Looking to the future with confidence
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.1 Peter 1:18-25 NIV
Future deaconess students Rebecca and Darcee and future pastor student Gabriel with President Matt, Pastor Michael and Seminary Establishment Committee member Peter Wittwer.
Today marks a very significant day in the history of Lutheran Mission – Australia. As we formally announce our plans for the formation of Lutheran Theological Seminary - Australia (LTS-A), we are looking to the future with confidence in God’s provision and His continued blessing as we seek to be faithful to His Word and serve the people of this country and beyond for years to come. From our earliest conversations regarding the formation of Lutheran Mission – Australia, we recognised the importance of establishing our own seminary if this new church body was to have a future. A seminary not only forms servants for Christ’s church, but it also safeguards the doctrine of the church by ensuring these servants are formed under the same teaching and united in the same confession.
Lutheran Theological Seminary - Australia is committed to in-person instruction which not only delivers the knowledge that is required to serve as pastors and deaconesses but also provides the environment for Godly formation within the community of faith. Studying and living in community is the essential seed bed that grows men and women for faithful service in congregational communities
We are not interested in establishing a seminary that focusses on being innovative and cutting edge for their own sake as many educational institutions do these days. Instead, we seek to build on the tradition we have received and that has served Lutheran seminaries and churches well for centuries. The seminary will be a place where God’s Word is central, where God’s people gather in worship to receive His gifts, where students grow in faith and love and where the mission of church is always on our minds.
Together with Dr Thomas Egger, president of Concordia Seminary St Louis we believe this
emphasis on deep scriptural and theological preparation for ministry, is not naïve nostalgia. This emphasis does not spring from institutional protectionism, from lazy inertia, from fear of change or from blindness to the pressing need for new pastors. Rather, this emphasis arises from the two great goals of all Lutheran theology: First, that we give to Christ the full glory due Him for all He has done in saving sinners; and second, that we deliver the full comfort of His saving work to sinners, that they might place their full hope in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ [1].
Dr Martin Luther once said, ‘In truth, you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well.[2]’
Lutheran Theological Seminary Australia will be a place where you will see this lived out day in and day out as our students and faculty read, understand, teach and live God’s Word together as servants are formed to lead the church by serving people with the saving gifts of Jesus.
It is my great honour and delight to officially launch Lutheran Theological Seminary - Australia in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Gracious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, You have given to Your church the Office of the Holy Ministry that Your people may be blessed with Your gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation through the ministry of Word and Sacrament.
As we establish Lutheran Theological Seminary - Australia as a place of pastoral formation, guide us by your Holy Spirit that it may be a place of faithful teaching, godly formation and a strong fortress against all manner of false teaching.
Help us to establish the seminary as seed bed for the growth of Your Word in the lives of your people. Bless it as a place of prayer, meditation on your word and testing so that true servants of Your Word may be formed by the work of Your Spirit.
Grant to us a faculty united in confession and committed to Your inspired and inerrant Word. A faculty that rejoices in the privilege of forming servants in Christ Jesus and with a deep love of Your Word for the sake of the world. Raise up men and women to study Your Word at LTS-A that they may be equipped for service and strengthened in faith. Send your holy angels to watch over all who will work and study at LTS-A that the evil one would have no power over them and that even his attacks would serve to better equip Your people for service.
We thank you for the work of Pastor Michael Prenzler and the Seminary Establishment Committee and ask Your blessing on all they have done in preparation for this launch. Grant that their labours would serve to establish a lasting legacy for the sake of Your Kingdom. Bless Pastor Michael, the new Seminary Board and all who continue to work at the next stages of establishment. By the leading of Your Holy Spirit, grant us the necessary people and financial means to fulfil these plans and help us to daily pray for your provision.
We recognise and rejoice in the fact that the establishment of a seminary is beyond our capacity and means because this reminds us that if it succeeds it is indeed only because of Your blessing. So lead us to pray boldly, to plan confidently and to look forward in faith knowing that this is a good work that is pleasing to you.
We commend Lutheran Theological Seminary - Australia to you and seek your blessing through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Pastor Matt Anker
President of Lutheran Mission - Australia
at Adelaide Northern Suburbs Lutheran Mission, Sunday 7 September 2025
[1] https://reporter.lcms.org/2023/seminary-presidents-encourage-residential-seminary-education/
[2] Martin Luther, What Luther Says: An Anthology, comp. Ewald M. Plass (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), entry no. 3547, 1110.