(RNS) — Most Americans have a desire for more forgiveness in their lives, but they are more critical when choosing who to forgive, according to a new survey. Sixty-two percent of American adults said they need more forgiveness in their…

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Is a state law that allows tax credits for donations to scholarship programs unconstitutional if most of the recipients attend religious schools? That’s the question the U.S. Supreme Court wrestled with Nov. 3, centered around an Arizona…

In his new book The Calling: Live a Life of Significance, Dr. Kurt Senske offers a new perspective on living a fuller life through service to others. “Other self-help books are designed to help us help ourselves to get what…

St. Louis-based Lutheran Hour Ministries (LHM) will be hosting its first Regional Outreach Conference Feb. 18-19 in Tempe, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. The conference will offer inspirational and practical information that’s designed to “take individual ministry outreach to new…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. The Synod’s two new Boards for National and International Mission (BNM and BIM, respectively) are starting their work together by studying and discussing the theological “foundation” that will support and direct the policies they develop for…

By Kim Plummer Krull When a 60-foot shipping container filled with much needed medical equipment arrived at the Malagasy Lutheran Hospital in Madagascar, “it was just like Christmas,” says Rev. Jeffrey Kuddes. “Maybe some people would look at some of…

The newly forming Evangelical Lutheran Church of Spain celebrated this fall 10 years of mission and ministry that is being carried out jointly by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA) and the LCMS, and the installation of its first…

Twelve positions at the LCMS International Center in St. Louis will be eliminated Dec. 1, as the restructuring mandated by this summer’s Synod convention begins. The 12 positions are being phased out as the Office of the President begins taking…

LCMS Life Ministries and Lutherans For Life (LFL) both are offering resources designed to help congregations observe “Life Sunday” on Jan. 16 or Jan. 23 — a date closer to the anniversary date of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 22,…

A new exhibit of Concordia Historical Institute’s (CHI) 41 prints from woodcuts by Albrecht Durer is on display through 2011 at the Institute’s building on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Titled “Albrecht Durer: Master Woodcut Artist of the German…

By Kim Plummer Krull After members of Faith Lutheran Church participated in a workshop to better tune into needs in their Groton, Conn., neighborhood, the congregation started a food kitchen that now serves more than 75 families weekly. Two years…

By Paula Schlueter Ross Missionary Erin Mackenzie says she was “very excited” to hear that a photo she took — of an American teenager hugging a young Mexican boy — received the most votes in the Facebook-based LCMS World Mission…

By Albert B. Collver On Oct. 28, a delegation from the LCMS consisting of Dr. Albert Collver, the Synod’s director of Church Relations — assistant to the president; Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, executive director of the LCMS Commission on Theology and…

By Gene Edward Veith Do atheists know more about religion than religious people do?  That was the conclusion of recent news reports on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, which released…

The 2010 children’s Christmas program from Concordia Publishing House, “God’s Love at Christmas,” is based on the children’s Christmas hymn, “God Loves Me Dearly.”  The hymn was originally written in 1852 by Rev. August Rische, a German Lutheran pastor who was working with…

(RNS) — When asked about Christianity’s recent contributions to society, Americans cited more negatives than benefits, according to a new survey. The negative contribution cited most was hatred or violence in the name of Jesus, according to the Barna Group…