Fall ‘Engage’: God’s eternal family

Linda Bodenstab (right), a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia, Mo., prays with Jean Millen, a resident of Good Shepherd Care Community, a senior care facility in Concordia that began as a ministry of St. Paul’s. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

On any given Sunday at many LCMS congregations, older members smile at the antics of the youngest Lutherans, while people from different backgrounds join together in worship and then mingle over coffee cake.

In the various stories in the fall issue of Lutherans Engage the World, the same kinds of scenes are playing out. “[The] children of God come in all ages, shapes and forms,” we are reminded in a feature story about how three congregations care for their shut-in and homebound members. In the articles about a youth camp in Cambodia, a new community library at a church in Illinois, and the recent LCMS Youth Gathering in New Orleans, we see how the church welcomes young people. And in the features about two thriving Chinese ministries and outreach in Italy, we learn how all kinds of people are finding a home — an “eternal family,” according to Pastor Andy Wu — in the LCMS. To God be the glory.

The issue began arriving in mailboxes in September. Read it online at engage.lcms.org.

Posted Oct. 23, 2025