ST. LOUIS — At its Sept. 9-10 meeting here, the LCMS Board for International Mission (BIM) continued developing policies to guide the work of the Synod’s Office of International Mission (OIM). This was the board’s fifth meeting since it was…

A four-disc DVD collection — including the new, two-hour movie “Walther,” based on the life of the Synod’s first president, the Rev. Dr. C.F.W. Walther — was mailed in late September to LCMS congregations, schools, colleges, universities and seminaries. The…

By Linda C. Hoops While the Missouri Synod’s 2010 statistics report shows a 1.45 percent loss in baptized membership — continuing a 30-plus-year trend in declining church membership experienced by most Protestant denominations — it also reveals a slight increase…

The online versions of the Synod’s official periodicals — Reporter and The Lutheran Witness — have new Web addresses. Those new addresses are reporter.lcms.org for Reporter Online and witness.lcms.org for the online version of The Lutheran Witness. The two Web…

By Kim Plummer Krull More than 220 LCMS families lost their homes due to historic flooding in Minot, N.D. — a disaster that has largely disappeared from national headlines but that the Rev. Glenn F. Merritt calls an example of…

TASHIA DIECKHOFF, Wichita, Kan.; LANE AARON DYNNESON, Jackson, Mo.; SUSAN L. KLOESS, Elk Grove Village, Ill.; KAREN L. ZIELKE, Elmhurst, Ill.; and JENNY HEMMINGS, Orange, Calif., have applied for reinstatement to the Ministers of Religion–Commissioned roster of The Lutheran Church–Missouri…

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. Notices may be sent to Karen Higgins at…

The Board of Trustees of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Foundation herewith calls for nominations for the position of president of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Foundation. The president reports to the Board of Trustees of the Foundation and relates to the…

The following institutions of the Concordia University System are seeking candidates for positions: Concordia University Texas, Austin, Texas, seeks to fill the position of admissions counselor. Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., seeks to fill a faculty position in nursing. Concordia University…

(RNS) — For pastors with ambitions to reach huge audiences, there’s often no better platform than the megachurch, which has given rise to powerhouse media empires from T.D. Jakes to Max Lucado to Joel Osteen and many others. But some…

BERKELEY, Calif. (RNS) — For an atheist, Maxim Schrogin talks aboutGod a lot. Over lunch at a Jewish deli, he ponders the impulse to believe — does it come from within or without? Why does God permit suffering?Finally, he pulls…

(RNS) A leading Catholic anti-abortion group whose leader is under scrutiny for failing to disclose financial details reported a $1.4 million deficit in 2010 despite collecting tens of millions of dollars in donations during recent years. The budget shortfall at…

BERLIN (RNS) — All faiths have to work together to stanch the tide of secularism sweeping the world, warned Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 23 during the second day of a tour through his native Germany. Benedict focused on ecumenical…

Kim Plummer Krull Volunteers are urgently needed to help “muck out” and “button up” flood-damaged homes before the fast-approaching winter deals Minot, N.D., area families another harsh blow. “Over 900 homes still need to be mucked out and cleaned out,”…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. ST. LOUIS — The Synod Board of Directors took several actions and heard numerous reports during its Aug. 25-26 meeting here. Among actions, the Board: appointed Andrea Pitkus of Buffalo Grove, Ill., to fill a lay…