"What a powerful witness your ordinations will be"
President Rev Charissa Suli has written a letter of prayerful solidarity and support to Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand Bishop Paul Smith, as the Church prepares to ordain its first women Pastors
April 8, 2025

Image: Maria Rudolph (left) and Sue Westhorp (right) are set to become the LCANZ's first women Pastors on 13 and 27 April.
In October last year, the General Synod of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) voted to remove from the church’s teaching a paragraph that previously prohibited women from being ordained. This weekend, and again later in April, the LCANZ will ordain its first two women Pastors, Maria Rudolph and Sue Westhorp.
"I think of the young women in your churches who, because of this step, may now dare to dream that God could be calling them too. I think of the communities who will be ministered to, loved, and led by these newly ordained Pastors."
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