E02 Positions and Nominations
POSITIONS
The positions to be filled across the LCNZ are detailed below.
OFFICERS OF THE LCNZ
- The officers of the LCNZ shall be the Bishop, the Assistant Bishop and the LCNZ Treasurer* (Constitution VIII.1).
COUNCIL OF SYNOD
- Council of Synod members are elected for a two-year term and members may serve for a maximum of four terms of two years.
- The council will consist of eight (8) members, with a quorum consisting of five (5) members.*
- The chair of the Council of Synod is the Bishop or his nominee.
FINANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE*
- Usually consists of five (5) members.
- Convention of Synod elects the convenor and appoints the LCNZ Treasurer.
- Bishop (or their nominee), and
- Two (2) lay representatives, appointed by Council of Synod.
AUDITORS*
- Auditors are appointed by the Convention of Synod
- Auditor will be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of New Zealand (now the institute of Chartered Accounts of Australia and New Zealand) or two suitably qualified lay members.
- Audits are conducted annually
LCNZ TRUST BOARD
- Trustees are appointments made from Council of Synod.
- The board must have at least six (6) members.
- Duties relate to property and related matters.
SALARIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE
- Three (3) members appointed by Council of Synod for a two-year term.
- Makes annual recommendation to the Finance Advisory Committee* and the Council of Synod regarding remuneration.
GATEWAY GIFT TRUST BOARD
- Consists of six (6) trustees.
- Appointments are made by the four Appointers: the Bishop, Assistant Bishop, LCNZ Treasurer and FAC Convenor*
NOMINATIONS
| POSITION | NOMINATION | NOMINATOR |
| Bishop of the LCNZ* | District Pastors Conference | |
| Assistant Bishop of the LCNZ | Rev Warren Paltridge | District Pastors Conference |
| Convenor of Finance Advisory Committee* | – | |
| Congregational Life Facilitator | Rev Phil Husband | Council of Synod |
| Treasurer | Dennis Mollet | Manawatu Parish |
| Lay representative | David Pang | Christchurch Congregation |
| Lay representative | Amaana Pilli | Auckland congregation |
| Lay representative* | ||
| Pastor representative | Pastor Andy Marr | District Pastors Conference |
| Roman Catholic– Lutheran Dialogue Representatives | Rev Mark Whitfield
Dr Petrus Simons |
Council of Synod |
| Auditor* | Cornelius du Plessis and Shawn Yuan of Kudos Murray Audit | Council of Synod |
| Auditor* | Emily Ren of Charity Integrity Audit | Council of Synod in relation to Gateway Gift Trust Board |
*Refer to LCNZ By-Law changes and LCNZ reports in these positions
Nominee biographies
Rev Phil Husband (Whanganui)
My name is Phil Husband and I am an SMP based in Whanganui. I am soon to retire and will be based in Kawerau as a retired Pastor if there is such a thing. 
I am currently employed as a corrections officer and I go to jail 3 days a week. I am married to Lynda who when we got married was happy to marry a husband but not to be a husband so she is still a Lynda Roewen.
I have been in the Lutheran Church for nearly 30 years and an SMP for 20 years. I have been involved in building Community Church Families for the past 12 years and have had some success in that field. During my time I have learnt that if your heart is in the right place and things go array. God will make it right.
Congregation positions:
Swinging my arms. I sometimes do diddly squats, the washing machine, the odd blessing (not for print but giggles), church cleaner, lawnmower man, gardener, youth coordinator, chairman, secretary, pastor, mission facilitator. Within my congregation bell ringer. member of the governance and logistics team within my church. worship leader.
Previous LCNZ/LCANZ positions :
Synod delegate several times. Kogudus Retreat Team.
LCNZ Governance current positions:
Council of Synod member as Congregational Life facilitator, Gateway Gift Trust Board member.
I am but a small gog in the gearbox that is the LCNZ.
Rev Andy Marr (Upper Moutere)
I am Andy Marr, I’m the pastor at St Paul’s Lutheran Community Church in Upper Moutere and St John’s in Hope. I am a Specific Ministry Pastor and feel privileged to have been called from amongst our people here to serve God and the community here in this way. I have been in this role for five and a half years now and it has been an amazing journey. I have a wife, Janine, who I have been married to for 18 years and we have three children – Ariana, Isaiah and Micah – who have all been very supportive of me. In my spare time I enjoy playing music, surfing (when I can here in Nelson) and being involved with my kid’s sports.
I have been involved on Council of Synod as the Pastor representative for about three years now (the last two as chairperson) and have enjoyed gaining a new perspective on the wider workings of our Church.
Dennis Mollet (Manawatu)
I was born, raised and have always lived in Palmerston North. As a youngster I attended an Anglican church. I joined St Luke’s church more than
50 years ago when I met Sharolyn.
As a member of the Manawatu Parish, St Luke’s in Palmerston North and Trinity in Feilding, I am a lay worship leader and on the Beacon Team – an outreach ministry into the Summerhill community. As part of that I lead a monthly worship service at the Summerset Retirement Village.
I have been a member of:
- St Luke’s Church Council in the roles of Secretary and Treasurer back in the 1980’s.
- Manawatu Pastoral Leadership Team 2018 – 2020.
- Council of Synod on 3 occasions – 1999 to 2005, 2009 to 2013 and 2023 to current.
- Finance Advisory Committee on 3 occasions – 1999 to 2005, 2009 to 2013 and 2023 to current.
- Salaries Advisory Committee 2017 to 2023.
- Lutheran Support Ministries 1998 to 2007.
I have a heart for outreach. The Beacon Team established a primary school aged children’s holiday program in 2009 which has run 3 times per year, and I am still actively involved in that, sharing the love of Jesus with the children.
I am a retired accountant, having worked in the meat and dairy industries, secondary school administration and pharmacy financials.
I play tenpin bowling each week with a group of about 50 retired people and am able to share my faith with many in the group.
I have 8 grandchildren, 6 of whom live in Palmy and I get to spend much time with them, especially following their involvement in sports.
While I am able, I desire to continue to serve the church, using the gifts God has given me.
Psalm 100:2a ‘Serve the Lord with gladness.’
Rev Warren Paltridge (Marton)
I am Pastor Warren Paltridge minister of St Martin Lutheran Church, Marton and Assistant Bishop over the last two years. It’s been a great blessing to be part of the LCNZ Council
of Synod having grown up in New Zealand and having received God’s support through the Church. I have lots of experience in ministry in NZ having spent 6 years in Hamilton as pastor
at St Matthew, and now 6 years as pastor in Marton. The other half of my ministry has been in Australia. We are currently living in Palmerston North and I transit to Marton for work.
I have always found the Church a great source of spiritual help, as we as a family have gone through various health challenges, struggled with having a child with special needs – through this God has taught me to rely on his support, and this has enabled me to be more understanding in my pastoral care work.
One of the challenges, in my opinion, we are facing as a Church is how we support our volunteers who work in the Church, with limited numbers of people to do
the work, and an often still demanding or increasing workload. I enjoy being able to gather together with others for Convention and I think this is a very important time which brings encouragement to one another.
David Pang (Botany)
I am the chairperson of Botany Lutheran Church in Auckland. Before transferring my membership to Botany in 2014, I was a member of Mountainside Lutheran Church and served as deputy chair of the Executive Committee for about two years.
My academic journey in New Zealand started at Victoria University of Wellington followed by the University of Auckland. It was funded by the Board of World Mission (Lutheran Church of America). My PhD degree awarded by the University of Auckland was self-funded.
I have been licensed for Word and Sacrament since 2014.
In 2013, I received a short-term grant from the Australian Lutheran College’s Institute for Theology and Ethics to undertake research entitled “Cross-Cultural Ministry is Building the Body of Christ.” And in 2023, I completed the LCANZ Lay Preacher Training course conducted by the Australian Lutheran College.
I worked several years as a secondary school teacher and principal in Basel Mission (Lutheran) and Anglican schools in Malaysia and Brunei. In New Zealand, I worked as an Academic Learning Adviser (student learning) at the University of Auckland for ten years. At the university, I was a staff representative in the International Education Committee chaired by the Assistant Vice-Chancellor International for two years.
My past roles in the church/community include the chairperson of Kelston Community Church, chaplain at Manukau Institute of Technology, and member of School Board of Trustees at Ormiston Senior College.
My wife, Fui Mee, and I are retirees. Fui Mee was an IRD officer for 23 years. I was hesitant when Pastor Mark Whitfield first asked me to consider for election to the Council of Synod. But it prompted me to re-read the congregational reports to the 42nd Convention of synod (2023). Almost every congregation was plateauing or trending towards declines in membership and attendance, and ‘looking’ for ‘solutions’.
To put things in perspective, here is a quote from Jean A King’s The Lutheran Story (1994):
In all there are 12 LCNZ parishes, ten in the North Island and two in the South, and the 1991 statistics give the number of baptised members as 2078. To try to stop the current trend of dwindling numbers involved in church activities, a Summit Conference, with representatives from each congregation, was held in 1992. One of the decisions reached was to have all LCNZ congregations effectively engaging in mission to their community by 1996.
As of today, the just ‘hanging on’ feeling continues and the risk of stumbling into a state of no return is real.
I am not an expert on evangelism, church revival or church planting. But we’re all in this together! It is in this spirit that I have accepted the nomination from Pastor Mark and St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Christchurch. Thank you.
Amaana Pilli (Auckland)
I thank Mountainside members for giving me this opportunity to present myself as nominee for the LCNZ Council of Synod.
My name is Amaana Pilli, citizen of NZ, member of Mountainside Lutheran Church, Auckland for the past 17 years. I also attended St Matthew Lutheran Church in Hamilton between the years 2014 – 2018 when I was studying for my BE Hons. degree. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Engineering Management in order to further better opportunities for leadership. This is also a reason why I’m led to learn about church leadership.
There is so much trouble in this world, but we can overcome this trouble through the help of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. As the church is expanding, the proportion of children (young adults and youth ) need this help to overcome their struggles and live with freedom in Christ. Like I have found through our church.
I am passionate about helping children to achieve this freedom and have an intimate relationship with the Lord. In doing so they can go and sow many seeds as Jesus has given the most beautiful gift which is the Holy Spirit and commanded us to go make disciples. I will leave with this favourite verse from the bible.
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5 NIV.
