Navigating a Religious Community Through Turbulence, Progress Review Alex Nocher

This second quarterly review shows progress on the MPhil thesis Navigating a Religious Community through Turbulence: Leaders of the German Lutheran Church and the Queensland Government Post First World War. Three new sections are considered in the review. First, the theoretical section What is Lutheran Leadership? develops a multi-dimensional definition of pastoral authority that has not been previously developed in the past Queensland Lutheran scholarship. Second, Chapter Three analyses interwar pastoral leadership by the establishment of the UELCA, the congregational incorporation records at the Queensland State Archives and case studies of Pastors Doehler and Theile. Third, Chapter Four deals with civic reintegration at the community level, language transition, and the reaction to the Great Depression. Short-term objectives are to finish Chapter Four referencing to Lutheran newspapers before December 2026, pursue Brisbane church archive sources, write up the conclusion before December 2026 and submit the thesis before May 2027.