LCMS Life Ministries and Lutherans For Life (LFL) are both offering resources designed to help congregations observe “Life Sunday” on Jan. 20, 2013. The observance marks the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 22, 1973, decision that legalized…

By Kim Plummer Krull No congregations of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod are located in the Rockaways, but that was no detour for LCMS members who volunteered in those Long Island, N.Y., communities on Monday (Nov. 12), grilling and delivering hot food…

(RNS) — When Staff Sgt. Brandon Hill came home from his third tour in Iraq last year, he expected his wife and young daughters at the welcoming ceremony. What he didn’t expect were the pastors, secretaries and members of their…

By Trevor Grundy CANTERBURY, England (RNS) — Bishop Justin Welby, a former oil executive who’s emerged as a critic of corporate excess, was named Nov. 9 as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury, primate of the Church of England and leader…

The Rev. Dr. Edward O. Grimenstein was installed as director, Missionary Services, for the LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM) during a Nov. 8 Matins service at the Synod’s International Center in St. Louis.   OIM Executive Director Rev. Randall L.…

Gay marriage Did Maryland voters approve gay marriage? YES Did Maine voters approve gay marriage? YES Did Minnesota voters define marriage as being between one man and one woman? NO Did Washington state voters approve gay marriage? YES  Marijuana Did Arkansas voters approve medical marijuana? NO Did Colorado voters approve…

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation announced Nov. 8 that they would together commit up to $1 million to Superstorm Sandy relief efforts as part of a dollar-for-dollar match program. For every dollar Thrivent Financial for…

By Megan Mertz On Wednesday, Nov. 7, a team from the LCMS International Center met with leaders of the LCMS Atlantic District at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Brooklyn, N.Y. The team included the Rev. Glenn F. Merritt, director of LCMS…

The online-application process for Young Adult Volunteers (YAVs) at the 2013 National LCMS Youth Gathering is open through Dec. 31. Registration for LCMS congregational groups attending the Gathering remains open until May 1. The Youth Gathering is July 1-5 in San…

By Sarah Schafer “Tremendous damages everywhere,” said the Rev. Glenn F. Merritt, director of LCMS Disaster Response, as he toured the south shore of Staten Island Nov. 3. Staten Island was devastated by Superstorm Sandy Oct. 29, with reports of more than…

By Adriane Dorr PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Speaking on Nov. 2, the last day of the International Conference on Confessional Leadership here, the Rev. Dr. Gemechis Buba of the North American Lutheran Church encouraged global Lutherans to “be a praying church…

By Sarah Schafer While Rick Pullen worked as a rescue diver during Superstorm Sandy Oct. 29, an eight-foot wave crashed through the first floor of his Bayville, N.J., home. A boat docked 15 miles from the bay-front home landed on his…

By Adriane Dorr PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — In a world filled with secularism, relativism, liberalism and atheism, Lutherans can be in danger of “losing our identity and making compromises in good intention but being misled by our feelings,” warned the…

By Sarah Schafer When the Rev. Alan Steinke and his wife, Marie, first saw their Long Island home of 13 years from a distance on Oct. 30 — the day after Superstorm Sandy — most of it was blown away. “It was…

By Kim Plummer Krull As he prepared to travel to the East Coast on Wednesday (Oct. 31) to help LCMS districts and congregations reach out in communities battered by Superstorm Sandy, LCMS Director of Disaster Response Rev. Glenn F. Merritt suggested…