In Australia, many different Synods were established after settlement, as different missionaries from various parts of the world travelled to Australia and set up churches across our vast continent. For an illuminating diagram illustrating how many Synods there were, click here. Over time, some mergers occurred: in particular, two larger synods came into existence - the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia (ELCA) and the UELCA (United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia).

 

NOTE: Lutheran churches in New Zealand are now included within our organisation, and  the commonly used acronym is LCANZ. 

 

In 1966, these two larger synods joined to form the Lutheran Church of Australia: this historical event is referred to as 'Union'. It took many years, a great deal of commitment and lengthy discussions to reach this point.  To read more about this point in our history, visit the LCA website here.

 

What makes us all Lutheran is our belief and adherence to what are collectively referred to as 'the Lutheran Confessions'.

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”These are contained in the Book of Concord of 1580, are true expositions of the word of God.

These documents are:

• the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed

• the Augsburg Confession

• the Apology of the Augsburg Confession

• the Smalcald Articles

• the Small Catechism of Luther

• the Large Catechism of Luther

• the Formula of Concord.”

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