All congregations should have received an email recently regarding the LCMS 2023 Statistics and Lay Leader Updates. The information is submitted through LISN which is found here: https://lc.lcms.org/. Please note: You will use the same login information that you used last year to register your presidential voters, not your login that you used for statistics in the past. If you cannot remember the username and/or password you created for your congregation last year, follow the on-screen helps on the login page to recover your login credentials.

If you would like a blank form emailed to you, contact Glenna Sanlis, [email protected]. This information is to be submitted to Synod by Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Just a quick reminder that the paperwork deadline for candidate and vicarage placement from the Seminaries for Spring 2024 is Friday, March 1, 2024, to be received at the CNH District office in Livermore. Please contact the district office (925-245-4000) for call document information for candidates from the seminary and/or information regarding vicarage application and minimum salary. (Ask for Glenna, assistant to President Lange.) Before mailing your final call document or vicarage paperwork,you may send a scanned copy to [email protected].

Author and poet, Tanner Olson offers hope and humor through poetry, and he will be doing a lot of that at Prince of Peace in Fremont, CA!

On Leap Day (February 29), Tanner will share some of his poetry and spoken word at a free evening event, starting at 7:00 p.m. Music will be shared by Trevor Rodriguez and Cara Berg.

On Friday morning (March 1), Tanner Olson will speak at Prince of Peace Christian School Chapel. Everyone is welcome to attend Chapel at 8:30am. After Chapel, Tanner will facilitate workshops about creative writing for the students.

For more information, contact: [email protected]

Learn more about Tanner Olson: www.writtentospeak.com

Events Location: Prince of Peace Ministries 38451 Fremont Blvd. Fremont, CA 94536

More than 114,000 children in the U.S. are currently awaiting an adoptive home and a forever family (AFCARS, 2021). Lutheran leaders across the nation are urgently called to attend the Lutheran Adoption Conference, April 10-11, 2024 in Houston, Texas at the Hyatt Regency Houston Intercontinental Airport. At this conference, Lutheran pro-life leaders, policy makers, adoption experts, and life advocates will collaborate and explore ways to impact the national adoption crisis through the increasing of biblically-based Christian adoptions.

Those encouraged to attend the Lutheran Adoption Conference, April 10-11, 2024 in Houston, Texas are Bible-based, Christian/Lutheran leaders, policy makers, adoption agencies and experts, life advocates, congregations, pastors, lay leaders, pregnancy resource centers and experts, social service leaders and experts, foster care leaders and experts, as well as people who are ready to lead the charge to increase the number of biblically-based Christian/Lutheran adoptions. For more information, go to https://lutheranfamilyservice.org/2023/12/lutheran-adoption-conference/. Conference registration deadline is Friday, March 8, 2024.

This past week (February 22-24), dozens of individuals from CNH District churches and schools participated in Best Practices for Ministry (BPM) at Christ Church Lutheran in Phoenix. They joined almost 2700 other participants from Lutheran churches and ministries all across the United States at this conference. 

BPM was started 12 years ago by Christ Church Lutheran as a way to give back to the members of the LCMS. The conference is totally free to attend, and includes all meals, snacks, drinks, and more snacks! It is open to professional church workers as well as lay members of congregations. All of the presenters and speakers volunteer their time and expertise, speaking on topics that range from preaching to leadership to “How to be an Elder.” The conference also includes two worship services. This year’s theme was “You are Loved, You are not Alone, and You Matter.” The schedule included keynote speakers, 265 individual breakout sessions, and 184 exhibitors. 

If you have not been to a conference like this, you are encouraged to attend BPM in the future!

Prince of Peace Christian School in Fremont and St. John’s Lutheran School in Napa participated again in the Lutheran Elementary School Tournament (LEST) in Tacoma, WA on February 15-17. This tournament has run since 1962, and, for most of those years, it was hosted by Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. After Concordia closed in 2020, the participating schools, with help from the Northwest District, began hosting it. 

This tournament, for grades 5 through 8, includes 25 different events, such as athletic, academic, music, drama, and many more. St. John’s brought 68 students and Prince of Peace had 115 students involved. Besides our CNH District schools, 17 other Lutheran schools from the Northwest participate. 

Last year, Concordia University in Irvine, California began hosting an LEST OC (Orange County). This year, it involved one of our District schools, St. John’s in Bakersfield. They had 35 students participate in their first LEST experience. 

One of the great benefits of participating in these events is that they provide so many opportunities for students to share their gifts and talents in a wide variety of ways.

The Lutheran Transitional Ministry Association (LuTMA) has announced it is offering a Basic Training in Transitions class beginning April 11. This virtual offering includes twelve 90-minute sessions joining fellow pastors from around the US. 

Do you desire to become a more effective transitional leader and agent of the Gospel? Are you considering intentional interim ministry as a possibility for your future?



As the world continues to change, we confront both profound grief and tantalizing possibilities. How can we better equip ourselves to guide congregations through difficult transitions and into new life?

Lutheran Transitional Ministry Association (LuTMA) touches this reality, encouraging curiosity and growth. Since 1997, we have worked with thousands of pastors and multiple partners nationwide. Our name change from NALIP to LuTMA reflects our own ongoing process of transformation.

Taking this course will help you navigate congregational dynamics and aid you in being a transitional leader. Because all ministry is essentially transitional, this course is appropriate for both settled and interim pastors.

Click here for more information on the Spring/Fall 2024 training events.

For more information, contact Allen Steinbeck: [email protected] or (805) 591-9883.

As pillars of the faith get called back to their heavenly home, we want to honor and acknowledge the legacy they leave behind and the impact they had within our congregations. If you would like to include any upcoming memorials, please click here to send the name, date of death, and date of service so that we may include them in an upcoming issue of the InTouch. We will still continue to send a Flash for pastors and called workers as well.

For the family of Virginia (Jenny) Kohlmeyer, wife of Rev. Phillip Kohlmeyer, pastor emeritus, as she was called to glory on Sunday, February 4.

For the family of Frank Spiva, who peacefully passed away on February 7. (Frank served as the Planned Giving Counselor for the CNH District in the 1990s.) Click here for his obituary.

Click here for our International Mission Partners

Click here for the Board of Directors Minutes (Current through December 2023)



Click here for Calls, Vacancies, and Roster Updates 

Click here for Prayer Requests

Click here for the latest Job Opportunities



Click here for our 2020-2022 Sermon Series

Click here for the Monthly Set Apart to Serve (SAS) Report (Dec 2023/Jan 2024)