“All that has transpired will change the face of the Southern District,” President Kurtis Schultz told the Council of Presidents (COP) meeting.  “Many have lost all things except the mercy and grace of God.  And that’s all we need.” While Schultz…

BERLIN — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belgium was accepted as the newest member of the International Lutheran Council during its 21st conference here Aug. 27-Sept. 7. The ILC is an association of 30 confessional Lutheran churches from all over the…

Care and supervision of church workers — including hurricane relief, lay worker training, new worker placements, and military reserve chaplains — occupied major segments of the Sept. 17-21 Council of Presidents (COP) meeting in St. Louis.  The COP includes presidents…

By Kim Krull As Gulf Coast residents prepared to assess damage from their second hurricane in less than a month, many no doubt echoed the weariness of Lutheran school principal Lois Rost. “Everywhere I looked there was wreckage,” said Rost,…

By Paula Schlueter Ross In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, something unexpected happened at Trinity Lutheran Church in downtown Orlando, Fla.  As its small Lutheran Women’s Missionary League group rallied to assemble LWML “survivor kits” for evacuees arriving in Orlando, dozens…

Teens who are abused will be the focus of “YM2006: A Youth Ministry Symposium” set for Jan. 13-15 at the JW Marriott hotel in Houston. LCMS District and Congregational Services — Youth Ministry will host the conference planned for professional and…

Discernment takes time My letter concerns the encouragement mentioned in last month’s story on the Model Theological Conference in Scottsdale that laypeople be adept at judging doctrine. A layperson does not come up out of the baptismal water judging doctrine…

“Christian Faith and Human Beginnings,” a report concluding that human embryos, beginning with conception, are the unfolding of a unique human life, was adopted by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations at its meeting Sept. 22-25 in St. Louis.…

For information on how to volunteer for hurricane cleanup and repair work in the LCMS Southern and Texas Districts, see the LCMS World Mission and LCMS World Relief/Human Care Web sites. At this time, the Southern District is seeking teams, each…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. Rev. Philip Wottrich, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Covington, La., says three other pastors on a relief team sent by the Synod’s Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support (CMGS) and LCMS World Relief/Human Care after Hurricane…

Five LCMS congregations’ church buildings in the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina may have to be demolished as a result of damage from the storm — this according to Rev. David Lewis, the Southern District’s coordinator of District Disaster…

Even though many LCMS congregations were expected to observe “Lutheran Women’s Missionary League Sunday” on Oct. 2, the suggested date, it’s not too late for those who haven’t yet planned such an observance. Congregations may celebrate “LWML Sunday” any time,…

By Paula Schlueter Ross Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod congregations now sponsor 31 Outreach Centers for the Blind, and 10 more centers are poised to open later this year, according to Rev. Dave Andrus, executive director of Lutheran Blind Mission, an LCMS mission…

LCMS Youth Ministry will announce no earlier than Oct. 7 if New Orleans is still the site for the 2007 LCMS National Youth Gathering, says Rev. Terry Dittmer. Dittmer is director of LCMS District and Congregational Services (DCS) — Youth Ministry,…

Dr. Oswald C.J. Hoffmann, religious broadcasting pioneer and honorary speaker of radio’s “The Lutheran Hour,” who died Sept. 8 (2005) in St. Louis after a brief illness, likely would have appreciated the words of LCMS President Gerald B. Kieschnick at…

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is beginning its 14th season of “Bach at the Sem” concerts featuring presentations of J.S. Bach’s music by The American Kantorei under the direction of Robert Bergt. The concerts are free and open to the public,…