BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) — Alabama religious leaders have filed statements in federal court expressing their concern that a new immigration law would interfere with the practice of their religion and Christian mandates to minister to all people. Bishops in the…

(RNS) — An Illinois judge has ruled that the state can terminate adoption and foster care services with Catholic Charities, saying the church-run agency has no “recognized legal right” to a state contract. Circuit Judge John Schmidt ruled Aug. 18…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Catholic priests at World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Madrid will be specially empowered to lift the excommunication of anyone who seeks forgiveness for having undergone or assisted in an abortion. The special authorization from Cardinal…

Karen Roemer, LCMS missionary and regional business manager for Eurasia, died Aug. 14 in Germany after a long battle with cancer.  She was 55. A funeral service is planned for 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 19, at the cemetery in…

“Adopted in Christ” was the theme and primary focus as nearly 200 pro-life Lutherans gathered Aug. 5-6 in Irving, Texas, for the 2011 national Lutherans For Life (LFL) conference. Irving is between Dallas and Fort Worth. Registrants came from across…

The Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr. will be installed as the 16th president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., during the Opening Service for the seminary’s 166th academic year on Sunday, Sept. 11. The service will take place…

The Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) is holding an “information meeting” from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis. The meeting — which includes a light meal and beverages — is free and…

More than 30 million children live with a stepparent in so-called “blended families,” according to Concordia Publishing House.  Although each blended family has a unique set of circumstances, each also faces similar challenges: Where should we live? Should we change…

BERLIN (RNS) — It’s not the first time the choice of a royal spouse has caused a stir. But it might be the first such case where gay men, guns and German Catholic groups have played such an intertwining role.…

(RNS) — A federal judge ruled Aug. 11 that the public transit system in Little Rock, Ark., violated the free speech of local atheists by refusing to run their advertisements on city buses. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright…

(RNS) — Members of the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) have elected an Ohio pastor as their new head bishop, making him the first non-provisional leader of the year-old denomination. The Rev. John Bradosky was elected Aug. 11 by 800…

The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League in mid-July mailed sample packets of 2011 “LWML Sunday” materials to all LCMS congregations and LWML societies. Although the first Sunday in October — Oct. 2 this year — is the traditional date for congregations…

By Kim Plummer Krull After seeing firsthand the suffering as starving Somalis pour into the Dadaab refugee camps, the Rev. Dr. Walter Obare, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), is requesting additional financial support to meet urgent…

(RNS) — A group of military atheists have won the backing of U.S. Army officials to hold a “Rock Beyond Belief” concert for nonbelievers at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg next year. The victory came after several church-state separation watchdog groups…

(RNS) — Leaders of the Episcopal, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches in Alabama filed a federal lawsuit on Aug. 1 to stop enforcement of the state’s new immigration law, which they say could strike at the core of their ability…

BERLIN (RNS) — For the first time since membership records have been kept, more Germans departed the Roman Catholic Church than were baptized into it in 2010, according to new data from Germany’s Catholic Conference of Bishops. The new statistics,…