Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) is calling for those with skills and needed equipment to help clear wood debris that remains in coastal Alabama counties as a result of hurricanes which hit the area last year. LDR is a cooperative program of…

Wheat Ridge Ministries of Itasca, Ill., announced in late April that it is providing seed grants totaling $357,000 to 12 new projects — four with ties to LCMS congregations. The other eight projects are either pan-Lutheran or affiliated with church bodies other…

The Synod’s first-ever prison-ministry conference, April 30-May 1 in St. Louis, attracted 107 participants — 37 more than organizers hoped for — “from literally all over the country,” according to Rev. John Fale. Director of chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, and clinical…

By Joe Isenhower Jr. NEW ORLEANS — Although the 2005-06 operating budget adopted by the LCMS Board of Directors pares $750,000 from the proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, the final budget does not cut national ministries…

All LCMS congregations should have received in recent weeks promotional materials from the Synod’s two seminaries in St. Louis and Fort Wayne. Each seminary has produced its own undated materials to give congregations an opportunity to emphasize the pastoral ministry…

Recordings of presentations from the LCMS mission conference “New Directions in Mission Leadership ’05” are now available on compact disk. More than 100 people attended the New Directions conference, held April 28-May 1 in St. Louis under the theme “Responding…

Chaplain Ted Wuerffel of Shoreline, Wash., has accepted a call from the Synod’s Board for Mission Services to serve as associate director of Ministry to the Armed Forces, beginning July 1. Wuerffel, 61, currently serves as campus pastor for Agape…

Dr. Phillip A. Campbell, who has been serving as interim executive director of the Synod’s Board for Black Ministry Services for nearly three years, has accepted a call to serve in that post permanently.  He announced his decision May 16. Campbell…

By Paula Schlueter Ross IRVING, Texas — Dr. Elwin Johnson Rethinasamy of Williston Park, N.Y., leaned across a table during the last of eight “One Mission Ablaze — Igniting Congregations” events, held here May 13-14. Rethinasamy, who serves South Asians, mostly…

Dr. Dale A. Meyer of Collinsville, Ill., has accepted the call to serve as the 10th president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  His installation is set for Sept. 4, during the opening service for the seminary’s 2005-06 academic year. Meyer…

Concordia University, Portland, Ore., will celebrate its 100th anniversary during a “Centennial Celebration Weekend” June 23-26. Anniversary activities include: a “Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance,” with Dr. Erhart Bauer. “21st Century Christianity,” an open forum and discussion with Synod President Gerald…

Reporter and The Lutheran Witness, the Synod’s two official periodicals, picked up several awards at last month’s Associated Church Press (ACP) and Evangelical Press Association (EPA) competitions for work done in 2004.  Awards presentations for the ACP and the EPA…

Colleges, universities, and seminaries of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Lutheran Church–Canada have given a number of honorary doctorates and awards so far this year — mostly at spring commencement exercises. Receiving honors from the schools are: CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYFort…

Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Mich., seeks nominations for the position of president.  The president is the chief executive officer of the university’s Board of Regents and serves as the university’s spiritual, administrative, and academic head.  The official functions of the…

Information about religious organizations and movements — both Christian and non-Christian — is now accessible on the LCMS Web site as a service of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations.  The site currently provides summaries of the history, basic…

Three new exhibits with the overall theme “A Century of Caring” opened in April at Concordia Historical Institute (CHI) in St. Louis. CHI is the Department of Archives and History of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. On display there through Labor…