Evidence of women meeting together for Bible study and charitable work goes as far back as the beginning of the Lutheran church in the 1600s.
Documentation shows the women’s groups back ‘home’ in Europe sent packages of clothing and other goods in support of their emigrant sisters in the very early days of settlement, but it was not long before the women in Australia had formed their own groups similar to those in their homeland, specifically to aid the mission, and to support and furnish their own growing, local churches.
Over the years the story of our Lutheran women in Australia has gradually unfolded. By their very nature the women of our church were happy to serve in the background. Many had humble beginnings and consequently most of the early stories of the activities of the women of the Lutheran Church in Australia were written by pastors’ wives.
It appears that the first official Women’s Guilds began in the very early 1900s. The pattern of service to church, home and and mission has continued to the present.
Lutheran Women of Australia was inaugurated in 1966, the result the formation of the Lutheran Church of Australia when two former Lutheran Churches (ELCA and UELCA) united. Our women continue to be the backbone of the church, and there are many stories about our Lutheran women in Australia still to be uncovered.
Lutheran Women magazine as we know it today began in 1967 following the establishment of Lutheran Women of Australia. Continue to visit our site and discover more about us.