Living Our Baptized Life in Christ

Galatians 2:20

February 13, 2026

Bishop Jeff Miskus recently visited Rev. Ray Hulett and members of Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fremont, CA.

The English District Board of Directors was welcomed with warm hospitality for their recent meeting at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Lee's Summit, MO. The meeting room had windows where board members had a glimpse of the over 375 children and their families that arrive throughout the day to play Upward Basketball and hear devotions. While there, Bishop Miskus preached Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, capturing the attention of both young and old with his passionate delivery of this familiar text.

Called to Glory – Rev. Ronald H. Laue, Emeritus

July 12, 1937 to February 9, 2026

Rev. Ronald H. Laue was called to glory on Monday, February 9, 2026. His vicarage was at Trinity, Zanesville, OH from 1961-1962. His first assignment was to start a mission church in Anchorage, AK and serve as missionary-at-large to the State. He served Zion, Anchorage, AK from 1963-1978; Pilgrim, Bellevue, WA from 1978-1989; and St. Paul-St. John, Aberdeen, SD from 1989-2004. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Carol (nee Schneider) Laue, children Sara (Scott) Beilharz and Michael (Lacey) Laue and 6 grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 21, 2026, 11:00 AM, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 11 East 38th Street, Erie, PA. Inurnment will be private in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Erie, PA.

Please keep the entire Laue family in your prayers.

Read his full obituary here.

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15

Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, shared the good news that Deaconess Carolyn Lindenmuth will be joining the English District in her placement at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Albion, PA. We welcome her and pray for God's continued guidance and blessings upon her.

We encourage congregations to reproduce and share the following message with your members. Click here for Lifeline's "Ash Wednesday 2026" reproducible file in .pdf format.

Lifeline is the English District’s outreach that promotes the dignity and sanctity of life from fertilization to forever.  Click here for more information on Lifeline.

Mr. Albert Amling, our English District School Ministry Executive, and I are excited to request nominations from our congregations for the 2026 English District Lumen Christi Award!

Our gracious Lord blesses our English District by providing dedicated and talented professional and volunteer leaders/teachers in child, youth, adult, and family ministry areas. These servants of our Lord exercise their God-given gifts in many creative and unique ways to bless those they serve. The Lumen Christi award is presented to publicly recognize the service of educators, to further promote and encourage all professional and volunteer leaders/teachers who are active members of an English District LCMS congregation.     

The 2026 Lumen Christi Award nominations are due by March 6, 2026. For more information about these awards, what the general criteria are, click here. For the nomination forms themselves, click on the appropriate link here for Volunteer Educator or Professional Educator:

Our office looks forward to receiving your nominations.

Blessings,

Pastor Derek Mathers

Assistant to the Bishop and Mission Executive

Nominations are requested for the third annual Roger D. Pittelko Ille Dilexit Ecclesiam* Award (*He loved the Church).

The English District has created this award to recognize and celebrate pastors who have served God’s people well in the English District. 

Recipients of this award must meet the following criteria:

• He is an ordained pastor who served in the English District.
• He has retired from full-time active parish ministry.
• He exhibited a lifetime of faithfulness to our God and service to God’s people through congregations and the wider field of the English District.

Download the nomination form from the English District website.

The deadline for submitting nominations is Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The recipient of this award will be announced as part of the 2026 Professional Church Workers Conference.

Choosing a new shepherd for your congregation is a significant spiritual milestone. If your congregation is considering calling a pastor, the English District has a resource available that outlines the procedure and includes important dates and deadlines. Click here to find out more.

We read in Philippians 2:13, “…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

We begin this week where we ended last week. In this verse from Paul's letter to the Philippians, we can see two of God’s actions: giving first the will to do, and then the ability to act. The one working by the Lord clearly precedes the other. So the question follows: how is our will to act on behalf of Mission 1-1-1?

If we say that our personal will and, from what we can observe, our congregational will could use some improvement or development, what do we do about that? The articles that appear here weekly serve the purpose of strengthening our collective and individual will on behalf of this Mission 1-1-1 campaign. As you may recall, two of the tactical objectives are to saturate with Scripture and surround with communication. We know that God works His plan in us through our following His Word, and participating in Christ, the Word made flesh for us and given to us in Divine Worship through His true Body and Blood. These are how God works His purpose in us, both to save and to sanctify us. If we have this portion right, the acting on this will should follow. The acting is simply a matter of the discipline to follow through on what we know we can and should do, consistently, weekly, completely.

If we feel our discipline in execution is falling short, we can be encouraged by the Lord’s answer for us here, too: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Don't underestimate your ability, through God's grace, to encourage others. Your congregation's participation in the 1-1-1 Dollar for Missions effort can inspire others. Please email a picture of your congregation's 1-1-1 Dollar for Missions box. Tell us what lessons your church has experienced. We look forward to celebrating your stories in this space in Servant to Servant and on the English District website.

”And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds..." Hebrews 10:24. More Scripture and messages for Mission 1-1-1 are available on the district website. Lastly, if you have questions, reach out any time by email.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

– Matthew 9:37–38

Set Apart to Serve is a Synod-wide effort to build a culture of church work formation and recruitment throughout the LCMS. In this video, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matt Harrison talks about Set Apart to Serve and introduces a free resource kit for schools available from Concordia Publishing House.

We offer prayers for the family of Rev. Robert Kieselowsky, Eastern Region Vice President, on the passing of his mother, Barbara Kieselowsky.

We pray for the family of Rev. Ronald H. Laue, Emeritus, who was called to glory.

We pray that God will continue to call pastors and church workers in answer to the over 600 vacancies in the LCMS.



District daily prayers for March 2026 are located on our website.

Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. If you have a prayer request you would like shared in this newsletter, email the district office.

Synod President Rev. Dr. Matt Harrison encourages congregations in the district with a rostered deaconess to provide for her to attend the 2026 Concordia Deaconess Conference (CDC) planned for June 15–18, 2026, at St. John Lutheran Church in Dublin, Ohio. This year’s conference will encourage attendees to consider their devotional life in Christ, to treasure and meditate on His Word and to live under that Word in service to neighbor. The total estimated cost for the 2026 conference, which is being generously subsidized, is $764.

In a recent correspondence, President Harrison made several suggestions, summarized below:

• Consider providing scholarships for deaconess candidates or emeritus deaconesses to attend the conference.
• Grant the deaconess paid time off to attend
• Do not require the deaconess to pay for their substitute; schedule back-up coverage for their normal duties during their absence
• Provide funding, in part or full, for the deaconess to attend the conference

President Harrison reminds us that a portion of Article III, Objectives, of the Synod is to provide “… care for pastors, teachers, and other professional church workers of the Synod in the performance of their official duties.” Congregations agree to accept this objective as a member of Synod and should be encouraged to do so to the best of their ability.

For more information about the CDC or the upcoming conference, please reach out to CDC President Deaconess Jillene Houser.

Congregations of the Synod, to enable the Synod to plan current and future ministry efforts and to lend accuracy and integrity to the Synod’s delegate representation and voting processes, agree to provide annual membership and statistical information to the Synod. (Synod Bylaw 1.3.4.3)

An email was distributed during the week of January 19th requesting your congregation’s end-of-year statistics and an updated roster of lay leaders. Reference that email for further information. The submission deadline is Saturday, February 28, 2026. To upload, review, or update this information—including service times—please visit lc.lcms.org.

Thank you in advance for providing this valuable information. Should you require assistance or have any questions, email Rosters & Statistics at LCMS or call (314)996-1366).

Contact John Hoover, LCEF District Vice President, by email or phone 314-276-3370 for more information.

Contact Ron Grimm, English District Gift Planning Counselor, 412-584-7039 or visit www.LCMSFoundation.org.

For more information, please contact our Operations Department at 314-394-2790.

Grace, Redford, MI

Pastor Timothy Halboth and members of Grace Lutheran Church hosted the first of what is hoped to be many “Called To Serve” recruitment events held by Concordia Seminary, St . Louis, throughout the country. First year seminary students Nathan and Luke led a Bible study and spoke to potential students about academics and seminary life.

If you are interested in being part of the army of volunteers, email Pastor Halboth.

St. John's, Bridgeport, WV

The St. John’s Lutheran Church Sunday School held its first Catechism Memory Masters Competition. The two older classes were broken into two teams to compete and gain points for their teams by showing mastery of their memory work. There was spirited competition during several rounds of head-to-head questioning, with much cheering, clapping, and encouragement from the spectators. Adults quizzed the kids individually to boost the team score totals. In the end, Team Two eked out a win by one point, but everyone had fun!

Youth musicians from across the country are headed to St. Olaf College this year for the 2026 Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival (LSM). Students in grades 8-12 will be immersed in a supportive community that nurtures their musical growth and invites them to share their musical gifts in performance and in worship. The Standard Enrollment deadline is March 1, and spots are filling fast. Do you know young musicians who would thrive at LSM? Nominate them today or remind them to submit a free application by March 1.

Concordia University, St. Paul has announced a new Direct Admission Program guaranteeing admission to all graduates of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod high schools into any of CSP’s undergraduate programs, both on campus and online, effective immediately for fall 2026 enrollment. Click here for more information.

In honor of the United States’ semiquincentennial, Concordia University Chicago (CUC) will host a year-long series of events for students, faculty and staff, alumni, and community members. The series kicks off on March 9 and includes guest lectures by nationally recognized scholars and historians, interactive workshops, and cultural events. Most events are free and open to the public. For event details and updates, click here.

CUC announced its Advance with Purpose program, a new affordable continuing education program that launched this fall for classes beginning January 2026.

The program offers a 50% tuition discount on master’s and doctoral-level programs at CUC for full-time employees of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, its entities, and its Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs). Advance with Purpose aims to make advanced degrees more accessible and applies to CUC’s 60+ graduate programs. Find more information here.



Members of the LWML English District Greater Detroit Zone will be hosting a Valentine's Day brunch with a Bible study led by Bishop Miskus at Ascension of Christ Lutheran Church.

Email Janet Stechholz or call 734-464-2810 to

reserve your seat by Monday, February 9th.

ENGLISH DISTRICT LCMS

248-476-0039

info@englishdistrict.org

www.englishdistrict.org

Connect with us