Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and .
Hebrews 13:8 forever
Our Church Family Album
Viral Year 12 Formal reel puts college in the spotlight
Queensland Synod ‘opens doors’
The Lutheran Church of Australia Queensland District (LCAQD) Convention of the Synod opened at St Andrew’s Lutheran College, Tallebudgera Qld, on Friday 5 June 2026. Opening worship was led by First Assistant Bishop Ben Hentschke (centre, pictured with Second Assistant Bishop Luke Spilsbury, left, and LCAQD Bishop Dr Mark Vainikka, right), whose address reflected on the 'open doors' of the church – through ministry, schools and mission, and from coast to country. These ‘five open doors’ form the basis of the new LCAQD Strategic Charter, which was launched at the Synod with the help of a confetti cannon. Other highlights included welcoming the Gold Coast Cantonese (Lutheran) Community Church into membership (pictured below). The LLL Synod Art Competition also received a record 77 submissions, with entrants ranging in age from 4 to 96.
A fun idea to capture the excitement of a Year 12 Formal at St Martins Lutheran College in Mount Gambier SA has become an unexpected national success. A light-hearted Instagram reel featuring Year 12 Leader Sharon Brodie interviewing students arriving at the formal attracted more than 400,000 views across social media, with viewers embracing Sharon's humour and genuine connection with students. The reel caught the attention of producers from the Today show, an Australian breakfast television program, leading to Sharon appearing live on national TV alongside Year 12 students Cooper and Macie to share the story behind the viral video.
LLL farewells long-serving colleagues
It has been a momentous year at LLL Australia, which has farewelled three much-loved colleagues – Terri, Heather and Gaynor. The long-serving trio are enjoying well-deserved retirements after a combined 90 years of dedicated service. After more than two decades together at the front teller counter, Heather and Terri were the faces of LLL for many customers, while Gaynor, as the first point of contact on the phone, was LLL’s voice. Everyone at LLL wishes Terri, Heather and Gaynor every blessing as they embark on the next chapters of their lives. Pictured: left – Heather (left) and Terri (right), who retired on the same day in March. Right – LLL CEO Karen Pienaar (left) with Gaynor (right), who retired in June.
Better Blokes weekend strengthens faith and fellowship
More than 100 men from Qld, SA, Vic, NSW, the ACT and New Zealand gathered at Warrambui Retreat and Conference Centre in Murrumbateman NSW for the 2026 Better Blokes weekend, hosted by the NSW–ACT District. Through worship, honest conversations, practical seminars and fellowship, the event encouraged men to reflect on faith and God's work in their lives.
Earlier this year, I spent several weeks travelling around Italy and the UK. Much of that time was spent in my 'happy place', exploring ancient ruins, centuries-old churches, castles and stately homes. I visited a particularly fascinating church in Rome, located near the Colosseum, called the Basilica of San Clemente. This remarkable church reveals three distinct layers, spanning nearly two millennia of history. At street level stands the beautiful 12thcentury basilica, where Christians still gather for worship today. Beneath it lies a 4th-century church, and beneath that are the remains of a bustling Roman neighbourhood from the 1st century. Reflecting on it now, it strikes me that the Christian church has never stood still. The early Christians wrote letters that were copied by hand and carried across the Roman Empire. Later generations embraced the printing press, and after that the radio, television and the internet.
Every generation has inherited the Christian faith and expressed it using the tools and circumstances of its own time. Rather than replacing what came before, each generation has built on the foundations of the previous one. The foundation and the mission have never changed – only the methods have.
The cover of this edition captures that beautifully. Alongside the familiar wooden pews, stained-glass windows and altar of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adelaide, a camera quietly livestreams the morning prayer service to people who could be watching from anywhere in the world. The building is more than 150 years old, but the technology is unmistakably modern.
The purpose remains unchanged: God's people gathering around his word and sharing the hope of Christ. Today's digital technologies are simply another layer in God’s ongoing mission.
In these pages, you'll read about communities learning together online, leaders encouraging one another across Australia and New Zealand, and congregations finding creative ways to worship and serve during times of change. You'll also be challenged to consider what it means to be fully human in a digital age, hear a young adult reflect on the value of technology-free camps and meet a woman whose theological studies continued across different stages of life through Australian Lutheran College's distributed learning model.
In each case, the technology is not the destination. It's simply one more way that Christ continues to build his church on the foundations laid before us. When used well, technology can become more than a way to share information – it can help people belong and participate in the life of God.
Technology will continue to evolve – new platforms will appear, others will disappear, and today's innovations will one day become part of the church’s history. But the gospel we proclaim doesn’t change.
May this edition encourage you to use whatever tools God places in your hands with wisdom and creativity, always pointing others to Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Elise Mattiske Editor, The Lutheran
Special features
Typewriter fingers and flying thumbs
Connected in Christ
How to be fully human in the age of AI and social media
A month without screens
Regulars
Because we bear your name: Bishop Paul’s Letter
Dwelling in God’s Word
Congregational Life
Directory
The Inside Story Faces of Faith
Celebrating Our Story
Coffee Break
lead a morning prayer service at Bethlehem Lutheran Church Adelaide, which is livestreamed every Tuesday to Friday. The image captures the theme of this edition: historic faith shared using today's digital tools.
Photo: Amy Dahlenburg
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following pages contain images of people who have died.
Our cover: Pastors Fraser Pearce and Matthew Bishop
Bishop Paul’s Letter
Because we bear your name
‘“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial’ (1 Corinthians 10:23).
When St Paul tells us that not all things are beneficial, he is asking us to discern: What promotes the cause of the gospel? Is artificial intelligence (AI) promoting the gospel?
Should we be suspicious of technology? Many modern sci-fi movies tell of a future in which AI is taking over the world.
In my own journey in life, I was personally blessed by technology in the church. My parents enrolled me at St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane in 1978 because the school taught Computer Science when other schools didn’t even know it could be a subject.
It is partly true to say that I came to know the gospel because of technology in the church.
Dr Martin Luther grabbed modern technology with both hands. The printing press had recently been invented when he nailed up his 95 Theses. Luther’s writings flooded the book market: catechisms, Bible guides, theological works and picture posters.
understand the meaning of his words, ‘… not all things are beneficial’. What will be of benefit for the building up of other people? What will serve to tear down or slander other people?
This year, the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, wrote a document on AI titled Magnifica humanitas (meaning ‘magnificent humanity’). Pope Leo guides his readers to God’s love for people of all races in all places. No machine or technology can replace people in God’s world.
Pope Leo also gives some questions to ask when considering the use of AI: Does it help me value people? Does it help me promote peace and justice? Does it distract me from what is true?
No machine or technology can replace people in God’s world.
While this technology was bearing good fruit, there was also a caution. The printing press also unleashed a ‘war of words’, with pamphlets and posters attacking others. The era of published propaganda had begun.
In this edition of The Lutheran, we are considering faith in the digital age.
We are guided by the principle that St Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth. All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial.
He goes on to explain, ‘Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others.’ This helps us
‘Lord
Pope Leo does not argue for ignoring or rejecting AI, but like Luther and the printing press, he urges that we remember AI is a ‘tool to use’.
There is a danger in our church of using AI to write sermons, prayers and other expressions of ministry. AI does not have a soul and is not led by the Holy Spirit to hear and learn the word of the Lord like we are.
AI can be a useful tool for ministry; however, it is always exactly that: a tool that can never replace or displace people.
As people of the church in this modern world, we ask for the Holy Spirit to lead us in ways to use technologies like AI for the cause of the gospel.
This is so that those who dwell in darkness discover the light and hope of the joy of salvation.
‘Not all things are beneficial' because we bear your name.
In Christ,
Rev Paul Smith Bishop, Lutheran Church of Australia
