated by Herta Uhlherr

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HOME REPORTS

As I write this there is brilliant sunshine outside. I really hope that the Bazaar will have weather like this, though without the wind. A small band of workers turned up at the working bee on the 16th, and we thank them for their efforts. The surrounds of the Home are now ready for the visitors to the Bazaar on Saturday September 6th from 1 pm to 5 pm.

Many members of our near and distant communities have been working for some time, making and preparing for the bazaar. The South Australian Ladies Group sent us two large parcels of handcrafts and we thank them for their continued support, despite the physical distance. We have also received a number of generous donations from relatives and friends of our residents. Our thanks go to them too. We are hoping that further support will be coming from the rest of the community. Donations can be dropped off at the Home from now on, or ring Susi to make other arrangements. Keep those raffle tickets coming in. There is a wonderful range of prizes which will be won on the day.

We will be catering for all tastes and interests. There will be hot foods, drinks, popcorn, icy poles and pancakes available throughout the afternoon. Just follow your noses to locate these stalls. Coffee and cake will be served in the rear courtyard. (Don't forget to bake some cakes for us!) The Frauenverein has been working for months to stock their stall in the lounge room. The range of handicrafts is stunning!! There will be the usual stalls: trash and treasure, plant, books, produce and pre-loved toys. There will be games and activities for children, as well as a lucky dip. The Jugendgruppe will be giving a display of folk dancing, and the Blaskapelle will also be tootling. The silent auction has some interesting and unusual items and the bottles and jars are looking very mysterious in their brown paper bags. (Will you be able to donate some too?)

Because this is such a huge effort, we are still looking for any one who can assist on the day. We need help with the setting up in the morning, lots of people who are willing to help on the stalls for a couple of hours. Lastly we need helpers with some strength left at the end of the day to assist with the packing up. Would you like to volunteer your services?

Last year, as a result of the community involvement and support we raised in excess of $7000, and we hope to improve on that this year. Please remember, all proceeds go to help improve conditions for our Home residents.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Bazaar...

ALTERSHEIMNACHRICHTEN

Bei strahlendem Sonnenschein schreibe ich diesen Bericht. Ich hoffe sehr, daß das Wetter am Basar auch so schön ist, nur ohne den Wind. Eine kleine Arbeitsgruppe erschien am 16. und wir danken allen für ihren Einsatz. Die Umgebung des Heims ist nun bereit gemacht für die Besucher des Basars, der am Samstag, den 6. September von ein Uhr bis fünf Uhr nachmittags stattfindet.

Viele Mitglieder unserer Gemeinden nah und fern arbeiten schon lange dem Basar entgegen. Die Südaustralische Frauengruppe schickte uns zwei große Pakete mit Handarbeiten. Wir danken den Frauen, daß Sie uns trotz der räumlichen Entfernung so treu beistehen. Auch haben uns eine Anzahl Verwandter und Freunde unserer Bewohner großzügig beschenkt, wofür wir ihnen danken möchten.

Wir hoffen auf weitere Unterstützung von der ganzen Gemeinde. Gestiftete Sachen können Sie von jetzt ab im Heim abgeben, oder Sie können andere Möglichkeiten telefonisch mit Susi besprechen. Kaufen Sie doch noch mehr Lose! Es gibt eine Reihe von wunderbaren Preisen, die am Basartag zu gewinnen sind.

Wir sorgen für jeden Geschmack und jedes Interesse. Es gibt den ganzen Nachmittag warme Speisen, Getränke, Popcorn, Eis (icy poles) und Pfannkuchen. Immer der Nase nach und Sie finden die Verkaufsstände. Kaffee und Kuchen werden im Courtyard hinter dem Heim serviert. (Vergessen Sie nicht, Kuchen für uns zu backen!)

Der Frauenverein arbeitet schon monatelang in Vorbereitung für seinen Stand im Wohnzimmer. Die Auswahl an Handarbeiten ist erstaunlich! Es gibt auch die üblichen Verkaufsstände: "trash and treasure", Pflanzen, Bücher, Nahrungsmittel, gebrauchte Spielsachen. Es gibt Spiele und Aktivitäten für Kinder, und einen Glückstopf (lucky dip). Die Jugendgruppe führt Volkstänze vor und die Blaskapelle spielt. Einige interessante und besondere Gegenstände werden versteigert (silent auction). Die vollen Flaschen und Gläser in ihren braunen Papiertüten bewahren das Geheimnis ihres Inhalts. (Könnten Sie auch einige stiften?)

Weil der Basar eine so große Veranstaltung ist, suchen wir immer noch Leute, die an dem Tag helfen können. Wir brauchen Hilfe beim Aufstellen am Vormittag, und viele Leute, die bereit sind, ein paar Stunden an den Verkaufsständen zu helfen. Schließlich brauchen wir am Ende des Tages Leute, die noch etwas Kraft übrig haben, um beim Aufräumen zu helfen. Möchten Sie Ihre Hilfe anbieten?

Letztes Jahr, dank dem Einsatz und der Unterstützung der Gemeinde, war unser Erlös über $7000, and wir hoffen, diese Summe dieses Jahr zu übertreffen. Bitte denken Sie daran, daß der ganze Erlös dazu verwendet wird, das Altersheim zu verbessern für unsere Heimbewohner.

Wir freuen uns darauf, Sie alle am Basar zu begrüßen.

Ingeborg Imberger

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT

The Home's activity coordinator, Vedrana Schumann, is looking for volunteers to help run bingo sessions for our residents. Time and frequency of sessions is entirely flexible, and all offers of assistance will be very welcome.

Please contact Vedrana at the Home (9729 3444) if you can and wish to help.

FREIWILLIGE HELFER GESUCHT

Vedrana Schumann, die im Heim die verschiedenen Aktivitäten ko-ordiniert, sucht Leute, die bereit sind, bei der Gestaltung von Bingo-Spielen für unsere Bewohner zu helfen. Wann und wie oft die Bingo-Spiele stattfinden werden, steht offen.

Jedes Hilfsangebot ist sehr willkommen. Wenn Sie helfen können und wollen, benachrichtigen Sie bitte Vedrana im Heim: 9729 3444.

Klaus Imberger
Manager

TEMPLER HOME VACANCIES

We are seeking unit residents to fill a vacancy. The unit is presently being extensively renovated and upgraded. Should no Templer interest be shown, we will need to look further afield.

We also have vacancies in the hostel, particularly in our double rooms. These are suitable for couples - one renovation has been completed and the finished product is well worth a look.

Any expressions of interest and requests for further information should be directed to the TSA Office on (03) 9557 6713.

ALTERSHEIM UNIT UND ZIMMER FREI

Wir suchen Bewohner für eine Kleinwohnung (Unit). Die Wohnung wird momentan gründlich renoviert und verbessert. Sollten sich keine Templer melden, so müssen wir anderswo nach Interessenten suchen.

Auch im Wohnheim (Hostel) haben wir Zimmer frei, besonders Doppelzimmer, die für Ehepaare geeignet sind. Ein Zimmer ist bereits fertig renoviert, und es lohnt sich, es mal anzuschauen.

Wer Interesse hat oder weitere Auskunft wünscht, wende sich bitte an das TSA Büro (03) 9557 6713.

Mark Herrmann
Business Manager

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NOTICES

FORTHCOMING SERVICES

PRESENTATION SERVICE

Parents who want to have their child presented at the service in Bayswater on 12th October are asked to notify the Office so that the necessary arrangements can be made.

ALTERSHEIM BAZAAR 6TH SEPTEMBER

Many of our Ladies have been extremely busy sewing, knitting and embroidering to produce wonderful items for our craft stall. Children's clothing, warm hand knitted jumpers, socks knitted with quality German wool, even some Windcheaters for the men, beautifully embroidered greeting cards and lots more. These are just a few of our items for sale, so come along and have a look for yourself what fabulous ware we have to offer.

Gisela Sawatzky

BAYSWATER-BORONIA LADIES GROUP

At our next meeting, September 16th from 1-3 pm. in the JG room at Bayswater, a very talented young lady will reveal to us the intricate workmanship of handmade jewellery.

Kay Sawatzky is a professional goldsmith, she hand makes exclusive jewellery to suit the individual person's taste. She will be giving a talk on what jewellery is all about and its secrets that have never been told. For Example:

What is the difference between handmade and mass produced Gallagher?
Why does gold go black or have an allergic reaction on some people?
Who do stones sometimes fall out of settings after a few weeks of wear?
How many colours of gold are there?

All these questions and more will be answered to give a much better insight into the intricacies of the jewellery world.
She will have photos of her work on show and information to take home.

You can see Kay has a wealth of knowledge about jewellery and if you are an avid lover of jewellery, this is not to be missed.

Gisela Sawatzky

TEMPLER MUSIKFEST

A Musical Family Fest in the Bayswater Hall on 27 September at 17.00 (Saturday night) with the Templer Choir, the Blaskapelle, and lots of other people contributing to your entertainment during the evening. There will be a supper served at 6 pm, so bring the family and relax for the night.

We'll start at 5 pm with some historical reviews of Templers and their music - music Templers like and the music they make. Comments from former conductors and members, sentimental reflections and confident predictions for the future. There will be some speeches, short ones of course, and the kids will show us how music is supposed to sound.

Dinner will be served by an army of helpers. Drinks are BYO as usual. The brass band will provide the Tafelmusik with medleys of catchy tunes.

The Choir will present several brackets of songs, including some surprises, and in-between we will have musical interludes with soloists and accompaniment.

So, please come. Do reserve the evening for your musical enjoyment and make your advance booking

with Lore Schlender or Gerda Knaub

All the proceeds of the evening will be donated to the new Templer Hymn/Song book which is currently being prepared. We are asking $15.00 per person, children are of course free.

Alfred Klink

COMMUNITY SOCIAL AFTERNOON 18 OCTOBER BENTLEIGH HALL

We hope you remembered to mark this event in your calendar. As mentioned previously, this is intended to be a most relaxing, enjoyable afternoon to spend in the company of many good friends.

During the afternoon/early evening, you will be tantalised by delicious morsels of Arabic food e.g. dips and breads, salads, meats and falafels and yummy sweets. You will be entertained by the Brass band and invited to sing along with some of your favourite folk songs. If you're a Skat player, bring your cards and join a table of players; if you're a bowler, join a group in the Kegelbahn; if you would like to reminisce over good times in Palestine, bring your favourite photos to share with friends; if you're a tennis player bring your shoes/racquet etc. This is an afternoon for everyone - from near and far, young and old.

Tea and coffee will be available, however other drinks are B.Y.O. There will be a charge of $8.00 to cover the cost of food. Booking is necessary to enable us to cater for the right numbers.

Where: Bentleigh Hall
When: 18 October
Time: 3 - 6.30 pm

Cost: $8.00
Food: Arabic
Bring: Good humour & B.Y.O. drinks

Bookings by 1st October with I. Edelmaier or H. Edelmaier

Hope to see you all there!

SINGERS FOR ADVENT

All ladies and girls interested in joining the singing group for the Advent celebration on Sunday 7th December in Bentleigh are invited to attend practices starting on 22nd October. We look forward to welcoming some new faces, but also hope to see all our singers from previous years once again.

Anne Coleman, Veronica Rutowicz and Annette Wagner-Hesse

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SYDNEY

Den letzten Saal am 27. Juli hat Werner Ehmann gehalten und Wally Liebeskind spielte die musikalische Umrahmung, sowie die Begleitung zum Choral auf ihrem Akkordeon, da Erni Weller abwesend war. Anschliessend haben wir uns noch bei Kaffee und Kuchen gemütlich unterhalten.

Wie schon im vorigen T.R. angekündigt, wollen wir am 24. August nach einer kurzen Andacht (Saal) unsere jährliche Mitgliederversammlung abhalten.

Termine: Saal am 28.9.97, 3.00 pm (Dr. Rolf Beilharz hat sein Kommen zugesagt) Meadowbank

Saal am 26.10.97, 3.00 Meadowbank

The last Service on 27th of July was conducted by Werner Ehmann and Wally Liebeskind supplied the music on her accordion. There were only 18 persons present, but we still enjoyed the `coffee-with cakes-hour' afterwards and a lively conversation.

As mentioned in the last T.R. our Community's Annual General Meeting will take place on the 24th of August after a short service by Hartmut Beck.

Dates: Service on 28.9.97, 3.00 pm Meadowbank (Dr. Rolf

Beilharz will be coming to Sydney and we especially invite the younger people to attend and possibly have a separate talk with Rolf).

Service on 26.10.97, 3.00 pm Meadowbank.

Ilse Birkner

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JG SECTION

Welcome to this spectacular month of fun-filled events. Two months ago the AGM was held and the new committee was elected. Once again yours truly left the room and returned to find that I am still the editor for this financial year. So without blowing my own trumpet with my success in this fine position, I'll get right down to this months business.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING REPORT

This year's AGM was held on the 13th July and began with the traditional BBQ highlighted by some truly sensational salads. Thanks again to the organisers!

The meeting then began at 1 pm sharp and the following points were discussed:

- The eleven proposed changes to the JG's constitution were all accepted unanimously. Our constitution is now thoroughly up to date and relevant to our needs.

- The viability of senior camp was discussed and it was agreed that senior camp should definitely continue to be held. Richard Herrmann gave a breakaway report and this year's camp will be held at Anglesea.

- The new committee for 97/98 was elected as follows:

President: Nigel Gohl
Vice President: Richard Herrmann
Treasurer: Krista Imberger
Secretary: Christina Haar & Karyn Kinder
Editor: Erika Anderson
Property: Darren Loebert & Peter Herrmann
Clubroom: Chris Blaich & Hilmar HoeferGeneral Committee:Andrew Nicholson, Brendon Glenk, Sarah Murray, Tara Maree, Monique Steller, Paul Herrmann, Kathy Herrmann
Auditor: Alysha Murray

With such an experienced committee, I believe that the JG is in for another great year. This committee is hard working and dedicated and as long as the clubroom is packed with chocolates and our members stop running through windows after committee meetings, how could we possibly ask for more!

Nigel Gohl

BREAKAWAY 97

And then there were five...

The sun glinted off the distant peaks, calling to the five travellers brave. It glinted, then glinted again, and once more and so on until the travellers woke up and paid attention to its frantic glinting. And so in the steely cold of dawn (actually, make that mid to late morning) these soldiers of fortune began their intrepid journey. Their mission, to save the world....No hang on, wrong mission. Let's try that again...

Their mission, world domination, their secondary aim, to find somewhere to have the 1997 senior camp. Dun Dun daaaaaa.

"No, they'll never do it", wail the chorus in horror, "nooooo capt'n ahhh havena goot enoooof pow'r" yells Scotty in despair. But this isn't enough to sway the resolve of our heroes. And off they set, their oath still ringing in the ears of their well-wishers "ne'er shall we partake in a meal until the task is done, we shall fast to stay pure." Of course this was a blatant lie, especially as there were McDonalds on the way, and whoever heard of starving making you pure...

And so they traveled the country-side (much like the Leyland brothers), searching, searching. They followed the coast along the great road of the ocean, their meager fare bags and bags and bags of pure glucose. After a day of being cooped up in their trusty metal steeds, they needed lodging for the night. Eventually they were given a bed in one of the temples in the area. As is the custom, our travelers paid their respects to the deity within whose house they stayed. This particular deity was named PUB, and he deserved a lot of respect, and so, he was duly paid it, over and over and over through the night. The next morning, the travelers awoke, heads sore from the copious respect that they had shown the night before.

But they were not swayed from their resolve, they set off through the mountains, along roads with more corners than a many-cornered thingy. They finally arrived back home, weary from their trek. They had been victorious, but had paid the price for their victory. I can't think of exactly what that price was, but whatever it was, it had been paid.

In summary, remember this...

The world is like a banana, yellow, long, curved, with a smooth skin and fleshy insides...

Then again, maybe not.

Peter Herrmann

SAUSAGE SIZZLE

The aim was to raise money for the JG. The purpose was Chrissy Haar's communication project. We succeeded in both greatly. A blustery Saturday morning found us stationed at Mountain Gate shopping center. Pretty soon the tantalising scent of our barbequed sausages and onions was too much to resist and business quickly boomed. Unfortunately our containers weren't equipped for wind resistance so there was literally a shower of shredded cheese and serviettes. Fortunately no passer-by was bombarded by this sudden onslaught. People of all ages enjoyed the delicious tastes of our quality catering while the ones who provided it had fun doing so. Thanks must go to everyone who helped in any way, either by setting up, serving or cooking. Congratulations to Chrissy for organising a beneficial and most successful communication project by raising a profit of around $150. And due to the rewards we reaped by raising the money and having a heap of fun, we've decided to stage another grand sausage sizzle in a few months, so listen out for our cries of "would you like sauce with that?!"

Karyn Kinder

PANCAKE/BILLIARDS NIGHT

Saturday September 6th will herald the arrival of our annual Pancake/Billiard Night. As stated, Pancakes will be the order of the night, being preciously and artistically created by a couple of members who I hope have not sealed their fate by agreeing to cook for the JG (and if they have, I won't be bringing you any more articles). A billiard competition will be the other main component of the night, with our billiard playing skills being tested to the max as we go head to head in a battle of wits and skill.

Everyone is welcome to attend what promises to be an enjoyable evening, starting around 7.30 pm but you can turn up earlier if you wish as this night follows the Altersheim Bazaar, in which the JG will be selling Food and Drink and providing quality entertainment in the form of Folkdancing, which has been perfected over the past months and promises to be a stunning visual display of dirndls, lederhosen and pure rhythm. A clown will also be making an appearance. Looking forward to seeing you at the Bazaar and Pancake/ Billiard Night.

Karyn Kinder

TRIVIA NIGHT

The Trivia Night has finally been organised by myself and my small committee, so now it is your turn to organise your tables for this night.

When: Saturday, 20th September
Where: Bayswater Hall
Time: 7.30 pm
Cost: $10 per person
Table: Ten people per table
BYO

There will be door prizes, a continuing raffle, tricky who am I's and brain teasers, musical chairs and much, much, more!! Nibblies, tea and coffee will be provided. For bookings could you please call me by the 5th September.

Could I please ask for the generous people out there to donate prizes to make the Trivia night more exciting. Thank you.

Alysha Murray

COMING EVENTS

Once again another month will flash by, but as you can see there is no dull moment in the JG.

Erika Anderson Ed.

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CHILDREN'S SECTION

Hi guys,

How are you all? Winter seems to be all but over. Hasn't it been mild this year? Up here our weekends seem to have mostly been sunny, though not always warm. Still if it's not raining we have the chance to rug up and spend time outside.

Some of the plants in my garden miss the winter, but it's great to go outside and see some of my spring flowers already flowering. Spring is a great time of the year. Recently I had to go to a meeting near Avoca. On our way we saw fields of daffodils and lambs in many of the paddocks. Our drive there and back was made even better by the beautiful weather.

Spring is often seen as a time for new life. In the northern Hemisphere Easter falls in springtime. We use eggs as a symbol for Easter as eggs also represent new life. In the story of Noah the dove brought back a sprig from an olive tree to show that things were growing again and that it was nearly time for the animals on the Ark to be set free and to let them go back to their home.

Noah had built his Ark according to God's instructions. He continued to build even though his friends and neighbours laughed at him for building such a big boat so far away from the sea. Noah had faith in God and God said that there would be a flood and to be saved from the flood Noah had to build the Ark big enough for his family and one pair of each animal that had ever been created. I have often wondered how big that Ark must have been because there are just so many animals in the world. Anyway Noah built his Ark and then waited for the flood to come. He knew that it would definitely come. The reason God was going to allow such a thing to happen was because the people had forgotten about God and were not being good any more. So God was going to punish them.

Every day Noah watched the sky, until one day he saw the clouds forming and knew that the time was close for him to gather his family together and all the animals that would go with them on the journey. As the day passed by the animals all started to arrive in pairs. They passed by Noah and walked up the plank, onto the Ark and settled down for their trip. Eventually Noah's family entered the Ark too. Noah closed the doors of the Ark and the rains came. We've all seen what a lot of rain can do. Well here it rained for forty days - can you imagine what the place would look like? Home, trees and hills all disappeared. People drowned because there just wasn't anywhere for them to go.

Even after it had stopped raining the Ark still sailed on for many days. Ond day though it stopped and they saw that they were against the side of a mountain. Today we call that mountain Mt. Ararat. A few days later Noah sent a raven out hoping that it wouldn't come back because then they would know that the bird had found a resting place. It did return! Seven days later he sent a dove out to see if it would find a sign of life. Eventually the dove returned with a twig from an olive tree in it's beak. This was a sign that things were starting to grow again and that the flood waters were going down. Seven days later Noah opened the doors of the Ark and let all the animals out. I'll bet that all those animals and birds would have been thrilled to leave the Ark. Even though they were saved from the flood it would have been very cramped in the Ark. I can imagine that Noah's wife and children would have been pleased to leave the Ark too.

The first thing that they did was to build an alter to the Lord to thank Him for keeping them safe for the whole time that they were sailing around. When God saw the altar He felt sorry for what had happened and promised Noah that He would never again create a flood to wipe out mankind. To show that he would keep His promise he created a rainbow. Even today we can see the rainbow in the sky and know that God will always keep his promise.

Rainbows always look so beautiful in the sky. I love seeing them there and always look to see if there are one or two. Next time you see one look carefully, you might see two too. There's instructions for a rainbow disc below. Have a go at making it. I remember that I used to try making this one as a child. Hope you have fun!

Dot Ware

MAKE A RAINBOW DISC

1. Trace the circle below onto a piece of cardboard, cut it out and make two holes, put some glue around the holes and let it dry.
2. Trace the circle onto a white piece of paper, marking in each of the segments and cut it out. Colour each section a different colour. As we are making a rainbow disc I suggest you use some of the rainbow colours, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
3. Glue the two circles together.
4. With a pencil make the two holes.
5. Take a piece of string about 120 cm long and thread it through the holes, then tie the ends together.
6. Make sure that the disc is in the middle of the string twirl it until the string is tightly twisted, then pull both ends of the twisted string and see what happens to the colours as the disc spins and the colours mix.

    

   
   
    

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7 August

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TEMPLER RECORD

number 587 - August 1997

On WISDOM

`You are the one who will profit

if you have wisdom,

and if you reject it,

you are the one who will suffer.'

From Proverbs 9

`It is true that sometimes as one gets older one also gets wiser and therefore more able to help people because of one's own experience and because of the joys and sorrows one has had in one's life.

Fr. Trevor Huddleston

`Hardening... bitterness... a withdrawn and uncommunicative character, are the signs of human non-maturity.'

Dürckheim

`If any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, who will give it to him; because God gives generously and graciously to all.'

From James 1

JESU GLEICHNISSE ALS ORIENTIERUNGSHILFE

zur Lösung von zentralen Lebensproblemen heute. Basiert auf Christa Meves "Die Bibel antwortet uns in Bildern".

Jesus wußte daß die Bildersprache der Seele, die urtümlicher ist als unsere rational logische Denkweise, unser Gefühl und unser Unbewußtes unmittelbar anspricht. Darum erzählte er Gleichnisse, z.B. die bekannten über das Himmelreich in Matthäus 13.

Das Himmelreich ist gleich einem im Acker verborgenen Schatz... und gleicht einer kostbaren Perle, wegen dem/der man alles verkauft, was man hat, um ihn/sie zu erwerben. Es ist also etwas überaus Schönes und Wertvolles, das mitten in unserem Leben (Acker) zu finden ist und wegen dem wir nun alles uns bisher Wertvolle diesem höchsten Wert unterordnen wollen.

Heute meinen viele, daß das Trachten nach dem `Himmelreich', dem 'Reich Gottes', barer Unsinn sei - daß es das Wunder des Vollkommenen, des absoluten Wertes in dieser Welt einfach nicht gibt.

Bei der Flut von Informationen und manipulierten Zerstreuungen, die uns täglich überschwemmen, reflektieren wir eigentlich noch über was uns wertvoll ist und was uns schadet? Können wir das überhaupt noch unterscheiden, bei der allgemeinen chaotischen Orientierungslosigkeit? Das "Trachten am ersten" nach dem Himmelreich geistiger Erfüllung setzt täglich neu voraus, daß wir das Wertlose abstoßen und alle Kräfte sammeln, um sie dem Vorrang des einen: dem Geist der Liebe, das heißt dem Dienst an Gott, zu unterstellen.

Wir "dienen Gott" und fördern sein Reich der Liebe durch eine freundliche, hilfreiche Haltung gegenüber unserm "Nächsten", wie es so schön im Gleichnis vom barmherzigen Samariter dargestellt wird, der einem Überfallenen am Weg erste Hilfe leistete und zu einer Krankenpflege verhalf. "Gehe hin und tu desgleichen," sagt Jesus. Jedoch: Wirklich echte Hilfe zu geben ist oft außerordentlich schwierig. Besonders bei Wunden seelischer Natur können wir leicht die Erfahrung machen: Das gute Herz allein genügt nicht. Wir brauchen auch Wissen über die Natur des Menschen, wenn wir Jesu Aufruf zur Mitmenschlichkeit gerecht werden wollen ohne uns selbst dabei kaputt zu machen.

Noch gar nicht so lange her, besonders in Pioniersituationen wie in Australien und Palästina, war es einfach lebensnotwendig zusammenzustehen, beieinander anzuklopfen, sich gegenseitig zu helfen. Je enger Menschen jedoch zusammenleben, desto mehr schließen sie die Tür: "I need some space, some time to myself." Im Übermaß praktiziert führt das zu Kontaktlosigkeit, zu Isolierung.

Und dazu kommt die Sorge: Können wir dem Nächsten trauen? Wenn wir ihm unsere Hilfsbedürftigkeit zeigen, klatscht er dann darüber, oder schädigt uns sonstwie? Wollen wir mitmenschlicher miteinander werden, so brauchen wir ein neues Ethos der Verschwiegenheit in bezug auf vertrauliche Mitteilungen. Das setzt voraus, daß wir uns der Macht der Schadenfreude, die der Selbsterhöhung dient, bewußt sind und ihr entgegenwirken.

Widerstände gibt es also beim Hilfesuchenden, aber auch beim Helfer, der (vielleicht unbewußt) fürchtet, das Leid des Andern könnte auch ihn erdrücken oder in Depressionen hineinreissen. Diese Gefahr kann nur überwunden werden, indem der Helfende bewußt vermeidet, durch Mit-leiden in ein Mit-anklagen zu geraten, indem er das Leid des andern nicht nur als eine schäbige Tücke des Schicksals erlebt, sondern hier, wie auch im eigenen Leben, es als eine Chance versteht, zu höherer Lebensreife gelangen zu dürfen. Krisen und Leidtragen können ungeahnte Kräfte tief im Innern mobilisieren und dem Menschen helfen, neue Qualitäten und Fähigkeiten zu entwickeln, und durchzuhalten - besonders wenn der Betroffene die Vaterhand Gottes darin sieht.

Der Impuls zur Hilfsbereitschaft kann auch durch das enttäuschende Erlebnis einer Überforderung durch den Hilfsbedürftigen gedrosselt werden. Die Gefahr, an der eigenen Hilfsbereitschaft zugrunde zu gehen, wie ein Retter, der vom Klammergriff des Ertrinkenden in die Tiefe gezogen wird, ist eine der stärksten Hindernisse zur Verwirklichung des Liebesgebotes in der Welt.

Die Vereinsamung des Hilfsbedürftigen kommt oft nicht nur dadurch zustande, daß der seelisch Kranke (Einsame, Trauernde, Verwundete) sich selbst zurückzieht, sondern dadurch, daß sein Überanspruch die Hilfsbereiten in eine abweisende Haltung zwingt. Wenn jemand andauernd bei uns anklopft und unsere Zeit und Kraft in Anspruch nimmt und unsere Energie aussaugt, dann können wir das nicht aushalten. In aller Freundschaft müssen wir dann Grenzen setzen, klare "Verträge" machen: `Ich komme dienstags von 2 bis 4, du bist Freitag abend willkommen' - sonst aber sagen wir "nein". (Wir müssen unsern Nächsten nicht mehr lieben als uns selbst).

Meves sagt, bei Problemen dieser Art kommen wir nur weiter, wenn wir zur Kenntnis nehmen:

1. daß es ein Zeichen schwerer innerer Hilflosigkeit ist, wenn ein erwachsener Mensch klammernde, ja verschlingende, gierige, egoistische Riesenansprüche stellt, etwa immer mehr Zeit, mehr Geld, mehr Zuwendung haben will;

2. daß es ein verhängnisvoller Irrtum ist, zu meinen, Hilfsbereitschaft ließe sich verwirklichen, indem man diese Ansprüche so vollständig wie möglich erfüllt; alle noch so mächtigen Ströme von Hilfsbereitschaft sind hier erschöpfbar, ohne daß die Not sich wendet. Sie erweist sich als ein Faß ohne Boden.

3. daß eine Verwirklichung langfristiger Hilfsaktionen ihre Voraussetzung hat im Abstecken von Grenzen, das heißt, daß zum Beispiel das Gespräch, die gemeinsame Unternehmung, die materielle Unterstützung auf ein vorher genau festgelegtes Maß beschränkt wird, so daß der Helfende durch seine Aktivität für den anderen nicht aus der Bahn seines eigenen Lebens herausgerissen wird.

Helfenden Menschen, besonders sehr christlichen, sollte klarwerden, daß eine solche scheinbare "Härte" kein Verstoß gegen das Liebesgebot darstellt.

Der Helfer, der Hilfsbedürftigen alle Verantwortung abnimmt, bewirkt, daß sie nicht reifen können, sondern in passive Dauerbedürftigkeit oder in peinigende Aggressivität gegen ihre "Retter" verfallen; er erlebt den Undank des Beschenkten und die Ergebnislosigkeit seiner helfenden Aktivität. Selbst der hilfreiche Samariter sorgt zwar für den Kranken, verschiebt seine Reise, aber gibt sie nicht vollkommen auf; er überläßt den Hilfsbedürftigen befristet sich selbst.

Immer mehr Menschen machen übertriebene Ansprüche - zum großen Teil als Folge der verwöhnenden Erziehung, die den Egoismus der Kinderjahre so bestärkt, daß die Möglichkeit zu einer Haltung mündiger Erwachsenheit, die sich bescheidet und Rücksicht nimmt, weitgehend eingeschränkt wird. Die überanspruchsvolle Fehleinstellung wird aber auch durch eine Überschätzung der Medizin hervorgerufen, durch die Illusion, der Arzt könne alle Leiden sofort aus der Welt schaffen. Das wäre bequem, aber würde es unser Reifen fördern?

Manchmal ist die beste Hilfe ein behutsames Andeuten, daß nur eine Sinnes- oder Haltungsänderung Linderung oder `Erlösung' bringen kann.

Adapted from Christa Meves: Die Bibel antwortet uns in Bildern. Tiefenpsychologische Textdeutungen im Hinblick auf Lebensfragen heute. Herder Verlag 1973.

Editor

"It is often through the holes perforating our souls that the divine can most brightly shine through into our lives."

`The Waking Dream' p. 103

HOW ARE YOU COPING?

Irene Bouzo shares some reflections

This account of my inner searchings I would like to share with TR readers in the hope that it may help others find the place of religion in their lives, especially during the more hazardous stages of our journeys through life.

When there is a serious trauma in a family, when your four-year-old daughter is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, your whole life is changed in one terrifying moment. People start to ask you new questions. Other parents at the kindergarten, neighbours, friends, relatives, sooner or later all ask "How are you coping?" When you tell them "I am not coping at all", they reassure you that in fact you are coping very well.

What do they mean when they ask: How are you coping? Do they mean how do you cope from day to day, from hour to hour or in the long dark hours of the night? No, I think they mean: how do you cope in general. One mother at the local kindergarten said to me "You must have a lot of faith in God to cope with this." I think this is the sort of "coping" they refer to. What people mean is: what sort of attitude to life do you have to keep up a positive outlook - to be able to look forward to the future as a parent raising a young family. Then you start asking yourself questions. Why did this happen? How will I handle watching such a young, innocent one trade in her childhood for so much pain and suffering? How will I find the strength to comfort her, to believe that this will turn out all right; that years of struggling with chemotherapy will lead to a long and fulfilled life?

Sound psychological principles teach us to accept things as they are rather than question `why?', suggesting that when we accept that things are as they are, then we will be able to handle them. Experience tells me this is not so. There is no inherent strength in accepting one's fate. Others teach that a strong belief in the after-life will give us the strength to face the difficulties of our present existence. Logic tells me that what I know about the after-life is only supposition. My limited human view prevents me from finding assurance and comfort in this notion. So after a while you begin to ask yourself: how will I cope? How will I keep from plunging into the darkest abyss of depression?

The mother in the kindergarten was right. Not that I had ever classed myself as the one with a strong faith in God. Nevertheless she was right, I have discovered that, the way to coping well with life's difficulties lies in religion. Soon after that devastating day when my daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia, I read that 70% of parents in an American survey gave up their belief in God when their children were diagnosed with cancer. This study was done in the 1970's when prospects for a cure were fairly bleak. Nevertheless, I was deeply shocked. Trying to get through this without some kind of religious commitment seemed like emotional suicide to me.

So many people, those I know well and those I don't know at all, ask me to spell out my daughter's name because they would like to pray for her in their congregations and prayer groups. I am grateful and thank them for their concern. I go away wondering what words they will use in their prayer. Will they ask God to reverse the laws of nature? For, once she has cancer, how can that cancer be now taken away, especially without radiation and chemotherapy? Will they ask for a miracle? We as Templers have a long established tradition of questioning the more far-fetched events in the Bible. We cleverly assign a scientific, symbolic or fairy-tale interpretation to the more "unbelievable" events. - Will they ask God to intervene in the affairs of humans and somehow graciously reverse my daughter's condition and restore our family life to the way we remember it "before she got this"?

Somehow I cannot believe any of these conditions and still I know, I feel, that our only hope of coping with this is through religion. So I sit and reflect on the place of God in the human world. I reflect on the value of the concern and good intentions shown by all these people I have come in contact with. I wonder about the value of prayer. I read inspirational texts, go to religious seminars and search honestly and deeply within myself for an answer.

What do I find? One overwhelming emotion that dominates everything. It is not anger or resentment about the cards life has dealt me; it is not guilt about what I might have done to perhaps contribute to this plight; it is not a sense of hopelessness, for there is still the warm glow of love and cuddles. I find the worst emotion of all that dominates all other feelings is fear. It is the chilling and choking fear that I will lose all patience that is now so necessary; fear that frenzy will consume me and cause me to smash every pane of glass that allows light into my room; fear of the pain that comes from loving a child too much. Now I know that I must find a way to pray to God to dilute this fear.

What you need most in a situation like this is a lot of strength. You ask yourself where human strength comes from and you will find the answer to all these questions. It comes from within, from the God power within us, for are we not the temple of God? You find your inner strength through prayer; not the kind of prayer that asks God to change the laws of nature or intervene in the affairs of humans, but the kind of prayer that opens up a creative resource deep within you, an energy that is so powerful it must be our link with a greater network, or force. There is a limitless reservoir of strength within us that can overcome the greatest obstacles in life. Sometimes we stumble across this power within ourselves at times in our lives when we are doing well, when we seem to get everything right, when we experience a lot of success and happiness and our self-confidence is at its maximum. This is a kind of ecstasy, but we do not always recognise it consciously. The more aware we are of this positive force within ourselves, the better we are able to handle things when the very walls of our existence seem to cave in around us.

Once you get even the faintest inkling that we are all part of some incredibly powerful network that is evolving itself into perfection, then you will come close to the kind of prayer to God that will work. Traditional Bible scripture calls this striving for the kingdom of God. Once you begin to see that we are part of this human striving for perfection then you could say that "My life, exactly as it is now, is unfolding perfectly". There is a kind of prayer we can do that will overcome the greatest fear and replace it with the most supreme strength. It is the prayer that finds the god-force within ourselves. It will show you that on the one hand there may be human fear, but on the other there is trust. Trust that it will be OK. Trust that whatever happens, even on your worst days, you will be able to handle it. There is the knowledge that even the one who needs healing is already whole. The mother who believes this and who has had the benefit of this valuable insight will be able to transfer these positive feelings to the child in her care.

Certainly this is easier said than done. So there exists another incredible driving force of strength. It is in the community around us. If you ask me "What do you need most now", apart from the obvious things like health and happiness for my family, I would answer: what I need most now is to be with people who are stronger than me. I need to be with religious people, with strong people, so that I can watch them, see how they do it, learn how they generate a trust in life and in the kingdom of God. Is there such a person? It doesn't matter because the person exists as a compound in the community. That is how the people around me help with their concern, their good intentions and their prayers. All these forces together will get us through this difficult time. In fact it is no longer our difficult time, no more a problem. It is a family life with lots of feel-good times, with endless strength to keep going ahead. Strange as it sounds it is a kind of ecstasy.

Irene Bouzo

`God is our shelter and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken...
even if the seas roar and rage,
and the hills are shaken by violence.'

From Psalm 46

CORRECTION

June TR p.6: It has been pointed out that Strauss was not born in Karlsruhe but in Ludwigsburg.

Editor

TEMPLE SOCIETY AUSTRALIA

152 Tucker Road, Bentleigh, Vic. 3204

In keeping with Clause 10 of the Constitution all members of the Temple Society Australia are herewith invited to attend the Annual General Assembly for the year ended 30 June, 1997. It will be held in the Templer Hall at 41A, Elizabeth Street, Bayswater, Victoria, on Sunday 14 September 1997 commencing at 10.30 am - immediately after the Ordinary General Meeting of the Temple Society Central Fund (Aust.) -and will resume after a lunch break. The exact timing of the latter will depend on progress made in relation to the agenda, but a time of 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm will be aimed for. The Assembly will include the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting of the Templer Home for the Aged Incorporated, for which a separate notice and agenda appears later.

Members unable to attend the Assembly personally are invited to arrange for their representation by proxy (see enclosed proxy form).

AGENDA

1. Receipt and adoption of the Regional Council's report on activities.
2. Receipt and adoption of the financial statements (including budget of the Melbourne Office of the TSA. for 1997/98) and of the auditor's report.
3. Election of Council and Committee members. Nomination form is enclosed.
   1. Election of two (2) members for the Regional Council for terms of three (3) years, Renate Beilharz and Gary Imberger retiring by rotation.
   2. Election of three (3) representatives of the TSA for the Committee of Management of Tabulam Nursing Home Inc. for terms of two (2) years, Klaus Imberger, Wilhelm Imberger and Winfried Weber retiring by rotation.
4. Election of the Auditor for 1997/98.
5. Templer Home for the Aged Inc. Annual General Meeting.
6. Literature.
7. Reports:
   1. Interstate Communities and Country Groups
   2. Youth Group
   3. Australian-German Templer Exchange
   4. Community Care Worker
   5. Elders
   6. Tabulam Nursing Home Inc.
   7. Facilities and Property Taskforce
   8. Future of the Temple Society (TS 2000)
   9. Playgroup
   10. German Language Schools
   11. Sunday School
   12. Choir
   13. Kids' Club
8. General Discussion.

Mark Herrmann Dr. Rolf Beilharz
Business Manager   Regional Head

THE TEMPLE SOCIETY CENTRAL FUND (AUST.)

152 Tucker Road, Bentleigh, Vic. 3204

Members of the Temple Society Central Fund (Aust.) are herewith notified that the Ordinary General Meeting of the Company for the year ended 30 June, 1997 will be held in the Templer Hall at 41a Elizabeth Street, Bayswater, Victoria, on Sunday 14 September 1997 commencing at 10.00 am

Members unable to attend the meeting personally are invited to arrange for their representation by proxy (see enclosed proxy form).

AGENDA

1. Receipt and adoption of the financial statements and of the report of the Directors and of the Auditor.
2. Election of three (3) Directors, two for terms of four (4) years, Oskar Krockenberger and Peter Leszinsky retiring by rotation, and one for two (2) years, the balance of the late Walter Imberger's term. Nomination form is enclosed.
3. Business activity of the Company.
4. Election of the Auditor for 1997/98.
5. Miscellaneous.

Mark Herrmann Herbert Hoffmann

Secretary Chairman of Directors

TEMPLER HOME FOR THE AGED INCORPORATED

All members of the Temple Society Australia are herewith invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Templer Home for the Aged Inc. It will be held in the Templer Hall at 41a Elizabeth Street Bayswater, Victoria, on Sunday 14 September 1997 as part of the Annual General Assembly of the Temple Society Australia.

Members unable to attend personally are invited to arrange for their representation by proxy (see enclosed form).

AGENDA

1. Presence of members and apologies.
2. Minutes from previous AGM.
3. Receipt and adoption of the Committee's Annual Report.
4. Election of three (3) office bearers for the Committee of Management for terms of three (3) years, Kurt Beilharz, Brigitte Decker, Harry Groll and Ernst Ruff retiring by rotation. Nomination form is enclosed.
5. Treasurer's report.
6. Auditor's report.
7. Election of the Auditor for 1997/98.
8. General Business.

Ingeborg Imberger, Secretary

TABULAM NURSING HOME INCORPORATED

The Annual General Meeting of Tabulam Nursing Home Inc. will be held on Saturday 6 September 1997 in the hall of the Bayswater-Boronia Community of the Temple Society, 41a Elizabeth Street Bayswater at 12 noon. All members of the Temple Society Australia are cordially invited to attend the meeting. Members are urged to make an effort to attend the meeting as 15 members need to be present to achieve a quorum.

Those members who will be unable to attend in person are requested to fill in a Proxy Form, which, however, can only be counted in the case of a secret ballot. A sample form is enclosed.

AGENDA

1. Members present.
2. Apologies.
3. Minutes of the previous AGM.
4. Annual Report of the activities of the Committee of Management for the period of 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997.
5. Treasurer's Report.
6. Auditor's report.
7. Election of Auditor for the year 1997/98.
8. General Business

T.C. Doh, Secretary

AUSTRALIAN GERMAN TEMPLER EXCHANGE

For 1997/8 the TSA again offers a scholarship for young members. Applications are herewith invited. Application forms are available from the TSA Office, Tel. (03) 9557 6713, and should be returned to the Office by 19 September 1997.

DETAILS ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP

Aim

The aim of the scholarship is to increase our younger generation's interest and participation in our community life and to promote efficient communication and cooperation with the TGD. This aim is to be achieved by enabling the scholarship holders to

(a) acquire a good working knowledge of German,

(b) participate in the TGD's community life and get to know TGD members,

(c) appreciate our Templer heritage by observing German cultural life and Swabian traditions.

Conditions

Recipients of the scholarship will first attend a two months' German language course at a Goethe Institute in Germany. Immediately following this they will spend two months in the region of Stuttgart participating in the activities of the TGD.

Benefits

The scholarship will comprise:

(a) An amount of up to $2000 towards a return airfare to Germany.

(b) A two months' live-in course at a Goethe Institute (to be arranged by the TSA through the Goethe Institute in Melbourne.)

(c) Accommodation with a Templer family or families for two additional months.

During their two months' stay in or near Stuttgart the scholarship holders will be responsible to, and guided by, the Regional Council of the TGD.

Age of Applicants

Applicants must be eighteen years or over. (The upper limit is flexible).

In return

Scholarship holders, when their program is over, are to submit a report about their activities and impressions of their stay. It is expected that they will get involved and actively participate in the Temple Society's community life in Australia.

Dates

It is preferred that applicants can complete their candidature by June 1998. The months of July and August are not recommended for a stay with the TGD as this is the summer holiday period in Germany.

NB

Funding for the scholarship comes from

(a) the Education Fund

(b) the Scholarship Fund.

Contributions from individual members and group functions towards the Scholarship Fund would be appreciated.

THIS YEAR'S GERMAN EXCHANGE TEMPLER

Wiltrud Tietz, our 1997 German exchange candidate, is currently in Australia till 25 September. She introduces herself further along.

HOST FAMILIES FOR 1998

Sven Wessner (age 24) will be our German guest from January to April next year. We still require some host families for Sven. If you are interested in becoming a host family or would like to know more about it, feel free to ring me. Hosting a young Templer from Germany is a valuable and enriching cultural exchange for the whole family.

Irene Bouzo

for the Australian-German Templer Exchange Scheme.

MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

SILVER WEDDING

Congratulations to Peter Weller & Rosemarie nee Struve on their Silver Wedding Anniversary on 19.8.97 and our very best wishes for their future together.

DANKESCHÖN

Ich möchte mich herzlich für all die Karten und guten Wünsche zu meinem 85. Geburtstag am 19. Juni bedanken.

Gerda Weiss, Altersheim

BIRTH

Kayla Shari Hoefer born 28.6.97

Parents: Marco Hoefer and Birgit nee Blessing

ENGAGEMENT

Renate Hoffmann and Julian Lu wish to announce their engagement.

Our congratulations and best wishes to these young people.

NEW MEMBER

We welcome Inge Osarek nee Steller from Tumut as a full member and hope that she will continue to feel at home among us.

BEREAVEMENTS/TRAUERANZEIGEN

Am 8. Juli 1997 ist unser lieber Vater, Opi, Urgroßvater, Schwager und Onkel

Ewald Glenk

im Tabulam Pflegeheim gestorben. Er war 88 Jahre alt.

Wir danken Dieter Ruff für seine lieben, tröstenden Worte an der Trauerfeier und auch allen Verwandten, Freunden und Bekannten die an der Feier teilnahmen. Für die vielen großzügigen Spenden an Tabulam und ans Altersheim auch besten Dank, sowie an alle die uns Karten und Briefe schickten. Wir schätzen Eure Teilnahme sehr.

Ein besonderes Dankeschön an Tabulam und die Pflegerinnen, die unseren Vater während den letzten schweren Wochen liebevoll pflegten.

Besten Dank auch Dir, Elisabeth Wagner, für Dein schönes Klavierspiel.

In stillem Gedenken,

Dieter Glenk mit Familie

Helmut Glenk mit Familie

Otto und Irmgard Schurr mit Familie

Alfred und Maria Schurr mit Familie

Gisela Bissinger mit Familie

Gertrud (Trudy) Hilty-Strasser ist am 27. Juni 1997 in Oberrieden in der Schweiz friedlich eingeschlafen.

In treuem Gedenken, ihre Sarona Schulfreundinnen,

i.a. Trudy Herrmann

Ilse Heinrich

We express our deep sympathy to all the bereaved families and friends.

SOCIAL CARE

Dear Friends,

This month my column is about hearing impairment. It's very difficult for a person with normal hearing to understand the problems of those whose hearing is impaired. You can close your eyes and pretend you are blind, but you can't close your ears and become hearing impaired.

Another difficulty arises because hearing impairment is invisible. You can always tell if someone is blind or crippled, but often the only way you can find out someone can't hear well is to talk to them. Factors such as these lead us to underestimate the problems of hearing impairment.

Many people believe that a hearing aid will solve all their problems. Unfortunately, in most cases this is not true. Unlike spectacles, which often restore normal or near normal sight to the wearer, hearing aids rarely restore normal hearing. A common complaint of many aid wearers is that they can hear but not understand. The hearing aid can make sounds louder but often the message is broken or distorted because of the nature of the hearing loss. The hearing aid can only make the sound louder, it can't make it clearer. As a result many new aid users are very disappointed and wonder if it is worthwhile wearing a hearing aid. Adjusting to these new sound patterns is a long term project, and the new aid user needs all the help and encouragement you can offer.

Another factor which can lead to discontent with the hearing aid is that it amplifies everything, background noise as well as speech. Background noise may in fact be louder than the speech and, as a result, makes listening an extremely difficult task.

Next month I will continue with some tips on how we can help.

Best wishes to you all, especially the hearing impaired,

Helga Anderson

TEMPLER EXCHANGE

Our German guest is now in Melbourne and introduces herself below.

Hello everybody!

I am Wiltrud Tietz, the Templer exchange girl from Stuttgart-Degerloch, aged 23. Maybe some of you remember my brothers Fabian or Helge, both of them were staying here before. Our parents are Monika and Ekkehard Tietz, our grandmother was Erna Tietz, the sister of Erika Arndt. I think many of you, especially the older ones, knew her very well, because she lived in Bayswater.

At the moment, I'm living at Inge and Uli Höfers, which is pretty good as their house is near to the Templer Altersheim and Tabulam, where I will do some work during the exchange program. In a few weeks I will move to Helga and Jim Andersons, my second host family, and will be there until the end of my Australian visit in late September.

Unfortunately, my time in Australia is really short, that's because my studies in Germany will start in early October. I decided to study social work, mainly the employment and care of handicapped people.

In the last two years, I spent my time by working in different institutions for handicapped people. I really enjoyed this kind of work and had a lot of experiences which brought me to the decision to become a social worker.

Finally, I would like to say "thank you" to all people of the TSA for being so kind to me and for giving me the feeling of "being at home", although I'm on the other side of the world!

Wiltrud Tietz

We wish Wiltrud many happy experiences in Australia. If you would like to invite her for a meal or a day out, contact her at Inge and Uli Höfers on 9758 3271.

TEMPLER EXCHANGE REPORT FROM GERMANY

Our candidates in Germany have finished the official part of their stay. Bernhard Höfer - "das ganze europäische Erlebnis ist wunderbar toll" - sent us his first report. We hope to hear from Michael Franz soon, too.

Ich erzähle erst die Geschichte "Wie finden wir den Weg in Stuttgart rum", weil ich denke viele Aussies mit dem Steuerrad in der Hand haben dies auch erlebt. Es ist kein Geheimnis daß ich schon öfters eine wunderbare Rundfahrt in und um Stuttgart gemacht habe bevor ich schließlich mein Ziel erreicht habe. (Nochmal eine Entschuldigung an die Jugendlichen die über Pfingsten eine Fahrrad Tour um Stuttgart genießen konnten, ohne Aussie - leider!!!)

Von Saarbrücken - ich wohne in Rohrbach, einem kleinen Ort in der Nähe - nach Stuttgart finden ist leicht, man steigt bloß in seinen grünen Kombi, fahrt so wie Michael Schuhmacher (nicht genau so - wenig PS im Kombi und nicht so aerodynamisch) erst entlang der Autobahn A6, biegt ab und verbindet mit der A61 und dann wieder mit der A6, und mit viel Glück findet man (hoffentlich) die A81. Kein Problem bis jetzt. Dann kommt Stuttgart, kein Problem, da sehe ich den Fernsehturm. Aber wie komme ich nach Degerloch, wo das Gemeindehaus ist? Easy, brauche einen Stadtplan aber habe niemand neben mir, der ihn lesen kann. Ich probiere ein Auge auf der Straße zu behalten und eins auf dem Stadtplan. Das geht für eine kurze Weile, dann kommt ein Tunnel, ein Mercedes, ein Porsche (es gibt viele in Stuttgart, weil sie hier gefertigt werden - es ist natürlich auch eine Freude, sie zu benützen) und dann ist alles ein bißchen CHAOS. Zwei Stunden später (aber kein MacDonalds wird besucht!) komme ich in Degerloch an - ein bißchen spät!

Über die letzten paar Monate war erst die Konfirmationsfeier. Es war schön auch Teenagers die aus Rußland stammen zu sehen - unsere Sawatzky Linie kommt ja auch von da. Bei der Tempelgründungsfeier war es interessant zu hören die Geschichte von der Tempel Entwicklung, die Christoph Hoffmann in der Mitte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts angefangen hat. Auch Dr. Jakob (Eiseler?) zu treffen - hier nehme ich die Chance, ihm eine herzliche Einladung nach Australien zu bieten. Der Dr. Jakob kennt so viel von unserer Geschichte. Letztes Wochenende waren wir in Erpfingen mit den Konfirmanden, wo ich ausgefunden habe daß die deutsche Jugend genauso gute Faxen machen kann wie wir, auch wenn wir ein bißchen ruhig waren; das Wetter war ziemlich schlecht.

Ich will mich herzlich bedanken bei der ganzen (TGD) Gemeinde für ihre herzliche Aufnahme. Ich kenne schon viele. Die Gesichter sind bekannt durch Verwandte in Australien. Bei Luise Albrecht als Pflegemutter, bei Krupp Australien durch Peter Wagner und Wolfgang Schlimme für die Gelegenheit, weitere technische Entwicklung als Ingenieur in Deutschland zu unternehmen. Bei der TSA/TGD für die Zeit im Goethe Institut, hoffentlich sieht man etwas davon hier (mein grammar war immer schlecht und wird vielleicht nimmer besser). Zum Ende - ein Kloster in der Nähe von Bernstein ist nicht eine kleine Stadt in Liechtenstein, wie ich ausgefunden habe... war aber ein schönes Erlebnis. Mir gefällt es in Deutschland... natürliche vermiß ich Australien und manchmal die Freiheit, die wir alle so dankbar genießen.

Bernhard Höfer, 11.7.97.

Bernhard wishes us all good health and good times. (His grammar has been edited a little).

NACH PALÄSTINA AUSGEWANDERT

Lenningens älteste Einwohnerin 100 Jahre alt - Glaube als Schicksal.

LENNINGEN. Wenn auch die körperlichen Kräfte altersbedingt hin und wieder nachlassen, geistig nimmt die mit 100 Jahren älteste Bürgerin der Gemeinde Lenningen das tägliche Geschehen mit unvermindertem Interesse wahr.

Lydia Vollmer ist 1896 in Stuttgart als Tochter des Maurermeisters Gottlob Höfer geboren. Sie gehörte mit ihrer Familie der Glaubensgemeinschaft der Templer an. Schwierigkeiten, die ihnen bei der Ausübung ihres Glaubens gemacht wurden, waren letztlich Anlaß für die Familie, ihre schwäbische Heimat zu verlassen und nach Palästina auszuwandern.

Tochter Lydia war damals gerade drei Jahre alt geworden als ihre Eltern in der deutschen Kolonie "Wilhelma", etwa zwanzig Kilometer landeinwärts von Jaffa entfernt, begannen, eine neue Existenz aufzubauen. Ein äußerst schwieriges und mühseliges Unterfangen, das außergewöhnliche Durchhaltekraft erforderte. Die landwirtschaftlich geprägte Kolonie "Wilhelma" wurde nach dem deutschen Kaiser benannt, der 1858, kurz vor ihrer Gründung, Palästina bereiste. Es war eine von weiteren Siedlungen der Glaubensgemeinschaft der Templer in Haifa, Jaffa und Jerusalem.

Der Erste Weltkrieg jedoch forderte den Einsatz des Vaters, der mit den Türken im Krieg gegen die Engländer kämpfte. Glücklicherweise hatte die Familie den Krieg und seine Folgen überlebt. Maurermeister Gottlob Höfer konnte wieder Häuser bauen bis zum Beginn des Zweiten Weltkriegs. Bereits am ersten Kriegstag wurde der unermüdliche Handwerker aus seiner Arbeit in der Kolonie herausgerissen, mit seiner Familie von den Engländern interniert, 1941 nach Australien deportiert und enteignet.

Als 1948 die Kolonie "Wilhelma" Israel zugeschlagen wurde, mußte die Familie bis Ende 1947 in Australien bleiben. Im Januar 1948 aber kam sie schließlich frei. Eine Tante Lydia Vollmers lebte damals in Kirchheim. Bei ihr fanden die Heimkehrer erst einmal Aufnahme, bis ihnen in Brücken eine Notwohnung zugewiesen wurde. Ein Zimmer für eine Familie mit sechs Kindern, denn Lydia Vollmer hatte 1921 noch in der Kolonie "Wilhelma" ihren Lebensgefährten Otto Vollmer geheiratet, der ebenfalls aus einer Templer-Familie stammt, die in Ludwigsburg beheimatet war.

Der ehemalige Landwirt suchte in der neuen, eigentlich alten Heimat dringend eine Arbeitsstelle und nahm an, was ihm gerade angeboten wurde. So kam es, daß er bis zu seiner Pensionierung im damaligen Kirchheimer Gaswerk arbeitete.

Seit dem Tod ihres Mannes im Jahr 1976 lebt Lydia Vollmer im Haus ihrer Tochter Johanna Schneider in der Engelhofstraße 19 in Unterlenningen, von der sie auch betreut wird. Noch im Alter von 99 Jahren setzte sie sich vergangenes Jahr in Echterdingen in einen Kurzstrecken-Jet, um ihre älteste Tochter in Bremen zu besuchen.

Aus der Nürtinger/Wendlinger Zeitung vom 21. Dez. 1996. Den Artikel hat Frau Lotte Breisch der Telelink Gruppe vorgelesen, von wo aus er uns zugeschickt wurde. Vielen Dank.

Frau Vollmer geht es ordentlich. Sie liegt zwar im Bett, hat aber keine Schmerzen und ist zufrieden mit ihrem Los. Wir schicken ihr unsere guten Wünsche.

HOME FOR THE AGED

Altersheimnachrichten Home News

Wer unser Heim in der letzten Zeit besucht hat, hat sicher bemerkt, wie daran gearbeitet wird. Die Sicherheitstür wird gerade installiert, deshalb die Drähte und Kabel, die aus Löchern in der Wand herausstecken. Die Schwesternstation und das Büro werden umgestaltet, damit sie rationeller funktionieren. Auch die Waschküche oben wird modernisiert. Solche Verbesserungsarbeiten zeigen, wie das Komitee und die Fundraising Gruppe das Geld anwenden, das bei Veranstaltungen wie der Sonnwendfeier und dem kommenden Basar zusammenkommt. Aber der Geldtopf wird immer schnell leer, ehe sehr viel gemacht werden kann.

Mit diesem TR kommt ein Blatt über den Basar am 6. September. Wir haben schon erwähnt, daß wir diesen noch besser und größer als den letzten gestalten wollen, der über $7000 zusammenbrachte. Um das verwirklichen zu können, brauchen wir alle unsere regelmäßigen Helfer/innen und neue dazu - wir trainieren on-the-job. Arbeitspläne werden nun vorbereitet - könnten Sie eine Weile an einem Stand verkaufen?

Wir hoffen, daß Sie alle fleißig Sachen sammeln, die Sie für den Basar stiften können: Pflanzen, Obst, Gemüse, Honig, Eingemachtes, gefüllte Flaschen und Gläser, pre-loved Schätze - und kurz vorher Kuchen backen.

Wir versuchen die Lotterie noch größer zu machen. Ihre Lose sind an das mitgeschickte Basar Blatt geheftet. Sie kosten immer noch je $1, (natürlich können sie auch noch mehr kaufen!). Lose können ans Heim geschickt oder dort abgegeben, oder einem Komitee Mitglied mitgegeben, oder am Tag in den Korb gelegt werden.

Wir hoffen, daß uns noch viele schöne Lotteriepreise gestiften werden - nicht erst warten, bis wir Sie fragen!! Susi Blackwell (Tel. 03 9764 2575) sitzt Tag für Tag am Telefon und wartet auf Ihren Anruf. Bitte enttäuschen Sie sie nicht.

Wollen Sie am Craft Market teilnehmen und am eigenen Stand ihre Waren verkaufen? Inge Hoefer (Tel. 9758 3271) gibt Ihnen gern Auskunft.

Wenn diese riesige Veranstaltung vorbei und aufgeräumt ist, wird das Komitee sich überlegen, wie wir das Silberne Jubiläum des Heims nächsten März am besten feiern wollen. Näheres später.

Wir freuen uns darauf, Sie alle am Basar am 6. September begrüßen zu dürfen.

Recent visitors to our Home will have noticed a number of improvements in progress. Currently the security door system is being installed which accounts for the bundles of wires, cords and leads sticking out of holes in the wall. The nurses' station and office are being modified to make them more efficient work spaces. The upstairs laundry is also being modernised. These are some of the more obvious ways in which the Committee and the Fundraising Group are putting to use the monies raised at events such as the Sonnwendfeier and the upcoming Bazaar. But the money bucket always seems to run out before many "holes" are plugged!

Enclosed with this month's TR is a flyer for the Bazaar on 6 September. We have already stated that we want to make it even bigger and better than last year's effort which raised in excess of $7000. For this we need to enlist everyone out there in Helperland, as well as any new recruits. We will give on-the-job training. Rosters are being prepared to man the stalls. Will you put your name down?

We hope you are all feverishly collecting goods to donate for the plants stall, produce, bottles and jars, pre-loved treasures, and that cakes will be baked just before this gala event. We hope to make the raffle even bigger. Your tickets are enclosed with the flyer, and the price is still one dollar for each ticket. The stubs can either be sent to or dropped off at the Home, or given to a Committee member or placed in the basket on the day. Of course, you can buy more tickets, too.

We are still hoping to hear from our Helpers that they have raffle prizes to donate. Please don't wait for us to approach you!! Susi Blackwell (Tel. 03 9764 2575) spends her days sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring. Please don't disappoint her!

Are you interested in setting up your own stall in the craft market? Inge Hoefer (Tel. 9758 3271) will be pleased to give you all the details.

Once this mammoth event is over and cleaned up, the Committee will be deciding how to celebrate the Silver Anniversary of the Home's opening next March. Details for this will be made available further along the track.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Bazaar on Saturday 6 September.

Ingeborg Imberger

Remember the Altersheim Working Bee on Saturday 16 August!

Can you come and help us, please?

NOTICES / BEKANNTMACHUNGEN

FORTHCOMING SERVICES

• 10.8 Ba 15.15 Service & Com. Afternoon
• 10.8 SA 14.00 Service
• 17.8 AH 10.45 Service
• 24.8 Be 10.15 Service & Be-Mo AGM
• 24.8 Sy 15.00 Service & AGM

   

  
  
   

BAYSWATER-BORONIA

SERVICE & COMMUNITY AFTERNOON, BAYSWATER HALL - SUNDAY 10 AUGUST AT 3.15 Pm

Everyone is welcome. Bayswater-Boronia ladies please bring a cake already cut. Would the following ladies be at the hall by 2.45 pm to help set up, and serve coffee after the service.

Schwarzbauer, Resi & Anita; Spieth, Nelly; Steller, Hannelore, Rita, Wendy & Monique; Sturz, Ursel; Todd, Margaret; Verhagen, Birgit; Vollmer, Bec.

If you cannot come, please ask a friend or ring Uta Steller

Thank you to Helga Kuerschner who has looked after the coffee roster for many years.

REPORT ON THE BAYSWATER-BORONIA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The 1997 Bayswater-Boronia AGM was held in the Bayswater Hall on 6 July. Reports were received from all our groups and clubs with each speaker presenting a positive picture of the immediate future. The German School is looking for a replacement teacher to relieve the current workload.

The Community has adjusted well to the revised Fee Structure, with some 80 additional persons nominating the Bayswater-Boronia Community. Fund-raising for the Sound-proofing project is still approximately $6,000 short of the $14,222 total. The treasurer stressed the importance of voluntary support and donations for the community. It is these that lift us above the subsistence level and allow us to keep up with technological advances people expect to see these days. The meeting decided to promote public awareness of the project's deficit and to encourage contributions towards it.

Two Committee Members retired by rotation. Toni Beilharz accepted nomination for a further term whereas Uli Höfer decided to retire from Council. Uli was thanked for his many years of participation in council work, and the chairman expressed the hope we could still call on his services when in need. Two new members were elected into the Community Council, which now consist of:

Chairman Alfred Klink

Secretary Tony Beilharz

Treasurer Paul English

Hall Management Heinz Vollmer

Members Resi Schwarzbauer, Günter Kürschner; Sigi Messner and Ralph Richter

Ladies Group Gisela Sawatzky

Auditor Erich Frank

An addendum to the Constitution, in line with the new Fee Structure for Templers, was accepted unanimously. Definition of the category 'Friend of the Community' was deferred until the next meeting.

Discussions on the Boronia Bell, the new Hymn Book, and the Music Fest heightened public awareness on these issues. The chairman made an appeal for a library range of Tape and CD music for the Hall's new music centre. Our members are invited to make use of the system, in community or in private functions.

The Regional Head, Rolf Beilharz, at its close, thanked the Committee for the good work, and the assembly for a very productive meeting.

Alfred Klink

BAYSWATER-BORONIA TEMPLER TENNIS CLUB

1. The Junior Social Day will be held on Saturday 2 August at the Bayswater Courts commencing at 12.00 noon. Format will be round-robin. Juniors from all communities are most welcome and should register with Ilse Nicholson.

The usual barbeque lunch will be available and players are asked to bring afternoon tea to share.

2. Advance "warning" of the Over 40's Social Day to be held on Sunday 7 September. Here's your chance to settle those scores from yesteryear - invite your former friends and sparring partners! More details next month.

3. Membership fees for 97/98 are now payable to Tony Beilharz.

Manfred Decker

KARL JOHANNES GOTTFRIED LOEWE *1796- 1869.

We invite you to an evening of Ballades, set to music by the master of the ballade, Carl Loewe. The appointment is for

Sunday 17 August in the Bayswater Hall at 7 pm.

From 19:00 to 20:30 we will hear a selection of his most popular settings such as 'Die Uhr', and 'Graf Douglas', and 'Tom der Reimer' as well as some rarely heard others. The text will again be displayed 'on screen' by an overhead projector so you can follow the words.

The singer is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, with Jörg Demus at the piano, and the selection is from a 'Deutsche Grammophon' two disc set.

There will be coffee and biscuits at the end. We look forward to seeing you there.

TEMPLER MUSIKFEST

As listed in your Templer Calendar for 1997 there will be

A Musical Family Fest in the Bayswater Hall on 27 September at 17.00 (Saturday night)

with the Templer Choir, the Blaskapelle, the Playgroup and lots of other people contributing to your entertainment during the evening. There will be a supper served at 6 pm, so bring the family and relax for the night.

We'll start at 5 pm with some historical reviews of Templers and their music - music Templers like and the music they make. Comments from former conductors and members, sentimental reflections and confident predictions for the future. There will be some speeches, short ones of course, and the kids will show us how music is supposed to sound.

Dinner will be served by an army of helpers. Drinks are BYO as usual. The brass band will provide the Tafelmusik with medleys of catchy tunes.

The Choir will present several brackets of songs, including some surprises, and in-between we will have musical interludes with soloists and accompaniment.

So, please come. Do reserve the evening for your musical enjoyment and make your advance booking with Lore Schlender

All the proceeds of the evening will be donated to the new Templer Hymn/Song book which is currently being prepared. We are asking $15.00 per person, children are of course free.

Alfred Klink

BAYSWATER-BORONIA LADIES GROUP

On a very cold Tuesday in July our group heard reports about Alaska from Sigi and Gunter Weller, who live in Fairbanks where it gets really cold. When the temperature drops below minus 28 degrees, the schoolchildren no longer go outdoors to play during recess. The ice fogs must be terrible. But there is beauty, too. Thank you, Sigi and Gunter, and viele Grüße from Melbourne.

Last August, our guest speaker at Frauenverein was Karin Klingbeil from the TGD in Stuttgart. This August we have another Templer on exchange - we are fortunate to have the opportunity to meet and listen to Wiltrud Tietz. Wiltrud is looking forward to talking to us and exchanging ideas and thoughts which will continue to firm the bonds and friendships between our distant communities. Afterwards we will read a short report from Karin Klingbeil about her recent visit to Israel with the Friedhofsgruppe.

Everybody is most welcome on 19 August at the Bayswater Hall between 1 and 3 pm

Gisela Sawatzky

BENTLEIGH-MOORABBIN COMMUNITY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

This is the final reminder that the AGM will (as in past years) take place after the morning service on Sunday 24 August commencing at 12.00. Lunch will be provided.

All members are urged to attend as the community requires your support.

Nominations for vacant positions on the Council are more than welcome. Contact any council or community member if interested.

Topics for general discussion are:-

• New Year's Eve Function?
• Future development of facilities i.e. units on Bentleigh land?
• Updating of the "Community Telegraph" system.

Heinz Edelmaier

Bentleigh-Moorabbin Community Council

UPDATE - COMMUNITY SOCIAL AFTERNOON

ON 18 OCTOBER

Please note 18 October in your diary. This Saturday is intended to be a relaxing afternoon/early evening, spent with friends, eating lots of Arabic food, listening to music, singing folk songs, sharing old photos etc.

The afternoon will begin at 3 pm in the Bentleigh Hall and continue on until approx. 6.30 pm. There will be an $8 charge to cover the many courses of Arabic food. Please watch for further details in the next Templer Record.

Ingrid Edelmaier

Bentleigh-Moorabbin Community Council

SYDNEY

Es war schön, daß uns zu unserem letzten Treffen am 29. Juni Harald und Christine Ruff besuchten und Harald uns eine gute Saalansprache hielt. Seinen Vortrag brachte er auch in Zusammenhang mit der Gründung der Tempelgesellschaft im Juni vor 136 Jahren und es kam dabei zum Ausdruck, daß ein aktives Gemeindeleben damals wie heute und für die Zukunft ein wichtiger Bestandteil unseres Templerglaubens darstellt.

Vielen Dank, Harald und Christine, für Euer Kommen! Es war erfreulich, daß auch einige jüngere Mitglieder und Freunde anwesend waren, wogegen einige ältere Mitglieder nicht kommen konnten, weil es ein recht kalter und regnerischer Wintertag war.

Termine:

24. August 3.00 Uhr Meadowbank

Nach einer kurzen Andacht wollen wir unsere jetzt fällige Mitgliederversammlung abhalten

(Programm siehe englischen Teil).

We really enjoyed the short visit of Harald and Christine Ruff on the last weekend in June, when Harald conducted the Service for us on Sunday 29.6. He mentioned the founding of the Temple Society in June 136 years ago and emphasized that then and now, an active and truthful commitment to foster community life is vital for us and especially for the future! Thank you, Harald and Christine, for coming to Sydney.

It was good to see some younger people on that Sunday, whilst some older members could not make it because it was a really cold and wet winter's day.

Please note:

24 August 3.00 pm Meadowbank. Short service followed by our annual general members' meeting.

Proposed agenda:

Activity and Finance reports with Auditor's remarks. Committee members' election, general business.

Ilse Birkner

S.A. GROUP

Der Juni war für unsere kleine Gruppe in Südaustralien eine ereignisreiche Zeit. Unser Saal am 8. Juni zeigte uns, wie das Glück im Leben die Freiheit der Seele ist; und dieses Glück zeigt uns Jesus mit seinen Worten. Die Ansprache wurde mit dem Lied: "Mir nach spricht Christus unser Held" umrahmt. Leider waren nur 6 Personen anwesend, denn Kurt und Erna Unger sind z.Z. Übersee, und so konnte Frau Frank auch nicht kommen.

Am Montag traf sich unsere Frauengruppe in der Bistro von Chateau Yaldara Winery um Christel Stolls 90. Geburtstag zu feiern. Und dann waren wir am 22. Juni, dem eigentlichen Geburtstag, von Christel im Lutheran Resthome, Tanunda, eingeladen. Es war eine sehr feierliche Angelegenheit. Am 14. Juli trafen sich die Frauen bei Elsa Mahlburg in Woodside.

Der nächste Saal ist am 10. August um 2 Uhr in Tanunda. Kurt und Erna werden wieder bei uns sein und können uns dann alle ihre Erlebnisse erzählen.

JG SECTION

Welcome everybody to the JG section, as this month we have more fun-filled activities. The annual ski day is approaching quickly and folkdancing is still held twice a month, so read on for more action.

SKIING

This article is for all those JG skiers who like 4 am starts and getting the precious parts of their anatomy frost bitten. The JG skiing day is coming up! We will be heading for Mt. Buller on 10 August. There will also be a subsidy of $25 for members. Book with Darren

Darren Loebert

TRIVIA NIGHT

The Trivia Night has finally been organised by myself and my small committee, so now it is your turn to organise your tables for this night.

• When: Saturday 20 September
• Where: Bayswater Hall
• Time: 7.30 pm
• Cost: $15 per person
• Table: Ten people per table

There will be door prizes, a continuing raffle, tricky `who am I's' and brain teasers, musical chairs and much, much, more!! Nibblies, tea and coffee will be provided. For bookings please call me by 5 September

Could I please ask the generous people out there to donate prizes to make the Trivia night more exciting? Thank you.

Alysha Murray

WORD OF THE MONTH mawkish

COMING EVENTS

August

• 3 Meeting/folkdancing
• 10 Skiing
• 17 Folkdancing

Thank you for your support throughout the past year. Vanessa and I have really appreciated it.

Vanessa Adams and Erika Anderson, Eds.

CHILDREN'S SECTION

Hi Guys,

How were your holidays this July? Were you able to enjoy the beautiful weather? I know that some of the days were somewhat cold, but on the whole they were wonderful! We were lucky enough to have the use of a house on the Gippsland Lakes for the second week, and boy was it great! As the weather was so pleasant we were able to go out on the lake and enjoy some sailing. On the first day out, just as the sun was sinking in the sky, we saw a large pod of dolphins; it was an absolutely wonderful experience to watch these mammals swimming around our boat, diving under it coming up for air and blowing water out of their blowholes.

Then on the last day of our holiday we were able to watch a smaller group of them swimming in the ocean. The people standing on the beach were absolutely fascinated by them. Judging by the flock of birds hovering around, we thought they must have been fishing.

Round about this time each year people flock to Warrnambool to watch the whales as they come close to the shore. Whale watching has become quite a pastime for many people. Once whales were quite a common sight in our oceans, but as fishing methods became more and more sophisticated, their numbers decreased greatly.

Whales have always fascinated mankind, so they appear in many stories. Probably two of the most famous are Moby Dick and the story of Jonah in the Bible. Jonah was a prophet. The prophets would usually obey God, but sometimes, just like us when we're supposed to do something that we don't want to, it would take a little time till they did it properly.

The story of Jonah goes something like this: God came to Jonah one day and told him to go to a town called Ninevah and speak to the people, reminding them to mend their ways and to become better people. Jonah heard God alright but he just didn't want to go to Ninevah. He decided that since the people were pretty bad, it would be OK if God just destroyed the city. So instead of going to Ninevah he got on a ship going to Joppa. Jonah really believed that he could run away from God.

Once they were out at sea Jonah went down into the ship's hold and went to sleep. While he was sleeping a storm blew up. It got worse and worse; the sailors were afraid and in an effort to lighten the load they started to throw luggage overboard. Then they decided to pray to their God - each of them had a different one; nothing seemed to help. Then they remembered Jonah. The captain woke him and told him to pray to his God, perhaps He would save them.

While the captain was gone the sailors drew lots to see if they could find out whose fault the storm was. Jonah's name was the one that came out, so they asked what he had done to cause such a terrible storm. So Jonah told them that it was indeed his God who was angry because he didn't do what He had wanted. He asked the sailors to throw him overboard. At first they didn't want to, but in the end that's what they did.

Even though He was displeased with Jonah, God did not let him drown. He sent along a big fish (most people say it was a whale). This fish swallowed Jonah whole. For three days Jonah lived in the whale's belly. I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like, but I think it would have been pretty awful, don't you?

During those three days Jonah had plenty of time to think through what he had done wrong, so he started to pray to God and thank Him for not letting him drown. Eventually God ordered the whale to vomit Jonah up on a beach. YUK - but safe! - he'd found his feet again.

Then God spoke to Jonah once more and told him to go to Ninevah. This time Jonah did go and he walked to that town and told the people that their town would be destroyed in forty days. The people believed Jonah's message and they decided that they would show God how sorry they were by wearing sackcloth and fasting. When God saw what they were doing, He changed his mind and saved the city, so I guess it was just as well that Jonah eventually learnt his lesson and went to Ninevah and gave them God's message.

As this month's story was kind of fishy, I thought you might like to make your own fish. You can either follow the instructions or make your own design.

Until next month, Dot Ware

NOTE:

We are very grateful to Dot that she has kept faithfully supplying Children's Pages for so long. However, she needs a break. If you could take over, please contact the Editor or the Office. Someone in Sydney, or in the country, or in Melbourne...? Please consider it seriously.

Editor

MAKE A WHALE

1. Draw the shape of a large fish on a piece of card similar to the one I've drawn.
2. Trace around the shape twice and cut them out. Colour in or paste patterns on one side of each fish.
3. Staple the two fish together but leave an opening. Scrunch up some paper and gently stuff the fish, then finish stapling it together.

    

   
   
    

JOKES

How do you communicate with a fish?

Drop a line.

What do sea monster's eat?

Fish and ships.

What fish is famous?

A starfish.

What does the sea say to the sand?

Nothing, it just waves.

Which musical instrument could be used for fishing?

A cast-a-net.

What lies at the bottom of the sea and shakes?

A nervous wreck.

Mother: Have you put fresh water in the goldfish bowl?

Son: No point, Mum, they haven't drunk the last lot yet.

END OF AUGUST TEMPLER RECORD. (Advertisements, Calendar, Rosters and TS Compass are not reproduced.)

7 July

Back to Index

TEMPLER RECORD

No. 586 July 1997

REFLECTIONS

EIN LEUCHTEN DANN UND WANN

In mir ist alles aufgeräumt und heiter:
Die Diele blitzt. Das Feuer is geschürt.
An solchem Tag erklettert man die Leiter,
Die von der Erde in den Himmel führt.

Da kann der Mensch, wie es ihm vorgeschrieben,
Weil er sich selber liebt - den Nächstenlieben.
Ich freue mich, daß ich mich an das Schöne
Und an das Wunder niemals ganz gewöhne,
Daß alles so erstaunlich bleibt, und neu!

Ich freue mich, daß ich... daß ich mich freu.

Bei Ilse Beilharz gesehen. Source unknown.

How lovely to be able to speak like that - with clarity, joy, and peace within oneself and one's environment. Able, because of healthy confidence and self-esteem, to love one's neighbour. Happy to be touched by the beauty and wonder of so much in life. Delighted to be able to feel delight! - Wonderful indeed!

Letztes Mal brachten wir den bekannten LIEBE Text aus dem Korinther Brief. Heute geht's weiter mit

was passiert, wenn die Liebe fehlt.

Klugheit ohne Liebe macht heuchlerisch,
Ordnung ohne Liebe macht kleinlich,
Sachkenntnis ohne Liebe macht rechthaberisch,
Ehre ohne Liebe macht hochmütig,
Besitz ohne Liebe macht geizig,
Pflichtbewußtsein ohne Liebe macht verdrießlich,
Verantwortung ohne Liebe macht rücksichtslos,
Gerechtigkeit ohne Liebe macht hart,
Wahrheit ohne Liebe macht kritisch,
Erziehung ohne Liebe macht widerspruchsvoll,
Glaube ohne Liebe macht fanatisch,
Macht ohne Liebe gewalttätig,
Ein Leben ohne Liebe ist sinnlos!

Aus 'Konfirmation' in der Warte von 6.97, S. 123. Editor

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Another contribution along the lines of the `God and the Temple' discussion day, from Otto Wurst in Sydney.

Today we live in the era of science and technology. However, modern technology would not be possible without modern science. Science somehow seems to be the foundation and the destiny of our era and faith or belief in science has assumed the role of dominant religion. Many admirers of science say that it is different from the Christian religion precisely in that it substitutes intellect and reason for faith. But this opinion expresses their faith or belief.

Many people consider God to be a concept pre-scientific man thought up to explain things he could not understand: gods were invented by human beings and worshipped out of fear. Atheists deny the existence of God and do not consider the earth to be his creation.

Religion, however, extends beyond reason, but must not be unreasonable - i.e. it must not contradict what we know to be true.

Thus being religious means to be touched or even gripped by the reality of a force or power that is beyond the world that we can see and comprehend with our mind.

If one does not acknowledge a divine purpose, the developments in the world of living creatures and of the spirit simply cannot be understood.

"Seek first the kingdom of God..." (Matt. 6:33).

This challenge was Christoph Hoffmann's watchword and is the motto of the Temple Society, which he founded. The kingdom of God is not a dogmatic concept, but a task, a goal to reach. That they recognised, proclaimed and strove for this is to the credit of the founders of the TS, it is the legacy they left us; protecting it is and remains our task and our responsibility.

We believe in one God, not a triune one like the Christian churches. (Whether we call this power God, creator, elemental force, reality or whatever, is of secondary importance).

We believe that love for God and one's neighbour is the best way to serve him and the only way to reach the goal, namely a kingdom of joy and inner peace, a kingdom which complies with the will of God and which we therefore call the kingdom of God.

From a service held by Otto Wurst on 2.2.97 in Meadowbank, based on Christian Rohrer, President of the TS from 1911-1934. (Translated by Herta Uhlherr).

Also on God and the Temple, and part of the material used in the Course about the TS, a piece by Dr. Alfred Weller.

CHANGE OF HEART

by Dr. Alfred Weller

"... You cannot tell by observation when the kingdom of God comes... For the kingdom of God is among you!" (Luke 17:20-21) - "...no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he has been born again". - "...no one can see the kingdom of God unless he has been born again." (John 3:3). It is this change of heart, this rebirth of man, that matters. The path that leads to it is not a path of seclusion, but a path that makes love the centre of our thoughts, emotions and actions, so that it becomes the transparent background of our entire existence. This does not mean adopting a one-sided, negating attitude to life, but rather obtaining enrichment, the "abundance" of life. That is God's kingdom within us.

Furthermore, God's kingdom does not manifest itself with the material trappings of this world. It is not based on the powerful splendour of the temple in Jerusalem, it is not tied specifically to Jerusalem or the Jews, but it begins in people's souls, in the undisturbed dialogue and relationship between men and God. It finds its complete expression in the community of people linked in the commitment to fulfil God's will. The completion of God's kingdom in this respect is not in our power, but it is mankind's primary task to strive towards it.

God's kingdom is not of this world and its dimensions differ from those we humans know. The splendid temple in Jerusalem, the city built on the hill, will fall into ruins. Another temple, a "spiritual temple", must instead arise in the souls of men and become the divine holy centre.

Salvation is not to be expected from the change of external institutions. Man-made rules and laws have their significance and their place in history, but the renewal of the community is based on the renewal of the mind. God must not be replaced by laws. Without love the efforts to live a better life are in vain, as also is the endeavour to promote unity and solidarity amongst mankind, if the people are not united in their commitment to fulfil God's will.

Our most important task is to establish, initially on a small scale, communities where God's will prevails. This is a difficult and responsible task. Our forebears followed the call of the founder of our society, to join forces and perform this task. They made sacrifices and achieved a great deal, because the spiritual element, the idea and the faith determined their actions.

As faith faded, the focus increasingly shifted from the spiritual to the material, a dangerous and potentially fatal shift for our community. We must retrace our steps and return to the spiritual level of our forebears in order to find the source of eternal values, which may give us the strength to fill our community with the living spirit and to perform our present and future tasks. The forms have changed, but the central issue has remained the same.

"Set your mind on God's kingdom!" is the primary commandment of Jesus' message, the foundation of his Proclamation. For anybody who reads and contemplates this message in the form it has been handed down to us in the Gospels, there can be no doubt about this. The overwhelming simplicity of Jesus' message sets it apart from the complex proclamations of the prophets and the doctrinal edifice of the rabbis and the Church.

To make love the sun of our spiritual life, the sun around which all other forces rotate and from which they obtain strength and warmth, that is the highest aim...

God lives and works within us in a wonderful way: that is a profound spiritual truth; that is our conviction. In other words: that is our faith.

From the "Warte des Tempels", September 1952, pp 63-65 in the Templer Handbook.

The Templer Handbook can be purchased from the Office:
English (photocopied) $10,
German hardcover $24.

READERS RESPONSE

From Werner Ehmann in N.S.W.

I looked forward to some enlightening discussion of Irene Bouzo's fascinating article in April. What impressed me was her quest to find answers, her breadth of reading, and her uninhibited hypotheses.

It saddened me that she should be corrected thus: "Now Hoffmann's ideas were not at all similar to those of Strauss, Vischer, or Hegel". They may not have been in Hoffmann's day, as far as the two well-known Karlsruhe-born philosophers, namely Strauss and Vischer, are concerned. But in our Society today, they probably would be tolerated.

Stuttgart-born Hegel should not be lumped together with Strauss and Vischer in this day and age, just because Chr. Hoffmann condemned "the religious content of Hegel's philosophy". Sir T. Malcolm Knox, Principal of St. Andrews Uni. Scotland, who translated many of Hegel's works, says this about him: C.W.F. Hegel was the last of the great philosophical system builders of modern times. His works mark the pinnacle of classical German philosophy.

Knox tells us that Hegel rewrote his Berne essays, freeing himself of Kant's influence under which he had misrepresented the life and teaching of Jesus. In 1798 (N.B. seventeen years before Hoffmann was born), according to Knox, Hegel wrote:

"Jesus taught something entirely different (from Judaism). Men are not to be the slaves of objective commands: the law is made for man. They are even to rise above the tension in moral experience between inclination and reason's law of duty, for the law is to be "fulfilled" in the love of God, wherein all tension ceases and the believer does God's will wholeheartedly and single-mindedly. A community of such believers is the Kingdom of God.

This is the Kingdom that Jesus came to teach. It is founded on a belief in the unity of the divine and the human. The life that flows in them both is one; and it is only because man is spirit that he can grasp and comprehend the Spirit of God."

In me, this exalted exposition of the Kingdom of God by

Hegel in 1798 struck a pure, religious cord. I sincerely hope that our readers can share my experience!

Werner Ehmann

FROM THE OFFICE

REGIONAL COUNCIL INVITATION TO A MEETING ON THE NEW AGED CARE LEGISLATION.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT YOU AND OUR RESIDENTS IN THE TEMPLER HOME FOR THE AGED AND IN THE TABULAM NURSING HOME.

From 1st October 1997, new rules will regulate the accommodation provided, the classification of new residents according to the care needed, and the fees and bonds of new residents payable (the latter are in part refundable). All this has to be specified in a written agreement between both parties before a person is admitted after 1.10.97.

We believe that our members should be made aware of these changes now. For this purpose we invite everyone to a meeting on

SUNDAY 20 JULY 1997 AT 2.30 P.M. IN THE BAYSWATER HALL

As the new regulations influence the financial viability of our THA Hostel we exhort our younger members to attend also. It is the younger generation which will have to manage our Home in future and will have to understand and work with these new determinations. So please come with your older relatives!

For the Regional Council
Dr. R. Beilharz, Regional Head
H. Ruff, Deputy R.H.
O. Löbert, Deputy R.H.

TEMPLER HOME UNIT VACANCY

We are seeking unit residents to fill a vacancy. Please contact the TSA Office on (03) 9557 6713 to register your interest and for further information.

Mark Herrmann
Business Manager

SOCIAL CARE

Dear Friends,

For people who are over sixty, a fall can be devastating. Injuries are often serious, recovery can take a long time and the fear of falling again can interfere with your life. The good news is that there are simple steps you can take to prevent falls, and your home is a good place to start.

Everyone should take care to prevent a fall. Many falls are avoidable. You are more likely to fall if you use stairs or have poor lighting, loose rugs or polished floors. If you have small children or pets around. If you are not active. If you have poor health, poor vision, poor balance or occasional dizziness. If you drink too much alcohol. If you have a poor diet, take a number of medications, wear shoes which do not fit well. If you have limited social contact, and if you get up too quickly from a sitting or lying position.

To help prevent falls you can start by making your home safer. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Check your health and medication with your doctor regularly and have your vision checked regularly.

If you do fall - remain calm. Don't get up immediately. Keep warm. Call for help. See your doctor as soon as possible.

Remember, falls are not a normal part of ageing, but they can be a sign of health problems.

Best wishes to our sick and infirm,

Helga Anderson

AUSTRALIAN GERMAN TEMPLER EXCHANGE

Our two candidates, Michael Franz and Bernhard Hoefer, are interacting with the TGD. Wiltrud Tietz is due to arrive here on 9 July - please make her welcome. Perhaps you would like to invite her out for an excursion or to dinner? Ring her hostess Inge Hoefer on 9758 3271 to make arrangements.

A notice regarding the next round of applications for the exchange scheme will appear soon.

Irene Bouzo
for the Exchange Committee

WARUM and WHY

EIN NEUES GESANGBUCH? A NEW HYMN AND SONGBOOK?

In ihrer letzten Sitzung hat die Gebietsleitung die Herstellung eines neuen Liederbuchs für unsere Gottesdienste genehmigt. "Warum wollen oder brauchen wir denn solch ein Buch", mögen manche von euch fragen. Die Hauptgründe dafür sind folgende:

1. Wir denken an die Zukunft und halten es daher für notwendig, für die jüngere Generation mehr Choräle und Lieder in englischer Sprache anzubieten.

2. Außer den traditionellen Chorälen würden viele von uns auch gerne neuere, moderne Lieder singen, die unserer heutigen menschlichen Situation und Einstellung entsprechen. (Zahlreiche Choräle in unserem schwarzen Gesangbuch werden überhaupt nicht mehr gesungen.)

3. Wir brauchen ein Buch, das nicht nur den Text sondern auch die Melodie eines Liedes enthält. In Palästina gingen die meisten Templer (zumindest die älteren) jeden Sonntag in den Saal. Daher lernten sie natürlich die Melodien recht schnell. (Zu meiner Zeit begannen wir damit schon im Singunterricht in der Schule.) Wenn jedoch heutzutage Templer regelmäßig in den Saal gehen, dann ist es gewöhnlich nur einmal im Monat, häufig noch seltener. Also sind solche, die nicht oft anwesend sind, beim Gemeindegesang meist still und stumm. Eine beträchtliche Anzahl von uns ist jedoch imstande, Noten zu lesen, und die anderen können wenigstens sehen ob's beim Singen rauf oder runter geht. Daher würde ein Buch mit Melodien uns helfen, ein neues Lied zu lernen und schneller mitsingen zu können.

Ich denke, daß das Singen im Gottesdienst eine wichtige Rolle spielt oder spielen sollte. Denn ein wesentlicher Aspekt unseres Verhältnisses zum Schöpfer ist das Gebet, besonders das Lob und Preisgebet. Und wie kann man den Allmächtigen, seine wunderbare Schöpfung und seine Liebe und Güte besser und schöner preisen als im fröhlichen Gesang?

Auch bedeutet das Singen, daß die Gemeinde sich beim Gottesdienst aktiv beteiligen kann. Gemeinsames Singen verbindet; es fördert die Harmonie unter uns und steigert unsere Energie sowie das Gefühl der Gottesverehrung. (In diesem Zusammenhang haben einige von uns gefragt, warum es in der Tempelgesellschaft üblich war oder wurde, im Saal meist nur einen Choral zu singen, während in den Kirchen mindestens drei gesungen werden. Weiß jemand, wann und warum dieser Brauch entstanden ist? Es würde uns interessieren).

Der verstorbene Herr F. Hornung sagte oft zu mir:
"`s Schenschde am Saal isch halt's gemeinsame Senga." Andere von uns werden jedoch der Ältesten traditionelle "explicatio" und "applicatio" (Auslegung und Anwendung) eines Bibeltextes für wichtiger halten. Ich persönlich denke, daß wir ein Gleichgewicht zwischen gesprochenem Wort und Gesang/Musik anstreben sollten. Denn die Worte des Ältesten richten sich hauptsächlich an den Verstand, während Gesang und Musik mehr das Herz und die Seele erheben. Daher hoffen wir auch, daß ein neues Buch mit verschiedenen Arten von Liedern uns helfen wird, einen Mittelweg zu finden, der allen gerecht wird.

Wir stellen uns vor, daß dieses Buch die beliebtesten unserer deutschen Choräle enthalten soll sowie traditionelle englische Choräle, neuere deutsche und englische Lieder, einige "Bibellieder", Gesänge von Taizé und ein paar Kanons. Wir haben bereits eine schöne Sammlung zur Auswahl. Doch wollen wir euch nochmals auffordern, es uns wissen zu lassen, wenn ihr irgendwelche Liedvorschläge habt. Wir könnten z.B. noch ein paar englische Choräle und neuere englische Lieder gebrauchen. Und wenn irgendjemand von euch bereit ist, bei der Verwirklichung unseres Vorhabens mitzuhelfen, ist er/sie herzlich willkommen. (Wie wäre es mit ein oder zwei Männern??) Bitte verständigt eine von unserem jetzigen Arbeitsteam: Sonia Glenk, Ruth (Felix) Haar, Veronica Rutowicz, Herta Uhlherr, Elisabeth Wagner, Annette Wagner-Hesse oder mich.

Ein solches Buch herauszugeben ist eine große Aufgabe, und es wird längere Zeit dauern, bis sie verwirklicht ist. Doch hoffen wir, daß ihr alle uns dabei unterstützt und diesem Vorhaben euren Segen gebt.

Die Gemeinde Bayswater-Boronia und die Chormitglieder haben vor, den Erlös von ihrem Musikfest im September für das neue Buch zu stiften.

At its last meeting the Regional Council

approved the Elders' recommendation to produce a new Hymn and Songbook for our services. "Why do we want such a book," some of you may ask. Here are the main reasons:

1. As we have to think of the future we see the necessity of providing more songs in English for the younger generation.

2. In addition to traditional hymns, many of us would like to sing new songs which relate to our modern human condition. (Quite a number of hymns in our black Gesangbuch are no longer sung by us).

3. We need a book which not only contains the text but also the melody of the songs. In Palestine most Templers (at least the older ones) would go to Saal every Sunday thus learning the tunes very quickly (a process already started at school). Nowadays, if Templers attend Saal regularly, it is usually just once a month and in many cases less often. So those members who do not come often probably don't know the tune. However, a good number of us are able to read music, and the others can at least see whether a tune goes up or down. Therefore the melody line would help people to learn songs and join in more quickly.

I think that singing at our services plays a very important role in our worship, for an essential aspect of our inner connection with the Creator is prayer, and in particular the prayer of praise and adoration. And what better way of expressing our praise of the Almighty, of his wonderful creation and of his love and kindness is there than singing?

Also, singing means community participation. It binds us together, furthers harmony amongst us and raises our energy and sense of worship. (In this context some of us have been wondering why it used to be common practice in the Temple Society to sing just one hymn in our services, whereas in the churches at least three hymns are sung. Does anyone know when and why this custom started?) The late Mr. F. Hornung often said to me: "`s Schenschde am Saal isch halt's gemeinsame Senga!" (The best part of Saal is our singing together.) Others, however, may regard the Elder's traditional "explicatio et applicatio" (explanation and application) of a Bible text as more important. I myself feel we should try and find a balance between the spoken word and songs and music, as the words of the speaker usually appeal more to the mind whereas music and singing touch and uplift the heart and the soul. Thus we hope that a new book with a great variety of hymns and songs will help us to find such a balance.

It is envisaged that our new collection will contain the most popular of our German hymns (some of them with an English translation), traditional English hymns, 20th century German and English songs, a few Gospel Songs and songs from Taizé plus a few rounds. We already have a good collection from which to choose. But I would again like to ask you to contact us if you know of a hymn or song which you would like to be included. We could still do with a few more English hymns and English 20th Century songs. And - if anyone is willing to join our present working team they would be most welcome. (What about a man or two?) Please let one of us know: Sonia Glenk, Ruth (Felix) Haar, Veronica Rutowicz, Herta Uhlherr, Elisabeth Wagner, Annette Wagner-Hesse or myself.

To publish such a book is a huge task and it will take considerable time till it is completed. But we do hope that all of you will support us and give this undertaking your blessing.

The Bayswater-Boronia Community and the Choir members intend to donate the proceeds of their Musikfest in September to this worthy cause.

Morna Kortschak
for the Elders

SEMINAR BOOKLETS

The contributions of the various speakers at the two `God and the Tempel' seminars held at Bentleigh in September 96 and Boronia in Jan 97 are now available in the form of two booklets (like the TR). They are in English. We decided not to send them out to everyone but only to those who let the Office know they want them. Perhaps you can order for several of your friends/family in one go, to make it a little easier for the Office.

Editor

AUS DEM GEMEINDLEBEN

BIRTH

Dylan Nicholas Kazenwadel born 3.6.97

Parents: Dieter Kazenwadel & Heide-Marie nee Steller

20 Norville Street Bentleigh East 3165

MARRIAGE

Paul Wagner & Helen nee Moloney 3.5.97

7 Mitchell Street Cobden Vic 3266

Tel. 03 5595 1339

Congratulations to both these young couples.

NEW ADDRESS

Manfred & Lotte Frank

27 Elm Street, Bayswater Vic 3153

Tel. (03) 9720 2060

NEW MEMBERS

Günter Schulz and Erika Schulz nee Aberle.

We welcome them as full members and trust that they will continue to feel at home amongst us.

BEREAVEMENTS/TRAUERFÄLLE

16. Mai 1997 ist unsere liebe Mutter, Schwester, Schwägerin und Tante

Hulda Wächter geb. Edelmaier

still für immer eingeschlafen. Sie durfte 91 Jahre alt werden.

Wir danken Hulda Wagner für ihre trostreichen Worte bei der Trauerfeier, ebenso danken wir Ella Weber für ihr schönes Orgelspiel.

Dem Pflegeheim und der Matron Gabriele Glöckner danken wir für ihre unermüdliche Pflege.

Auch danken wir allen für die zahlreichen Beweise Eurer Teilnahme, Karten und Blumen.

In stiller Trauer:
Lilli und Erich Wächter
Anne Herrmann mit Familie
Erna Edelmaier mit Familie
Luise Edelmaier mit Familie
Hans Pisch
Familie Alfred Edelmaier
Lotte Lange, Ella Waneck
Nelly Gabron

Unsere liebe Schwester, Schwägerin und Tante Rosa Herrmann

ist am 28. Mai (einen Tag vor ihrem 83. Geburtstag) ganz unerwartet nach kurzer, schwerer Krankheit für immer von uns gegangen.

Oskar Krockenberger danken wir herzlich für die feierliche Rede zum Abschied von Rosa, Friede Steller für ihr schönes Orgelspiel und besonderer Dank gilt Anna Eppinger für den harmonischen Blumenschmuck, als letzter Gruss vom Frauenverein Bentleigh-Moorabbin.

Allen Freunden, Bekannten und Verwandten danken wir für ihre Anteilnahme, auch für Blumen, Karten und Spenden für das Altersheim.

In stiller Trauer:
Christian und Meta Herrmann
Emma und Gerd Aberle mit Familie
Gertrud und Manfred Schnerring mit Familie
Emma Herrmann mit Familie
 

We express our deep sympathy to all the bereaved families and friends.

Aus Deutschland hörten wir daß Carl August Docke nach längerer Krankheit im 84. Lebensjahr verstorben ist.

OBITUARY

The conductor, writer and composer

Hans-Hubert Schönzeler (1925-1997)

has died in London aged 71. Many of our people remember him from Tatura internment camp (C Lager) during WW II.

Schönzeler was an authority on the music of Anton Bruckner and an expert on Czech music (Dvorak, Janacek, Martinu). He was born in Leipzig and started playing the violin at age five, although neither of his parents was a musician. The family migrated to Australia in 1939, but they were interned (with us) during the war. He continued to study the violin and had conducting tuition from a fellow internee who had directed the Vienna Boys' Choir and the Mozart Knabenchor (remember Dr. Georg Gruber?).

Released in 1946, Schönzeler became a naturalised Australian (and later a British citizen). He studied under Eugene Goossens at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but settled in London in 1950, because there were few professional opportunities in Australia. He championed contemporary British composers.

Based on The Sydney Morning Herald of Wed. May 14 1997 quoting from The Daily Telegraph.

Editor

FAMILY SERVICE IN BENTLEIGH

On Sunday 24 May, Christine Ruff presented the young and "not so young" families with many examples of messages. Most were readily understood and recognised as good or bad messages. We needed Annette Wagner-Hesse to explain one message to us. Yes, messages needed to be clear. Much participation was needed. Our Templer Record was seen to be an important means of "sending messages", particularly as our families live further and further apart.

We learnt a lovely new song "Hello my God" and all enjoyed a delicious "Munch" together afterwards.

Thanks Christine.
Marianne Herrmann

COUNTRY VICTORIA GET-TOGETHER

On Sunday 15 June 25 adults and 11 children all received a warm and friendly welcome from Ilse and Helmut Beilharz, who had opened their home and their hearts to visitors for the Country Victoria gathering. Young and not so young soon shed their thick jackets as the radiance of the wood fires spread.

Geoff McCallum began his service by playing an exquisite version of Schubert's Ave Maria. We sat in Beilharz' beautiful lounge room, whose panoramic windows overlook the whole valley to the Browns Range Mountains and beyond, into the Goulbourn valley, almost to Seymour. You could follow the light-and-shadow patterns from a few clouds frolicking in the sky across the mountains. Geoff spoke about the Ten Commandments: firstly, in their original setting in the Old Testament, secondly, how Jesus interpreted them and thirdly, how we today construe their meaning. He spoke of the different ages and the different cultures and how today it is not always possible to obey the text of the commandments implicitly in every situation, especially when taken out of context. It is more important to follow Jesus' advice to "love your neighbour as you love yourself". Whatever decision you make, you have to take responsibility for it and live with the consequences. Some discussion on the topic followed the service.

Everyone sat down to a communal lunch. Not only had Ilse cooked two great big pots of delicious soup, she and Helmut had also arranged one huge table (made of several) where one and all found a seat. In this festive atmosphere we shared what we had brought, relaxed and enjoyed the companionship of fellow Templers and friends.

The children, who had played (pretty) quietly during the service, now explored the neighbourhood. I think they must have believed they were visiting the magic mountain when they saw the many geese, chooks and animals - and they could play with all of them. When the grownups finished their lunch Helmut offered to lead a rejuvenating walk through this bush paradise. Nothing is nicer after a satisfying lunch than going for a walk in the bush, and the visitors joined happily in the stimulating exercise until afternoon coffee. Some found mushrooms for their dinner.

The Beilharz property is fascinating; they make use of the resources nature so generously provides on their mountain. They generate their own electricity from sunshine and wind, collect rainwater, make honey, make milk and cheese, and also have an enormous garden. High up on the mountain top, surrounded by peace, serenity and a picturesque landscape, you cannot but open your mind and soul and appreciate our beautiful world, and accept some responsibility for it. If there was an eleventh Commandment then I am sure it would read: "Care for your environment, it is God's Nature and home to all of us."

It was a wonderful experience. We say a big thankyou to our gracious hosts for opening our minds and our eyes. Thank you to Geoff, who had to leave after lunch because he was due to operate at 4 o'clock, and to Ilse and Helmut.

Ursula Klink

PLAYGROUP OPEN DAY

On 5 June the Bayswater Playgroup was joined by many grandparents and friends - thank you for coming along and sharing a special morning with our children.

The visitors took part in fun and games and Australia's Biggest Morning Tea sponsored by Lipton to raise money for the Australian Cancer Society's Cancer Research Fund. The mothers of the playgroup provided delicious foods for the occasion. Everyone enjoyed themselves in this friendly atmosphere, supporting a good cause. An amount of $116 was collected for the Cancer Society. Thank you to all for their participation and goodwill.

Anna Ruff

COURSE ON THE TSA

The feedback on the course was mostly positive. "I found the five sessions relaxing and enlightening; some amazing things about the Temple Society were revealed to me and I feel liberated by the open and tolerant approach to religion," Irene B. "The evenings gave me a new insight into the religious ideas of the TS and we had quite a few discussions in the car on our drive home. Pity more people, particularly young ones, didn't take the time to participate". "I looked forward to Friday nights and will miss the evenings", Esther G. "Many thanks to Rolf and Herta for guiding us through these valuable discussions", Sigrid D. "Although Rolf and Herta's ideas were sometimes poles apart, they made me realize that all opinions are worth thinking about - it opened my mind/thoughts on the TS and its religious aspects. It was very worthwhile", Alex G. "Well thought out, well run and very informative" said Resi S.

There was also a sense of privilege when people shared significant or traumatic experiences which opened their minds to the invisible realms we mostly don't talk about. Personality differences showed: some were more comfortable with thinking, reason and definitions, others with feeling, intuitive knowledge and mystery. The great thing is that all sincere seekers after the "Kingdom of God", however they understand it, can be Templers and can work together for the common good. We found that there is joy in exploring and growing together, in getting to know one another on a deeper level.

Herta Uhlherr

SONNWENDFEIER

The Bayswater Hall filled up with Oldies, parents, children and babies, with regulars and occasional visitors, even from as far away as Wollongong and Canberra - great to see!

The mild weather was a boon. The verandah doors were opened, a blazing torch waved by and the enormous bonfire started leaping up to the sky in a most spectacular way - for once the wood and brush were dry!

Then the hall lights went out and the very long lantern parade filed through, grown up and little children together, carrying a variety of lanterns with excited or serious, concentrating faces. Outside, the round lantern of the full moon played hide `n' seek. Over to Tabulam and the Home for the Aged. Someone dropped a lantern, quick feet stomped the fire out.

Meanwhile the Blaskapelle played well-loved tunes. Judging by the polished performance, a lot of practice went into this effort. Good on them!

The kitchen worked hard supplying meals, Glühwein, coffee and cakes.

Outside the children made damper on some smaller fires, (under supervision) and sparklers twinkled.

Thank you to all the helpers. We hope a good sum was raised for the Altersheim. The happy conversations and `good vibes', as someone said, were proof of a successful evening.

Editor

VON FRÜHER UND JETZT

Aus Minchinbury N.S.W. schreibt uns Gisela Hoffmann über zwei Männer, die manchen von unseren Lesern vom Internierungslager Tatura her bekannt sind. Der eine ist Hans-Hubert Schönzeler (siehe Trauerfälle), der andere Wilhelm Fugmann, Kaufmann und Missionar in New-Guinea.

Benno Glockemann gab Gisela ein Buch von Herrn Fugmann zu lesen, das sie hochinteressant fand, besonders "den Abschnitt über die Internierungszeit und seine Tätigkeit im Deutschen Theater in Tatura - in dem natürlich viele von unseren Leuten mitwirkten. Sonst beschreibt das Buch Einzelheiten über die lutherische Mission in N.G., Fugmanns Leben dort nach dem Krieg und seine Arbeit im Wirtschaftsdienst der lutherischen Gemeinde in N.G."

Titel: Laß dein Brot übers Wasser fahren - Chronik einer wunderbaren Reise von Wilhelm Fugmann, im Verlag WEK Walter E. Keller, Teuchtlingen. Der Titel stammt aus Prediger Salomo 11,1: "Laß dein Brot übers Wasser fahren, dann wirst du es finden nach langer Zeit."

Wilhelm Fugmann, whom many of our people know from the internment period in Tatura, has an interesting passage in his book (title above) about his part in the German Theatre productions there, in which many Templers took part, of course. - The book's title refers to Ecclesiasts 11:1 - "Cast your bread on the water, eventually you will recover it." (See next article).

Gisela also mentions that her daughter Elizabeth has begun a two year stint in Manila, working for Immigration. We wish her well in a climate that can be pretty trying.

Thank you Gisela for sharing your news.

And Fugmann once more.

Wilhelm Fugmanns "Chronik einer Wundersamen Reise" (Chronicle of a wonderful journey).

Wilhelm Fugmann, who was born in a Franconian village in 1909, had always been interested in mission work, particularly in New Guinea. He has just written a book about his rich and eventful life. Neuendettelsau, the centre of Protestant welfare and mission work, is not far from his birth place and so it was not surprising that he, too, entered the service of the mission, not as a theologian, but as the book-keeper of the commercial section in New Guinea. His first wife had been born there as a daughter of a missionary.

In WW II, together with many other German missionaries, the family ended up in an Australian internment camp. It was in the family camp No. 3 at Tatura that they met the Templers who are described in some chapters of this book. I think that there is hardly anybody of the former family camp who does not know the name Wilhelm Fugmann, since he undertook the important task of producing the "German Theatre Tatura". This played an enormous role in the life of the camp. We owe it to his acquaintance with the Templers that he has given his book as a gift to both the TGD and the TSA.

After the war he founded the NAMASO (Native Marketing and Supply Service) in order to help the natives of New Guinea and to counteract certain effects of colonialism. The course of his life took him to the five continents of the earth and presents a wealth of moving events. Today Wilhelm Fugmann, together with his second wife, lives in Hersbruck in Franconia. We thank him for the gift of his book.

Lilo Thaler

LOOKING BACK

Anneliese Kohl's grandson Kieran recently had to do a project on "Ancestors". Checking out the Palestine background (for Kieran's other Oma, Ruth Leschinski), Anneliese found the following note about Haifa in one of her husband's English reference books - and thought some of our readers would appreciate it.

HAIFA is the commercial rival of Jaffa, and by nature more favoured. The town nestles under the ever-green ridge of Carmel and is divided, like Jaffa, into three quarters - the Moslem centre around the port; the suburb on the plain that runs out to the promontory built by the German Templars who settled there in the latter part of the nineteenth century in order to live a more Christian life, and first brought to the Holy Land the enterprising, progressive spirit of the West; and a new suburb which is growing up on the slopes of the mountain for the accommodation of the Jews and European non-Jews who are flocking to the place which to-day bids fair to be one of the "gates of the East".

From: Peoples of all nations. Vol. VI. Published at the Fleetway House, London E.C. 1926.

PROFILE

GEOFFREY McCALLUM

Born in Melbourne in 1951, Geoff had a strict, puritanical upbringing in the Presbyterian Church and grew up believing all Scots were teetotallers who spent each Sunday on the hard benches at Church and reading the Bible. He says "whilst it did instil in me a staunch sense of self-discipline which can be useful, it also led me to feel a considerable aversion to church services."... "Having been raised to believe that all good Christians behaved like ourselves, it came as a shock when my school friend Dieter Kirchner introduced me to the Templers."

Geoff was impressed by the way Templers of all ages seemed to be able to enjoy themselves, for example at the Silvester balls in the then new Bayswater Hall. He found this quite liberating. "It seemed to adolescent me that they had been able to develop a form of Christianity in which warmth and spontaneity had not been repressed."

One reason Dieter and Geoff became friends at school was that both were quite unchallenged by the teaching, which was aimed at the average students, leaving the brighter ones to their own devices (which sometimes led to discipline problems like truancy). Yet they were among the 7 of 150 students in their year who were awarded Commonwealth Scholarships.

Geoff naturally met Dieter's sister Monika (Kirchner), who, however, was not interested in Little Brother's mate at first, but then they became firm friends. "It was Monika who, at an intellectual level, challenged my simplistic religious beliefs and helped me to escape from the philosophical constraints of my upbringing. I was much in awe of her knowledge about philosophy and ideas and still retain a keen respect for her intellect."

Geoff's Agriculture College course was shorter than Monika's B.A. Dip.Ed. so they graduated at the same time and became house mates. Romance blossomed and they married. The following January they set out by boat for Japan, about which Geoff knew very little. He remembers becoming so frustrated trying to eat the farewell Chinese banquet with chopsticks, which he'd never used before, that he stormed off to his cabin.

"In my mind, this was the last night of my old self." He gradually changed during the 15 months they spent working in Japan. "Those who have heard me speak at Saal will probably realise that I often attempt to integrate the Buddhist approach with the Christian, as I believe that it is just as valid an approach towards the ultimate spiritual reality which underlies all major religions and indeed may in some ways be preferred to traditional Christianity."

Geoff was greatly impressed by the philosophy of Zen, particularly as it is expressed in the martial arts. (To this day he enjoys going off to Kendo every week with youngest son Sebastian). Besides Buddhism, Japanese aesthetics deeply affected him in its many forms: architecture, textiles, gardens and so on. "I always experience a strange sense of completeness whenever I am back in Japan."

Geoff's friend Geoff Paton (Ursula nee Wagner's husband) remembers with a grin when the McCallums visited them in England after Japan and Germany (where Geoff had not been able to converse much in either language). "We couldn't shut him up for 2 or 3 days. He was making up for lost time."

Back home, Geoff worked briefly for a Japanese multinational then decided to study medicine, which meant having to do the Matric. first, as a mature age student. Crazy, said his friends. Monika supported him financially, which meant that Daniella, born in his first year of med., spent much time in creches and with her grandparents, Hans and Annemarie Kirchner. As a consequence, she is closer to being bi-lingual than Dylan (14) and Sebastian (9).

Danni now 21, is following her Arts degree with a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resources. Dylan won a scholarship to Geelong Grammar and is in the bush at Timbertop this year. Sebastian is at primary school. Family life is important to Geoff, but there is not much time to do things together. His practice keeps him very busy. Geoff would like to do more writing (fiction) and has one novel published. Another ambition is to participate in the Iditarod dog sled race along the old Alaskan miner's route from Anchorage to Nome. So it's not surprising that friends describe him as adventurous, enterprising and determined.

Helga Jürgensen calls Geoff an "incredible doer: he wants to do everything!" He's had a glider, a catamaran, a sports car, and now a new motor bike. Without competent Monika (who is Japanese co-ordinator at PLC) some of this would not be possible. An agile mind, a lateral thinker, enjoys intellectual sparring, enthusiasm for enjoying life now, to the full(!) impulsive, wide interests, many talents, loves the best, doesn't let things stand in his way, compassionate concern for his patients, likes things his way, are some of the words used by Ursula Paton to describe Geoff.

Geoff's active involvement with the TS began with the Templer school project, then religious discussions and seminars. Now he's taking services. "If I have a definable spiritual objective, it is to help other people and also myself to get at the essential spiritual truth which underlies the often misleading religious labels we humans so often give ourselves and others. By no means do I agree with everything... in the Bible and I believe that Jesus can be better understood when seen in a wider religious and spiritual context." He considers himself on a spiritual journey not free of distractions and diversions.

There is a little irony in what became of the two bright Lausbuben. Geoff started with Agricultural Science and went on to being a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology. Dieter studied Science at Monash Uni and finished up tending, and meditating in, a tropical fruit orchard in Far North Queensland.

The `Saal' on the Ten Commandments that Geoff held at Broadford for the Country Templers is on our Homepage on the Internet - http://www.vicnet.net.au/~tempsoc.

Editor

Altersheimnachrichten - Home News

Im Winter schläft die Natur. Still und versteckt bewahren viele Tiere und Pflanzen ihre Kräfte bis zum Frühlings-erwachen - sie vermeiden möglichst Nässe, Dunkelheit, Kälte und Wind.

Nicht so unsere Fundraising Gruppe!

Übers lange Wochenende waren wir in vollem Schwung in der Malvern Town Hall. Vor und während des Wochenendes hatten wir eine Armee von Helfern. Kuchen wurden gestiftet, Suppe wurde vorbereitet und gekocht. Scones und belegte Brote wurden am Tag gemacht. Dann wurden all diese Leckerbissen an die Puppenverkäufer und Besucher verkauft. Wir konnten fast $2,000 fürs Heim verdienen. Herzlichen Dank an alle!

Die Sonnwendfeier verlief sehr schön. Es war mild und die Halle war voll. Das Essen war gut und Ulis Riesenfeuer brannte lichterloh. Die Kinder nehmen immer gern an dem Laternenzug teil und viele "große Kinder" ziehen fröhlich mit. Die Lotterie wurde von Leni Löbert und Olga Megele gewonnen. Die Blaskapelle unterhielt uns mit ihren schönen Melodien. Allen ein herzliches Dankeschön!

Gleich danach begann im Ernst das Planen für den Basar am 6. September. Letztes Jahr kam über $7,000 zusammen; wir hoffen diesmal diese Summe zu übertreffen.

Die Gemeinde kann uns auf vielerlei Art und Weise helfen. Wir laden Mitglieder und Freunde ein, einen Stand mit Selbstgemachtem, =gebasteltem oder =gebackenem aufzustellen. Dafür wollen wir nur einen Prozentsatz ihres Erlöses. Am Tag brauchen wir Helfer/innen, die aufstellen, die verkaufen, die Kuchen und Waren stiften, die hinterher aufräumen. Für die Flaschenlotterie brauchen wir viele Flaschen und Gläser (z.B. mit Wein, Limonade, Tomatensauce, Bonbons, Geschenkchen, Überraschungen usw. drin). Wir brauchen Pflanzen und Blumen, selbstgemachte Marmelade und Eingemachtes; Zitronen und anderes aus dem Garten; Qualitätssachen für die stumme Auktion; pre-loved Schätze, und Geschenke die Sie nie benützt haben; Kleinigkeiten für den Lucky dip für die Kinder. Bitte helfen Sie unserm Heim wie immer sie können . Alles kann im Heim abgegeben werden. Fragen bitte an die Organisatorin, Susi Blackwell Tel. 9764 2575.

Wir suchen Sponsoren für die Hauptpreise für die Tombola. Können Sie helfen? Haben Sie Ideen oder Vorschläge? Oder können Sie eine (von der Steuer abziehbare) Spende ans Heim machen? Bitte wenden Sie sich an Susi oder sonst jemand vom Komitee.

Unser Heim wird bald 25. Die ersten Bewohner wurden 1972 aufgenommen, aber eröffnet wurde es offiziell im März `73. Voranzeige: das Gartenfest wird `98 noch größer und besser als sonst. Das Wochenende jetzt schon reservieren. Näheres später.

In Nature winter is the season of dormancy.

Plants and animals muster their resources during autumn. They stay hidden and quiet over the long winter months until spring brings the reawakening. They avoid the cold and the dark and the rain and the winds that blow chill to the bone.

Not so our Fundraising Group!

The long weekend saw us in full swing at the Doll Fair in Malvern Town Hall. We had an army of helpers, both before and over the weekend. Cakes were donated for sale. Soup was prepared and cooked. On the day scones were cooked and sandwiches made. Then all these delicious items were sold to the stallholders and visitors to the fair. Consequently we were able to raise almost $2,000 for the Home. Thanks to you all!

The Sonnwendfeier was a lovely event. The weather was mild and the hall full. Did you all enjoy yourselves? The food was magnificent, and so was Uli's bonfire (as usual). The children always enjoy the lantern parade and the sparklers. The raffle was drawn on the evening and won by Leni Löbert and Olga Megele. Once again the Blaskapelle kept us entertained with their sing-along tunes. Our thanks go to all of you for ending so many occasions on a happy note.

Straight after that, planning began in earnest for the Bazaar (6 September). Last year's takings were in excess of $7,000, and we hope to improve on that this year. There are a myriad ways in which our community members can become involved. We are inviting members and their friends to set up stalls of homemade goods on the day. All we ask is a commission on your sales. We will need helpers on the day: for setting up, for manning stalls, for donating cakes and goods for sale and for cleaning up afterwards. There will be a bottle raffle. Collect anything in bottles or jars, or fill them yourself with a novelty, or something serious, like lollies. We need: plants and pre-loved treasures, and gifts given to you but never used; and novelties for the luck dip for the children. Please help the Templer Home for the Aged in any way you can. All goods may be dropped off at the Home. If you have any queries please ring the event's co-ordinator Susi Blackwell on 9764 2575.

We are looking for sponsors of major prizes for the raffle. Are you able to help? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Would you like to make a tax-deductible cash donation to the Home? Please contact Susi or any Committee member for details.

Lastly, but by no means least, our Home is entering its 25th year of existence. It began operations in October 1972 but was officially opened in March 1973. This is advance warning to everyone in the Community that the Garden Party next year will be even bigger and better than usual. Make sure you keep that weekend free or you'll kick yourself for not being there. Details will be provided closer to the actual date.

Ingeborg Imberger

ALTERSHEIM BÜCHEREI

Die Bücherei im Altersheim wird z.Z. überholt und neu geordnet. Wir möchten jedermann einladen zu stöbern, um etwas zu finden, das man gerne liest. Wir sind dabei, die Bücher nach Autoren alphabetisch zu ordnen, so dass jeder seinen Lieblingsschriftsteller leicht finden kann. Wir werden natürlich auch ein alphabetisches Buchverzeichnis zur Verfügung stellen. Ich möchte alle Leseratten auffordern, jetzt schon diese Menge von wunderbaren Büchern heimzusuchen. Wir haben ein Heft angelegt, in das man Datum, Buchtitel und Name der Person die dieses Buch borgt eintragen soll.

Bücher sollen möglichst vielen Menschen zugänglich sein, deshalb gibt es so viele Leihbüchereien. Wir haben im Heim sehr Vielseitiges, auch eine Abteilung für englische Bücher, z.B. Readers Digest Condensed Books. Ausserdem sind da Hefte in deutscher oder englischer Sprache, abgesehen von all den Lexikons und anderen Büchern wissenschaftlicher Art.

In the library at our Templer Home for the Aged we have a section of books written in English. Until we have an index (which is on the way), we would like to encourage anyone interested to browse and select a book, which we would like you to record in the exercise book at one of the doors, together with your name, address and the date. Our books cater for varied tastes, modern and old as well.

Kurt Beilharz

NOTICES

FORTHCOMING SERVICES

13.7 Ba 10.15 Service & S.S.
20.7 AH 10.45 Service G
27.7 Be 10.15 Service & S.S
27.7 Sy 15.00 Service
 

See reports on the Family Service in Bentleigh and the Country Vic Meeting in Broadford under `Members and Friends'.

N.B. Copy for August TR must be in by 15 July.

BAYSWATER-BORONIA COMMUNITY AGM

Our Annual General Meeting will be on 6 July (that is the first Sunday in July) in the Bayswater Hall at 14:00 hrs.

On the Agenda are the formalities any structured organization needs for its day-to-day operations as well as the specifics applicable to our own community. Then there are special motions to be dealt with and individual items members may bring up under General Business:

Agenda

Activity Reports
Finance Reports
Elections
General Business
 

The Community Membership Issue. Following revisions to the annual fee structure last year we should re-define the Membership classification.

1. Soundproofing Project.
   Options for raising the outstanding balance
2. The "Little Green Songbook"
3. The Boronia Bell
4. Other General Business

Coffee/Tea and Biscuits

Alfred Klink, Community Head

BAYSWATER COMMUNITY & BA-BO TENNIS CLUB

DINNER DANCE

Date: Saturday 19 July
Venue: Bayswater Templer Hall
Start: 7.30 p.m. for savouries & sherries
Band: Top Shelf

A meal will be provided, but BYO drinks. Please get your friends and associates from our Community and Tennis Club and elsewhere together and make up a table. Tickets are $25 each.

Bookings: Tony Beilharz on 9762 6323 before Sunday 13 July.

Tony Beilharz
on behalf of Ba-Bo Templer Community Council and the Ba-Bo Templer Tennis Club

BAYSWATER-BORONIA LADIES GROUP

In June, Frau Hanno Wennagel told us about her boat journey in a small cargo boat (before radio) from Palestine home to Holland via Malta, Spain, Morocco (as prisoners) and Gibraltar during the time of the Spanish Civil War. She was in her early twenties, a captain's daughter, the only female and the only passenger on board, buffetted by the winds of fate and real storms. Hanno had us all laughing at her adventures.

Our July meeting will be held on Tuesday 15 from 1-3 p.m. in the JG room at the Bayswater Hall.

As we are in the middle of winter, and we sometimes feel miserable and cold when it is wet and windy outside, we will cast our minds off to the far away country of Alaska. In this extremely cold, but incredibly beautiful country live the Weller family. Sigrid and Gunter kindly put an article together to give us a glimpse into their life in the city of Fairbanks. Come and hear how the Alaskans cope in their inhospitable climate. All welcome.

Gisela Sawatzky

BAYSWATER-BORONIA TEMPLER TENNIS CLUB

The Junior Social Day will be held on Saturday 2 August at the Bayswater Courts commencing at 12.00. Format will be round-robin. Juniors from all communities are most welcome and should register with Ilse Nicholson

The usual barbeque lunch will be available and players are asked to bring afternoon tea to share.

Night Tennis Season 2 commences in the week of 14 July.

The Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday 15 June. The Committee for 1997/98 is:

President: Carlo Mazzella
Treasurer: Tony Beilharz
Secretary: to be filled by committee
Night Tennis Rep. Brenda Edelmaier
Junior Tennis Rep. Ilse Nicholson
Midweek Tennis Rep. Lyn Imberger
Committee Members: Bob Loebert, Hilmar Hoefer, Manfred Decker

Even the low numbers and wet weather couldn't dampen the pleasant barbeque and lively discussion which followed (although the same can't be said for the social tennis).

Manfred Decker

SAUSAGE SIZZLE!!

There is going to be a sausage sizzle on Saturday 26 July outside the Westpac bank at Mountain Gate shopping centre on Ferntree Gully Road. Why not come and buy a sausage or two? All funds go to the JG and you will also be helping Christina Haar with her school communications project.

Hope to see you there!

Christina Haar

FOLK DANCING REVIVAL

Think back to the warmer month of February and Sommerfest. Remember those clowns wearing Lederhosen and Dirndlkleider performing that age-old tradition of Volkstanzen in the middle of the Wiese?

We certainly do and we seem to remember a few people (old and not-so-old) commenting on their willingness to have a go "sometime". Well, the time is ripe!

We (being the young and the no-longer-so-young) are currently meeting at 5 p.m. on every first and third Sunday of every month at the Bayswater Hall for folkdancing practice. Our aim is to learn some new dances and refine those we already know. We would love to see some new faces, be they with wrinkles or without. The confirmands and JG are busy working up a sweat at each practice, but need the role model of the more experienced generation!

If you have any queries please ring us or, even better, turn up to a practice. We would love to see you.

BENTLEIGH-MOORABBIN COMMUNITY

COMING COMMUNITY EVENT

Fancy a night of food, music and congenial company? Then keep 18 October free on your activities calendar.

Venue: Our community hall.
Time: From 3.00 to 8.00 p.m.
Cost: Probably $8 per head for adults.

More details in subsequent Templer Records.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

This year's A.G.M. will take place on Sunday 24 August commencing at 12.00 in the Bentleigh Hall after the morning Service. All community members are urged to attend as everyone's support is vital to make the event a success. If unable to come, please provide us with your proxy via a member who will be attending.

The committee invites everyone to participate and enjoy a free "Basket lunch" immediately after the morning service and up to the actual A.G.M. Every community member or prospective member is welcome to join in.

AGENDA

1. Chairperson's & Council Report
2. Treasurer's Report
3. Auditor's Report, acceptance of both reports
4. Presentation of the budget proposed for the coming year and its acceptance or otherwise.
5. Election of council members in place of those retiring by rotation.
6. General Business including proposals and suggestions from the floor.

Nominations are required for three vacant positions on the committee and should be lodged ASAP with any member of the council. The one retiring member is Annette Wagner-Hesse.

Topic for discussion is the future directions of the community bearing in mind the facilities that are available.

Heinz Edelmaier
on behalf of the Be-Mo Community Council

SIMPSON DESERT TRIP

We will be travelling through the Simpson Desert, leaving Birdsville on 6 August and arriving at Mr. Dare Station 12-14 days later. Anybody (with a 4 wheel drive) interested in coming along is welcome! For further information ring Heinz Vollmer

Heinz & Heidi Vollmer
Volker & Gisela Bulach

MÄNNER CHOR LIEDERTAFEL ARION

Unser diesjähriges Konzert in der Kapelle des Luther College in Croydon findet am Sonntag, dem 10. August um 3 Uhr nachmittags statt.

REUNION OF VINTAGES '37 AND '38

Our reunion will take place on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April '98 in Echuca on the Murray. Meet for afternoon tea and dinner on Saturday, stay overnight in motel; paddle steamer cruise and BBQ lunch on the river bank on Sunday, plenty of time to talk and reminisce. Letter will follow "soon".

Please mark you diaries now and talk to the others, so everyone knows. (Not all get the TR).

For the organisers (whose names and phone numbers are in the June TR),

Herta Uhlherr

SYDNEY

Zu unserem letzten Treffen im Mai besuchten uns Tempelvorsteher Dieter Ruff mit Frau Isolde. Es war sehr schön, daß Ruffs schon am Donnerstag Nachmittag, den 22. Mai, nach Sydney zu Herbert und Ruth Steller gekommen waren, so konnten wir mit ihnen am Freitag Besuche in den St. Hedwig Homes in Blacktown machen. Dort ist im Pflegeheim unser ältestes Mitglied, Herr Eugen Steller; im Altenheim begrüßten wir Frau Tine Hunter (Beck) und nach einem Mittagessen im Altenheim besuchten wir noch Frau Elly (Hugo) Steller in ihrer Eigentumswohnung im "Seniorendorf". Herbert Steller fuhr uns (denn ich war auch dabei) am späteren Nachmittag noch zu Kurt und Hanni Steller (Gohl) nach Oakville und so war es rundum ein schöner, ausgefüllter Tag.

Am Samstagnachmittag konnten wir mit Dieter im kleinen Kreis unserer Ältesten einige Anliegen der Gemeinde besprechen. Am Sonntag hielt Dieter dann den Saal in Meadowbank, zu dem erfreulicherweise 38 Mitglieder und Freunde gekommen waren.

Wir danken Dieter und Isolde sehr herzlich für ihren Besuch und freuen uns auf das nächste Mal!

Termine:

27.7. Saal in Meadowbank 3.00 Uhr
24.8. Allgemeiner Saal in Meadowbank um 3.00 Uhr
- nicht wie vorgesehen Kinder, bzw. Familien Saal.

For our May meeting our President Dieter Ruff and his wife Isolde drove to Sydney to visit our community.

It was very good of them to arrive here on Thursday afternoon (22.5) already, because it gave us the opportunity on Friday to visit with them our members at the St. Hedwig Homes complex in Blacktown: Mr. Eugen Steller (our oldest member) in the Nursing Home, Mrs. Tine Hunger (Beck) in the Hostel and Mrs. Elly (Hugo) Steller in her unit. Herbert Steller also took us to Kurt and Jo Stellers at Oakville later in the afternoon and so it was a pleasantly full day.

On Saturday afternoon we Elders had a good talk with Dieter at Steller's place and on Sunday he conducted the service at Meadowbank.

We all thank Dieter and Isolde for their visit, which we enjoyed, and we are looking forward to their next visit!

Ilse Birkner

JG SECTION

Congratulations to all of those who have finally completed their mid-year exams. This month we are presenting to you a variety of events that require your support, such as the AGM, the sausage sizzle and restaurant night. So wipe away the cobwebs from your diaries and insert the following...

AGM 1997

The JG's annual general meeting is upon us and will be held on 13 July starting at 1.00 p.m. SHARP!

The agenda this year will be as follows:

1. Secretary's Report
2. President's Report
3. Treasurer's Report
4. Auditor's Report
5. (a) Constitutional Changes
(b) Senior Camp
6. General Business
7. Dissolution of previous committee
8. Election of new committee

As always the AGM is a great chance to have your say on any issue that needs addressing. Everyone is invited to attend, especially those who are willing to join our ranks for the first time. A BBQ will be held beforehand starting at 12.00 noon. During this time payment of $10 can be made for your all-important 97/98 membership.

See you all there.

Nigel Gohl
JG President

RESTAURANT NIGHT

The JG Restaurant Night is on Friday 11 July at 8 p.m. at the Alasya 2 BYO restaurant 162 Sydney Road Brunswick. Yummy Lebanese cuisine, reasonably priced! For bookings or further information please call Monica or Chrissi Haar by 7 July.

N.B. The booking number given last month was incorrect.

Chrissi Haar

FUNDRAISING!

There is to be a sausage sizzle on Saturday 26 July outside the Westpac bank at Mountain Gate Shopping Centre (Ferntree Gully Road) for Chrissi's communications project and to raise funds for the JG. All eager helpers and huge appetites are welcome!! Any queries, phone Chrissi Haar

MY LIFE AND TIMES IN L.A.

Well, it's been six months since I contributed to the JG section, so I thought it's about time! By the way YES, I'M STILL HERE!

Life in Southern California can be as weird or as boring as you want to make it. So far my first six months has been quite interesting. I have found myself an apartment in a very nice area. It even has gum trees like in Ferntree Gully! I'm driving my second car (the first one was a great story of what NOT to do when purchasing a vehicle in LA!).

I have partied in Tijuana, Mexico. That was an experience, having Tequila poured down your throat - then getting hoisted over a Mexican's shoulder and spun around, all the while having people clapping and cheering all around you! Believe me - after five of these you are having a GREAT time!

San Francisco is a beautiful city. A visit to Alcatraz was an eye-opener. I even managed to duck off to London for the Easter Weekend! My next trip will be on the Fourth of July long weekend to the Big Apple. That's right New York, New York! I am also planning to visit New Orleans in September.

My work at Qantas Vacations is going well. We specialise in selling Australia and the South Pacific to Americans. It is very busy work and it is even a trial working with amazingly ignorant travel agents. But I guess they have to learn sometime.

And if anyone is wondering... I still have an Aussie accent, mates! I don't succumb to peer group pressure that easily! I'll close on this note: if anyone is visiting LA just let me know and you are always welcome to crash at my pad.

Later dudes... (just kidding) - See ya, mates!

Silvia Anderson

WORD OF THE MONTH

Royal Jelly

SKIING

This article is for all those JG skiers who like 4 a.m. starts and getting the precious parts of their anatomy frost bitten. The JG skiing day is coming up! We will be heading for Mt. Buller on 10 August. There will also be a subsidy of $25 for members. Book with Darren

Darren Loebert

COMING EVENTS

July

  6 Committee Meeting/Folkdancing
11 Restaurant night
13 AGM
20 Folkdancing
26 Sausage Sizzle

August

  3 Committee Meeting/Folkdancing
10 Skiing

Conclusion

Have a fantastic, excellent, nice, good, ace, fine, gratifying month!

Erika Anderson and Vanessa Adams, Eds.

JOKES

1. Why do cows wear bells?
Because their horns don't work.

2. What did the bell say when it fell in the water?
I'm wringing wet.

3. What never asks questions but gets plenty of answers?
A doorbell.

4. Piano Tuner. "I've come to tune your piano."
Man: "But we didn't send for you."
Piano Tuner: "No, but your neighbours did."

5. What tuba can't you play?
A tuba toothpaste

CHILDREN'S SECTION

Hi Guys,

Do your schools have all sorts of family nights so that your parents get to know each other as well as your teachers? I know that when my children were at primary school, parents were always at the school; Monday morning assembly was a part of life. Now that my children are in secondary school or beyond, this does not happen as often. But Christopher's school does have one night every year for the parents. Recently we had a games night, all the Mums and Dads along with their children had to join in.

Last year the students put on an evening of music and drama for their parents. One of the ideas was to show the parents what the boys had learnt in Band. All the boys have to learn a musical instrument, Chris learns the Alto Saxophone. The boys are expected to practice this instrument at home. What fun! In our case the whole neighbourhood knows when the sax is at home.

Throughout the Bible, music and musical instruments are mentioned and were an important part of the people's lives. Over the last few months we have been following the travels of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land in Canaan. Those people used to make a type of trumpet that they called a Shopar. They would steam the horn of a ram to make it soft and then bend the wide end to a trumpet shape. That is what Joshua's men used when they walked around the walls of Jericho.

Before they crossed the Jordan River, Moses told one of the men called Joshua that he (Moses) was not going to live much longer and that Joshua would have to lead the people across the river and to their new country.

Joshua sent some spies into Jericho to find out what the land and the people were like. While they were in Jericho they stayed with a lady called Rahab; she was good to Joshua's men and hid them from the soldiers of the town when they came looking for the spies. Rahab told the men that everyone in Jericho was frightened because God had promised the Israelites the land of Canaan.

God told Joshua that the army was to march around the city every day for six days, seven priests were to march in front of the army, each one carrying a trumpet; behind the army the Ark would be carried. This Ark was a gold chest in which the Ten Commandments were placed. Anyway, every morning for six days the army quietly marched once around the town, whose gates were tightly locked, only the priests blew their trumpets.

On the seventh day things were different. This day they marched around the town seven times with the priests blowing their horns; after the seventh time Joshua gave the word and all the soldiers started to shout. With that the locked walls of the city started to fall down, then the whole town began to break up, too, - the only family that was saved was that of Rahab who had helped the spies.

Throughout history people have used the things around them to make their own musical instruments. Groups of people living near the beach may use shells, others have used seed pods, sticks and animal bladders. In the north of Australia the aboriginal groups use hollowed-out young tree trunks or branches called didgeridoos as musical instruments. Did you know that these didgeridoos are hollowed out by termites? The aboriginals put a tree branch on top of a termite mound and leave it there until the branch is totally hollowed out, then they decorate the branch with their own special patterns and symbols. Then they have to learn how to play it. Have you ever tried using one? Believe me, it's not easy!

Using a cardboard roll you could make your own didgeridoo. Look in books about the northern Australian Aboriginals and you can see how they make and decorate their instruments. Perhaps you can use different length rolls - does this affect the sound that is made when you blow into it?

I hope you have fun with your didgeridoos.

Until next month, Dot Ware

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Melissa English 19.7.1985
Michael Murdoch 22.7.1985
Kristen Steller 26.7.1986
Amara Wagner 15.7.1988
Rebecca Katz 17.7.1989
Emily Katz 17.7.1989
Alexander Lark 8.7.1992
Monika Herrmann 8.7.1993
Brayden Murrihy 20.7.1994
Thomas Grubb 22.7.1994

END OF JUNE TEMPLER RECORD. (Advertisements, Calendar, Rosters and TS Compass are not reproduced.)

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7 June

TEMPLER RECORD

No. 585 June 1997

REFLECTIONS

June brings the winter solstice (see HOME NEWS and KIDS' CLUB sections for our Sonnwendfeier). In the northern hemisphere the winter solstice heralds Christmas with its connection to LIGHT: the birth of the Christlight, a higher consciousness, in humanity and the rebirth of sunlight in the season of darkness.

This month's REFLECTIONS are interwoven with light: the early light of Guten Morgen, a marvellous poem for our time, and some "light signals" which can guide our journey through life. May you find some rays of light for your winter days.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE LIGHT SIGNALS!

Wer lieber Deutsch liest, siehe/borge die WARTE von Mai '97: Worte der Wegweisung für unsere Konfirmanden.

Although the following is an extract from Wolfgang Blaich's address to TGD confirmands, it contains inspiration for all ages.

SIGNPOSTS FOR OUR CONFIRMANDS

What will my life be like from now on? What is the meaning and goal of my life?

Such questions arise not only during adolescence but at various times in life, particularly when a certain stage is completed and a new phase begins. For you, dear confirmands, your confirmation is such a new beginning, so today we will ask questions about the path your life will take from now on: What will come? What awaits you? Who will go with you?

What the future will bring, none of us knows, including us grown-ups. But what we can pass on to you to reflect on for your journey is the experience that the future always already starts today.

The stone floor of a famous cathedral incorporates the design of a labyrinth or maze. Its diameter is about 12½ metres; but if you follow the convoluted path all the way through the labyrinth, you cover more than 300 metres. What appears close and easy to reach turns out to be more difficult and arduous than you first thought.

The labyrinth pattern is a symbol for life, for a human being's search for meaning, for his/her true self; a symbol of the diverse ways of seeking, experimenting and understanding which characterize our lives. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What awaits us?

Let us enter the labyrinth and go along together for a while. Because, in order to reach the centre, to find yourself, you have to make a start, set out, change.

When we are small, the labyrinth path seems to keep going straight ahead - and we believe that everything should and will go smoothly. We might digress briefly to the right or the left, but then we're on track again. Yet we don't get much closer to our goal. The centre is within reach, yet we only circle around it and cannot get there. We just keep getting more confused, we meet barriers, have to turn back, change direction, get into conflicts.

We begin to sense what this centre means in our life, that it's a goal we're heading towards. We sense a dimension of life in which we are wholly ourself and wholly with the other, at one with the world and the Creator in which we can rest and not be pulled in all directions, in which we do not constantly expect something new and are not dissatisfied with what is.

But the path keeps twisting and turning away from the centre.

The labyrinth in the cathedral expresses something else as well. If we can rise above the tangle of paths, bends and dead-ends, we discover that there is a system in what appears to be chaos - the whole design is oriented towards a cross, the centre contains a cross, the paths and the goal form a cross. The labyrinth speaks to the question "where is our firm foundation" in the manner of an exchange with the disciples of old: Lord, where shall we go? You have the words of life! In the symbol of the cross, Jesus is understood as the meaning, the centre, the goal of human existence, the Jesus who says of himself: I am the way which leads out of dead-ends. I am the truth which brings knowledge of God. I am the life which is victorious over death.

Perhaps, dear confirmands, you are wondering, is my life supposed to be like a labyrinth? You would perhaps prefer a straight path which allows your eyes to constantly see the goal. Certainly it is good to have your eyes on a goal and to orient your life accordingly. But bends and wrong turns, attentiveness and changes require new ways of thinking, new directions, which offer the opportunity to change, to create, to live life fully, not to get bogged down in a rut but to stay flexible. Strength and problem-solving skills are not called forth when we coast along even paths, but when we are challenged by difficult, dangerous tracks.

Wrong turns notwithstanding, you can be certain that the centre of the labyrinth of your life is accessible. There is a way to it. This centre is firmly anchored and even if you do not know where you are, help streams from this centre like the light signals beamed from a lighthouse. You can pick up, receive these signals and so find your way. For us Christians, these light signals are the teachings of Jesus, which you know from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7).

My wish for you is that you have within you a receiver - or receptivity - which allows you to take in Jesus' teachings about love and the kingdom of God. My wish is that by taking his teachings on board you will be able to find your way to the fullness of a centred life.

Wolfgang Blaich; part of a Confirmation Service in the Tempelgemeinde Stuttgart 1989. Translated (and slightly adapted) by Herta Uhlherr.

The labyrinth of a cathedral is usually composed of a series of concentric circles, interrupted at certain points in such a way as to create a bizarre and inextricable itinerary.

The essential quality that stands out is the complexity of its plan and the difficulty of its route. The complicated pathways are thus intended to delay the traveller's arrival at the centre. Access to the centre, at the end of a kind of initiatory journey, was forbidden to those who were not qualified, not worthy.

From Points of Cosmic Energy by Blanche Merz p.111.

1. KORINTHER 13, 1-8

Wenn man etwas Altbekanntes in einer neuen Fassung liest, kommen einem manchmal neue Einsichten.

Man kann sich auf jede Sprache verstehen - ohne Liebe bleibt es leeres Getön. Man kann die Verhältnisse durchschauen, kann die Folgen absehen, kann sehr fromm sein - ohne Liebe nützt das nichts. Man kann hergeben, was man hat, zuletzt sich selbst - ohne Liebe wird dadurch nichts besser.

Liebe ist ausdauernd und gütig, sie ist nicht eifersüchtig und macht nicht große Worte. Liebe stellt sich nicht schamlos zur Schau. Liebe will nicht auf ihre Kosten kommen, sie fragt nicht: Was hab' ich davon? Liebe läßt sich nicht zu Zank verleiten, sie trägt nicht nach. Sie bedauert Unrecht und freut sich an Wahrheit. Liebe kann ertragen; sie hat immer noch Vertrauen, hat immer noch Hoffnung, hat immer noch Geduld.

Diese Liebe kennt kein Ende. Alle Weisheit kann am Ende sein, alles Schwärmen, alle Kunst. Diese Liebe kennt kein Ende.

Paulus

WHICH WAY?

Working out what to do when we come to choices on our journey through life can be quite hard. We are not guaranteed that our life's path will always be straight and smooth - in fact, constant easy going, though comfortable, is probably not in our best interest at all. As we saw above, it's the challenges, the crises, the tortuous tracks that extend our capacities, trigger our inner growth and make us stronger.

Are there clues that help us make good choices when we are not sure which way to go? Here are some general guidelines (but they can vary over time and for different people).

If an inner urge keeps nudging you strongly in a new direction, and a sensible, mature (not necessarily old) person you respect backs up your urge, it needs to be considered seriously.

If you catch yourself often suddenly smiling and becoming happily excited when thoughts of the new venture or direction pop into your head - again, give it serious thought.

Spend some time imagining what will happen (soon, and later) if you follow the urging - and if you don't. Notice your feelings and how your body reacts in each scenario - is there peace, or anxiety? - One version of Colossians 3:15 says: "let the peace of Christ guide you in your decision making". A sense of expansion, increased faith, hope and love - or of psychological contraction and discomfort - can be strong indicators of which way you should go.

It is good to remember that doing God's will does not necessarily mean taking the most difficult, most self-sacrificing option. God's great love for you wants to see you becoming most truly who you can be; what you really love doing indicates where your talents lie and what you could do to play your unique part, to be a blessing - and fulfilled.

It's quite possible that coincidences will unexpectedly confirm (or warn against) what you are considering. When you have a specific question in mind, you tend to be more open - and pay more attention - to guidance, which can come in many unexpected ways: through a song, a passage or quote read in passing, a phrase overheard, or a person you bump into. What message do they have for you?

It's useful to talk about your ideas and feelings with the people closest to you whose wisdom you respect. This helps to keep you from kidding yourself and from doing something that is totally impractical, or not fair on the people in your life.

I believe it's true that the centre, the lighthouse (see previous article), the universe, or God sends us signals. It's up to us to receive and to heed them if we want what is for our highest good - to grow and develop in the direction of the "Kingdom of God".

What do you think? Your thoughts and reflections (in English or German) are invited for this section.

Editor

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FROM THE OFFICE

CONSTITUTION

At last year's Annual General Assembly the Regional Council proposed changes to the Temple Society Australia constitution and preamble. These changes were designed to better reflect the present working practices of the Society and to explain the T.S. in a way more accessible to today's generation.

The constitutional changes were accepted and endorsed by the members at the Assembly. The rewording of the preamble - providing a concise overview of our history, belief, aim and ideals - was not quite finalised at that time, and the members authorised the Regional Council, in consultation with the Elders, to finish the job, on the understanding that the overall intent would remain unchanged.

The Regional Council's task has now been completed and a copy of the full text of the new TSA constitution and preamble is included for the benefit of all members with this posted issue of the Templer Record.

Mark Herrmann
Business Manager

AUSTRALIAN-GERMAN TEMPLER EXCHANGE

Our two Australian candidates, Bernhard Hoefer and Michael Franz, are currently in Germany. We look forward to hearing about their experiences. Michael was able to join the Friedhofsgruppe, which worked on cleaning up our cemeteries in Israel, and is now with the TGD, living at Klingbeils.

We are also looking forward to the arrival of Wiltrud Tietz in early July. She will be hosted by the families of Uli and Inge Hoefer in Ferntree Gully and Helga and Jim Anderson in Black Rock.

Sven Wessner (male) aged approx. 24 would like to come here in January 1998 for four months. We are inviting offers from two or three host families to provide accommodation for and share in this cultural exchange with Sven. Whilst Sven does not have the background of an old Templer family, he has been one of the TGD's most active young Templers in Stuttgart organising a wealth of youth activities for many years. During his stay here he will, like other candidates, take part in extensive volunteer work in our Aged and Nursing Homes.

Irene Bouzo
for the Exchange Scheme Sub-committee

SOCIAL CARE

Dear Friends

Every year thousands of Australians face up to an unwelcome truth: their vision is seriously impaired. This fact comes home in various ways in their daily lives, such as difficulty in reading, writing, cooking a meal, recognising faces or crossing a road.

Anyone with a vision impairment that affects daily activities at home, in the work place or in their recreation, may contact the LOW VISION CLINIC (see below). Most patients are referred by their doctor. Patients are not charged fees for consultation or home visits, but there is a charge for any low vision aids prescribed.

At the Low Vision Clinic, help comes as a team effort, shaped to meet individual needs. Through a wide range of services and care, the Association for the Blind reduces the impact of blindness, disability and ageing for the individual.

I do recommend a visit to the Low Vision Clinic to everyone who has vision impairment. More information is available from your doctor, the Low Vision Clinic on 03 9822 7638.

The Templer Record is available in large print to all who have difficulty reading the normal size print.

Best wishes to our sick and infirm.

Helga Anderson

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MEMBERS AND FRIENDS

SILVER ANNIVERSARY

Congratulations to Heinz & Heidrun Edelmaier on their Silver Wedding anniversary on 9th June, 1997 and our very best wishes for their future together.

Congratulations and best wishes.

DANKESCHÖN

Wir möchten Allen, die zur Trauerfeier von Bebs (Walter) gekommen sind, herzlich danken. Auch für die vielen Karten und wunderschönen Blumen und besonders für die Spenden für's Altersheim vielen Dank.

Dieter Ruff danken wir besonders herzlich für die bewegende Trauerfeier, auch unsere australischen Freunde waren sehr beeindruckt.

"In our hearts forever"

Eller Imberger und Familie

BEREAVEMENT/TRAUERANZEIGE

Unsere liebe Mutter, Grandma und Schwiegermutter

Friedel Leech geb. Heselschwerdt

verw. Dyck

hat in den frühen Morgenstunden vom Dienstag, den 29. April 1997 Abschied von dieser Welt genommen. Mit ihr ging ein Leben zu Ende, das mit Sorge für die Familie ausgefüllt war, und wir werden ihrer immer in Liebe und Dankbarkeit gedenken.

Wir danken Herta Uhlherr herzlich für die Gestaltung der schönen Trauerfeier, Friede Steller für das feierliche Orgelspiel, Luise Ruff für das Arrangieren der Blumen und Familie Fritz Hoefer für die grosszügige Blumenspende.

Unser Dank gilt auch allen unseren Verwandten, Bekannten und Freunden für ihre Anteilnahme und die vielen Spenden fürs Tabulam.

Claus und Cherie Dyck mit Bryan, Stephen und Timothy;

Irene und Emad Bouzo mit Jevan und Tamara;

Ralph und Michelle Dyck mit Alexandra

MOTHERS' DAY SERVICE AT BORONIA

Mothers' Day has always been a day for togetherness, reflection, celebration, love and, hopefully, happiness and laughter. This year's Mothers' Day was no exception for me.

I would hazard a guess that others who attended the service in our Boronia Hall on a beautiful sunny morning felt no differently. The hall seemed to be bursting at its brick seams with Mums, husbands of Mums, children of Mums, Mums of Mums, fathers of Mums and a heap of goodwill.

The children of the Mums played a significant part in the service artfully woven together by Renate Beilharz. The Bible verse, read by Emma Beilharz, centred on the power of healing hands. To illustrate this Renate had organised the children to cut out paper hands bearing such wondrous messages as "My Mum helps me by taking me shopping" and "I help my Mum by making my bed". After the children left for further activities with Chrissi (Haar) in the back room, we reflected further on aspects of helping - the temptation to help too much and the willingness to receive help. This was wonderfully illustrated by Renate with her daughter's delightful one-legged doll, which Ingrid had made her for Mothers' Day - Renate said how hard it had been not to interfere with unasked for help and advice.

Special mention must be made of the Haar girls: Liesl, Chrissi and Moni. Moni and Liesl added an extra dimension to an already special service with their flute performances and Chrissi did a great job organising the kids to make posies in the back room. As a result, every lady received a lovingly crafted gift of a white chrysanthemum posy at the end of the service.

Thank you to Renate and her helpers for a thoughtful and uplifting service. It is comforting to be able to celebrate occasions such as these in the company of family and friends within our Templer community.

Christine Ruff

SCHUBERT'S "Fair Maid of the Mill"

Ach Bächlein, liebes Bächlein weißt du wie Liebe tut?

Some thirty people came together in the Bayswater Hall on Friday 16 to enjoy the presentation of Schubert's "Die Schöne Müllerin". In a pleasant environment, with a friendly flower arrangement, by candle light, with our new Music System, the full impact of the uninterrupted song cycle was felt by everyone.

The hour-and-a-quarter long performance by the tenor Ian Bostridge and the pianist Graham Johnson, was framed by the Poet's Prologue and Epilogue, and included the four poems of the cycle that Schubert did not set to music, spoken by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau. These additions to the cycle are often left out of standard performances because they are considered distracting and not essential to the development of the story. But they can also be a sort of safety fence - a structure that offers support when reason becomes swamped in waves of emotion. In their '...don't take it too seriously' style they help to relieve the almost unbearable tension that Schubert evokes with his musical treatment of the text, as he leads you along the edge of the unfathomable abyss of human feelings in jubilant love, hope, sorrow and despair:

Starting with the joyful Das Wandern, a symbolic expression of the freedom a person experiences venturing into the realm of unlimited possibilities; the gradual focus on details in the conscious Wohin? and a feeling of deeper guidance in Halt with the clatter of the mill, and the Thank You to the brook.

Daily toil, the Feierabend, awakening love in the young miller, his youthful impatience - the music draws us deeper and deeper into the awakening emotions of a young man's search for the meaning of love in life. A life full of imperfections, uncertainties and tears: The joy and pain in Mein, the haunting notes of the Laute with the foreboding green band, which introduces the ominous rival hunter in his green habit. The Dear Colour becomes the Sad Colour and Schubert's music hints of the tragic developments to follow. Trockene Blumen symbolizes the hope beyond the watery grave "...der Mai ist kommen, der Winter ist aus". The miller's heart is heavy as he speaks to the waters in the brook: "Ach Bächlein, liebes Bächlein aber weißt du wie Liebe tut?"

Inevitably, unrelenting fate leads us to the Brook's lullaby, the music almost unbearable in its stark simplicity. A sad echo of the Laute sound.

The music ended. The epilogue fell silent. Only the three candles remained, symbols of a guiding hope in the darkness. One for the brook, one for the miller and the fairest of them for the lovely Maid of the Mill.

We lingered a while over coffee and regained our composure. As we said goodnight we promised to meet again, for another such occasion, in the not too distant future.

Alfred Klink

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HOME REPORTS

Nachdem es die Fundraising Gruppe zwei Monate lang relativ ruhig hatte, kommt jetzt wieder viel auf uns zu. Über's Queen's Birthday Wochenende am 7. und 8. Juni arbeiten wir in der Küche der Malvern Town Hall, um für das leibliche Wohl der vielen Besucher der Puppen-Ausstellung zu sorgen - was uns immer ganz schön Geld einbringt. Damit alles bestens klappt, bitten wir die Gemeinde um Hilfe: wer kann zwei bis fünf Stunden helfen, am Samstag oder besonders am Sonntag? Was wir tun ist nicht schwer und man arbeitet in angenehmer Gesellschaft.

Auch suchen wir einige Leute, die Samstag früh Geschirr usw. von der Bayswater oder der Bentleigh Halle nach Malvern transportieren können. Sonntag Nachmittag, wenn zusammengepackt ist, muß alles natürlich wieder in die Hallen zurückbefördert werden. Man braucht etwa 90 Minuten dazu.

Dann wären wir noch dankbar für selbstgebackene Kastenkuchen oder slices, die wir an dem Wochenende zum Tee oder Kaffee verkaufen können. Susi Blackwell nimmt gern alle Angebote von Hilfe an. Sie sehen, wir brauchen vielerlei Talente!

SONNWENDFEIER - am 21. Juni in der Bayswater Halle. Abendessen gibt's ab 5 Uhr, ähnlich wie letztes Jahr; auch Glühwein kann man kaufen. Der Laternenzug soll pünktlich um 5.45 Uhr starten. Wer keine eigene Laterne hat, kann eine mieten. Später spielt dann die Blaskapelle auf. Bitte Kuchen mitbringen, der zum Kaffee/Tee serviert werden kann.

Im letzten TR schrieb Helga Anderson, daß wir Briefmarken und phone cards sammeln. Bitte geben Sie diese im Heim oder im Büro ab, oder schicken Sie sie an ein Komitee Mitglied.

Für die Fundraising Gruppe brauchen wir noch Mithelfer - wäre das etwas für Sie? Wir hören auch gern Vorschläge und Ideen for fundraising von Leuten, die nicht im Komitee mitarbeiten können. Bitte sich mit Susi oder Ingeborg in Verbindung setzen.

Unsere Oberin Barbara Watson, ist nun nach vielen Jahren Dienst in unserem Heim in den Ruhestand getreten. Wir danken ihr und wünschen ihr alles Gute. Bald wird ein neuer Care Manager angestellt.

Although the Fundraising Group has been reasonably quiet for the past two months, things are certainly hotting up for winter. Over the Queen's Birthday long weekend - 7 & 8 June - we are manning the kitchen at Malvern Town Hall. Why? Because we provide the catering for all visitors to the Doll's Fair there! To ensure this will be a roaring success we ask for help from the community. Can you spare anything from two to five hours on either day, especially Sunday? The work is definitely not hard, and the company is pleasant. We are also seeking a number of people to transport catering equipment from either Bayswater Hall or Bentleigh on Saturday morning (reasonably early!). Once we pack up on Sunday afternoon more helpers are needed to transport everything back. This would require approximately ninety minutes of your time. A third way you could help would be to donate some home-baked loaf cakes or slices for us to sell over the weekend. All offers of help will be gratefully received by Susi Blackwell. From this paragraph you can see that we cater for all talents when we ask for help!!

SONNWENDFEIER - keep the 21 June free so that you can all come along and enjoy Sonnwendat the Bayswater Hall. Dinner will be available from 5 p.m. onwards. The menu is the same as last year with meat and pasta salads, as well as Glühwein. The lantern parade will begin at 5.45 sharp. Lanterns are available for hire. Later in the evening the Blaskapelle will be playing for your entertainment. Please bring a plate of cake to share with coffee and tea.

Last month Helga Anderson wrote an article on saving used stamps and phone cards. Please send them along to any Committee or Fundraising Group member or drop them off at the Home or the Office.

A short reminder that there are vacancies on the Fundraising Group. Are you interested? Please contact Susi or Ingeborg. We will be happy to provide you with any information you may need. If you have any fundraising suggestions we would welcome hearing about them.

Ingeborg Imberger

FAREWELL AND GOOD LUCK

Due to personal reasons our hostel supervisor, Sister Barbara Watson, has resigned her position after 7 years of service to the Home.

All involved with the Home thank Barbara for her contribution to the care and well-being of our residents over this time and wish her well in the future.

ACCOMMODATION IN THE HOME

It is a big help to the Home if it is constantly kept informed of members wanting or needing to move into hostel accommodation in the near future. This goes a long way towards streamlining the whole process and enables each party, future resident and management, to better help the other in their planning.

In the same way, although vacancies occur much less often, please make us aware if you are seriously considering unit accommodation. Then, when an opening does arise, we are in a better position to respond promptly and efficiently.

Mark Herrmann

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NOTICES - BEKANNTMACHUNGEN

FORTHCOMING SERVICES

See report on Mothers' Day service in MEMBERS AND FRIENDS.

COUNTRY VICTORIA GET-TOGETHER

Just a reminder to everyone that they are more than welcome to join in a service that will be held on Sunday 15 June by Geoff McCallum at the home of Ilse and Helmut Beilharz in Broadford from 11 a.m.

Fur further details please see the May Templer Record..

Dot Ware

COURSE ON THE TEMPLE SOCIETY

Around a dozen people are meeting on Friday nights in the cosy Altersheim lounge for these talks; participants can ask questions and offer experiences. One couple drives an hour and a half to get there.

You are welcome to come and join in.

Dates: Friday May 30, June 13 and 20 at 7.45 p.m.

Editor

THANK YOU

The committee of the Bentleigh-Moorabbin Community wishes to thank the Frauenverein for the generous donation of $430 towards the upkeep of the piano. The piano has received some general repairs and servicing, ensuring its continued value to the community. Thank you again from the committee and the community.</