Ordination: some questions

 I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In October 2024, our church gathered for our Regular Convention of General Synod and we discussed the matter of ordination. Our delegates resolved to remove the teaching in our church that prohibits the ordination of women (read more).

Before the convention, I wrote a number of short papers for delegates and for the people of the church about the matters before us at the convention. Since the convention, I suggested to our College of Bishops that it would help some people in our church if I presented those brief papers in the form of videos, so that people didn't have to read but could watch or listen to the material.

In some conversations around the matter of ordination, sometimes people have been too quick to judge their sisters and brothers as unfaithful. Some people have published inaccurate information. Some people have sought to make other Christians afraid. Some people have spoken very poorly of the work of the church and of its faithful leaders.

I commend this material to our gracious God, trusting that this work will help deepen the knowledge and study of the Scriptures and of the Lutheran Confessions amongst us.

Pastor Paul Smith
Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand