10/05/2026
An Open Letter to Members of the Lutheran Church of Australia
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As 5 October 2026 approaches—the second anniversary of the LCA’s decision to move toward the ordination of women—I find myself still grieving deeply over what has happened to our church.
This was not, in my view, simply a disagreement about the pastoral office. At its deepest level, it was a question of authority:
Will the Church be governed by the Word of God, or will Scripture be reshaped according to culture, opinion, and institutional necessity?
I remain convinced that the decision to move toward the ordination of women was not established from Scripture.
Rather than demonstrating from Scripture that this change was faithful to God's revealed Word, the Church moved in a direction that cannot, in my conscience, and objectively be reconciled with the position the LCA historically confessed.
And this raises serious questions about the leadership that brought us here.
The failings of the College of Bishops (Yes Bishop Paul Smith—I’m looking at you).
The following actions deserve honest examination (and these are only a few!):
1. Faithful seminary lecturers at Australian Lutheran College college (ALC) were dismissed, reportedly on the grounds that the LCA could no longer afford them, while significant resources were subsequently committed to other initiatives.
2. Approximately $900,000 was committed to the “Way Forward Framework,” a process which many of us believe was designed to achieve a predetermined outcome rather than genuinely examine all possible ways of remaining faithful to Scripture and our confession.
3. The LCA Seminary campus was sold for approximately $50 million, while theological formation for future pastors was substantially moved toward a shortened online model. This raises serious questions about the future of theological education and pastoral formation in our church.
4. The existing doctrinal statement concerning the ordination of men was removed without a replacement doctrinal confession being established. A church cannot simply remove a doctrinal position without asking what it now positively confesses in its place.
5. The outcomes and theological concerns raised through the General Pastors Conference were, in my view, inadequately represented and insufficiently respected when subsequent synodical decisions were pursued.
6. Established synodical procedures for doctrinal change were challenged or set aside. Requests from a former national bishop to follow the accepted voting procedures were not followed, and alternative procedures were adopted that lowered the requirements for achieving the desired change.
7. Pastors and laypeople who requested adequate opportunity for discussion and debate were not, in my view, given sufficient opportunity to consider alternative approaches before the decisive vote.
These are not insignificant administrative matters. They concern the way a church listens to Scripture, honours its confession, treats its pastors and laity, makes doctrinal decisions, and exercises authority.
So I ask my brothers and sisters in the LCA a simple question:
Are these actions consistent with discerning how to remain faithful to the Word of God?
Paul's warning in Galatians remains sobering. The Church does not possess the authority to create a new truth. We are called to receive the truth God has given, confess it faithfully, and proclaim it—even when that confession is unpopular or costly.
The fundamental issue, therefore, is not whether the LCA continues to use Lutheran hymns, liturgies, terminology, and confessional language. The question is whether Holy Scripture ACTUALLY GOVERNS the Church when Scripture says something that conflicts with the prevailing culture. (Feel free to read that sentence again).
Because if Scripture is permitted to govern only when it agrees with our conclusions, then Scripture is no longer truly governing the Church.
Just let that sink in.
This is why I believe something fundamental has changed in the LCA.
Two years ago, my wife and I made the painful decision to take our four children and move to the other side of the world so that we could continue to confess openly what we believe the Scriptures teach. We left behind our home, our church, our country, and people we love.
And I miss you.
I miss dear friends in the LCA whom I may never worship alongside again. I think about those I left behind. I pray for you. And I grieve that doctrinal disagreement has created such deep separation among Christians who once stood together.
But my grief is also for those who remain because they have been assured that nothing fundamental has changed.
I believe that assurance is mistaken.
I say that not with hatred or superiority, but with great sorrow. I love you. I have preached these convictions publicly from the pulpit, and I continue to proclaim them now. I have said nothing that is hidden from the public Office.
So, two years later, I plead with you:
Open the Scriptures again.
Do not begin with what is culturally acceptable, institutionally convenient, or personally comfortable. Begin with the question:
What has God spoken? What is written in His Word?
The Church cannot manufacture truth. It cannot bend Scripture to fit the spirit of the age and then expect to speak prophetically to a culture desperately searching for truth.
The Church's calling is to receive God's Word, confess it faithfully, and proclaim Christ crucified.
My prayer remains that the Lord would have mercy upon His Church, lead us into repentance wherever we have departed from His Word, and give His people courage to confess Christ faithfully—even when that confession is costly.
I have not stopped loving you.
I have not stopped praying for you.
And I have not stopped grieving for you.
Soli Deo Gloria.
In Christ,
Pastor Peter Noble
PS. I have re-uploaded this first sermon I preached at Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, Hobart, TAS., when I came back from 3 weeks leave after the 2024 LCA synod. It orig. was titled “Our Lutheran Church of Australia is Broken” Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Nov. 3rd 2024). (The video was originally live streamed on Facebooked and I downloaded it before FB changed its policy on live videos. It had, at the time, over 20k views before it was deleted. It is also re-uploaded on my YouTube channel. should you wish to watch it there.)
