Pastor Ian Vainikka's profile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, my name is Ian Vainikka.  I'm married to Katy since 1987 and we have three children, Seraphina, Bianca and Jacinda.  I was born in Helsinki, Finland, and was baptized into the Lutheran Church of Finland as an infant and was confirmed into the church of my fathers at the age of fifteen.  I migrated to Melbourne, Australia as a teenager together with my family in 1978.  After completing my High School education in Melbourne at the end of 1979, I entered the workforce in January 1980. I established my own components assembly company in 1987 together with my newly wed wife, Katy.  My interests, however, were always directed to theology and organ music.  Therefore, it was only natural that I eventually formalized my theological interests and commenced my studies in theology in the beginning of 1995.  I was ordained into the Lutheran Church of Australia as a pastor in 2001.  For the following four years I served as a pastor in Maitland Lutheran Church, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia,  after which I accepted a call to Nazareth Lutheran Congregation in South Brisbane, Queensland.  I served the Nazareth congregation for three years and I was then called to St Johns Southgate in Victoria.  I consider my role as a pastor a privilege as I'm continually invited to minister to people in the midst of their joys and sufferings offering God's overwhelming mercy and grace.

Pastor Ian