AUSTRALIA – The Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) installed its new bishop, Rev. Paul Smith, during a service of celebration in Adelaide on February 20, 2022, and the International Lutheran Council was present to bring greetings. The theme for the service was Galatians 5:1—“For freedom Christ has set us free.”
Bishop Smith was elected to lead the LCANZ in October 2021. Prior to his election, he served as bishop of the LCANZ’s Queensland District from 2005-2021. He is the sixth leader to head the LCANZ since the unification of Australia’s Lutheran churches in 1966.
“I ask you to pray for me and for all the people of our evangelical Lutheran Church in New Zealand and Australia,” Bishop Smith said in remarks following his installation, “and for the people of all Christian churches of the world, that we would gladly serve in the Lord’s name.
President Antonio Reyes of the Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP) was present for the installation of Bishop Smith to bring greetings on behalf of the International Lutheran Council. President Reyes represents the Asia World Region on the ILC’s Board of Directors.
“It is amazing how God’s promise of providing for His people and never abandoning them still continues to be fulfilled today,” President Reyes said. “It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide you, Bishop Paul, as the shepherd of God’s flock here in Australia and New Zealand. May the Lord of the harvest grant you wisdom, strength, and courage as you serve Him and His people.”
President Reyes also expressed his thankfulness for the LCANZ’s longstanding participation in the life of the International Lutheran Council. “My presence here signifies the ILC’s wholehearted intention to walk and work with you,” he said, “to continue to study and learn with you and your pastors the Holy Scriptures—the inspired Word of God—and the Lutheran Confessions as the correct exposition of God’s Word.”
President Reyes also expressed thanks for the cooperative work which exists between the LCANZ and the Lutheran Church in the Philippines, and especially for the love they showed the LCP during the pandemic.
President Reyes’ full remarks can be read here.
Additional information on the installation of Bishop Smith is available here.
The LCANZ is an Associate Member of the ILC, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies which proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as expounded in the Lutheran Confessions.
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