WORLD – The Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) and Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (Selbständige Evangelisch- Lutherische Kirche – SELK) are mourning the deaths of former leaders who led their respective church bodies into partnership with Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC).

LCC-SELK: SELK Bishop Jobst Schöne and LCC President Edwin Lehman sign a declaration of fellowship between the two churches in 1991.

The Lutheran Church of Australia’s former president, Rev. Dr. Lance Graham Steicke, passed on to glory on September 10, 2021, at the age of 88. Dr. Steicke was elected president of the LCA in 1987 and served in that position until his retirement in 2000. Among other work, he led the Australian church into partnership with Lutheran Church–Canada. Dr. Steicke and Rev. Dr. Edwin Lehman, then president of Lutheran Church–Canada, officially signed a Recognition of Relationship between the two church bodies on January 30, 1994 at a meeting in Winnipeg.

LCA-LCC: LCA President Lance Steicke and LCC President Edwin Lehman sign a partnership agreement between the two churches in 1994.

On September 22, 2021, Rev. Dr. Jobst Schöne, Bishop Emeritus of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church also entered into glory. He was 89 years old. Dr. Schöne served as bishop of SELK from 1986 until retiring in 1996. In July 1991, Dr. Schöne and Dr. Lehman signed a protocol document declaring fellowship between LCC and SELK during the latter’s convention in Wisbaden, Germany. Later that year, Dr. Schöne was elected to serve as Vice Chairman of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) alongside Dr. Lehman, who was elected as Chairman. They served two terms together in those positions.

Fuller details on the lives and ministries of Dr. Steicke and Dr. Schöne are available on the website of the International Lutheran Council at www.ilc-online.org.

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