Pievienots
On Sunday, 10th of April, the Melbourne Latvian Evangelical Lutheran congregation officially celebrated the 65th anniversary of their foundation, with a church service led by Dean Jānis Priedkalns and pastor Dainis Markovskis. The service was further enhanced by the participation of mixed choir ‘Daina’ and men’s choir ‘Veseris’, with their excellent renditions of four beautiful songs. At the conclusion of the service, whilst the congregation were still in church, there followed speeches and congratulations from other community organisations and individual well-wishers. Following these formalities, the congregation and well-wishers gathered downstairs in the church hall to partake of a lavish traditional smorgasbord lunch that had been meticulously prepared by the ladies’ auxiliary. There also followed a number of informal speeches offered by members of the congregation, who reminisced about various aspects of the past 65 years of church life, including the initial formation of the congregation, the physical building of the church, christenings and confirmations. The childrens’ camp “Sprīdīši” was referred to by several of the congregation, as having played an important part in the Latvian upbringing and solidarity of a generation of young Latvians and their parents. On reflection of the many memories offered, one thing becomes clear, and that is that the Latvian church congregations have been a cornerstone of the development of our Latvian society such a long way from Latvia. They originally provided a venue for our displaced Latvians to gather, and from which developed many of the important social organisations that continue to enable our Latvian culture and solidarity, and are still important today.
Melburnas latviešu Evaņģēliski luteriskā draudze svētdien, 10. aprīlī atzīmēja savus 65 pastāvēšanas gadus. Dievkalpojumā kalpoja prāvests Jānis Priedkalns un mācītājs Dainis Markovskis. Jauktais koris ‘Daina’ un vīru koris ‘Veseris’ papildināja dievkalpojumu ar četrām, skaistām dziesmām. Pēc dievkalpojuma, turpat baznīcā sekoja svētku uzrunas un apsveikumi. Oficiālajai daļai noslēdzoties visi devās uz baznīcas zāli, kur dāmu kopa, Puķes kundzes vadībā bija sagatavojusi izcilu svētku mielastu – auksto galdu. Dienas gaitā vairāki draudzes locekļi dalījās savās atmiņās par baznīcas pirmsākumiem, ēkas celšanu, bērnu kristībām un iesvētībām. Vairākkārt tika pieminēta baznīcas bērnu nometnes “Sprīdīši” nozīme latviskajā audzināšanā un kopības izjūtā. Atskatoties un ieklausoties atmiņās viena lieta ir ļoti skaidra – latviešu baznīca bija latviešu sabiedrības stūrakmens, vieta, patvērums un turpinājums sabiedrības vienotībai un kopības sajūtai.
