The Lutheran Church
The Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant church in the world, being particularly strong in Scandinavia, Germany, the US and more recently, Africa. It is relatively small in Australia.
It has its origin in the 16th century when Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, found the Church of the time to have drifted away from its foundation: Jesus Christ as found in Scripture. He particularly was bothered by the lack of dependence on Christ and a strong emphasis on doing “good works” to earn God’s favour. He found this to be contrary to Scripture. In his attacks on the Church and the Pope he caused considerable distress and was eventually excommunicated. His enemies gave his followers the name “Lutheran”, a name which Luther himself disliked saying: “We are the church of Jesus Christ, not of any man”, but the name stuck. So began what is historically known as The Reformation, a break away from the Catholic Church and a movement to which every non-Catholic church owes its origin. It was particularly marked by a return to Scripture as the sole source of authority for faith and Christian living, and on the centrality of Christ as the way to God.
The Lutheran Church in Australia has its origins in a movement of German Lutherans who were concerned about their religious freedom and made their way to Australia, settling in South Australia (particularly the Barossa Valley) in the 1830’s. The headquarters of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) is in Adelaide, South Australia.
For more details on the Lutheran Church, especially in Australia, you are directed to the website: www.lca.org.au (See Links)