Bible museum planned for Washington, D.C.

(RNS) — A large-scale Bible museum will open in Washington, D.C., within four years, say planners who have been touring the world with portions of their collection. Cary Summers, chief operating officer of The Museum of the Bible, a nonprofit umbrella…

Church of England postpones vote on female bishops

(RNS/ENInews) — The Church of England’s General Synod decided July 9 to delay a final vote on allowing women to become bishops until a meeting in London this November. Proposed legislation at the General Synod, the church’s governing body, would have…

Study: Pastors' concerns for others may harm their own health

(RNS) — Most members of the clergy are taught to put the physical and spiritual needs of others first, but that self-denial may be harmful to their own health, according to a new Duke University study. Studies of United Methodist pastors…

Synod, Czech Lutheran leaders sign 'working agreement'

Representatives of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (known by the Czech acronym ECAV) in the Czech Republic signed a “working agreement” July 11 that pledges continuing dialogue between the two church bodies and…

Central Illinois delegates elect Miller as new president

The Rev. Mark A. Miller, senior pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Pekin, Ill., is the new president of the LCMS Central Illinois District. Miller was elected on the third ballot at the district’s July 8-10 convention in Springfield,…

17 parish nurses trained for new, needed vocation in India

By Kim Plummer Krull Seventeen Indian Lutheran registered nurses completed the inaugural parish nurse training program led by LCMS Health Ministries in partnership with the Indian Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), introducing a new vocation and a new opportunity for mercy…

Why would Jews vandalize a Holocaust memorial?

(RNS) — The news that Israel’s memorial to Holocaust victims had been grafittied in early June with bitterly anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements was shocking. More shocking still was the news that the three men arrested for the crime are Jewish.…

Atheists are organizing high school clubs, too

(RNS) — High school kids can join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Jewish Student Union, the Muslim Students Association and, in some schools, a Hindu or a Buddhist club. Now they can join the young atheists club, too. In another…

Convention Corner (June 2012)

With Barbara A. Below The district convention season is in full swing, and important work is going on in those conventions that will lead to the 2013 national convention of the Synod. Districts and their conventions play several new roles…

Biblical Art museum raises profile amid array of challenges

NEW YORK (RNS) — When art historian Bruce Boucher wanted to reunite the three panels of a huge 14th-century altarpiece from three different countries, the Italian lender of one of the pieces had one condition: the finished product had to…

First homeschoolers conference set for Wichita

“You Are Not Alone — A Conference for Homeschooling Lutherans,” the Synod’s first conference for those who homeschool their children — and those who may be considering it — is planned for July 20-21 at Ascension Lutheran Church in Wichita,…

Registration opens for prison/jail-ministry conference

Registration is open for the second synodwide “Training and Equipping Conference for Prison and Jail Ministry,” set for Sept. 29-30 in St. Louis, at the Crowne Plaza St. Louis Airport hotel. The Rev. John Fale, interim co-executive director of the…

Convention Corner (July 2012)

With Barbara A. Below “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you…

Southeastern District provides storm update, ministry ideas

As of July 5, more than 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power from Ohio to Virginia, according to news reports, following a June 29 storm with winds as high as 80 mph. And the record heat that followed the…

Maier re-elected in Michigan District

LCMS Michigan District President Rev. Dr. David P.E. Maier, 56, of Whitmore Lake, Mich., was elected to a second term during the district’s 100th regular convention, June 24-27 at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also elected were: the Rev. Mark D.…

Indiana re-elects May, looks to 50th anniversary

Delegates to the 20th convention of the Synod’s Indiana District elected the Rev. Dr. Daniel P. May to a fourth term as president and, in resolutions, called on congregations to join in celebrating the district’s 50th anniversary in 2013.   May, 69,…