Lutheran Church of Australia
Encyclopedia
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, it also has a presence in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It has 320 parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, 540 congregations, 70,000 baptized members in Australia, 1,130 baptized members in New Zealand, 52,463 communicant members and 450 active pastors. Its background is similar to that of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 2.3 million members, it is both the eighth largest Protestant denomination and the second-largest Lutheran body in the U.S. after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Synod...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The current President of the LCA is the Reverend Doctor Mike Semmler.
History
The first Lutherans to come to Australia in any significant number, were the immigrants from PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, who arrived in 1838 with Pastor August Kavel
August Kavel
August Ludwig Christian Kavel . Pastor Kavel was a founder of Lutheranism in Australia.-Training and Early Ministry:Kavel was born in Berlin, Germany 1798...
. This period in Prussia was marked by a persecution of “Old Lutherans
Old Lutherans
Old Lutherans refers to those German Lutherans who refused to join the Prussian Union in the 1830s and 1840s.Attempted suppression of the Old Lutherans led many to immigrate to Australia and the United States, resulting in the creation of significant Lutheran denominations in those countries.The...
” who refused to join the Prussian Union
Prussian Union (Evangelical Christian Church)
The Prussian Union was the merger of the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church in Prussia, by a series of decrees – among them the Unionsurkunde – by King Frederick William III...
, under King Frederick Wilhelm.
In 1841, a second wave of Prussian immigrants started, with the arrival of Pastor Gotthard Fritzsche
Gotthard Fritzsche
Gotthard Daniel Fritzsche[p] was one of the first founding pastors of Lutheranism to emigrate to Australia. He was born in Liebenwerda, Germany, and migrated to Australia in 1841. From 1842-1863, he was pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church...
. He settled with the migrants in his group, in Lobethal, and Bethany. The Lutheran church in this period, is referred to as the Kavel-Fritzsche Synod.
A split occurred in 1846, within the South Australian Lutheran community, and two separate synods were established. The followers of Kavel founded the Langmeil-Light Pass Synod, and those of Fritzsche the Bethany-Lobethal Synod.
These two groups came eventually to be named the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia, which derived from the Bethany-Lobethal Synod, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia which was of the Langmeil-Light Pass Synod, and a number of other synods that developed. These two denominations joined to form the Lutheran Church of Australia in 1966.
A significant influx occurred post World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and migration also brought a number of Lutherans from other European countries.
The official hymn book of the Lutheran Church of Australia is the Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement
Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement
The 'Lutheran Hymnal with Supplement' is the second official hymnal of the Lutheran Church of Australia, first published in its present form in 1989.- Precursor :...
.
The Cross
Southern Cross
The Red Flames
The Circle
Current status and issues
The LCA comprises congregations across AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Pastors may be called to serve from and to any of these places.
The LCA teaches strongly the authority of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as the primary source of revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
and instruction for Christians. This Lutheran doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
is known as sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
. Though revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
through experience is of importance, it does not prevail over sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
.
Current discussions before the Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
of the denomination in Australia and New Zealand are about the ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
as pastors. At present women can serve as lay reader
Lay Reader
A lay reader is a layperson authorized by a bishop of the Anglican Church to read some parts of a service of worship. They are members of the congregation called to preach or lead services, but not called to full-time ministry.Anglican lay readers are licensed by the bishop to a particular parish...
s, servants providing Holy Communion, but not, except in rare cases, as pastors. The discussion about the ordination of women touches on the deeper issue of the role of the pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
with the growing desire amongst laypeople
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
to perform roles traditionally performed by the pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
.
The LCA is experiencing declining membership across Australia with pressure to modernise whilst speaking prophetically.
Education
The Australian Lutheran CollegeAustralian Lutheran College
Australian Lutheran College is a higher education institution serving the Lutheran Church of Australia. It is located in North Adelaide, South Australia on the corner of Ward and Jeffcott streets...
offers theological and teacher education. There are around thirty schools in each of South Australia and Queensland and about fifteen in Victoria, with much smaller numbers of schools in all of the other States and Territories of Australia.
Affiliations
- member of the National Council of Churches in AustraliaNational Council of Churches in AustraliaThe National Council of Churches in Australia is an ecumenical organisation bringing together a number of Australia's Christian Churches in dialogue and practical cooperation.It works in collaboration with state ecumenical councils around Australia...
- The LCA relates to world Lutheranism on a case by case basis
- There is altar and pulpit fellowship with the two churches in Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New GuineaEvangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New GuineaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea is a Protestant church denomination located in Papua New Guinea that professes the Lutheran branch of the Christian faith...
- Gutnius Lutheran ChurchGutnius Lutheran ChurchThe Gutnius Lutheran Church, formerly the Wabag Lutheran Church, is a Lutheran body existing in Papua New Guinea. It was established by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in 1948 shortly after the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea permitted missionary activity to...
- Papua New Guinea
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
- Associate member of the
- Lutheran World FederationLutheran World FederationThe Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran churches headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the...
- International Lutheran CouncilInternational Lutheran CouncilThe International Lutheran Council is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran denominations. It is to be distinguished from the larger Lutheran World Federation, which is an association of the more theologically moderate to liberal Lutheran churches, all of which are in full communion with...
- Lutheran World Federation
External links
- Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA)
- Lutheran Church of New Zealand (LCNZ)
- Australian Lutheran College, North AdelaideNorth AdelaideNorth Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands.-History:...
, South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland... - Lutheran Community Care Queensland
- Openbook Publishers
Further reading
- McIvor, Roy (2010). Cockatoo: My Life in Cape York. Stories and Art. Roy McIvor. Magabala Books. Broome, Western Australia. ISBN 978-1-921248-22-1.