By Joe Isenhower Jr. With more than a third of the 6,073 LCMS congregations not reporting statistical information for 2006, approximate totals indicate that baptized membership Synodwide decreased by 22,867 (to 2,417,999) and confirmed membership fell by 13,876 (to 1,856,783)…

Dr. Leopoldo Sánchez is the first occupant of the newly established Werner R.H. and Elizabeth Ringger Krause Chair for Hispanic Ministries at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Sánchez is associate professor of systematic theology and director of the seminary’s Center for…

A number of new books for children are now available from Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis, just in time for Christmas: The Real Story of Creation ($16.99, item no. 56-2407), by Paul L. Maier, teaches children ages 4 and…

November is “National Adoption Month,” according to Lutherans For Life (LFL), and the pro-life, pro-family ministry is offering a number of resources designed to help congregations call attention to both sides of adoption — those who give up their babies…

The Board of Directors of the Concordia Plan Services is seeking nominations for a President/CEO.   The President/CEO reports to the Board of Trustees of Concordia Plans and the Board of Directors of Concordia Plan Services.  Both boards are composed of…

BALTIMORE — Leaders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) discussed their denominations’ cooperative ministries when they met Oct. 24 here at the Lutheran Center.  The ministries address domestic disaster response, immigration matters,…

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, is sponsoring a charter bus trip to Frankenmuth, Mich., Dec. 8. The itinerary includes a visit to historic St. Lorenz Lutheran Church, established in 1845 and one of the Synod’s 14 charter congregations; a Christmas…

Overseas tourists who visit Germany — the motherland of the Reformation — often expect “a country full of Lutherans,” says Dr. Jobst Schöne, bishop emeritus of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, or SELK, an LCMS partner church. In…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. Two schools operated by LCMS congregations have been named “blue-ribbon schools” for 2007 — the highest honor that the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) gives to individual schools each year. They are Immanuel Lutheran School, Albuquerque, N.M.,…

Congregations have until March 3 to apply for Good Samaritan Grants to help them develop new programs and services for immigrants and refugees. Wheat Ridge Ministries of Itasca, Ill., and Baltimore-based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service co-sponsor the annual program that…

By Sarah Schafer An estimated 20 to 25 LCMS families returned to piles of ash and rubble — where their homes once stood — after a week of wildfires that raced across much of Southern California, from Los Angeles to…

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 Missal stand, flagon, and The Lutheran Lectionary…

The following institutions of the Concordia University System (CUS) are seeking candidates for positions described below: Concordia College-New York, Bronxville, N.Y., seeks to fill the faculty chair position in the Teacher Education Program. Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., seeks to fill…

‘Losers,’ indeed In reading Uwe Siemon-Netto’s October commentary, I am persuaded that it is Ted Turner who has it right in saying that Christianity is for losers — lost sheep, lost coins, lost sons, lost me. If I ever think…

DAVID HAGEN, Horicon, Wis.; DEBRA MARZLUFT, Burt, Mich.; TRACIE J. PAYNE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and AIMEE J. WALSH, Plainfield, Ill., have applied for reinstatement to the Minister of Religion-Commissioned roster of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.  Correspondence regarding these applications should…