Lutheran Church of Australia Falls

Well, that didn’t take long.

The ordination of women was bound to come to the Lutheran Church of Australia after the fateful vote in support of it at its General Synod last October, in spite of the wishful thinking of some observers that it was still acceptable to be part of that body since nothing had actually changed: the vote contained no overt statement supporting the ordination of women. All they did was vote to support a proposal from the General Church Board and College of Bishops to remove from the LCA’s Theses of Agreement the paragraph (VI:11) which prohibits women from entering the pastoral ministry. Some conservatives were evidently clinging to the naïve hope that the change wouldn’t come in spite of the vote, and in fact the proposal does say that, while there is disagreement in LCA on this issue, that disagreement “is not divisive of church fellowship.”

Now, just under a half year later, the first female ‘ordinations’ have been scheduled, according to an LCA news release: Maria Rudolph on April 13th and Sue Westhorp on April 27th. So much for wishful thinking. Yes, Virginia, that disagreement is too divisive of church fellowship.

The Lutheran Mission Australia (LMA) was formed last year for churches that could not abide the decision, and the LCMS immediately recognized its legitimacy and condemned the decision of the LCA. I had the privilege of meeting the Rev. Matt Anker, the president of the LMA, shortly after the vote last fall; we talked at some length about the issue. He certainly has his work cut out for him, because it takes a lot for a congregation to decide to leave the mother ship, and there were none who immediately did so in October. But the shock waves are about to be magnified.

Because now it’s an undeniable reality. The LCA has fallen, as expected. Our prayers ascend for our Lutheran brethren in Australia. Kyrie eleison.