By David L. Mahsman This year’s LCMS convention will be Rev. Neil Hayen’s third in a row as a voting delegate.  He says that the amount of pre-convention mail he has been getting doesn’t seem any greater than before, but it…

LCMS World Mission plans to mail to congregations and other mission partners in August a new CD-ROM that includes a variety of resources designed to help them get involved in the Ablaze! effort, including a new “kit” of prayer resources. In…

By Paula Schlueter Ross LCMS World Relief is providing $15,000 to help fund a bone-marrow transplant for a recently ordained pastor with the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC). Rev. R. Johnson, who is in his late 20s, was diagnosed with…

Delegates to the General Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church–Synod of France and Belgium, meeting May 21-23 in Paris, adopted a resolution commending The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod for its “love and enthusiasm” for missions, particularly the ambitious Ablaze! initiative, and…

Delegates to the national convention of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC), meeting June 7 in Nagercoil, India, elected Rev. S. Rajagambeeram as president. The election marks a new beginning for the IELC, according to Dr. Herbert Hoefer, area director…

Rev. Mitri Raheb, pastor of The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, has written a book about his experiences as a Palestinian pastor living and working in a war zone. In Bethlehem Besieged, Raheb begins his story with the Israeli siege…

Pentecost 2000/Pentecost 2000+, LCMS World Mission’s initiative to encourage the start of 1,000 cross-cultural ministries in the United States, has met its goal. As of this writing, the P2K Web site at www.pentecost2000.com lists 1,008 new ministries, according to Director Marie Biesenthal. “What’s…

“Lectionary at Lunch,” a Web resource from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, that provides audio files to help pastors prepare sermons, offers a new discussion-group feature.  At www.csl.edu/lection.htm, pastors can hear seminary faculty members translating the Old Testament and Gospel lessons…

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is giving a $1,424,600 grant this year that will fund 18 projects of Synod boards, commissions and other national ministries. Amounts allocated from the grant range from $6,000 for meetings of Synod leaders who prioritized the…

The president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) praised President Bush last month for his “commitment to refugee resettlement” but voiced concern about the level of funding for refugees in the administration’s 2005 budget. LIRS President Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr.’s…

By Kim Plummer Krull BROOKLYN, N.Y. — As the last few buyers of 2,900 low-cost homes prepared for their closings, LCMS church and lay leaders celebrated the completion of the “Nehemiah” community here May 27 and the beginning of “a national crusade”…

LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick is encouraging district presidents to provide those in their districts with information in support of a Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which would define marriage solely as the union of one man and one woman. “You know as…

The Synod’s Board of Directors has released a new “Board Briefs” to address Synod President Gerald Kieschnick’s report to the Synod on certain board actions, to cite concerns about some convention resolutions, and to list what it calls the board’s…

A new “special report” on the national and international work of the Missouri Synod, its districts and congregations is being provided to more than 500,000 LCMS households through the June/July issue of The Lutheran Witness. “One Mission Ablaze!  To the Ends…

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is starting two new competitive-grant programs — the Charitable Giving Initiative and the Youth Leadership Initiative — and is calling for Lutheran institutions to apply for a total of $6.8 million in grants ranging from $5,000…