(RNS) — Rev. James Howell knew he had a problem on his hands when several teenagers arrived at a church dance drunk and had to be taken from the church by ambulance for treatment for alcohol poisoning. Starting in 2009,…

In a new video produced by Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Dr. Naomichi Masaki, associate professor of systematic theology at the seminary, discusses the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami on Japan. Masaki, who was raised in Japan and…

By Kim Plummer Krull Before heading home to Howell, Mich., from the Laborers For Christ (LFC) annual conference, John Gallmeyer spoke about how Laborers often draw “fringe members” back to a congregation and open a door to witness opportunities in…

Starting May 1, active workers and their enrolled spouses in the Concordia Health Plan (CHP) will receive financial rewards for engaging in healthy behaviors in a new program titled “Be Well Rewards.” Members will choose from a selection of 11…

Concordia Publishing House is offering a specially priced “All-Inclusive” Starter Kit for “Big Jungle Adventure,” its 2011 vacation Bible school program.  The items in the $119.99 kit would cost $269 if purchased separately. With the theme “A Faith Journey with…

By Kim Plummer Krull As the most powerful aftershock yet rattled the coast off northeastern Japan on March 22, LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC) continues to work with Lutheran partners and prepares to assist with long-term recovery in…

(RNS) — A Smithsonian museum is restoring the Jefferson Bible, a unique volume the third president cut and pasted himself — omitting lots of theology — from portions of the New Testament. Thomas Jefferson assembled the book in 1820 when…

(RNS) — Rev. James Martin has seen a lot of religious movies in his life. But the Jesuit priest and author says a new film has sprung to the top of his list. Martin calls “Of Gods and Men,” a…

(RNS) — It’s been proclaimed from pulpits and blogs for years — Christians divorce as much as everyone else in America. But some scholars and family activists are questioning the oft-cited statistics, saying Christians who attend church regularly are more…

Cindy Charlton, an LCMS member living in Fukushima City — some 50 miles west of the damaged nuclear power plants — told KFUO Radio in a March 18 interview that she is not concerned about radiation levels, but about half…

By March 18, donors had given more than $250,000 for The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and its partners in Japan to aid those affected by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck there March 11. Rev. John Fale, interim director of…

(RNS) — Wolfgang Langhans, a Tokyo-based field director for missionaries, calls the week since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan “the busiest and most stressful week of my life.” But when those twin crises created a third — the threat…

According to Rev. Manabu Wakabayashi, “Our greatest concern is the nuclear power plant crisis in Fukushima.” Wakabayashi is pastor of Shirone Lutheran Christ Church in Niigata, Japan, and a 2002 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. Niigata is about…

Synod Secretary Dr. Raymond L. Hartwig announced March 17 that two amendments to the church body’s Constitution that were adopted by  2010 LCMS convention delegates have been ratified by the required two-thirds majority of Synod congregations that participated in the…

Besides their homework after school this week, fifth- and sixth-graders at Martin Luther School in Joplin, Mo., baked cookies to sell to raise funds for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan. “The students were concerned about the people of Japan and…