Home > Opinion > Journey asks Scott Neale and Rev Lu Senituli: What does Easter mean to you?

Journey asks Scott Neale and Rev Lu Senituli: What does Easter mean to you?


Lu: It means great hope and this hope is a gift from God in Jesus Christ.

It’s a time of reckoning as we come face to face with the mystery of God’s unwavering commitment of love to all.

I’ll be celebrating Easter by going to church in the morning to worship, followed by lunch with the extended family.

Scotty: A great time for the families to get together and also time to sit around the BBQ and catch up.

I’ll be going to church and having a BBQ with families and friends.

Does the phrase “Easter is love” resinate with you?

Lu: Yeah, absolutely. It’s God’s love for the world carved out in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Scotty: Sweet, yeah, it’s about love but for many people, like me, it’s more about the celebration of family and getting together.

What is the benefit for the Uniting Church of embracing people from different cultural backgrounds?

Lu: Great benefits beyond our comprehension.

It’s God’s gift with different skins.

The cultures make up the rich tapestry of God’s family united in Christ.

Scotty: Yeah, it’s great in the way all different people can share life together without killing each other over religion and politics or ideals.

Lu, how does your Tongan-Australian heritage impact your ministry?

Lu: I see myself as first and foremost a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the world, serving in a congregation, the wider community and society at large.

My identity first and foremost is ‘in Christ’ and secondly I’m Tongan-Australian.

My Tongan values most certainly inform the way I carry out my ministry and this could be clearly seen in the great value I place on family, community and respect.

What can people learn from getting to know someone who is different from them?

Lu: In short, a great deal.

One of the most powerful gifts that people who are different can offer me is stories from their faith journeys.

It is often the case that other cultures offer us the great gift of critiquing our own faith journey.

They offer us a gracious window through which we can look at the way in which we live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it sits with theirs and the handed down tradition of the Christian faith.