History of Altogether in Ministry (AIM)​


Since the formation of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) in 1966, recognition of and participation by women in the life of the LCA gradually developed, to allow women to:
  • vote at congregational meetings (1966)
  • be delegates at Synod (1981)
  • be a member of church boards and committees (1984)
  • be included in the guidelines for reading lessons in worship (1984)
  • assist in the distribution of Holy Communion (1989)
  • be a lay assistant as an alternative to elder (1990)
  • be chairperson of a congregation (1990)
The concept that women as well as men might be called to be pastors in the LCA has been recognised since the LCA's inception, and kept alive through ad hoc discussion and activity.

In the early 1990s this discussion became more organised, in the form of a Women's Ministry Network, whose aim was:
'We want to affirm the work and ministry of women in the past, encourage participation in the present and actively seek out the exciting possibilities for service in the future, including ordination.'

1991 Facing Injustice Today Workshop, Luther Seminary, SA
Amongst the resolutions from the Women’s Workshop group at this conference were the following:
  • A Women’s Support Network be established in each District that encourages and supports women to be involved on committees, decision-making bodies and in roles from which they are currently excluded at congregational, district and national level.
  • A network for information dissemination be established:
    • among people concerned about Women’s Issues
    • and to the wider Church through existing organs eg. The Lutheran, Lutheran Theological Journal, Lutheran Women, Table Talk …
    • and that individuals target key people in their congregations to keep informed, to dialogue with and to seek support for the concerns of women in the church.
Countless people over the years have worked towards these goals, many at personal cost to themselves, and many have been lost to the LCA.

Also in 1991
The Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relationships (CTICR) releases its first report on the ordination of women.

1998
Symposium on the ordination of women at Luther Seminary
Women are allowed to be synodical chairpersons.

1999
The Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relationships found after a decade of study, that there was no theological objection to the ordination of women.

2000
At General Convention of Synod a majority vote to ordain women of 53% was short of the 66% + 1 vote required for a doctrinal change.

2002
Courageous Voices Conference, Concordia College, SA

2003
General Convention of Synod votes to allow women to be lay readers, and General Church Council undertakes to appoint a task force to implement church wide discussion on women's ordination in preparation for the 2006 General Convention of Synod.

2005
The Lutheran Theological Journal devotes its first edition of the year to the question of women's ordination.

2006
The General Convention of Synod again failed to pass the motion, by a similar margin to 2000. Convention passed a motion calling on the General Church Council to establish a committee to pursue ways to help build consensus on the issue within the church.

2009
Extravagant Hearth Conference in Adelaide
General Convention of Synod: dialogue group established.
​
2011
Hermeneutics symposium in the Barossa Valley.

2012
Time to Soar Conference in Adelaide
All Saints Conference in Brisbane

2013
General Convention of Synod: Proposals in favour of the ordination of women are debated but not put to the vote.
LCA ordination dialogue group produces the 'Ordination we're listening dialogue handbook' and group members make themselves available to facilitate dialogue sessions.

2015
General convention achieved 63.59% in favour of St Peter's proposal for the ordination of men and women (which meant it failed by 13 votes to pass).
General Synod accepts an alternative proposal: that the CTICR work to draft an LCA doctrine and theological rationale which allows the ordination of both women and men.

2016
A new name for the network: Altogether In Ministry (AIM).

2018
Another LCANZ General Convention of Synod; another close result!

2019
Rhythms of Grace Conference

Following 2018 General Convention of Synod
Streams in the Desert Community network and website are established (contact [email protected]), as well as various local activities. Increased uptake of online conference tools during the COVID-19 pandemic enables more to connect with worship led by women as well as men.