David Grulke

BTh, Grad Dip Min, Grad Dip FET, MA, MEd, PhD

I grew up as an Army kid, living in various parts of Australia along her eastern seaboard, until my parents settled in Warburton, VIC.  I completed my secondary schooling at Luther College, Croydon, VIC, and joined the Australian Army Reserve as an Infantry soldier in year 12.  I was always intent on becoming a Lutheran Pastor, so I went straight from high school to Luther Seminary, Adelaide, SA.  My first two years were tough and very challenging, not just because of my spiritual immaturity, but because I discovered a church I knew very little about.  I deferred from the Seminary and spent the next couple of years with the Army.  I eventually returned to Luther Seminary to complete my studies, staying with the Army, where I met my wife Ruth.  After 9 years of service, prior to ordination, I eventually broke ties with the Army.

 
I was ordained as a Pastor of the Lutheran Church of Australia in 1990.  Since then I have served a number of parishes in Queensland and Tasmania.  I was a school chaplain and housemaster to a Lutheran college in Brisbane, and head of campus to an outdoor education centre for another Lutheran college on the Sunshine Coast, QLD.  I returned to the Australian Army as a Defence Chaplain, spent time on operational service overseas, eventually retiring after 15 years as a Senior Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel).

In 1994 I began a Graduate Diploma in leadership, at the Brisbane campus of the Australian Catholic University.  On ACU’s advice, I left the GradDip program in favour of a Master’s degree, focussing on leadership theory and Practical Theology, culminating in a thesis on Israel’s transition to monarchy in terms of legitimation and social theory.  ACU offered me a full scholarship to their Doctoral program, in which I explored the legitimation of the Public Office of the Ministry within the Lutheran Church of Australia.  During this same period I completed a Graduate Diploma in Further Education and Training and, thanks to a number of courses on training design and development in the Army, I also completed a Masters in Education, focusing on lifelong learning, with the University of Southern Queensland.

Today I serve a growing missional church in Albury, NSW, developing training for church planters and mission practitioners for the wider church.  I have a wife, three children, a grandchild, two dogs and a fluctuating number of chickens. I run, garden, read, play, and enjoy life with my family, both at home and in the local church.