Advocating for the ordination of women and gender equity in the LCANZ

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First ordinations of women into public ministry in the LCANZ

The LCANZ has now announced the ordinations of the first three women!

Maria Rudolph
will be ordained at Concordia College Chapel, Highgate, SA
on Sunday 13 April at 2pm SA time.
Maria will be assigned to serve St John's congregation in Perth, WA.

Sue Westhorp
will be ordained at Luther College, Croydon, Victoria
on Sunday 27 April at 2pm Vic time.
Sue will be assigned to serve St Paul's congregation in Box Hill, Vic.

Tanya Wittwer
will be ordained at St Stephen's Lutheran Church, Adelaide, SA
on Saturday 10 May at 11am SA time.
Tanya will be assigned to serve at St Stephen's congregation in Adelaide, SA.

Please keep Maria, Sue, Tanya and their families in your prayers as they prepare for their ordinations.

Many have been waiting a long time to see such an event and we give thanks to God for calling each of these women and for the work that has been undertaken since the General Synod in October 2024 to enable these ordinations to take place.

Livestreaming Link
If an ordination service will be livestreamed, links will be available on the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/calls-employment-volunteering/ under ‘Upcoming Ordinations’. Please check this website regularly for updates.

Outcome of General Synod 2024

For many decades the matter of women's ordination has been discussed and voted on at General Synod.

To enable this change to occur, the vote required a minimum of 2/3 of registered delegates to vote for the proposal. This threshold had not been achieved in any General Synods to date.

On Saturday 5 October 2024

in a vote taken at General Synod 2024 at Concordia College in Adelaide, SA ,

71.35% of the delegates voted in favour

of the ordination of women in the LCANZ.

This outcome was achieved by adoption of the Way Forward Framework proposal which was amended on advice from the General Pastors Conference to remove Theses of Agreement VI:11.

To read the official LCANZ announcement click HERE

We praise God for this outcome that many of our members have longed for and worked hard to achieve.

As we navigate through this time of change, we are mindful of the pastoral care that is needed for all congregations, pastors, members and leaders of our church.

Please prayerfully support those around you in your communities, and pray for unifying love in Christ.

We seek to honour and support

the contributions of women

to the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To do this, we are working to bring about

gender-inclusive doctrine and practice

at all levels of the LCANZ

including the ordination of women

who are called by the Holy Spirit to serve in this way

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