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The Way Forward Framework

A message from Bishop Paul Smith

It was the delegates of the LCANZ, gathered for the in-person sessions of the 2021-23 General Synod in Melbourne in February 2023, who asked for the work that is presented here as the Way Forward Framework.

The General Synod resolution asked:

That General Synod direct the LCANZ General Church Board and the College of Bishops to work through the theological, constitutional, and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination and establish a detailed framework through which this could be accomplished … and to submit the fruit of this work in the form of a proposal that should be discussed by the LCANZ General Pastors Conference for Convention of General Synod 2024.

Many people of the LCANZ have offered their gifts in service to our Lord in doing the work required to develop this Framework.

The material is released here to enable the people of the Church to work through the issues that need to be addressed before and after our Convention of General Synod in October.

This is the work of God’s people seeking to serve in the mission of God. While this includes human research and reasoning as we apply our Christian hearts and minds to the task, this work is undertaken in prayer. We ask the Lord to guide us and to give his Holy Spirit, that we would serve as God’s hands in this world.

Finally, this work is not just for ourselves but for the witness of the Church to the world.

Bishop Paul Smith
Easter 2024

Update:

The Way Forward Framework has been revised and the new Detailed Framework will be submitted to the Book of Reports. Find out more here.

Webinar

The latest Way Forward webinar took place on Tuesday, 14 May 2024, with more than 400 registered participants. A recording of this webinar is below.

Pastor Paul Smith, LCANZ Bishop

Tim Wiebusch, Member General Church Board

Stella Thredgold, Project Director Way Forward

Kim Baumeler, Member General Church Board

Questions and Answers

This preliminary set of questions and answers provides more information on key principles of the framework. Further questions and answers are being prepared in response to questions received.

How does the Way Forward Framework address the 2023 General Synod resolution?

The Framework provides an approach for the LCANZ to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination. The practice of ordination of both men and women is proposed to become the mainstream practice, and the practice of male-only ordination is proposed to be practised in the Conference. The Framework proposes an avenue throughout the LCANZ where the practice of ordination of both men and women can occur during the 2024-2027 synodical period. It achieves this by proposing constitutional changes for adoption during the Convention of General Synod 2024. The Book of Reports will contain the detailed framework that will address the full suite of theological, constitutional and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination.

How does the Framework maintain our teaching on altar and pulpit fellowship for church unity?

We believe that church unity is expressed through the shared altars and pulpits between the congregations of the LCANZ. The Framework was developed on the basis of continued altar and pulpit fellowship between the congregations and people of the LCANZ. Pastors from various congregations may preach and serve in other congregations of the LCANZ. Members from various congregations are welcome at the altars of other congregations of the LCANZ.

Is the Framework merely a compromise?

The Framework is not a matter of compromise but of finding a way forward for Lutheran Christians to continue to serve together as one church in New Zealand and Australia. The debate over the ordination of women and men in the LCANZ has continued for several decades without resolution. The previous General Synod proposals have taken an ‘all or nothing’ approach: either the whole of the LCANZ decides that congregations may call women as pastors, or the whole LCANZ decides to disallow congregations from calling women as pastors. This Framework is different. It acknowledges that there are significant proportions of the LCANZ who have different understandings of what the Scriptures say regarding ordination. General Synod in 2023 requested General Church Board and College of Bishops to propose a way to resolve the issue by taking a different approach to any taken previously.

Can the Churchwide bishop be one who only supports male-only ordination?

How will we ensure pastoral care of female candidates and female pastors during the transition and beyond?

Once/if the proposed changes are adopted, female candidates and pastors will have access to our existing support structures and people, e.g. through ALC and the College of Bishops, who currently guide candidates toward ordination and care for LCANZ pastors.

We are also working to increase our pastoral care capacity throughout members of the LCANZ, and we expect that female candidates and female pastors may be among those LCANZ members looking for extra support and care.

As with any significant change in church culture, we acknowledge that this transition may need ongoing monitoring, with measures in place to ensure safety and to pastorally care for people as issues arise, specifically with regard to how women are perceived, accepted and encouraged/supported/empowered in community where the role of women is changing.

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Resolution passed by 2021–2023 General Synod

RESOLVED: That General Synod direct the LCANZ General Church Board and the College of Bishops to:

a) Work through the theological, constitutional, and governance requirements to operate as one church with two different practices of ordination and establish a detailed framework through which this could be accomplished, such as one or more existing LCANZ Districts becoming Districts that teach and practice the ordination of both women and men to the office of the public ministry or by establishing a non-geographical LCANZ ‘District’ that does so.

b) Submit the fruit of this work in the form of a proposal that should be discussed by the LCANZ General Pastors Conference for Convention of General Synod 2024.

c) It is the expectation of this General Convention of Synod that both women and men will be ordained in a District of the LCANZ during the 2024-2027 synodical period.