By Linda C. Hoops With 83 of 99 counties in Iowa having been declared state disaster areas and estimates of damages surpassing $1.5 billion, some are calling 10 days of flooding in the state “the Katrina of the Midwest.” In…

The national LCMS worship conference, July 22-25 at Concordia University Nebraska, Seward, will offer a wide variety of workshops geared for church secretaries, Sunday school teachers, and other church volunteers. Planners for the Institute on Liturgy, Preaching, and Church Music…

Thomas W. Kuchta, vice president finance/treasurer of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, was named a finalist in the St. Louis Business Journal’s first-ever “CFO [Chief Financial Officer] of the Year” awards competition held June 5 in St. Louis. The St. Louis…

Rev. Kevin A. Massey of Chicago has been appointed director of Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR), a collaborative ministry of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Massey, 42, is an ELCA clergyman who has been…

Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, has cut the price of more than 300 worship bulletins by 45 percent — now through July 31. Standard 11-inch worship bulletins — regularly priced at $8.25 for a pack of 100 — are now…

Delegates to the Lutheran Church–Canada’s June 5-9 convention in Winnipeg, Manitoba, elected a new president and approved altar and pulpit fellowship with a Lutheran church body in Nicaragua.  Theme of the triennial convention was “Give Jesus Glory: His Calling —…

By Linda C. Hoops While storms continued to sweep over much of the Upper Midwest Thursday (June 12), LCMS congregations and members began assessing damage, but still managed to find some rays of hope amidst the devastation. As coordinator of…

“Reaching Rural America for Christ,” a conference for lay leaders and professional church workers in rural and small-town Synod congregations, is planned for Nov. 6-8 at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Neb. The conference will gather leaders to share common…

Dr. Martin R. Noland, director of Concordia Historical Institute (CHI) since 2002, resigned from that position May 9 during a regular quarterly meeting of the institute’s Board of Governors at Frohna, Mo.    “I resigned my position,” Noland told Reporter by…

Children Making Music, a new DVD resource produced by the Synod’s Commission on Worship, encourages children, parents, and congregation leaders to make music-making a part of their lives. “In an engaging and inspiring style, children, musicians, parents, and church leaders…

On March 18, the “Issues, Etc.” radio program on LCMS-owned KFUO-AM Radio was discontinued and, as a result, the employment of the program’s host, Rev. Todd Wilken, and its producer, Jeff Schwarz, was terminated.     “Issues” had been on the air…

By Kim Plummer Krull    While the deadly cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China dominate world news, the Synod’s mercy arm launched a $452,000 effort to give long-term education and economic help to survivors in three communities that have…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. After just under three hours of discussion that led to trimming $2.45 million from allocations to Synod units, the LCMS Board of Directors unanimously adopted a balanced operating budget of $84,039,495 for the national Synod during…

JOHN R. ASHCRAFT III, Collinsville, Ill.; CARLA J. FAGA, St. Charles, Ill.; GRETCHEN HUESMANN, Grafton, Wis.; DONALD G. HOFFMANN, Cincinnati, Ohio; SHANNON N. RITTER, Kalispell, Mont.; and SARA M. WOLFF, Wauwatosa, Wis., have applied for reinstatement to the Minister of…

LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) seeks nominations for an associate executive director.  The associate executive director reports to the executive director and maintains a close liaison with the staff of the Office of the President, providing assistance…