Many of our members come from traditional Lutheran backgrounds who moved to Canberra from many regions in Australia and the world to live, work and study.
"Presence" video series: what Lutherans believe
'Presence' is a new 9-part video series introducing what Lutherans believe. The clip below provides an introduction/ overview to the series, so start with that one. The films are intended to be conversation starters. If you would like to explore these themes or you have any questions about what Lutherans believe, please contact us at Holy Cross.
Part 1: Big questions
Part 2: Broken
Part 3: God with us
Part 4: Who is Jesus?
Part 5: Can I start again?
Part 6: But why?
About Us
Holy Cross Lutheran Church Belconnen is a multicultural congregation of the Lutheran Church of Australia. We provide a place of worship, fellowship and spiritual growth for Christians who live, work and study in the suburbs within Belconnen and Gungahlin in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
Holy Cross Lutheran Church began when Lutheran families living in Belconnen came together to worship at the Weetangera Primary School in early 1977. The current building became the home of the congregation in April 1985.
Over the years we have gained new neighbours including the University of Canberra, Lake Ginninderra Secondary College, Kangara Waters Lifestyle Community, a McDonald's and the Wayfarer apartment building. New neighbours are moving into the new Republic and Nightfall apartment complexes.
The congregation has evolved over the 40 years of its life. We believe we are now on the cusp of exciting challenges and opportunities with the development of high-rise residential buildings (Altitude, the Link, Wayfarer, Republic and Nightfall) in the Belconnen Town Centre.
We have a growing group of international and Australian students from the University of Canberra who worship with us.
We currently support a number of outreach/mission activities including a Days for Girls chapter in Papua New Guinea and Christian Education in Schools.
Many of our members come from traditional Lutheran backgrounds who moved to Canberra from many regions in Australia and the world to live, work and study. Our membership has expanded to those from quite different cultural and faith backgrounds. Among our current worshippers, you will find people from Papua New Guinea, West Papua, a number of African and Asian countries and a few from Germany.
Our building
Our building was designed as a multi-use facility and thus it is not equipped with traditional church pews and stained glass windows – although for many years we did have a pipe organ. This flexibility allows us to arrange the furniture to suit different styles of worship and to accommodate worship activities such as drama.
We have installed overhead screens and projection equipment and therefore no longer use printed service orders and hymnals, as we found that this method facilitates participation in the service.
Church members usually meet for morning tea after the service on Sunday in the enclosed courtyard.
Our Worship
Worship Services are held each Sunday morning at 10.00 am. Services are live streamed on our Youtube channel. For most services an edited video is uploaded to the channel for later viewing. This enables members and visitors who have been unable to attend on Sunday morning to enjoy our worship. This has been particularly appreciated during the last couple of years of the COVID pandemic when lockdowns have prevented services being conducted as usual.
Child Safety
The Child Safety Plan is a tool to help our congregation improve its child safety capacities and demonstrate its commitment to keeping children safe. It outlines strategies that we have agreed to implement in order to fulfil the requirements of the LCA’s Child Safety Standards for Congregations.
The preparation of a Child Safety Plan is a leadership obligation, consistent with Standard 1 of the LCA Child Safety Standards: that child safety is 'embedded in the culture, leadership and governance' of the congregation. Implementation of the Child Safety Plan is an annual LCA policy requirement for all congregations.
The Holy Cross Child Safety Plan may be accessed here.
