This is a basic home page but it's a free service offered by .Angelfire. Our ISP is .Australis. This home page was designed by Anne Rasenberger...
See .Crow’s .Nest .lutheran Parish
See some brief information on our Johann Gottlieb Thiele family
See some brief information on our Cornelius Wiebe family
See The Colgan Family Tree by Randall Colgan
See ..Frank & Anne's Picture Page
See .Australian Animals/Mammals Page
I was born in Mitcham, (Melbourne) and baptised at .St Paul's .lutheran Church, .Box .Hill, (Melbourne). (My maiden surname is THIELE.) I am the eldest in my family and have one married brother, and a sister. My parents were committed to moulding us in a loving and caring way, introducing us to the Christian life, involvement in the local community, and it's from them that I have gained an appreciation for the Arts, Education and Theology. I spent my childhood on the .Mornington .Peninsula (.South of Melbourne), after moving from Doncaster (Melbourne) at the age of three. As a family, we attended the small .St Peter's .Lutheran church in .Frankston, .Victoria, and later attended .Lutheran services at .Rosebud (now .Bethany .Lutheran congregation, held at .Padua .College school chapel). In 1980, I confirmed my baptismal vows at .St Peter's .Lutheran Church, .Frankston.
Mum, (Reta) who is Canadian (born in Amiens, .Saskatewan and later raised in .Niagara .Falls, .Ontario), is a retired nurse who also worked as a missionary in .Papua .New .Guinea (1957-62), before holidaying in .Australia and meeting Dad (Phil), who is an .Australian and was an apple orchardist at the time and for many years to follow. Dad is now doing some farm contract work with my brother, as well as working with sheep on the family property. In his early twenties (as a 'mature-age' student), he undertook just over a year of seminary studies (.luther .Seminary), when Dad was contemplating becoming a pastor. For many years Mum worked at a local medical centre as a nurse. Both Mum and Dad are currently involved in selling produce (jams, jellies, chutneys, lemon butter...) at local markets. My sister currently works as a receptionist at a medical centre in .Frankston. My brother, sister (Jonathan & Pauline) and I attended .Red .Hill .Consolidated .School (state primary school) and Padua College (.Catholic secondary school). There weren't many .lutherans in our area, and little did my Catholic friends or we know at the time, that it's the biggest Protestant church in the world.
The beauty of going to a Catholic school, however, was that I learnt to appreciate Christians from other denominations. I couldn't afford to be 'insular' in this regard, having also had an .Australian Grandmother who was Anglican, and an American Grandmother who occasionally attended the .AOG church. My .Australian Grandfather was .Lutheran and my Canadian Grandfather didn't discuss his spiritual beliefs openly, but was originally a member of the .AOG church. My mother is Canadian, so I've also got leanings towards that country, and actually lived there for nine months when I was young and impressionable. Legally I am unable to take out Canadian citizenship, but genetically I am as much an .Australian as a Canadian!
.Frank's brother and sister-in-law - .Rolf and .Louise - (in .Brisbane) had a baby boy on Thursday 17 May 2001 - .Callum .Paul Rasenberger.
On 23rd November, 2000 we became an aunty and uncle again! This is my brother and sister-in-law's second child and daughter. In February 1999 they became parents to their first child. We thank God for these little miracles of life, who have brought much joy into our extended family.
I'm a qualified primary school teacher, and parish worker, and I've undertaken some short courses in computing since 1995 and sat for my 7th Grade piano exam in 1996. I have worked both as a volunteer and paid staff member in all of these capacities, since February, 1994, in some form or other (TRT, SSO, HPI, RI, LAP/LID) at the local ..Cambrai .Area .School On 25 June 1998 I undertook a ".Basic .Casualty .Care .For .School" course through .St. .John .Ambulance .Australia, and on 9 September 1996 I completed a ".One .Day .Mandated .Notifier .Training .Program", through (what was then) .Family .and .Community .Services, in Adelaide.
I have been involved in our local .Lutheran church activities and community activities, eg. ".Cambrai .Agricultural .Museum .Inc.", .Black .Hill branch of ".Australian .Red .Cross", ".Country .Fire .Authority" (.CFS), ".Cambrai .Hotel .Social .Club". We also joined the ".Australia-.Canada .Association" in 1998. I've also attended some of the craft days for the wives of pastors in the .Barossa area, as well as meeting with a few of the members of the .Barossa .Chamber .Group to 'oil' my skills on the oboe. In 1999 I joined .Weight .Watchers, and it's changed our views somewhat on 'good' diet and eating properly, with just a slight adjustment to our existing diet - and it's also helped me gain more control over my weight. They also have some really tasty recipes which we've tried out. On 6th January, 2000 I even became a ".life .member" after reaching my ".goal .weight" six weeks earlier and completing a ".maintenance .course"!
Some of my hobbies/interests include music, reading, information technology, folk art, ceramics and photography. These are purely for pleasure, although I also have an interest in books on human relations or counselling from a Christian point of view. I hold a .Diploma .of .Teaching (obtained while living in .Ballarat), a .Bachelor .of. Education and .Graduate .Diploma .of .Theology .in .Education (obtained while living in Adelaide). I completed the .lutheran teacher's accreditation in 1989 (now an accredited grad dip since 1993) and the .parish .worker's course in 1993, through .LTC (.luther Seminary - courses) in .Adelaide, and undertook all the counselling subjects available at the time.
I have also been developing my keyboard skills in the last few years (in relation to both computing and music), as mentioned above. I appreciate "classical" music, but usually listen to middle-of-the-road Christian and some secular "contemporary" music. I've also just joined the .Inter-.church .community .choir in .Crow’s .Nest. During the couple years I've been looking for work in a library (either in a school or public library), and since moving to .Crow’s .Nest I've also been exploring the possibility of tutoring primary school students in English, teaching piano and doing some word processing work. In October 1999 I accepted an offer to undertake a ".Master .of .Education (.Teacher .Librarianship)", from .Charles. Sturt .University (.NSW) via distance education. The course began February 2000, and I have completed one subject. However, for this moment in time I have decided not to pursue my studies in this field.
