Thoughts of both gratitude and concern were expressed by the executive director of the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations following a vote on the ordination of women at last month’s convention of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). …

“Stewardship Renaissance” — a term used by the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Funding the Mission — is starting well before the task force’s report reaches the 2007 LCMS Convention. Among the developments is that the LCMS Board for District…

Pastors (both active and retired) and laypeople who want to help congregations talk more about ministry and less about money are invited to become a certified Consecrated Stewards “guest leader.” LCEF’s Capital Funding Services hosts training sessions on how to…

By Kim Krull When Barbara Mulvey was asked to lead the team for a new stewardship education emphasis at her congregation, this member of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Rome, N.Y., wanted to duck and run.  “I didn’t want to…

It’s been a year since Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick wrote about “one of the greatest stories coming out of New Orleans” after floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina ravaged that city. The story that Kieschnick referred to in an October 2005…

Rev. John P. Reinke of Janesville, Wis., began serving this fall as director of the Deaf Institute of Theology (DIT) at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  He succeeds Rev. Roger Altenberger, who is LCMS World Mission’s facilitator for “Ablaze! Connection.” Reinke,…

Concordia Plan Services (CPS) says it will introduce several new health and wellness programs as part of the Concordia Health Plan (CHP), starting March 1. Free to all CHP members, those programs will consist of Health Risk Assessment (HRA), Health Advisors…

LCMS World Relief/Human Care gave initial emergency disaster-relief grants totaling $17,000 to three congregations whose members were affected by an F-4 tornado Sept. 22 that almost leveled the small down of Crosstown in Perry County, Mo., about 80 miles southeast…

Rev. John P. Reinke of Janesville, Wis., began serving this fall as director of the Deaf Institute of Theology (DIT) at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  He succeeds Rev. Roger Altenberger, who is LCMS World Mission’s facilitator for “Ablaze! Connection.” Reinke,…

By Paula Schlueter Ross If you’ve ever wanted to help others — especially those whose lives have been changed drastically by Hurricane Katrina — now is the time, says Rev. Glenn Merritt, disaster response director with LCMS World Relief/Human Care.…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. Stepped-up outreach efforts, new hymnals, and task forces on funding -– programs and priorities of the two largest U.S. Lutheran church bodies -– were similar topics that leaders of those churches discussed when they met Oct. 3…

International Lutheran Single Adults (ILSA) will hold its 20th anniversary annual conference July 5-8 at the Radisson Inn in Branson, Mo.  The conference, with the theme of “Rejoice and Sing,” is open to any single adult or to anyone who…

As next year marks 30 years of planning for Synod-sponsored National Youth Gatherings, planners are announcing details about the first-ever LCMS Adult Gathering. The 2007 Adult Gathering, open to LCMS members who are at least 25 years old, will be…

Principals of two LCMS elementary schools received this year’s Rosa J. Young Leadership Award for “outstanding service in Black ministry.” The award is given annually by the Synod’s Board for Black Ministry Services to “individuals who, in spite of challenging…

The Kantorei of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, has released its sixth CD, “Infant Holy: Christmas with the Seminary Kantorei.” The selections chosen for the choir’s latest recording are sung by Kantorei members over a period of eight school years. …