Delegates to the 34th convention of the LCMS Southeastern District re-elected President Dr. Jon Diefenthaler to his second three-year term.  Diefenthaler was installed by Synod President Gerald B. Kieschnick during the convention, which was held May 5-7 in Norfolk, Va.…

Delegates re-elected Dr. Robert Newton of San Jose, Calif., on the first ballot to a second three-year term as president of the LCMS California-Nevada-Hawaii (CNH) District at its 67th convention May 5-7 in Sacramento, Calif. On the third ballot, they…

By James Heine In addition to unanimously adopting a report on the public rebuke of public sin (see related story), the LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) at its May 1-3 meeting in St. Louis also adopted a…

By James Heine The LCMS Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR) adopted a statement about the public rebuke of public sin at its May 1-3 meeting in St. Louis.  (For other actions taken at the meeting, see related story.)…

Dr. Jaroslav J. Pelikan, a 1946 graduate of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, and a well-known Yale historian and theologian, died May 13 of lung cancer at his home in Hamden, Conn.  He was 82. A Lutheran who converted to Eastern Orthodoxy,…

A conference on “Gospel Outreach and Early Childhood Ministry” will take place Aug. 2-4 at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon.  The conference is sponsored jointly by the Open Arms Institute, an LCMS Recognized Service Organization in Loveland, Colo., and the university’s…

Wheat Ridge Ministries, Itasca, Ill., invites LCMS congregations to submit applications beginning July 1 for its Congregation Health and Hope Grant program.  Deadline for applications is Sept. 30. All Lutheran congregations — individually or in partnership with others — are…

Jeff Van Beaver has a suggestion for outreach-focused congregations: Try a “random act of kindness” this summer.  It will probably make people smile and will provide a witnessing opportunity to boot, he says. And, it doesn’t have to be a grand…

Dr. Arthur T. Kuehnert, a former three-term president of the LCMS Central Illinois District (CID) and assistant to LCMS President Emeritus Ralph A. Bohlmann, died of complications from prostate cancer April 7 at his Albuquerque, N.M, home. A memorial service…

The International Lutheran Laymen’s League (Int’l LLL) 89th annual convention is set for July 6-9 at the Holiday Inn Grand Mountain and Billings Hotel, Billings, Mont. Its theme is “Glorify the Lord,” based on Psalm 34:3.   Registration, open to anyone…

By James Heine Concordia Publishing House has introduced a new Sunday school curriculum that emphasizes biblical literacy, the worship life of the church, and opportunities for entire families to study and discuss God’s Word at home. The new curriculum, Growing…

Delegates to the Wyoming District convention, May 4-6 in Casper, elected Rev. Richard Boche on the first ballot to his first three-year term as district president. Boche, 58, has been senior pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Cheyenne, since 1988. …

The Lutheran Witness and Reporter, the Synod’s two official periodicals, won a combined total of seven awards in this year’s Associated Church Press (ACP) and Evangelical Press Association (EPA) religious journalism competitions for written work done in 2005.  The awards…

Meeting April 28-29 in Norman, Okla., delegates to the 45th convention of the Synod’s Oklahoma District elected Rev. Paul A. Hartman of Oklahoma City, Okla., to his first full term as president. Formerly the district’s first vice president, Hartman became…

“The Lutheran Hour” radio program with speaker Dr. Ken Klaus may be heard every Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on XM’s Family Talk Radio 170.  The program, produced by Lutheran Hour Ministries in St. Louis, began airing April…