(RNS) — A Virginia judge has ordered seven congregations that broke from the Episcopal Church to return all property to the local diocese — from valuable land to sacred chalices — by April 30. The Diocese of Virginia had wanted the…

LONDON (RNS) — Police on Feb. 28 evicted scores of demonstrators from a makeshift tent city they had erected outside historic St. Paul’s Cathedral more than four months ago as part of a global protest against capitalism. After brief skirmishes in…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The number of mosques in America has jumped 74 percent since 2000, and the majority of them — 56 percent — espouse a less-than-literal approach to interpreting Islam’s holy texts. These are some of the findings of a…

By Paula Schlueter Ross How can The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod — an overwhelmingly white, Anglo church body with a nonwhite membership of less than 5 percent — become more multicultural? How can the historically German LCMS help African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans…

By Roland Lovstad Like starting a mission in a foreign country, Gospel mission on the U.S.-Mexico border is a process of planning and coordination, especially when three LCMS districts are doing the work. Since beginning about 10 years ago, Frontera (Spanish…

Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF) will host a free “Best Practices School-Marketing Lab” webcast March 13 that Lutheran school principals and marketing, communications and admission staff might find helpful. During the 45-minute program, three Lutheran school principals “will each share an…

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pinched by the global recession and tough-love budget demands of the European Union, the Italian government is looking for extra revenue, and has its eyes set on commercial properties owned by the Roman Catholic Church. On Feb.…

FLORISSANT, Mo. (RNS) — A Catholic school music teacher who was fired after church officials learned that he planned to marry his male partner has been fired from his other job as a music director at a suburban Catholic church. Al…

HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. (RNS) — Saul Timisela was ordered to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Newark early March 1 morning to be deported. Instead, the Indonesian Christian took sanctuary at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, where…

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NORMAN W. SCHAEFFER, Lincoln, Neb., has applied for reinstatement to the Ministers of Religion–Ordained roster of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. LOUISE MARIE TIEMANN, Fenton, Mo., and ELLEN KAY GOTTSCHALK, Fort Wayne, Ind., have applied for reinstatement to the Ministers of…

The following institutions of the Concordia University System (CUS) are seeking candidates for positions: Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., seeks to fill the position of Family Life director. Concordia College–New York, Bronxville, N.Y., seeks a director of the Nursing Resource…

By Sarah Schafer A group of 17 members from St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cincinnati, gathered after worship Sunday, March 4, and traveled half an hour to help homeowners in Clermont County, Ohio, clear debris left by a March 2 tornado…

ST. LOUIS — The heads of the three Synod-owned international schools in Asia met together for the first time with the church body’s Board of Directors in an hour-and-a-half session during the Board’s Feb. 16-17 meeting here.  They are Kevin M.…