A New Confessional Lutheran Church Body in Australia – Pr. Matt Anker, 9/11/26 (2543)

0:00Lutheran Talk. We have a ecumenical responsibility to hold forth the scriptures and to bear witness to grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone. Lutheran Music. Lutheran Music. Lutheran Music.

1:13Lutheran Music. Welcome back to Issues Etc. Joining us to talk about a new Confessional Lutheran Church body in Australia, Dr. Matt Anchor, he's president of Lutheran Mission Australia. Matt, welcome back. Thanks, Todd. It's great to be with you. Explain to us why it was necessary to form Lutheran Mission Australia. As you probably know, the Lutheran Church of Australia for many years, almost three decades, was considering the question of the ordination of women. And over that time period, what we saw was a gradual decaying of the authority of God's word in the life of the church.

2:20I guess you could say it came down to a question of hermeneutics, you know, how we interpret God's word. And ultimately we got to the point where a significant number of people in the church body came to the conclusion around the women's ordination question that the texts pertaining to that didn't hold authority any longer. And of course, there are lots of implications that come with that in terms of flow on doctrinal changes. And we recognize that once you cross that line, it's very hard to come back from it. So ultimately we wanted to ensure that there was a church home for those who held fast to the scriptures and whose consciences wouldn't allow them to stay in the LCA, especially after that decision was made in 2024 to permit the ordination of women. Why did the Lutheran Church of Australia debate the ordination of women for almost three decades?

3:21That's a great question that we asked ourselves many times. I think the reason it took so long is partly because the LCA had such a solid theological foundation. When the two former churches came together in 1966, they'd established what was called the Theses of Agreement, which is a very fine theological document. And that formed the foundation for their agreement, obviously. I believe that Lutheran Church Missouri Synod has acknowledged that this is a very faithful Orthodox confession of faith. And that foundation really helped us to hang on to the truth of God's word for all those years. I guess you could also acknowledge there was a small group of faithful confesses who boldly contended for the truth, sometimes at very significant personal cost. And so they were able to have an influence and keep the change at bay.

4:22But I guess if you go back to 2000 when the first vote took place, the Synod was required to receive advice from the pastor's conference on all matters of theology. And the pastors were not in agreement. They were split about 50-50 back in 2000 with respect to women's ordination. And in the past, that wouldn't have constituted advice and allowed the Synod then to debate it and vote on it. However, that was permitted at the time. And so the precedent was set. And then subsequently, the Synod was permitted to consider the question, even though the pastor's conference didn't really give advice, didn't come to one mind on the matter and remain split over the next 30 years. What is at stake in the issue of ordination of women? Secondly, it's the word of God. The ordination of women debate centers around that age old question, did God really say?

5:29Did God mean what he said in the key texts related to this issue? And if he didn't, then that gives us permission to pick and choose what parts of Scripture we submit to. I would suggest that the thing that's ultimately at stake is confidence in God's clear word. And therefore, the gospel itself is at stake. If sinners we don't have that confidence, that God means what he says and says what he means, then everything is up for grabs. And the biggest loser is the conscience of troubled sinners who need to hear the forgiveness of sins and know that God means it. Tell us about the declarations of fellowship recently made by Lutheran Mission Australia. We had the joy of our inaugural Sanotical Assembly took place just a week and a half ago.

6:31And at that assembly, we had the opportunity to consider three proposals to recognize fellowship with the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, the Lutheran Church Canada, and the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Dices in Finland. And I'm delighted to say that these proposals were supported unanimously by the pastors of Lutheran Mission Australia, and then were accepted unanimously by the assembly. And it was a time of great joy. There were many tears of joy shed as that connection to worldwide Lutheranism was made formal. Why are these fellowship relationships important? We're a very small church in a very isolated part of the world, and you could say that we've been born out of theological crisis. And as you look around the Lutheran world and you see the reality of different groups splitting at different points in time, there is a lesson to be learned.

7:39And I think that lesson is that a church body born out of such a situation can very easily form a kind of theological tunnel vision, and at times become sectarian. By having connection with fellow book of Concord Lutherans around the world, it provides us with theological accountability. We have brothers and sisters in other church bodies who are invested in us, who want to help keep us faithful to the word of God. It provides fraternal encouragement when we're just this little group of people in a very large country on the other side of the world. And I think importantly, it also helps us to understand the church beyond our borders, and it lessens us with the full and rich tradition that is ours as confessional Lutherans, rather than us being limited to what has developed in this little corner of the world. There are lots of practical implications of these fellowship agreements, which are all very positive.

8:44But one of the key things is it's a reminder that we are not alone. The devil is very good at convincing you that you have a bunch of crazy people who are just out there on your own, and that the whole process of forming a new church might be out of order. These fellowship agreements are a strong endorsement from brothers and sisters around the world who we respect enormously, and a reminder that they stand with us, that they recognize that the path that we've taken is faithful, and that we continue this path with both those saints with whom we are now in ultra and poor fellowship and with the church of all time. So very much an endorsement that we are not alone despite our small number. What is Lutheran Mission Australia's current relationship then to the Lutheran Church of Australia?

9:46We don't have any formal relationship at this stage. We've had a number of meetings, and our focus in those meetings has always been on how we can cooperate for the pastoral well-being of God's people. Our theological disagreement doesn't have to lead to animosity, and therefore harm between people who have otherwise worship side by side in the past. Prior to the union of the two churches that formed the Lutheran Church of Australia, there was significant animosity between the two Lutheran synods, and each of them referred to each other as the other side. And you hear lots of stories about how this impacted on individuals over time. We've been keen to recognize that kind of animosity doesn't need to colour our relationship. We disagree sincerely with the theological direction that the LCA has taken.

10:46We lament it. We believe that it will lead to further strain from God's word that will be harmful in the future. But we also recognise that there are people of good will. There have been faithful people in the Lutheran Church of Australia, and we want to see how we can serve them. There is the possibility of dialogue in the future. At this present point in time, there's no formal relationship, but as I say, our focus will be on how we can cooperate for the pastoral well-being of God's people. Do you think that the Lutheran Church of Australia can be brought around the scriptures teaching on the ordination of women? Well, it took 30 years for the LCA to get to this point, and there are still a great many people who hold to the inerrancy and authority of Scripture within that church body. Some of those that I would consider fathers in the faith continue to contend for the truth, and are doing everything they can to hold before the people, the Word of God.

11:52However, humanly speaking, it would seem highly unlikely. There was always a delicate balance. I guess you could say in the LCA, the voting on the ordination of women in the Senate typically was around the 60%, and now that a significant number of pastors and laypeople have left to join LMA, humanly speaking, it would seem that support for it would probably increase as a percentage of the total. But I do want to acknowledge that with God all things are possible, and it's not limited to what seems humanly possible. But I guess we also need to be realistic and look at what's happened around the world, and it's fairly rare, although it has happened in a number of places, but it is fairly rare for a church to go back on this decision. In that vein, what do you say to those pastors and congregations who do disagree with the ordination of women that are for now staying in the Lutheran Church of Australia?

13:01I think back to a conversation I had with Bishop Pohler from Finland quite a number of years ago, and I asked him a similar question. And his response was that what they have experienced is that over time these people get pushed more and more into a corner. They're asked to compromise more and more theologically, and this has one of a number of results. One is that some people simply are lost to the faith. Their conscience is so burdened that they end up walking away from the faith. Others end up compromising, so things that they once held fast to no longer seem as vital once they get pushed further into the corner. And then the third group of people are those who ultimately leave. So I would just say to those who are remaining in the Lutheran Church of Australia that we continue to pray for you, we pray that God would protect you and enable you to hold fast to the word of truth, and encourage them to be on guard about compromises that they will be asked to make so that they can remain firm in faith, confident of God's love for them in Christ,

14:26and not be swayed by these efforts of the devil to undermine their confidence in God's word. Dr. Matt Anchor is president of Lutheran Mission Australia. You find a link to Lutheran Mission Australia on the podcast page for this episode at IssueZTC.org. Dr. Anchor, thank you very much and keep up the good work. Thanks so much, Todd. Great to be with you. IssueZCetera has been brought to you in part this week by Luther Academy. Luther Academy serves Lutheran pastors to the ends of the earth by hosting conferences for Indigenous Lutheran pastors. Learn how you can help pastor attend a Luther Academy conference at LutherAcademy.com. Next week on IssueZCetera, we'll discuss how a seductive theology broke families and friendships and how we can repair them. Our guest will be Noel Maring. We'll have Dr. Bradley Greene answer the question, what is critical theory and pastors Brian Ketromyer and Brian Wolfmiller will answer your unanswered Bible questions.

15:29I'm Todd Wilkin, go to church on Sunday. Thanks for listening to IssueZCetera. Listen weekday afternoons to Pastor Todd Wilkin and guests on IssueZCetera. IssueZCetera is a listener supported program. Your financial support is vital for the continuation and expansion of this worldwide outreach. Our mailing address, IssueZCetera. PioBox83 Collinsville, Illinois, 62234. Box83 Collinsville, Illinois, 62234. You can also donate at our website, IssueZTC.org. IssueZCetera is a production of LPR Lutheran Public Radio.