Pastors & Staff

Based in Alice Springs Lutheran Church, Pastor Stephen Radke will focus on ministry in the Alice Springs town camps and across other Central Australian communities. The installation was conducted by Pastor Rob Borgas, a former Pastoral Support Worker in the Pitjantjatjara language area and a current member of the Finke River Mission (FRM) board. Pastor… Read more

Pastor Marcus Wheeler led the palm-weaving procession into the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Hermannsburg on Palm Sunday this year, his last full service as a pastor. Over sixteen and a half years ago, in the very same church, Pastor Mike Semmler, then President of the Lutheran Church of Australia, ordained Pastor Marcus. His ordination took place… Read more

Alice Springs Lutheran Church held its long-awaited confirmations on 23 June 2024. Five young women confirmed their Christian faith: Rhonda Bob, Shanille Braybon, Ella Williams, Jordyn Williams and Mariah Meurant. Each of these had completed their Confirmation studies over the past 12 months. Rhonda attended school at Yirara College years ago but missed the opportunity… Read more

After arriving in Alice Springs for the ordination of Malcolm Willcocks on 10 December 2023, LCANZ Bishop Paul Smith and SA–NT Bishop Andrew Brook took a trip out to Hermannsburg to meet people and have a look around.

New FRM Board chair Marcia Hoffmann shares her thoughts on her role so far.

The ordination and installation of Malcolm Willcocks as a Specific Ministry Pastor took place on 10 December 2023.

Before I came to Central Australia, Pastor Paul Albrecht gave me three pieces of advice. The first was to be kangkintja – a Western Arrarnta word for a kind and loving man. The second was to be a pastor and trust that people would soon get to know who I was and why I was there.

Yirara College has appointed a new principal, Mr Wesley Meurant. With the utmost heartfelt thanks, we say farewell to Mr Chris England and send well wishes for his next journey in life.

Ronnie was born around the early to mid-1940s at Manyira (Bowson’s Hole), southwest of Areyonga (north of Tempe Downs Station). His father, Billy McNamara, was a whitefella of Afghan descent who hailed from Oodnadatta.

The offering from this year’s LCANZ Convention of General Synod in-person meetings is contributing more than $30,000 towards an FRM project producing, revising or reprinting Lutheran song and hymnbooks in Central Australian Aboriginal languages.