Oct2021
Synod elects new church leaders
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.
Oct2021
LCANZ bishop-elect ‘humbled’ by call to serve as church leader
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.
Oct2021
Blessed by working together
by Bishop John Henderson
God willing, when this edition of The Lutheran is published, the 2021 online sessions of the LCANZ 20th Convention of General Synod will have successfully concluded.
Sep2021
Queensland welcomes new bishop
Pastor Mark Vainikka has been installed as the new bishop for the LCANZ’s Queensland District. Watched via livestream by family members, including his parents, who were in lockdown in Victoria.
Sep2021
Walking together in faith
by Bishop John Henderson
It’s nearly time for our church to gather as a synod once again, as we do every three years. The synod includes all our congregations and parishes across Australia and New Zealand, and representatives from various ministries, such as Lutheran schools.
Aug2021
The church’s mission is to share God’s love
by Bishop John Henderson
When speaking to the recent online General Pastors Conference, I described the church as the ‘beachhead’ of heaven on earth. If we pay close attention, we will hear the distant surf crashing on its beaches and see the glow of the rising sun on the far horizon heralding the new era of justice, peace.
Jul2021
Honour Christ, praise God and respond to evil with good
by Bishop John Henderson
The first letter of Peter in the New Testament is addressed to Christians scattered across Asia Minor in the first century after Christ. It is a practical manual on how to survive persecution. We live very different lives to believers back then, but we, too, could soon face more active opposition.
Jun2021
New bishop for LCA’s Queensland District
Pastor Mark Vainikka will be the next LCA Queensland District bishop. He was elected unopposed during the District Convention of Synod at Eight Mile Plains in Brisbane’s south last weekend (4–6 June).
May2021
LCANZ Bishop announces retirement
LCANZ Bishop John Henderson will not stand for re-election at this year’s Convention of General Synod in September–October. First elected in April 2013, he will retire after serving three synodical terms in the role.
Jul2020
Malaysian Lutheran bishop consecrated
Rev Steven Lawrence was consecrated as the fifth Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia (ELCM), a partner church of the LCA/NZ, on 4 July. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the service of consecration was re-designed, as the church sought to meet the new requirement of local authorities.
