.Frank RASENBERGER was born in Brisbane, Queensland and baptised at .St .John's .lutheran Church in .Corinda (Brisbane). He also grew up in .Brisbane, the youngest son of German immigrant parents. He has two married brothers and two nieces. From his parents (.Kurt & .Gundula), he learnt a respect for others and different cultures. His father has been working as a Photogrammatrist for .Qasco, but is now retired, and his mother was originally a Cartographer, who has just retired from work as a Potter. Both are involved in selling ,Neways products. .Frank and his brothers attended .Watson .Road State School and then Sunnybank State High School. His eldest brother also sells computers for . His eldest brother also sells computers for Instant IT. His second eldest brother teaches at .Warrigal .Road .State .School.
He was raised traditionally as a .lutheran, and enthusiastically confirmed his faith in 1981, under .Pastor .Eric .Simpfendorfer, after taking the opportunity to ask his pastor some challenging questions about the Christian faith. But after he left high school he fell away from the Church. .Frank and his family attended the Bethlehem .lutheran Church, .Moorooka (.Brisbane), .Queensland, until its closure and then .Bethlehem .lutheran .Church, .Coopers .Plains (.Brisbane).
After much searching and studying of different religions, he came back to Christ and actively joined his local .lutheran Church and youth group for about a year. He then became in involved in an interdenominational, international group called ".Youth .With .A .Mission", after some encouragement from Jan .Wright (originally a member of the same church he attended), a friend & motherly mentor. He attended a ".Discipleship .Training .School" at .Goulburn in .NSW and then joined the staff in Melbourne in it's early days. He also became involved In .Overseas .Christian .Fellowship, during his ensuing student years in .Adelaide, which he found beneficial.
He eventually felt the need to learn more about his 'roots' and went on to study at .luther .Seminary, Adelaide. As he progressed through the course he became more open to the possibility of being a pastor. He highly valued his vicarage year in .Ringwood (.Melbourne) under .Pastor .Kevin .Schmidt, during 1992, which was also our first year of marriage. He holds a .Bachelor .of .Theology and .Graduate .Diploma .in .Ministry. The pastor who confirmed him, also participated in his ordination service on 30th January, 1994, at .New .Life .lutheran .Church, .West .Logan (.Brisbane), where his parents were involved at the time. Eric was a great encourager and inspiration to .Frank. .Pastor .Eric Simpfendorfer died of .Motor .Neurone .Disease on 8th May, 1997.
He is presently a .lutheran pastor, and begun ministry in the .Crow’s ..Nest .lutheran Parish, after he was installed 7th July, 2000. This parish is currently made up of two congregations - .Crow’s ..Nest and .Haden, which are located in the ".Darling .Downs" in Queensland. The .Crow’s .Nest .Advertiser featured an article on the installation 11th July. A couple weeks before this the town of .Crow’s .Nest had a re-enactment of their worm races, which are held annually in mid-October, in which we participated, with great mirth! Previous to this, .Frank was pastor to .Cambrai .lutheran Parish (made up of .Cambrai, .Black .Hill, .Sedan & .Stonefield) in the ".Mid-.Murraylands" in .South .Australia (1994 to 2000). He has been involved in the community, playing tennis for .Cambrai, and was on the .Cambrai .Area .School .Council.
*In 1997 .Frank completed training as a volunteer radio presenter for the new community radio station - Triple Bfm 89.1 "The Station at the Station" - in .Tanunda, in the .Barossa Valley . He was presenting a mix of Christian and secular "easy-listening", "rock" and "alternative" music , called ".Message .in .Music". His was on 8-10 p.m. on Sundays. The Christian music suppliers who were assisting him by making CD's available, are "The .Open .Book", ".Word .Bookstore", ".Koorong", ".CMP" (listed above) and ".Christian .Marketing .Company .Australasia".
(*He is currently involved in trying to get a community radio station set up
in Crow's Nest, and has compiled a music resources website Contemporary
Music Resources from Frank Rasenberger.)
.Frank also appreciates "classical" music, but has a particular interest in "Hard Music", especially of the Christian variety and delights in participating in the occasional Christian bookshop "crawl". He enjoys reading in general and is a "connoisseur" of fine teas and coffees. .squash and tennis are also on his agenda - particularly .squash.
.Frank and I met each other in Adelaide .South .Australia, where we were both studying in 1989 and later became engaged in May 1991, and were married in 1991, at St Peter's .lutheran Church, .Frankston. We have grown through the ups and downs of married life and appreciate the part God shares in our love and commitment to one another. In May 1998 we attended a ".Anglican .Marriage .Encounter" weekend in Ballarat, and in July 1998 we attended a .lutheran ".Marriage .Merger" retreat. Both of these times away gave us the opportunity to re-focus our attention on our relationship, within a Christian context and without the distractions of every-day life.
We both played in the .Cambrai parish band. I was playing the keyboard, and occasionally the mandolin and oboe (very basically). .Frank played the guitar. He also plays the recorder (soprano and tenor).
At present we have a pet dog and cat, (Anne & .Frank's Picture Page). We like going to movies, cafes/restaurants, showing relatives and friends the tourist sites in our area and visiting our relatives & friends.
In 1993 we flew over to Germany to see .Frank's relatives, and in 1995 we journeyed to Canada to see mine. As my family lives interstate - .Victoria - we don't get to see them very often, but we try to stay in touch via the phone & .Australia .Post. We also send .Frank's brother, Bernie, an occasional Email at his work. Both my parents and my sister now have email, so please contact me if you'd like to email them.
We're now discovering that some of our overseas & inter-state relatives and friends have access to Email (and fax machines), so the world is getting 'smaller' with technology!
Email: axeliz@australis.aunz.com
