By Paula Schlueter Ross LCMS World Mission would like to place 130 GEO missionaries and 100 short-term mission teams in overseas mission fields during 2011. The Globally Engaged in Outreach, or GEO, missionaries typically serve a year or two, sharing…

By Karen Sansone Late last year, Congress passed legislation that it hoped would stimulate the United States economy by decreasing the taxes that employers withhold from workers’ paychecks in 2011.  This new tax benefit, billed as a “tax holiday,” replaces…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — President Obama has named top U.S. church leaders to an advisory council on faith-based programs, but the list of appointments is also drawing questions about a lack of diversity from minority faiths. The 15 names released late…

LONDON (RNS) — The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, worried about the growing influence of Harry Potter and his team of young wizards, has published a guide aimed at helping teenagers deal with 21st century witchcraft. The British…

New posters and a banner designed to promote the Missouri Synod’s new “Witness, Mercy, Life Together” emphasis are available from Concordia Publishing House. The emphasis, according to an LCMS website (www.lcms.org/?17740), “illustrate[s] how the church lives and works together to…

College students who are looking for something to do during their “spring break” might want to consider serving in Haiti. LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC) is working with Lutheran Church Charities in Addison, Ill., to offer five weeklong…

Nine Lutheran educators have been named as recipients of Lutheran Education Association’s (LEA) 2011 awards.  They include Dr. Steven Arnold of St. Paul, Minn., a retired teacher and director of Christian education (DCE) who is receiving the Christus Magister (Teacher…

Gerald K. Freeny, president and elder at First Lutheran Church, Pasadena, Calif., has been elected to the executive committee of the Tournament of Roses Association and will serve as the tournament’s president in 2019.  In that position, he will provide…

By Roland Lovstad Principal gift officers representing LCMS ministries and Lutheran World Relief (LWR) met Feb. 11 to coordinate their activities for building support of the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), a major effort to end malaria deaths on the African continent.  The…

(RNS) — Drew Dyck didn’t lose the Christian faith of his childhood when he became an adult, but he noticed that lots of others did. Dyck, an editor of online publications for Christianity Today, talked to some of those who’ve…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The pending repeal of the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay members will not change policies related to chaplains, the Pentagon stated Jan. 28. “There will be no changes regarding service member exercise of religious beliefs, nor…

(RNS) — In the wake of public spats between the Catholic hierarchy and health care executives, the Catholic Health Association (CHA) publicly acknowledged that bishops — not doctors or hospital ethicists — have the final say on questions of medical…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The Vatican has reaffirmed its commitment to dialogue with the Muslim world, despite an Egyptian university’s suspension of talks to protest statements by Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious…

(RNS) — Anglican archbishops concluded their six-day summit in Ireland on Jan. 30 by issuing statements on a host of international issues, including violence against women in Africa, political chaos in Egypt, and the murder of a gay rights activist…

“Thanks be to God that the cyclone did not cross the coast at a highly populated area.” That’s the good news reported by Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) Queensland District President Noel Noack after Cyclone Yasi roared across northern Queensland…

Free resources are available to help congregations celebrate Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) Sunday on Feb. 6 or an alternate date.  The theme of this year’s materials is “We are witnesses of these things,” from Acts 5:32. This year, to support…