Registration is now open for the next Mission Planters Institute, to be held July 25-30 at Concordia University, Irvine, Calif.  The institute is sponsored twice a year — in February and July — by the Irvine-based Center for U.S. Missions…

By Paula Schlueter Ross Is the “Great Commission,” or reaching the lost for Christ, the “primary focus” of today’s Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod? Two-thirds of respondents to an online survey posing that question said no. When asked in a follow-up question what the…

Rev. Brian Friedrich has accepted the call to be the 10th president of Concordia University Nebraska, at Seward, beginning in July.  He will succeed Dr. Orville Walz, who is retiring after 14 years as president. Friedrich, 46, is currently vice…

A three-student team from Concordia College, Bronxville, N.Y., finished in the top 11 percent among 599 teams participating in the 2004 Mathematical Contest in Modeling. The international competition is sponsored by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation.…

Dr. Samuel I. Goltermann, president of Concordia College (now University), Austin, Texas, from 1960 to 1963, and a former Synod staff member, died of an apparent heart attack April 24 at his home in St. Louis.   The funeral service was April …

The Spirit and conventions Recently, you published a letter in which a pastor lamented the use of various election lists at the Synod convention (“Letters,” April ’04).  He asked why we cannot simply trust the Holy Spirit to guide us.  He…

Beginning this month, a new Web page will feature a downloadable digest of the news from the current edition of Reporter. The free digest, which is scheduled to be posted no later than the 12th day of each month, also will…

Abbreviation KeyC –  Chairman; DP – District President; VOM – Voting Ordained Minister; VL –  Voting Layperson; AOM – Advisory Ordained Minister; ACM – Advisory Commissioned Minister; AL – Advisory Layperson. DISTRICT ABBREVIATIONS:AT – Atlantic; CI – Central Illinois; CNH – California- Nevada-Hawaii; EA – Eastern; EN…

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. Wanted Photographs and/or descendant names of Rev. C.H. Bernhard,…

The Board of Governors of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League invites applications and nominations for the position of executive director, based at its Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.  The executive director provides leadership to accomplish the…

The incumbent Synod president and first vice president have received the most nominations from LCMS congregations for election at this summer’s Synod convention to their respective current positions. Synod President Gerald Kieschnick received 1,244 nominations for re-election to his office, and…

By David L. Mahsman “Guidelines for Participation in Civic Events,” the product of an assignment sparked by questions raised following a post-9/11 event in New York’s Yankee Stadium, was completed and adopted last month by the Commission on Theology and Church…

By Joe Isenhower Jr.  The Synod’s Board of Directors the week after Easter sent to every LCMS congregation a mailing that responds to letters from three attorneys who disagree with outside legal opinions obtained by the Board last year. The mailing…

It was no April Fools joke when the university president sent an April 1 e-mail saying that President George W. Bush had accepted an invitation to deliver the spring commencement address May 14 at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon. “We are delighted…

Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) and local Lutherans are helping those affected by a cluster of 19 tornadoes that ripped through northern Illinois April 21, killing eight people in Utica, about 90 miles southeast of Chicago. LDR is a cooperative program of the…