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- The Lutheran Church in Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) has ordained its first female pastors. Photos: Courtesy of LWF
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- Maria Rudolph was ordained at Concordia College Chapel Highgate in South Australia on Palm Sunday, April 13.
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- Rudolph was installed as a pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Perth, last Sunday, May 11.
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- Sue Westhorp was ordained on April 27 to serve as a pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Box Hill, Victoria.
The Lutheran Church in Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) has ordained its first female pastors. Maria Rudolph was ordained at Concordia College Chapel Highgate in South Australia on Palm Sunday, April 13, and was installed as a pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Perth, last Sunday, May 11. Sue Westhorp was ordained on April 27 to serve as a pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Box Hill, Victoria.
The two pastors join four men who are being ordained by the LCANZ in April and May, three to serve in parishes in Australia and one to serve in Auckland, New Zealand.
The move comes following a historic decision by the church’s general convention last October to remove a paragraph from its statutes that prohibited women from being ordained for pastoral ministry. The resolution, which was passed by a two-thirds majority, also confirmed that parishes and congregations may call a pastor, regardless of gender, who best suits their ministry needs. LCANZ is an associate member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
Rospita Siahaan, LWF regional secretary for Asia, welcomed the move, noting that it marks an important step forward and an example for other Lutheran churches in the region. “Together with the rest of the global communion, we celebrate this recognition of the importance of women’s ministry in our churches,” she said. “We welcome this step towards equal dignity for all and we pray for all the new pastors, women and men, as they begin their ministry in the Australian church.”
