The Synod’s Indiana District will hold the second annual Midwest retreat for retired LCMS church workers, or “Veterans of the Cross,” Sept. 13-15 at the Lindenwood Retreat Center, 35 miles west of Valparaiso, Ind.  Dr. John Saleska, retired professor from…

Martha J. Mitkos has joined The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod as campaign director for the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), an unprecedented campaign to mobilize U.S. Lutherans in the global effort to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. The LMI’s goals…

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and the Saint Louis University School of Social Work are offering a dual master’s degree program for students interested in pursuing careers as deaconesses and social workers. The dual-degree Master in Social Work from Saint Louis…

Lutheran Hour Ministries will have two nationwide airings of its full-length television program, “The Bible on Trial: Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.”  On Saturday, June 18, the program will air at 6 p.m. Eastern time on the Inspiration Network (INSP, Channel…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Vatican will use online education and other methods to help the world’s Catholic bishops and the heads of religious orders deal with clerical sex abuse of minors. Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University will host a Vatican-sponsored…

(RNS) — The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is siding with Jews and Muslims in opposition of a proposed ban on infant male circumcision in San Francisco. “Jews, Muslims and Christians all trace our spiritual heritage back to Abraham.  Biblical…

(RNS) — Southern Baptists (SBC) on June 15 called hell an “eternal, conscious punishment” for those who do not accept Jesus, rebutting a controversial book from Michigan pastor Rob Bell that questions traditional views of hell. Citing Bell’s book Love…

(RNS) — Southern Baptists (SBC) meeting in Phoenix adopted a plan June 14 to try to boost minorities in their top leadership posts as they face continuing reports of stagnant baptism rates and declining membership. Members of the nation’s largest…

“Are We Still Fighting the Crusades?” is the topic of the Aug. 20 Lay Bible Institute at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. The daylong workshop will be led by Dr. Paul Robinson, associate professor and chairman of the seminary’s Department of…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The Catholic University of America will phase out co-ed dormitories later this year, President John H. Garvey said June 13, in a bid to crack down on drinking and casual sex. Garvey, writing in The Wall Street…

BELLEVUE, Wash. (RNS) — The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops (USCCB) began a review of church sex abuse policies here on June 15, bypassing several recent reports that raise questions about whether the rules are effective at removing abusive priests. The…

SILVER SPRING, Md. (RNS) — Saraleah was 19 and a part-time student when she discovered she was pregnant. She didn’t know how it could have happened — until she flashed back to a party nine weeks earlier where she was…

More than medicine. That’s what Sharon Thomas says she shares each time she takes part in an LCMS World Relief and Human Care Mercy Medical Team (MMT). When people in some of the world’s poorest overseas communities ask the registered…

LCMS President Dr. Matthew C. Harrison celebrated Pentecost Sunday, June 12, by preaching in Seoul, South Korea, a joyful kickoff to a busy week that includes meeting with church partners in that country and later in Japan, where recovery continues…

The Open Arms Institute is offering a free “Pastor’s Webinar” June 16 at 12:30 p.m. Central time. The webinar will be presented by staff and board of directors members of the Loveland, Colo.-based institute that works to plant congregations and…