A field cut video about the request from the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) to the Missouri Synod for assistance with theological education. Mekane Yesus means “Place of Jesus.” The EECMY is a 6.1 million member Lutheran church in Ethiopia.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Around the Word Jounal issue 2 is now out and worth the price! Thanks for the shout-out for our new Catechism series! If you’ve missed our series, click here.

Found on their facebook page:   Since 1992 the “United List” has served the congregations of the LCMS who seek to be faithful to the synod’s constitution and confessions. It has done this by recommending candidates who uphold the synod’s constitution and confessions, who are impeccably ethical, and who have proven themselves in every way for service to the Lutheran church. It is our pleasure to present our list for the 2013 convention to you here. Please help spread the Word. The United List gives permission to spread this document as long as nothing is altered. Click here for the   More…

The Praise Team has unwittingly become like the third grade jokester who invites you to have a seat, pointing to a chair. When you go to sit down, the jokester pulls the chair away, and you land on your backside. The Praise Team does the same thing musically; the congregation never knows (indeed, it can never know) how the Team will perform each stanza until the congregation hears it.   HT: Paul Schlueter

Another post by Larry Beane over on Gottesdienst Online:   God’s Word and the avowed confession of our synod and its members notwithstanding, I believe we will see the next generation of LCMS pastors and laypeople overwhelmingly support the world’s evolving definition of marriage and the mainstream Protestant church’s requirements for admission to the pastoral office. I think it is absolutely inevitable (and these two issues are intertwined, actually the same issue). I believe that when this occurs, at most, 20% of the pastors and congregations of the LCMS will leave the synod and form one or more new synodical   More…

Found over on Adriane Dorr’s blog, Let it Stet:   Some Lutherans love mission work. Others eye it with hesitancy. As Pastor Harrison wrote: On the witness side of the fault, the primary, laudable, and biblical goal is reaching the lost—now, in today’s world, in a way people today can actually hear it. “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Meanwhile, those who are convinced that the fundamental aspect of the Church’s life in this   More…

A “Great Stuff” post found over on Patheos.com by David Murrow   It happened again yesterday. I was attending one of those hip, contemporary churches — and almost no one sang. Worshippers stood obediently as the band rocked out, the smoke machine belched and lights flashed. Lyrics were projected on the screen, but almost no one sang them. A few women were trying, but I saw only one male (other than the worship leader) making the attempt. A few months ago I blogged, “Have Christians Stopped Singing?” I did some research, and learned that congregational singing has ebbed and flowed   More…

Here’s a great article for parents found over on I am Totally *that* mom:   You are doing something really, really important. I know it’s not easy. I see you with your arms overflowing, and I know you came to church already tired. Parenting is tiring. Really tiring. I watch you bounce and sway trying to keep the baby quiet, juggling the infant carseat and the diaper bag as you find a seat. I see you wince as your child cries. I see you anxiously pull things out of your bag of tricks to try to quiet them. And I   More…

Iowa District East has started a new Theological Journal for the Church for the laity in their district. This is one article out of the first issue of the journal.   by Pastor Herbert Mueller III Pastor Herbert Mueller III is pastor of St. Peter Lutheran Church, Westgate, IA and Grace Lutheran Church, Fayette, IA And Pharisees came up to [Jesus] and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He an-swered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man   More…

Another great article by Pastor Philip Hoppe found over on iHoppe.com:   When I presented my paper about whether a pastor could be dismissed for any reason by a congregation, there was one main thing that made people almost universally uncomfortable.  Some agreed with the basic premise of the paper and others disagreed much as I expected.  But what brought the most questions was my assertion that if a pastor was to be dismissed from a call, he should also be removed from the ministry all together.   Why is that true?  As the paper asserts, either a man is fit to be   More…

Another great post by Pastor Peters found on Pastoral Meanderings:   I read with amusement a letter in the current issue of The Lutheran in which the writer laments: …So the lead pastor (pope) of the Roman Catholic Church, with more than 1 billion members, resigns and 13 days later his replacement is chosen, installed, and at work… Our 70 member congregation went through nearly three years of hoops before we welcomed our new pastor… what is wrong with this picture? I understand the frustration.  Four months ago I got word that my own name had appeared on a call list.  I   More…

Another great post found over on Pastor Surburg’s blog:   As we live in a fallen world, it is inevitable that we will encounter difficult times.  These challenges can take many different forms.  Many of these things are the results of circumstances and situations that are completely outside of our control.  No matter what shape they may take, the fact remains that we often find ourselves facing the challenge of living through difficult circumstances in life. When we face these kinds of situations, how are we to handle them?  What model can we follow or where can we look for guidance?  For nearly three millennia   More…

Another great post on Ad Crucem by David Olson:   Dear Pastor, I am a congregant or partitioner or lay person.  I am one of the many faces you you see during the week and in the pew on Sunday.  We know each other names, you may even know an outline of my background and how long I have been at your particular congregation.  We might even share a hobby. You are a pastor.  You are my pastor.  And for that I must send my deepest apologies.  I hope we have managed to pay you a livable wage, but your   More…

Another excellent article by Prof. John T. Pless over on Blogia:   The practice of licensing laymen to preach and administer the sacraments by The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod at its convention in Wichita in 1989 is widely recognized as theologically problematic. Attempts to address the so-called “Wichita Amendment” to the Augsburg Confession, as the late Richard John Neuhaus called it, have been diverse and have, in some incidences, created additional and ongoing difficulties of both a doctrinal and practical nature. Sometimes the debates surrounding the office and the attempt to correct Wichita overlook the fundamental unity of the office. The   More…

Great information from Pastor H.R. Curtis over on Gottesdienst Online:   I got word today that CPH will indeed be offering full color bulletin covers for the Historic Lectionary featuring classic artwork starting with the 2013-14 church year. This is a project that lovers of the Historic Lectionary from all corners have been seeking for some time and I’m very glad that CPH has been so responsive to those requests. The project is in the capable hands of the same team that gave us the Treasury of Daily Prayer. As they get the apparatus in place to take orders, I’ll   More…