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Lutheran Church of Australia
The Lutheran church has been in
Australia and New Zealand for over 150 years. In the 1830s small groups of
German Lutherans emigrated in search of religious freedom which they did not
experience under the church of the Old Prussian Union. Their emigration was
supported by an affluent and devout Baptist merchant in London, who wanted to
see solid Christians in the new British colony where many settlers were British
prisoners. The Lutherans settled mainly in rural areas in various parts of the
country. Later, missionaries from Herrmannsburg and Neuendettelsau in Germany
came to serve Lutheran immigrants in Australia and also work among the
Aborigines. Today the Lutheran church is made up of people from rural and urban
areas, and many different cultural backgrounds. There are almost 255,000
Lutherans in Australia and New Zealand.
Both World War I and World War II
brought major disruptions in the service of German missionaries. Relationships
were then developed with Lutheran churches in North America, particularly the
former American Lutheran Church and one of its predecessors, the Iowa Synod.
Following World War II, there was a huge influx of European immigrants, and the
Lutheran World Federation's Service to Refugees assisted in the settlement of
many of the 100,000 Lutherans who were among the two million European
immigrants. Ministries in Latvian, Estonian, Hungarian, Polish, and Finnish
languages were established to serve the new Australians.
The current Lutheran
Church of Australia is the product of a merger in 1966, and
includes the majority of the nation's Lutherans. There are almost 600
congregations served by over 400 pastors, mostly trained in Australia. Some
congregations have been served by pastors from the ELCA.
During the 1960s, many Aborigines
moved into urban areas as the national policy emphasized assimilation. Most of
them sorely missed their communal life, and the LCA responded by establishing an
Aboriginal Lutheran Fellowship which grew into a thriving congregation in
Adelaide.
The Lutheran school system includes
kindergartens, preschools, primary schools and secondary schools throughout
Australia, with over 20,000 students. There are twelve Lutheran colleges in
Australia, which contribute much to the educated citizenry of Australia.
Congregations provide Sunday schools, confirmation courses, adult Bible study
groups, and inquirers classes. Luther Campus in Adelaide offers theological
education to clergy, teachers, parish workers, and lay persons.
The church's expanding program of
care for the needs of the community includes childcare centers, family shelters
and support agencies, welfare centers, singles ministry, youth ministry,
retirement villages, infirmaries and world relief.
The church reaches out to the
community through the ministry of its congregations and schools, radio and
television programs, and the distribution of Christian literature by Openbook
Publishers. Lutheran missionaries have served among Australian Aborigines and in
Papua New Guinea for over 100 years; missionaries of the Lutheran Church of
Australia and the former American Lutheran Church worked side by side in many
places. The Lutheran church also supports the work of churches in Southeast
Asia.
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