By Adriane Dorr Heavy rain in the Midwest and above-average snowmelt out West have caused flooding in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and now also Missouri. As rivers continue to rise, Lutheran families and LCMS churches in the…

Four days before the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole as the first pick in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft, Orange Lutheran High School’s former star pitcher was watching his sister graduate and catching up with his former principal in…

Rev. David A. Muench of St. Louis has accepted a call to be director of Ministerial Care for Concordia Plan Services (CPS), a new position he has filled since May 15. An LCMS clergyman and licensed marriage and family therapist,…

(RNS) — United Methodists (UMC) will begin a trial June 21 against a Wisconsin minister who’s accused of breaking church rules by celebrating a same-sex marriage and being in a lesbian relationship. The Rev. Amy DeLong, 44, of Osceola, Wis.,…

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) — Even before the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) elected the Rev. Fred Luter to national office, there was already widespread speculation that Luter is poised to become the denomination’s first African-American president. Representatives of 16 million Southern…

LONDON (RNS) — The Church of England has issued a set of “legal guidelines” that pave the way for openly gay clergy to become bishops — so long as they are and promise to remain celibate. Details of the internal…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. ST. LOUIS — The LCMS Board for National Mission (BNM) and Board for International Mission (BIM), meeting here June 3-4, individually approved their self-governing policies and reviewed with Synod President Dr. Matthew C. Harrison his work on…

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…

“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…

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…

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…

(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) 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…