(RNS) — More than two dozen faculty members have resigned from Shorter University, a Baptist school in Georgia, after it required them to sign a “personal lifestyle statement” that condemns homosexuality, premarital sex and public drinking. An online campaign called “Save…

By Paula Schlueter Ross It’s never been done on such a large scale in The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done: a thriving Lutheran university offering a helping hand to a struggling sister school in another…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. ST. LOUIS — The Synod Board of Directors, at its May 17-18 meeting in St. Louis, adopted a national-Synod operating budget of $64,626,022 for the 2012-13 fiscal year that starts July 1. Also approved by the…

By Adriane Dorr Following two years of fraternal theological dialogue, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) recently issued a joint statement, affirming “core teachings of the Christian faith shared by…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. and Elizabeth M. Truong ST. LOUIS — At their May 10-11 meetings in St. Louis, the Synod’s two mission boards established by the 2010 LCMS convention continued their primary work of developing policy. One of them…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. and Elizabeth M. Truong ST. LOUIS — At their May 10-11 meetings in St. Louis, the Synod’s two mission boards established by the 2010 LCMS convention continued their primary work of developing policy. One of them…

Concordia Publishing House says it will increase the price of Lutheran Service Book from $23 to $25, beginning Jan. 1, 2013. More than 86 percent of the Synod’s 6,100-plus congregations nationwide now use the hymnal, according to CPH. “Because fewer and fewer…

JOHN KIRCHHOFF, Sterling, Ill., has applied for reinstatement to the Ministers of Religion–Commissioned roster of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. SCOTT A. CALLAWAY, Georgetown, Mass., and EDGAR L. WILLIAMS, Farmington Hills, Mich., have applied for reinstatement to the Ministers of Religion–Ordained roster…

Note: Reporter cannot accept notices about items offered for sale or that people wish to purchase. Items described as “Wanted” or “Available” are sought or may be obtained for shipping costs only. Notices may be sent to Jennifer Duffy at…

By Kim Plummer Krull  Many special events commemorated the May 22 one-year anniversary of the deadly tornado that decimated Joplin, Mo. But Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin planned to continue doing what it started immediately after the catastrophe — serving…

The Rev. Dr. Paul M. Heerboth, a longtime missionary and LCMS World Mission executive, died May 18 in St. Louis at the age of 90. A funeral service was held May 23 at Salem Lutheran Church in St. Louis. Heerboth was on the…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — One of the biggest growth areas in political activism around religion is coming from an unlikely source: the nonreligious. And it’s happening far from the marbled corridors of power in the nation’s capital. The Secular Coalition for America…

(RNS) — When the Supreme Court ruled that a Christian student group could only be recognized at a small public law school if it accepted non-Christians and gays as potential leaders, some lawyers and campus advocates grew nervous. While the 5-4…

WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) — The sign outside the polling station at Devon Park United Methodist Church exemplified this state’s struggle with a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. “A true marriage is male and female and God,” the church marquee read.…

JERUSALEM (RNS) — Archaeologists have unearthed a trove of artifacts dating back to the time of the biblical King David that they say closely correspond to the description of Solomon’s Temple found in the Book of Kings. Hebrew University archaeologist Yosef…