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…

Registration is now open for the Fourth Biennial Conference of the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI), located on the campus of Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, Wis. The national conference, March 9-11 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, will explore how women…

As in past years, Lutherans are invited to join the 39th annual “March for Life” Jan. 23 in Washington, D.C., which includes the offer of free lodging for travelers in the homes of Washington-area Lutheran church members. The march is…

By Kim Plummer Krull Plans are in the works to dedicate three Lutheran villages in January in Haiti, the new homes of earthquake survivors who are among the “thousands touched by Christ’s mercy” and a milestone in LCMS “team work”…

By Kim Plummer Krull Generous donors to LCMS World Relief and Human Care (WR-HC) have provided more than $5.6 million for help in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. That aid was distributed primarily through grants to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of…

Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis is one of four winners of the 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award — the country’s highest presidential honor for business-performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership. CPH is the only nonprofit business among this…

By Sarah Schafer Four LCMS staff members who traveled to Japan Nov. 7-11 report that life in Tokyo has returned to a sense of normalcy following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit the country in March.  But they add…

BALTIMORE (RNS) — The standoff between the White House and the nation’s Catholic bishops over gay marriage and other hot-button issues may be easing after a quiet Oval Office meeting between President Obama and the head of the U.S. Conference…