New LM-A Seminary Student
Tasmin Bourne
Greetings fellow Saints.
My name is Tasmin Bourne. I am married to Alexandra and together we have five beautiful daughters, Evelyn-Rose (9), Kimberly-Jane (8), Isabelle (6), Eleanor (3), and Katharina (1).
Alexandra and I were both raised in Christian homes, attending churches from varied denominations including Pentecostal, Brethren, AOG, and independent home churches. We were married in 2015 and soon after found ourselves attending a small Apostolic Church near where we lived in rural Tasmania. It was a very friendly church and I was quickly invited to join the preaching and communion talk roster. It was while serving in these ways that I first felt a draw to the pastoral office (though my understanding of the office was very different at that time). I needed to suppress that call though, as we began having serious doubts and concerns regarding Pentecostal doctrines and practices, these initially being female pastors, the use (or misuse) of the spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues, and funnily enough, baptism and communion.
We embarked on a theological journey in 2020 to re-examine the beliefs that we had inherited and see if we could find some answers to the questions and concerns we had. This led us to a number of YouTube channels that were addressing the questions and concerns we had about the charismatic movement. We discovered by accident (or rather God’s providence) that many of those we were listening to were Lutheran, including Fighting for the Faith, Messed up Church, and Long for Truth.
Their videos answered so many questions and raised a bunch more. There was a clarity in their approach to Scripture that I hadn’t seen before.
I had never heard of a Lutheran before, so I googled: What do Lutherans believe? I soon found other channels on YouTube like Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller and Doctor Jordan Cooper. I also discovered The Book of Concord. I found an online version and started reading. What a delight! The clarity of thought. The simplicity of the Gospel. The consistent and faithful submission to the Scriptures. The uncompromising conviction that God’s Word is objective, true, and clear.
I found myself asking incredulously: What is this? Where has this been my whole life? We had finally heard the Gospel purely taught, Law and Gospel properly divided, we had finally discovered the historic Christian faith and with it had discovered confidence in Christ.
We found our nearest Lutheran Church which happened to be an LCA congregation in Burnie; we attended and in 2021 were confirmed as Lutherans and our three daughters that we had at the time received the gift of Holy Baptism.
The inner call to the office of the ministry soon came back with a vengeance, as having been blessed with the revelation of the Gospel I wanted to be an instrument to bring that to others who were either completely without Christ or trapped in spiritual confusion as I had been. After two Lutheran pastors encouraged me to go to Seminary and test that call, I enrolled part time at the Australian Lutheran College in 2022. We began planning our move to Adelaide for January 2023, which included winding down our beef farming and ag contracting business that I had built up and operated since 2009.
We didn't get to move to Adelaide as ALC moved entirely to online learning and I continued to study online at ALC until the end of 2024. Following the decision at General Synod to ordain women in the LCA, I withdrew from my studies and applied to study at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary in St. Catherines where I believe I will be properly equipped to be a pastor in Christ's Church. I look forward to learning from professors who value our Lutheran Confessions and history, and who wholeheartedly place their confidence in the truth and sufficiency of the Scriptures.
The last five years has been quite the journey and one which we least expected. There has been a lot of loss, grief, and change, and yet above all there has been great gain. We have discovered the pure Gospel, and that is the greatest treasure.
By God’s grace we now look forward to the next chapter of our journey as God continues to refine our faith and conform us to the image of Christ.
The peace of God be with you,
The Bourne family.
Tasmin with his wife Alexandra (Lexi), and daughters (L-R) Isabelle (6), Katharina (1), Evelyn-Rose (9), Eleanor (3) and Kimberly-Jane (8).