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…

By Kim Plummer Krull It was around 1997 when yet another family told the Rev. John Schmidtke that the lack of decent, affordable housing was forcing them to leave their crumbling inner-city North St. Louis, Mo., neighborhood.  “Where was this family…

LCMS First Vice-President Rev. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree during the May 18 commencement at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind. Mueller also served as commencement speaker at the 6 p.m. ceremony in the seminary’s Kramer…

Nicole Ridley has been appointed chief executive officer of the LCMS National Housing Support Corporation, which does business as Lutheran Housing Support (LHS). Her appointment by the corporation’s Board of Directors was effective May 1. Ridley previously served as project director…

The Rev. Robert L. Jackson, who served as president of the LCMS Oklahoma District from 1988 to 1991, died May 15 at a hospice facility in Springdale, Ark. Jackson, 84, had recently been diagnosed with advanced cancer. A funeral service was held May…

Registration is open for the LCMS National Rural and Small Town Mission Conference to be held Nov. 1-3 at King’s Pointe Resort, Storm Lake, Iowa. Under the theme of “In Christ for Church and World: Witness, Mercy, Life Together,” the conference…

The Rev. Richard Boche was elected on the first ballot to his third term as president of the LCMS Wyoming District at the district’s May 10-12 convention in Casper, Wyo. Boche was unopposed. Also elected were: the Rev. John Hill, senior…

By Adriane Dorr LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison declared fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Liberia (ELCL) May 10. This declaration followed the Commission on Theology and Church Relations’ (CTCR) action on April 26 in which recognition…

By Kim Plummer Krull A tsunami wave triggered by a powerful earthquake hit Constitucion, Chile, especially hard in 2010, killing some 350 people in the coastal community alone and causing so much damage that survivors feared their town was all…

By Pamela Nielsen Nearly 1,000 Lutherans gathered May 1 on the campus of Concordia Seminary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to celebrate and thank God for its 70 years of preparing pastors and other church workers. Participants included pastors and other…

(RNS) — United Methodists (UMC) concluded their General Conference May 4 without voting on gay clergy or same-sex marriage, a surprising end to a disappointing week for gay activists. On May 3, the nearly 1,000 delegates gathered in Tampa, Fla.,…

(RNS) — Despite emotional protests and fierce lobbying from gay-rights groups, United Methodists (UMC) voted May 2 to maintain their denomination’s stance that homosexual acts are “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Two “agree to disagree” proposals were soundly defeated during separate votes…