Council of Synod report to Synod 2025
Council of Synod
Nga mihi mahana nui, it is my privilege as chair of the LCNZ Council of Synod (CoS) to present this report to the 43rd Convention of Synod.
Firstly, I wish to acknowledge and thank the CoS team for volunteering their time, talents, and gifts for the purpose of providing good, effective leadership to the LCNZ.
CoS has worked diligently on behalf of the LCNZ, not with the objective of ‘ticking boxes,’ rather with the desire to support the mission and ministry of our congregations within their communities.
Following the Convention of Synod in 2023 there were several new personnel and vacancies in the CoS ranks and by the end of August all positions were filled.
These consisted of:
- Episcopal oversight was provided by Bishop Robert Bartholomeus and then on his retirement Bishop Richard Schwedes.
- Pastor Warren Paltridge accepted the nomination as Assistant Bishop
- Pastor Phil Husband accepted the nomination to the role of Congregational Life Facilitator
- Pastor Andrew Marr continued in the role of pastor representative and accepted the nomination as Chairperson
- Lesley Johnson continued as the Lay representative.
- Andrew Mattiske continues as the Lay Representative
- Dennis Mollet accepted the nomination as the Convenor of Finance Advisory Committee (and acting Treasurer)
As this convention draws to a close, the term of Lesley Johnson draws to an end as she has completed her four terms on the Council of Synod. We thank Lesley for her eight years of dedicated service. We are sure that we will find Lesley in other roles as we move on. Andrew Mattiske has advised Council of Synod of his resignation as he and Karin move to Albury in NSW, Australia. Andrew’s dedication to six years of service is exemplary and he will be missed, particularly for his leadership in meetings.
Office of LCNZ Bishop post-2023 convention
At the 42nd Convention of Synod in Marton there was no nomination for a person to take the vacant Bishop role. After conversations with the LCA College of Bishops the LCNZ and LCA NSW & ACT District a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was entered into with the LCA NSW & ACT District which provided the episcopal oversight required.
This in turn meant that the plan for the incoming bishop to be residing in Hamilton and holding calls to both a half-time bishop position and a half-time congregational pastor role at St Matthew in Hamilton was not enacted. This is still a ‘live’ option should a pastor be identified and accept the role of LCNZ Bishop. Until that time the MOU remains in place. While this was not the outcome that was perhaps initially preferred, I believe that both the CoS and the LCNZ as a whole have been particularly blessed by ministry guidance and support of both Bishop Robert and Bishop Richard in the synodical period and look forward to that continuing in the new period.
Robert and Richard both committed to regular travel to New Zealand and have committed to visiting every congregation twice a year.
LCNZ office support staff
Rosie Schefe was the Administrator at the beginning of the last Synodical period. Unfortunately, she resigned in June 2023 and returned to Australia with her husband Rev Geoff Schefe. Thank you, Rosie, for the service and skills you dedicated to this role.
Wivian Buckrell again stepped up to the plate and admirably filled in while a replacement was recruited. Thank you Wivian.
Council of Synod appointed Debbie Venz to the role with a start in October 2023. Debbie came to us with a wealth of experience, and an intimate knowledge of the systems, structures and procedures used by the LCANZ. She has been instrumental in the transition from an in-situ Bishop to the remote, episcopal oversight model we are currently under with the MoU. Without Debbie’s efforts over the last 18 months, I am sure that the LCNZ would has been in a far poorer position and far less organised. The CoS consider Debbie to be a gift and blessing to the church and are thankful for all she has done to make our (CoS) lives easier and well managed.
Finance Administrator Karolina Przybytek-Chrobak continued in her role until November 2024 when she resigned for personal reasons. Her skills and dedication have been sorely missed. Her workload has been reassigned to Debbie Venz. We wish to take this opportunity to thank Karolina for her service to the LCNZ.
Professional Standards Officer Denise Muschamp continued in her role until December 2024. Following a restructure in the Professional Standards Department in Adelaide, her contract was not renewed, and she has since moved to another role in LCA Victoria (including Tasmania) District Office. Denise’s gentle but firm manner and approach, (in what can be a challenging area of work) has also been a blessing to the LCNZ and is being missed. Her workload has been reassigned to Tim Ross (PSD Manager) and Elizabeth Ewers (Safe Church Coordinator.) As a result of her work there is a greater understanding and acceptance of the need to commit to Safe Church practise. We are working with the Professional Standards team to manage this transition period and ensure this continues. Thank you, Denise.
These people have all been a wonderful support for CoS and the LCNZ: often doing essential work that goes unnoticed and at times, un-thanked. It is reassuring to know they all had a focus on where it needs to be and served us diligently in their roles.
Thank you, Rosie, Wivian, Karolina, Denise, and Debbie.
Mountainside Ministry Initiative
At the 41st Convention of the LCNZ in 2021 an application from Mountainside Lutheran Church saw the decision taken to release from Gateway Gift Fund a sum of $187,500 to support cross-cultural ministry at Mountainside. This grant was to be provided over a three-year period.
This work is bearing fruit and will be continued; further funding has been provided to Mountainside by GGTB via the Major Grants process.
Property Matters
The move away from our bishop being in Wellington saw the LCNZ make the obvious choice to relinquish the lease held for its office in Molesworth Street, Wellington. Bishop Richard works out of his office in Bella Vista, NSW and Debbie Venz works from home.
The manse in Khandallah was deemed unliveable and is currently empty. The CoS have been collaborating with specialists to provide a proposal to rectify the design and maintenance problems that led to the issues that were highlighted to the Convention in 2023. This proposal is being presented to this Convention of Synod. If the proposal is successful, the completion of this work will result in the property either being offered for private rental or sale. CoS have been working to get this moving and have been grappling with a number of issues including (but not limited to) costs, funding, remoteness from Wellington, alternative options, and valuations; all of which have created a ‘perfect storm’ for the LCNZ. We put that proposal to you in good faith and ask you to prayerfully consider the solutions offered.
Pastor payroll issues
In 2024 it was brought to the attention of CoS that a number of parishes had not met their obligations to pay pastors by way of LCA Superannuation Scheme contributions. These errors were not intentional, and we have been working with the effected parishes and pastors to put this right, and we are pleased to say that we now have agreements made with the pastors concerned. We expect all outstanding payments to have been made by 30 June 2025.
This episode led to a review of the current payroll processing, and an offer from LCA. We chose to accept the offer from the LCA to make their upgraded HRS system available to LCNZ. This agreement means that we will be transferring all payroll processing to LCA HRS in October 2025. With the greater oversight this system offers, it should mean that these issues will be unlikely to reoccur. In addition to more robust oversight, we will receive increased reporting, simpler transactions, and payday payments of all entitlements.
We would like to take opportunity to remind all church councils that they need to be fully aware of the requirements of the Pastors Salary schedules and make those payments accordingly.
Mission Strategic Direction
The CoS have engaged in a Mission Strategic Direction process. This has cumulated in the Mission Strategic Direction being presented at this Convention of Synod. We commend this for your consideration. Please read and pray for this proposal carefully as this will determine the direction of the LCNZ over the next the synodical terms . COS are intending to use this as a benchmark for all operational and capital expenditure. A round table discussion for delegates will take place during convention before the proposal is put to the vote.
Constitution
The last update of the LCANZ Constitution and By-Laws was made in 2021. Since then, there have been several changes made by the LCA to their constitution and By-Laws (conventions in 2021, 2023, 2024). These include provisions for changes to Districts, the LCNZ is a District of the LCA, and as such these changes and provisions now need to be included in the LCNZ constitution and Bylaws. This process has been completed by taking the updated LCA District Model Constitution and Bylaws and inserting the LCNZ details into that. The alternative approach of taking the LCNZ 2021 Constitution and inserting the changes proved to be difficult. COS commend these changes to you. To ratify these changes to the LCNZ Constitution, a 2/3 majority of LCNZ Convention delegates will be required. For the By-Laws a simple majority will be required.
FAC
CoS were able to find a member to act as the Convenor of FAC – Dennis Mollet. We thank Dennis for making himself available in that role. Upon a review of the FAC operations, COS have determined that this committee is no longer required. The reasoning for this is because the financial administrator undertakes the day-to-day transactions and the LCNZ have retained the services of CATAS to produce the regular and annual financial performance reports. These are presented to CoS with a summary of the work completed by Dennis. The role of review by FAC has been rendered unnecessary and a duplication to the other steps. COS have agreed that this committee is now no longer required under current operating systems. The other role of FAC was as investment managers. GGTB have engaged Rutherford Rede to undertake that role and FAC no longer need to make those decisions. The proposal to remove the FAC from the By-Laws is commended to you for prayerful consideration in advance of Convention.
Wairarapa Closure
The closure of the Wairarapa Congregation was finally concluded in August 2023. We give thanks to God for the people, ministry and service of this community. As a final action, a donation of $4,000 was gifted to the LCNZ from the congregation.
Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care
The NZ Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care presented their final report (Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light.) to the Governor General in June 2024. To date the Government has been concentrating on the proposed redress scheme and have not yet provided any requirements for Faith Communities in their training, registrations and other working for the provision of care and protection to vulnerable people. Once these are in place we will need to work with PSD in Australia as to how we enact these requirements as a supplement to the LCA policies and procedures. The current LCA policies and procedures are required to be followed by the LCNZ councils and entities as the LCNZ is functionally a district of the LCA.
Gateway Gift
COS continue to thank the provisions of Gateway gift for the provision of funding for the shortfall in LCNZ Office of Bishop. This allows the work of the LCNZ ministry to continue and not be hampered by the lack of funding or requesting additional funding from the congregations of the LCNZ.
Messages of hope
Unfortunately, due to the level of funding required to maintain this contract, CoS determined that this was not sustainable and the agreement with Lutheran Media was not renewed in 2023.
Spice Retreat
The Spice Retreats for the spouses of pastors in LCNZ was reinstated in 2024. The initial retreat was held in Wellington and in 2025 was held in Auckland. The pastors and their spouses appreciated the support for these retreats.
Communication
Enews were introduced in 2023, and these are published nine months of the year. This is a replacement for the monthly Bishop’s report and uses LCA campaign monitor platform for production, archiving and distribution. If you have items that can be shared among all LCNZ congregations, they should be sent to admin@lutheran.or.nz. Debbie Venz would love to hear from you. We are especially keen to hear stories about how congregations around the LCNZ are deepening their relationships and engaging in the mission of the church
The LCNZ website has been amended and continues to be updated on a regular basis. The assistance of the LCA Communications team is greatly appreciated.
Gatherings
With the LCA Convention of Synod once again discussing the matter of Ordination of Women and Men in 2024, Gatherings were held in Auckland, Fielding, Wellington, Upper Moutere and Christchurch. This allowed for the presentation of the proposal and discussions for all members to be engaged.
LCNZ Small Catechism
The CoS discovered that there are limited copies of the catechism available in New Zealand and there is a need for this to be available to congregation. They have approved the reprinting of the LCNZ catechism with a new cover. The new edition is expected to be available later in 2025.
Congregations and Parishes
The CoS meet face to face twice a year. All other meetings are held using Microsoft Teams. The face-to-face meetings are hosted by congregations, which allows CoS to meet with local Church Councils and hear about local issues, triumphs and hopes for the future. In this synodical period, they have met with Manawatu Parish and Auckland and Botany congregations. The CoS has been seeking to improve the communication and relationships we have with congregational leaders through these face-to-face meetings. CoS have appreciated the time and engagement from these leadership teams and believes these meetings have generated some beneficial conversations and established a positive foundation for furthering the mission of the church. Expect these to continue in the next synodical period. We look forward to meeting you in person as we come to your location.
Conclusion
On a personal note, as Chair of CoS am grateful for the support and encouragement of my fellow members on the CoS and from Bishop’s Robert and Richard. I want to thank the various congregations and parishes who welcomed us, shared meals, shared the highs and lows of their ministries and communities of faith. It is very much a privilege to be invited into your spaces. Over this past synodical term, I believe the LCNZ is experiencing a renewed sense of calling to be a missional church. This will mean that we as a church will be doing new things- some will be successful, some will not be- but we, as Christians with a Lutheran world view, have something to offer our brothers and sisters in Christ and to those who do not yet know him, so let’s do that. I would like to close this report with an exhortation; that we would do what we created in Christ Jesus to do- that we would all do the good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do and in doing so we might participate in the coming of his kingdom and his will being done here as it is in heaven.
May the peace of God, that surpasses all our human understanding, guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
Respectfully submitted.
Nāku noa, nā
Rev Andy Marr
Appendix
Statistics
LCNZ statistics return as at 31 December 2024
Confirmed members 2022 to 2024
| Parish/Congregation | Confirmed members 2024 | Confirmed members 2023 | Confirmed members 2022* (from other sources) |
| Auckland | 113 | 111 | 111 |
| Botany | 13 | 8 | 10 |
| Hamilton | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Kawerau | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Hawkes Bay | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Whanganui | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Manawatu | 110 | 113 | 125 |
| Marton | 23 | 25 | 18 |
| Wellington | 72 | 70 | 63 |
| Upper Moutere | 41 | 25 | 41 |
| Ōtautahi Christchurch | 45 | 36 | 20
|
| LCNZ total | 447 | 319 | 440 |
