“When I got off the plane, I said, ‘My life is going to be protected now.’  Instead I was locked up like a criminal. … I kept saying, ‘This is America?’” Mekabou Fofana, a young man who fled war in…

Registrations are now being accepted for the 2004 Black Ministry Family Convocation, July 7-11 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis.  Theme of the convocation is “King of Kings.” The convocation brings together LCMS members involved in Black ministry for…

Wheat Ridge Ministries of Itasca, Ill., announced that it is awarding more than $400,000 in grants to 15 congregations and to help 12 new projects of other ministries. The congregations include six in the Missouri Synod. Grants totaling $370,000 are…

Alan D. Gunderman, executive director of educational services for the LCMS Kansas District since 1990, died of a heart attack Dec. 25 at his home in Topeka. The funeral service for Gunderman, 59, was Dec. 30 at Grace Episcopal Cathedral,…

The Synod’s first-ever missionary-alumni reunion will be held July 8-12 in St. Louis, in conjunction with the Synod convention.  More than 200 people are expected to attend, including active and retired missionaries and long-term volunteer missionaries, past and current LCMS…

The president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), Baltimore, says he hopes a film that premiered Jan. 19 on cable television “moves the hearts of Lutherans and other Americans to join us in welcoming those seeking political asylum.” In an LIRS…

Six days after President George W. Bush proposed new immigration policy on Jan. 7, the president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) said his agency “applauds [Bush] for bringing immigration reform into the center of policy debate.” “As a nation…

By David L. Mahsman The Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) and representatives of the Synod’s Board of Directors Jan. 5 had what the CCM’s chairman termed an “open and frank discussion” related to recent Board actions. Synod President Gerald Kieschnick…

Six days after President George W. Bush proposed new immigration policy on Jan. 7, the president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) said his agency “applauds [Bush] for bringing immigration reform into the center of policy debate.” “As a nation…

All members of the Synod’s Board of Directors were aware that the Board had decided during the afternoon session to resume their meeting with a previously unscheduled evening session Nov. 21.  It was at that evening session that the Board…

Promotional items are available to help Lutheran schools and congregations mark National Lutheran Schools Week (NLSW) 2004. Theme of the March 7-13 observance is “Lutheran Schools — A Great Place To Grow,” with the subtheme of “Growing in Grace and Knowledge” (2…

By Joe Isenhower Jr.  Twelve “themes” that grew out of suggestions from seminary faculties, board members and focus groups around the church will “be the directive for pastoral education in the LCMS,” says the Synod’s Board for Higher Education (BHE). At…

By Kim Krull and Joe Isenhower Jr. A new LCMS National Housing Support Corporation is designed to help struggling inner-city congregations receive grants and technical assistance for housing ministries — which has been difficult for them, sources say. The LCMS Board…

The Synod’s two seminaries are sponsoring events this summer for high-school students, as they have for a number of years. Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, is accepting nominations for highschool men and women to attend its July 31-Aug. 3 Exploring Church Careers…

“Luther,” the recent motion picture about the life and times of Martin Luther that ran in hundreds of theaters this fall, will be reissued for one week to theaters in communities where there is sufficient interest, according to one of…

Church-work students at Missouri Synod colleges, universities and seminaries are receiving $26,871,471 in financial aid during the 2003-04 school year. Although this is the first year for which the Synod’s Board for Higher Education has compiled financial-aid statistics for church-work students…