Last month, 106 Lutheran schools were accredited by the National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA), bringing to 602 the number of schools that have earned that distinction. Meeting Aug. 3-5 in St. Louis, 36 NLSA commissioners approved accreditation for nine high…

Jim Sanft and Linda Olsen have been named to new positions with Concordia Plan Services (CPS), and Jack Pfitzer now fills a renamed CPS management post.  All three are from St. Louis. Concordia Plan Services administers the Synod’s health, disability,…

Pastors and church musicians are not the only ones who will benefit from 280 introductory workshops this fall for the Synod’s new Lutheran Service Book (LSB), says Dr. Paul Grime, executive director of the LCMS Commission on Worship, which prepared…

The Synod’s policy of full financial disclosure provides for making available to members of the Synod (congregations, pastors, teachers, and others on the roster), on written request, the salary grid scales of all synodical and district officials, staff and faculty…

If there’s a bright spot in the Synod’s statistical report for 2005, it’s that “back-door losses” — the number of adults removed from congregational rosters (not counting deaths and transfers) — have declined by 2,453 members.  That figure dropped from…

Participants at the second National Hispanic Lutheran Convention, July 19-22 in Irving, Texas, want to see more Hispanics in national-level LCMS positions. More than 200 people attended the gathering, held every three years.  It is sponsored by the Irving-based National…

Instead of the harsh judgment they may fear, pregnant young people can look to a new LCMS resource for caring support and positive choices for a healthy pregnancy, birth, and parenting options. “Sometimes in churches and communities, pregnant young people are…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. The Synod’s Board of Directors has approved a number of items leading to the eventual move of Concordia University, Austin, Texas, from its current land-locked location. At its Aug. 25-26 meeting in St. Louis, the Board…

Protect My Ministry, an employment and volunteer background-screening company, has joined the LCMS National Contract Program. Barb Ryan, executive director of the Synod’s Department of Human Resources, and Mike Magee, manager of the LCMS National Contract Program, announced the addition…

Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick issued a statement July 26 saying that the Synod “applauds President Bush’s veto last Wednesday [July 19] of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would have expanded federal funding for human embryonic stem-cell research.…

By Uwe Siemon-Netto Evoking the Lutheran doctrine of calling has never been more imperative than in times of world conflict — in a word, now.  The lives of millions of people and the survival of a democratic society, indeed perhaps…

Lois Peacock, a member of the Synod’s Commission on Ministerial Growth and Support since 2001, has received the Health Ministries Association’s (HMA) 2006 Wilkerson-Droege Award for “creative leadership, compassionate ministry, and visionary faithfulness to the faith/health movement.” Peacock, a retired…

Sabbaticals for pastors I enjoy the column “Pressure Points” and consider it a very important place for dialogue and understanding in our Synod. I would like to add one more idea to the July column in which advice was given on…

By Roland Lovstad Emphasizing the need to strengthen the understanding and appreciation of the “common good” activities of the Synod, the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Funding the Mission recommends a “Stewardship Renaissance,” improved communication to congregations and their members, exploration…

“Every cloud has a silver lining,” the saying goes, and it seems Hurricane Katrina is no exception.  (See related story.)  Thousands of people who lived on the Gulf Coast before the storm now live further inland or in other states, which…