Our History

We have been leading children’s educational outcomes in Australia for more than 185 years.

The first Queensland Lutheran school opened in 1839, serving children and families in what is now known as the Brisbane suburb of Nundah.

Lutheran education has been influential in pioneering the way in values-based education for children:

• Lutheran schools were among some of the first to introduce middle schooling programs.
• From as early as 1974, a commitment to outdoor education saw the establishment of unique outdoor education experiences (such as St Peter’s Lutheran College’s Ironbark program). Experiences like these offer students opportunities to grow in self-confidence and resilience, and reflect on spirituality and their relationships.
• Lutheran early childhood services and schools are co-educational, inclusive, and welcoming to students from all faiths.
• Our early childhood services and schools belong to a national network of support, led by Lutheran Education Australia and the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.

What is the Lutheran faith?

Founded during the 16th century by Martin Luther, the Lutheran Church is now the largest Protestant church in the world.

The Lutheran faith centres around all that God does for us, seen most clearly in the life and teaching of Jesus and the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s favour or to gain ‘eternal life’. We simply respond to God’s love for us by bringing that love to life through loving others.

Who is Martin Luther?

Martin Luther was born in Germany in 1483, the son of town councillor. Like any who received an education in that time, his early schooling took place under the Medieval Church system. Luther studied liberal arts at university and was then awarded a post-graduate place to study law. But, partway through his law degree, Luther made the decision to instead pursue a monastic life.

By 1517, Luther was a Doctor and Lecturer in Theology at the University of Wittenberg.* It was at this time he found himself wrestling with some of the theology and ideologies that had been taught to him by the Medieval Church.

Luther wrote 95 theses inviting debate about several Medieval Church practices that he saw as corrupt and contrary to Biblical teaching (such as the practice of buying indulgences). Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg for the townspeople to read. Thanks to the recent invention of the printing press, Luther’s ‘95 Theses’ spread quickly throughout Germany and Europe, generating discussion around certain key theological understandings of Christian belief and igniting a divergence between Roman Catholicism and emerging Protestant traditions.

Luther is credited as one of the leading figures of the Protestant Reformation.

Another of Luther’s most significant contributions was his work translating the Old and New Testaments from the original Hebrew and Greek texts into his German mother tongue. This made scripture accessible to everyday folk for the first time, giving people the agency to read and interpret the Bible for themselves.

*The university still stands today, now named the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.

The Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand

The Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand today subscribes to the central teachings of Lutherans worldwide, and believes that the Lutheran Confessions, contained in the 1580 Book of Concord, are true expositions of the word of God. Whoever you are, whatever your story, you are welcome.