Some Queensland Lutherans would know at least a little about new LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith, who served as their district bishop between 2015 and 2021. But many in our church may not have heard the incredible and inspiring story behind the faith journey of our sixth churchwide leader.
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Because we bear your name February 2022
Because we bear your name. I share these words with you, as a prayer for our journey together as people of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand. For the coming years of my service as bishop, I would like to use these words as the title for my column in The Lutheran.
War and peace
Professor Hermann Sasse came to Australia in 1949 with the post-war migrant wave. Notwithstanding his call to lecture in Church History at Immanuel Seminary, he was still to some extent a refugee—with push factors perhaps stronger than the pull factor. Born in July 1895, Hermann Sasse began theological studies at the University of Berlin in… Read more
We want to grow!
Is your congregation on autopilot? Maybe it is time to pause and reflect on why your congregation does what it does. The fundamentals of what we do don’t change. It is still all about God giving us his love and grace through his Son Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit at work through… Read more
Realising a mission possible
It just jumped out and hit me. I was attending a conference for pastors and church workers in Melbourne in May 2016. LCA Church Planting Mentor and Mission Facilitator Dean Eaton was presenting. I heard him describe the role of lay evangelist and I thought, ‘We have just the person and certainly the opportunity’. I… Read more
National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
This email follows on from my earlier message issued on 27th September 2018 Next Monday, 22 October 2018, Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister of Australia, will rise in the National Parliament in Canberra to deliver a National Apology to people who as children were sexually abused in religious and non-religious institutions. Hundreds of victims of… Read more