By Sarah Schafer Concordia Publishing House (CPH) received the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award April 15, culminating an 11-year journey toward earning the nation’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, process improvement, customer focus and visionary leadership. LCMS President…

The Synod’s two seminaries are offering continuing-education courses in various cities, beginning in April. The courses are designed for pastors, commissioned ministers and laypeople, and Continuing Education Units are available. Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind., is offering 23 courses: April 24-26…

By Kim Plummer Krull The Rev. Gregory Brown spent part of Sunday morning, April 15, checking on members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Woodward, Okla., after a deadly tornado outbreak in the Midwest that caused at least five reported fatalities in Woodward and…

By Kim Plummer Krull Sharing of plans to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 was among the many updates addressed when representatives of the International Lutheran Council (ILC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathered March 27-29 in…

The fourth triennial National Lutheran Hispanic Convention will be held June 19-22 at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich. The theme for the convention is “Celebrating Our Vocation.” The “family friendly” event — which will be conducted primarily in Spanish — includes…

Under the theme “Equipping the Saints For Life” (based on Eph. 4:11-12), Lutherans For Life (LFL) will hold its 2012 national conference Aug. 3-4 in Chicago. Registration is open now at the LFL website at www.lutheransforlife.org. The event is open…

By Kim Plummer Krull As Dave Ricks, a member of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Arlington, and the congregation’s Disaster Care committee, checked on congregants the day after the powerful April 3 tornadoes in North Texas, he came across a man sitting…

The Lutheran High School Association in St. Louis has received a grant of nearly $400,000 from the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis for the purpose of starting a “one to one” technology initiative beginning with the 2012-13 school year at…

Released in 2011, Concordia Publishing House’s newest and best-selling children’s Bible, The Story Bible, has been selected as a finalist for the 2012 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Christian Book Award in the category of “Children’s Books.” Out of hundreds…

(RNS) — A new movie confronts a controversial topic by highlighting two words that don’t typically go together: “abortion” and “survivor.” “We didn’t know there was such a thing,” said Jon Erwin, who wrote and co-directed “October Baby” with his brother,…

NEWARK, N.J. (RNS) — Tim Tebow is Howdy Doody in a helmet. No, he is Opie Taylor running for touchdowns — while reciting Bible verses, stopping to find a lost dog, visiting sick children in a hospital and helping a…

TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) — As part of a survey to understand why they have stopped attending Mass, a few hundred Catholics were asked what issues they would raise if they could speak to the bishop for five minutes. The bishop would…

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (RNS) — The men burst into the church classroom and ordered the 15 teens in the youth group to the floor. They covered the teens’ heads with pillowcases and bound their hands. One man waved an unloaded gun, and…

LONDON (RNS) — A proposed “Covenant” aimed at ensuring unity across the worldwide Anglican Communion appears to have failed, leaving the world’s third-largest Christian body facing an uncertain and likely fragmented future. The covenant, born of an idea in 2004 to…

(RNS) — At this point in 2011, 22 state legislatures had either passed or were considering bills to prohibit judges from considering either Islamic law, known as Shariah, or foreign law in their decisions. What a difference a year can make. The…