By Joe Isenhower Jr. SAN ANTONIO — “Multiplying the critical event” is the key to increasing the number of adult confirmations, Synod President Gerald Kieschnick told those at a “One Mission Ablaze: Igniting Congregations” event Feb. 13-14. Pastors and lay…

“Light for the Darkness,” a new worship service designed to help congregations celebrate Ablaze!, is now available free on the LCMS World Mission Web site at www.lcmsworldmission.org/ablaze. Ablaze! is LCMS World Mission’s initiative that seeks to reach 100 million people…

By Paula Schlueter Ross About five minutes after an American walks into a home in Pakistan, his Muslim host likely will be pulling out the Quran, eager to explain its teachings. “Witnessing is a priority for them,” said Rev. Steve Hughey, director…

The Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) is recommending that this summer’s Synod convention declare the Synod to be in altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. The resolution of support for fellowship with the…

Dr. John H. Tietjen, president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, through the early 1970s and prominent in the Synod’s doctrinal controversy at that time, died Feb. 15 at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, of complications from cancer. Tietjen, 75,…

Dr. August Bernthal, a former district president, Synod vice president and pioneer in refugee resettlement, died Jan. 27 at his home in Winter Haven, Fla., of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. The funeral service was Feb. 2 at Grace Lutheran Church,…

Note: Reporter cannot accept notices about items offered for sale or that people wish to purchase. Items described as “Wanted” or “Available” are sought or may be obtained for shipping costs only. Wanted Choral music for small congregational choir with…

More on sem wives I simply could not believe my eyes when I read the comments in the February “Letters” from two individuals who were protesting the Council of Presidents’ policy  that the wives of seminarians be LCMS members.  What…

“Conflict in the Bylaws” and “Funding National Ministries and Administrative Functions” are the titles of the latest installments of “Board Briefs,” an online question-and-answer feature from the Synod’s Board of Directors. “Board Briefs IV” once again addresses questions raised in…

Membership among Lutheran churches in the last two years increased by 570,000, bringing the number of Lutherans worldwide to nearly 66 million by the end of 2003. Regular statistics provided by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) indicate an average .9…

Lutheran “singles” — never married, divorced or widowed — are invited to attend a get-together sponsored by International Lutheran Single Adults (ILSA) July 10 in St. Louis, the opening day of the Synod’s national convention there. The gathering will begin at…

The Library for the Blind, a ministry of Lutheran Blind Mission, St. Louis, offers free, on loan, audio-cassette materials, including 1,394 books on tape; 1,482 Lutheran Hour sermons; and eight magazines. As noted previously in Reporter, the library also offers thousands…

Subscribers to LCMS e-News now have five more newsletters from whichto choose on the free, Web-based LCMS e-News subscription service: “Lutheran Women in Mission,” produced by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, communicates the work and mission of the LWML to…

By David L. Mahsman The Synod’s Board of Directors and Council of Presidents (COP) had plenty to talk about when they met in St. Louis Feb. 6 and 7. Each group had asked independently to meet with the other.  The…