Home » Mind & Soul » Lutheranism » The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Of Australia: A Brief History (3)

The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Of Australia: A Brief History (3)

© Rev. Kenneth Fischer

VI. THE SAD INCIDENT OF G. L. C. A.:

PASTOR DANIEL SABROWSKY'S MINISTRY IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

"The Lord hates... a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."-- Proverbs 6:16,19

While Pastor Mack was serving in Queensland, the South Australian congregation also obtained a resident minister. Since the formation of Grace Lutheran Church of Australia in June, 1978, the scattered congregation had been without a resident pastor. Call after call had been returned. They struggled on with weekly tapes from Grace, Hillsboro, and were buoyed by annual visits from Pastor Thomas Dudley. Finally, in 1985 Pastor Dudley heard that Pastor Daniel Sabrowsky, who had recently moved to Portland, was without a call. He was a 1962 graduate of the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary with whom Pastor Dudley had become acquainted. Pastor Sabrowsky had preached occasionally for Dudley and taught a Bible course on the occult at Hillsboro over the years.

Around January, 1985, Pastor Dan Sabrowsky received the call to serve in Australia as an associate pastor for Grace Lutheran of Hillsboro. It was a unique situation. He was called to serve Grace Lutheran Church of Australia only. He would be Pastor Dudley's associate in Australia, but have no authority in Hillsboro. In many ways the set-up seemed needlessly complicated. For the members of Grace Lutheran Church of Australia were actually still members of Grace Lutheran, Hillsboro. Any new member in Australia was actually joining a congregation 12,000 miles away. The only influence on matters in Hillsboro came from the one elder of the G.L.C.A. in Australia. The G.L.C.A. elder had a vote equal to one of the votes of the three elders in Hillsboro. Eventually, this awkward situation would lead to difficulty. Church history has its sad chapters. Many of the details of what happen to Grace Lutheran Church of Australia are not pleasant to recount.

Pastor Dudley arrived first in South Australia to visit the membership and conducted the annual voter's meeting before Pastor Sabrowsky's arrival in August. Some inklings of trouble reared up even before his departure. In what seemed like almost dictatorial style, the Hillsboro elders directed Pastor Sabrowsky as to the scheduled date of his installation and the travel plans. Without consultation, they told him he would tour the field and meet the membership with Pastor Dudley so that Pastor Dudley could introduced him. Pastor Sabrowsky requested the right to make his own visits and expressed the desire to travel with his family because it would be their first international flight. Eventually, Pastor Sabrowsky and his family were allowed to travel together.

The copyright of the article The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Of Australia: A Brief History (3) in Lutheranism is owned by Rev. Kenneth Fischer. Permission to republish The Evangelical Lutheran Synod Of Australia: A Brief History (3) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.