CANADA – From June 12-15, Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) held its quadrennial synodical convention, during which time the church elected a new president: Rev. David Haberstock. The convention theme was “Together One: One Lord, One Faith, One Body,” drawing on Ephesians 4:4-6.
At the time of his election as president, Rev. Haberstock was serving as LCC’s Central Regional Pastor, a position to which he was first elected in 2018. He was elected to a second term in that role in 2018. He had earlier served on the Board of Directors for the former Central District (2006-2015), and as a pastor in Regina, Saskatchewan (2015-2018) and Thunder Bay, Ontario (2004-2015).
Rev. Haberstock will continue to serve as Central Regional Pastor until his election as president later this fall.
President Elect Haberstock succeeds President Timothy Teuscher, who had announced in 2025 that he would not be standing for reelection. President Teuscher was first elected as LCC’s president during the 2017 synodical convention. He was reelected unopposed to a second term in 2022.
Following his election as LCC President, Rev. Dr. Teuscher would go on to serve global Lutheranism as Vice Chairman of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) in his role as North American regional representative.
Also elected at LCC’s synodical convention were Rev. Ted Giese (Vice President), Rev. Aaron Gust (Central Regional Pastor), Marvin Bublitz (East Regional Pastor), and Rev. Michael Schutz (West Regional Pastor), among other positions.
The convention also saw LCC recognize fellowship with the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP) and Lutheran Mission – Australia (LM-A), fellow members with the Canadian church in the International Lutheran Council. Those churches will vote to recognize LCC during their own conventions later this year. LCC also formally acknowledged the loss of fellowship with the Lutheran Church in Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ), which in 2024 voted to ordain women.
The church also reaffirmed its rejection of “Medical Assistance in Dying”; resolved to initiate a study of the use of the term ‘bishop’; acknowledged the 50th anniversary of its seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario; and made plans for the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030, among other business.
Lutheran Church–Canada is a member church of the the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, grounded in the authority of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
———————
RSS Feed