About Us
Our beginnings
Following an inspirational Retreat on the Office of the Ministry in Hamilton, Victoria in 2002 a group of lay members of the LCA saw value in being able to further that sort of teaching and fellowship and to have some facility for communication among LCA members with confessional concerns. After careful planning and consultation some lay members met in South Australia and resolved to form CLA. That body was incorporated under S.A.'s Associations Incorporations Act on 18 July 2003. The initial chairman of the association is David Dreckow of Hahndorf, and the secretary/treasurer is Barry Lindner of Mt Barker.The Constitution of CLA provides for a 'board of management' and that the 'board members shall be lay members of the association'. One reason for this is to welcome the participation of pastors who support the Association's aims without them being involved in its administration.
Board policy is to consult with pastoral advisers.
Members of the Association are usually members of congregations of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) and subscribe to the Theses of Agreement by which the LCA came into existence.
Confessional basis
The Association declares that(a) | it accepts without reservation the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as a whole and in all their parts, as the divinely inspired, written and inerrant Word of God, and as the only infallible source and norm for all matters of faith, doctrine and life. |
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(b) | it acknowledges and accepts as true expositions of the Word of God and its own confession all the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord of 1580, namely, the three Ecumenical Creeds: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed; the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession; the Smalcald Articles; the Small Catechism of Luther; the Large Catechism of Luther; and the Formula of Concord. |
The Objects of CLA | are summarized as |
1. | To uphold the Objects of the LCA. |
2. | To support and encourage Presidents, pastors, officers, councils and committees of the LCA to uphold and conform to the Confession of the LCA |
3. | To acquire, publish and distribute such materials as will instruct and inform members of the Association and the LCA to enable them to uphold the Confession of the LCA. |
4. | To utilize the best means at the disposal of CLA to make such material available to members of the LCA. |
Materials to share
CLA would be pleased to receive any materials that uphold confessional Lutheranism and are available for possible inclusion on this site, especially articles written by Australians.It is not our intention to promote or publish material that is at variance with our objects.