synod

The 20th General Synod elected Pastor Paul Smith as the LCANZ’s next bishop and Pastor Neville Otto as the assistant bishop. Delegates also elected the General Church Board to serve the LCANZ for the 2021-24 synodical term.

Hobart barrister Kim Baumeler has been elected to serve on the LCANZ’s General Church Board (GCB) by the LCANZ’s General Synod.

The General Synod of the LCANZ has elected Pastor Neville Otto, senior pastor at St Paul Box Hill in suburban Melbourne and former Secretary of the Church, as assistant bishop of the LCANZ.

LCANZ bishop-elect Pastor Paul Smith says he is ‘humbled’ by his election by General Synod and has asked for the prayers of church members as he prepares to take up the role next year.

In a first for the LCANZ, the church’s next Convention of General Synod will be held in two parts – an online meeting in October 2021 and an in-person meeting in 2022.

The LCANZ’s General Synod will be able to meet electronically should this be necessary in future, following the approval of changes to the church’s bylaws. The changes to the relevant bylaws were approved earlier this month by a postal ballot of delegates from the 2018 Convention of General Syno