Corrie Steel

Hi, my name is Corrie Steel and I am married to Dianne. We have four daughters: Cate (14), Eloise (12), Sylvie (10) and Adeline (3). We have not always been Lutherans, but thanks be to God, we became Lutherans as adults after studying the Scriptures and realising what we believed (growing up in Catholic and Brethren families) did not match up with what the Scriptures teach.

When we were about to join the LCA we were made aware of an upcoming vote at Synod (2015) on women's ordination. We decided not to join the church until after the vote. When women's ordination was voted down, we joined the LCA thinking that was the end of the women's ordination debate - little did we know. All our children were then baptised into the church, with our youngest, Adeline, baptised in 2020.

I continued to study the scriptures and learn more, and was amazed at how the scriptures came alive, once the correct theology was revealed, and the proper distinction between law and gospel, understood. I was a high school teacher and started up a Bible study with some students in the lunch breaks, and realised that was what I was passionate about. With encouragement from my wife and others in the church, I decided to enrol at seminary and study to be a pastor. My first year at seminary was great, and we were looking forward to moving to Adelaide to continue studying in person. We were then made aware of the staffing changes when the lecturers were placed on a half call and lectures would all be online, and not in person. Most of the confessional lecturers then (understandably) moved on.

Since then classes are all online, and subjects are also studied externally through other denominations' seminaries. These subjects are mostly very liberal, and undermine the Scriptures as the inspired, inerrant word of God. There has also been an infiltration of woke ideologies into the seminary. While there are still some faithful, confessional lecturers at ALC, it is increasingly heading in a liberal direction.

For these reasons, and the constant push for women's ordination in the LCA, despite it being against Scripture and the Theses of Agreement, I, with my family's support, have decided to study overseas at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. I want to ensure that I am trained properly as a Lutheran pastor, with a proper understanding of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, in a Synod that holds to Scripture, despite the pressure of the culture.

This will be a big undertaking for us as a family, but we are looking forward to the adventure and where God leads us, and to be able to study the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions, and to return to serve a Confessional Lutheran Church here in Australia.

In Christ,

Corrie, Di, Cate, Eloise, Sylvie and Adeline.