implementation-ordination

Women discerning a call to pastoral ministry, preparing for ordination or serving as pastors are invited to gather this September for a time of encouragement, worship and shared fellowship. Registrations are now open for the 2026 Gathering of Women in Pastoral Ministry.

A new Advocacy for Women in Pastoral Ministry team has been established in the LCANZ, continuing the church’s work following the 2024 Convention of General Synod resolution. The move marks a transition from a single advocate role to a collaborative, team-based approach.

As part of the implementation program of the ordination proposals from the 2024 Convention of General Synod, Dr Pauline Simonsen has been appointed as the LCANZ’s Advocate for Women in Pastoral Ministry.

The changes in Australian Lutheran College’s learning model and the widening of ordination pathways are making studying to become a pastor more accessible and appealing, say members of the current student cohort.

by Merryn Ruwoldt

The Australian Lutheran College community has plenty of reasons to be excited in Semester 1 this year – 18 of them in fact! That’s the number of current students seeking to enter ordained ministry in the LCANZ.

The LCANZ has joyfully welcomed two new pastors: Mark Tung, ordained in Auckland on 6 April, New Zealand, to serve the Mandarin-speaking Botany Lutheran Church, and Maria Rudolph, the church’s first female pastor, ordained in Adelaide on 13 April. She will serve at St John’s Lutheran Church Perth.