4 minute read
The Australian Invasion, Part Deux
by David Haberstock
Last fall I wrote about Redeemer in Winnipeg receiving a pastor from Australia, the Rev. Shaun Manning. On July 8, another church in Central Region, Christ in Thunder Bay, Ontario, received a classmate of his, Rev. Peter Noble. Rev. Noble, like Rev. Manning, is a convert to Lutheranism and is also an energetic and outgoing Aussie. He brings incredible musical and relational gifts to the ministry of Word and Sacrament.
The reason for both of these pastors accepting calls on the other side of the world are events in the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ). In October 2024, LCANZ synod convention opened the door to that church body ordaining women to the office of ministry. This is against the clear Word of God (1 Corinthians 14:26-40; 1 Timothy 2:1-15; 3:1-2ff). Historically, the ordination of women has been a litmus test for faithfulness to the Word of God. Sadly, history shows that when a church body starts down this road, it is not the last stop on the path away from our Lord’s Word. As such, this departure from God’s Word has greatly grieved many Lutherans in Australia, laity and pastors alike. There has been a great upheaval down under as some congregations have voted to leave LCANZ, and many, many more laity and pastors have left congregations that their families have been members of for generations in order to be faithful to our Lord and His Word of truth.
At the LCANZ convention our Synod President, Dr. Teuscher, gave greetings and noted that while their vote might end the controversy about this issue in their midst, that it would open many more problems. Indeed, one such ramification is that this vote has broken the fellowship that LCC has had with LCANZ for decades. Spiritually this is already the case. Formally, however, our fellowship agreement with LCANZ will not be broken until Synod meets in convention in 2026 to officially vote to end that agreement.
In the meantime, LCC does not wish to “steal” pastors, nor talent, from our Australian brothers and sisters in Christ. However, we are willing to provide refuge for pastors seeking a call to a faithful congregation and synod that will allow them to minister according to the confession they made when they were ordained. That’s the situation as it stands now.
The reality is that there are a number of pastors in Australia willing to cross the world to serve the people of God according to Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. We thank God for these bold and faithful men, and their families, for their zeal to follow our Lord’s call across oceans, continents, and cultures.
Already three professors from Australian Lutheran College (the LCANZ seminary) have accepted calls to LCMS universities and seminaries. Meanwhile, a fourth professor was on the short list for Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Edmonton’s presidential search. Three pastors from Australia—Revs. Adrian Kramer (installed in 2021), Shaun Manning (installed 2024), and Peter Noble (installed 2025)—have accepted calls to the Central Region, and Rev. Guntars Baikovs has accepted a call and been installed in East Region. (Rev. Baikovs served over a decade in Australia but is originally from Latvia and did years of further study at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri). There are also a handful of other talented Australian pastors on call lists in Canada, and many young men training for seminary are leaving Australia to get a thoroughly confessional education. I met two Australians studying at LCMS seminaries in January. Another has completed his first year at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario (Tim Bayha, who served as crucifier at Rev. Noble’s installation), and others have been accepted for the next school year at St. Catharines. This is a shocking tidal wave of humanity for small church bodies like LCC and LCANZ, which neither LCC or LCANZ expected.
As Lutheran Mission Australia (a new confessional Lutheran church body in Australia) gets going and establishes new congregations across Australia, perhaps some of the pastors seeking refuge in our midst may eventually return home. But for now, we are happy to have these Commonwealth compatriots join us and extend Christ’s mission in Canada. What lesson might we all learn from this? Faithfulness to our Lord and His Word matters. It has impacts. What may seem like a small change to you is momentous if our Lord has spoken on the issue. Lord, (please!) keep us steadfast in Your Word!
