Protect My Ministry, an employment and volunteer background screening company, has joined the LCMS National Contract Program. Barb Ryan, executive director of the Synod’s Department of Human Resources, and Mike Magee, manager of the LCMS National Contract Program, announced the…

Mercy Works, the new quarterly journal published by LCMS World Relief/Human Care, now has its own separate e-mail address: mercyworks@lcms.org. A story about Mercy Works in the July Reporter noted that its focus is “to raise awareness of deaconesses and…

LCMS World Relief/Human Care is giving a total of $45,000 in initial disaster grants to six east-coast Synod congregations with facilities or members affected by floods from record-breaking rains earlier this summer. Of those, four are LCMS Southeastern District congregations.…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. “This convention just shows you what our auxiliaries can do,” a delegate at the International Lutheran Laymen’s League’s 89th international convention told Reporter.  The convention was held July 6-9 in Billings, Mont. Nearly 1,200 people converged on…

Commentary on women I read with mixed feelings Mary Hilgendorf’s Commentary, “It’s time to encourage, equip women as Christian leaders!” in the July Reporter. The article seems to imply that since women are in the majority, they should fill a…

By Kim Marxhausen A teacher gets up at 4 o’clock every morning to deliver newspapers.  Another fixes her family supper and then heads for the local grocery store to put in five hours of work after her school day.  A…

Registration is open for workshops to introduce the Synod’s new hymnal, Lutheran Service Book (LSB), and Concordia Publishing House (CPH) is taking preorders for the new resource. To register for a workshop at one of 280 sites in the United…

Speakers and participants at this year’s Lutherans For Life (LFL) national conference, with the theme of “Cherish the Children,” stressed the importance of biblical truths, not only in pro-life issues, but in all aspects of life. More than 200 Lutherans from…

Dr. Manfred Zeuch of Brazil has accepted a call to serve as president of Concordia Lutheran Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  He will begin work in the post as soon as immigration documents are processed, which could take several months.…

By Paula Schlueter Ross SELMA, Ala. — “Crossing Over” — from bondage to freedom, from sin to salvation, from death to everlasting life — was the theme as some 1,000 people gathered for the 19th Black Ministry Family Convocation, held…

Delegates to the 98th convention of the Synod’s Michigan District re-elected Dr. C. William Hoesman to his fourth term as president.  Hoesman was elected on the first ballot at the convention, held June 25-28 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Also elected were…

Representatives of The American Association of Lutheran Churches (AALC) and The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) have unanimously recommended that the two church bodies proceed toward altar and pulpit fellowship. Their recommendation came July 13-14 in St. Louis during the fourth…

While “Concordia University” will remain the legal name of Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., beginning Aug. 21 the university will be known publicly as “Concordia University Chicago.” The new moniker was adopted by the university’s board of regents after a…

Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, is offering three “study visits” early next year that are designed to give participants a firsthand look at the relief and development organization’s overseas work: On LWR’s “Coffee Project Trip to Nicaragua,” Jan. 5-14, participants…

Nine Concordia University students from three U.S. campuses who were taking part in an archeological excavation in Israel have left the country because of rocket blasts in Tiberias — seven miles across the Sea of Galilee from where the students…

Delegates to the LCMS Central Illinois District’s 55th convention, July 9-11 in Springfield, Ill., re-elected Rev. David J. Bueltmann of Springfield to his fourth term as district president.  Bueltmann, 64, was re-elected on the first ballot. Also elected were: Rev. Donald F.…