Lutheran schools and their sponsoring congregations may order a variety of resources from LCMS School Ministry and Concordia Publishing House to promote “National Lutheran Schools Week” (NLSW), set for March 4-10, 2012. This year’s theme, “Securing Each Child’s Future —…

The Rev. Dr. Edward Grimenstein has been named as manager of Disaster Response for the LCMS Office of International Mission. In the new position, Grimenstein will support congregations and districts with disaster planning, training and assistance. He will report to…

Presenters are needed to lead sectionals at the second synodwide “Training and Equipping Conference for Prison and Jail Ministry,” planned for Sept. 29-30 in St. Louis. The conference is designed to acquaint participants with “proven models of pastoral and lay prison…

By James Heine At its meeting Nov. 15-17 in Raleigh, N.C., The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Council of Presidents (COP) continued its ongoing conversation about the church in a post-church culture. The council heard from the Rev. Bill Beyer and the Rev. Mike…

The Rev. Bill Beyer, pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Clayton, N.C., and the Rev. Mike Merker, pastor of Jordan Lutheran Church, Apex, N.C., shared the following church-planting ideas with the LCMS Council of Presidents at its Nov. 15-17 meeting…

Both LCMS seminaries are offering Lent-related workshops for pastors in January. Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, has planned a pre-Lenten workshop, “Seeing is Not Believing: The Passion Story in Mark,” for Jan. 20. In a news release about the workshop, the seminary notes…

Concordia Theological Seminary will present its annual symposia on exegetical and confessional theology Jan. 17-20 on its campus in Fort Wayne, Ind., and in a live webcast. The theme for the Exegetical Theology Symposium, Jan. 17-18, is “In Search of Jesus:…

By Adriane Dorr Hearing the stories of Lutheran pastors caring for their flocks in the Baltic region has been “personally heartwarming,” says the Rev. Dr. Timothy C. Quill, director of theological education for The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and a professor at Concordia Theological…

(RNS) — Charitable giving is trickling back up as the economy heals, but it could take years to return to pre-recession levels, nonprofit leaders say. Giving totaled $291 billion in 2010, according to the 2011 annual report by the Center on…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Nearly one in five clients of Christian rescue missions said they were victims of physical violence within the past year, a 6 percent jump from the previous year, according to a new survey. “It’s quite possible that the…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — The District of Columbia has dismissed a complaint against The Catholic University of America (CUA) that charged the school’s return to same-gender student housing discriminates against women. In an order issued Nov. 29, the city’s Office of Human…

The third LCMS Multi-Ethnic Symposium is planned for Jan. 30-31 at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. This year’s topic is “Gifts of Hope,” a discussion of the “gifts of cultural diversity that inform and enliven the fullness of the body of…

The subject of prayer was the focus of the Nov. 10-12 meeting of the Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR). CTCR Executive Director Rev. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer noted that every meeting of the commission includes set times for…

By Paula Schlueter Ross Thanks to the Ethnic Immigrant Institute of Theology (EIIT), the number of Native American pastors now serving The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod has doubled: from two to four. The two newest Native American pastors are the Rev. Will Main…

Lutheran Indian Ministries of Brookfield, Wis., will be profiled in the upcoming 17th season of “The Visionaries,” an award-winning public-television series hosted by actor Sam Waterston. Lutheran Indian Ministries is a ministry of the Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots…

LCMS Life Ministries and Lutherans For Life (LFL) both are offering resources designed to help congregations observe “Life Sunday” on Jan. 22, 2012, the 39th anniversary date of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 22, 1973, decision that legalized abortion. The…