THE LUTHERAN CHURCH–MISSOURI SYNOD INC. Salary Information The Synod’s policy of full financial disclosure provides for making available to members of the Synod (congregations, pastors, teachers and others on the roster), on written request, the salary grid scales of all…
Official Notice: LCMS Financial Condition
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH–MISSOURI SYNOD INC. Financial condition of the Synod (FY 2011) By Jerald C. Wulf We certainly are living in interesting times. It seems the challenges we face are ever-increasing. Yet we trust in our Lord’s promises to provide…
Supreme Court hears case on religious freedom
By David Strand In coming months the U.S. Supreme Court will hand down a decision potentially having a profound effect on the freedom of churches to select and dismiss their ministers and other religious leaders without governmental interference. The decision…
Thanks for national conference evident at BNM meeting
By Joe Isenhower Jr. ST. LOUIS — Board members and others at the LCMS Board for National Mission (BNM) meeting here Sept. 22-23 expressed thanks for the National Mission Conference that met Sept. 20-22 in the same hotel as the…
What's in the Office of National Mission?
The Witness, Mercy, Life Together supplement to the October Reporter included a profile of the Office of National Mission (ONM) by the Rev. Bart Day, its executive director. While that supplement is available online (click here), here is a brief summary…
To Lutheran leaders: 'Think globally, be prepared' for disasters
By Kim Plummer Krull When a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 700 people and affected lives in nearly half their country, leaders of the self-described “very small” Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile (IELCHI) questioned how they could help…
Prague conference draws Lutheran leaders from 20 countries
By Albert B. Collver III By the close of an Oct. 4-7 theological conference in Prague hosted by the LCMS president’s office, many of the 71 Lutheran leaders attending from 20 countries said they appreciated that opportunity to encourage and support…
Commentary: To revitalize America, remoralize the family
By Timothy S. Goeglein America is suffering from a historic familial brokenness that is disillusioning. One of the best and yet saddest examples of this is the increasing number of American kids who live in poverty, the root cause of…
Williams confronts Mugabe with dossier of abuse
HARARE, Zimbabwe (RNS/ENInews) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has asked Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to intervene to stop attacks on Anglicans by allies of an excommunicated bishop who has seized church property and intimidated clergy and worshippers. The leader of…
Under pressure, D.C. shelter ends church-service requirement
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Prompted by civil liberties groups, a taxpayer-supported homeless shelter in the nation’s capital will no longer require its clients to attend religious services. “We’re pleased that the D.C. government will no longer be supporting such religious coercion,” said…
Michigan lawmakers say funeral protest law too broad
LANSING, Mich. (RNS) – There’s a difference between a boisterous protest near a veteran’s funeral and an anti-war bumper sticker on a car parked near a funeral home — but not in the eyes of Michigan state law. A state Senate…
Vatican treads carefully on Egyptian violence
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Treading carefully on a subject that has proved diplomatically volatile for the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI lamented the Oct. 9 killing of two dozen Christian protesters in Egypt. “I am profoundly saddened by the episodes of violence…
Law would allow marriage to Catholics for U.K. royals
(RNS) — Future British kings and queens would be permitted to marry Catholics for the first time in more than three centuries under reforms proposed by British Prime Minister David Cameron. Writing to his fellow heads of government in the British…
Charges dropped against clergy who prayed in Capitol
WASHINGTON (RNS) — A city court on Oct. 11 dropped charges against a group of religious and civic leaders who were arrested in July during a prayer vigil for the poor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The vigil, held at the…
Report says tithing, church spending hit record low
(RNS) — Tithing to mainline Protestant churches as a percentage of income is at its lowest level in at least 41 years, according to a new report, and churches are keeping a greater share of those donations for their own…
New face of American poverty is often a child's
OAKTOWN, Ind. (RNS) — Eleven-year-old Sarai Camacho of Donna, Texas, tears up when she tells why her mother let go the baby sitter for her and her younger sister this summer. It’s the same reason her father brought the family…
