English District of
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
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Living Our Baptized Life in Christ
Galatians 2:20
| | Pastors and members of Arizona’s South Circuit congregations gathered across from the Tucson Planned Parenthood office for prayer and devotion on the Feast of the Annunciation. Pastor Isaac Wirtz, who serves Mount Olive Lutheran Church, led the group. | | |
CORRECTION. Please note the corrected information for the Ontario March for Life, Saturday, May 10, in Toronto:
There is a pre-march light breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by a worship service hosted by Rev. L.P. Yeong at 9 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 619 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, ON. (Please note the change of location.) Following the service, participants can take a short subway ride to the rally and march at the Ontario Legislative Building in Queen’s Park. Bishop Jeffey Miskus and many pastors will be attending the worship, rally, and march this year. Lunch at 1:30 p.m. and workshops from 2 - 4:30 p.m. are happening near Queens Park following the march & rally. Participants going to the workshops must register ahead of time here. For more information regarding parking at the church, subway, and buses going to the march email English District Lifeline Team member Glenn Kahle.
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Lifeline is the English District’s outreach that promotes the dignity and sanctity of life from fertilization to forever.
Click here for Lifeline's 2025 Coming Events, a list of upcoming sanctity of life learning opportunities. Click here for more information on Lifeline.
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Call Accepted
The Rev. Christopher J. Kolupa (Northern Illinois District) has accepted the Divine Call to serve as Sole Pastor of Concordia, Berwyn, IL.
| | English District Missions | | | |
Our desire in the English District is to see churches planted “from the bottom up, not from the top down.” This month's Mission Action Team article "De-centralized Church Planting in the LCMS (and the English District)" explains more. Click here to read the full article.
| | District Evangelism Leadership | | | |
"As You Go"
By Rev. Brian Pratt, Chair, District Evangelism Team
Our lessons for the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year C) present a perfect opportunity to teach and preach God’s priority of evangelism. The world around us needs to know the love and forgiveness God has offered them! Our Gospel lesson from Luke 15 describes a loving, compassionate Father who didn’t wait for his prodigal son to come through the door, but, instead, ran out to meet him. The love He then lavished on His wayward child was so extravagant that the "faithful" son took offense. He didn’t see justice in such generous forgiveness toward his brother. Indeed, the Father wasn’t dispensing justice – but mercy! We too, along with our members and all the people they will talk to this week need to receive and then extend - not justice, but our Father’s mercy. Clearly, God desires to seek and save the lost "prodigals" in our communities, using us to welcome them home.
Paul similarly tells the church in Corinth that they (and we) are “ambassadors for Christ.” We will encourage and even exhort our people to be reconciled to God and proclaim His reconciliation to others. God doesn’t count their sins against them – in Lent, if we Repent, God will Relent! “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18). God uses us to make His appeal for the people in our lives to be reconciled to Him. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Let us speak for Him to the people He places in our lives while there is still time! He even promises to give us the very words to say at that time for witnessing about His truth.
| | Set Apart To Serve 2025 Congregation Survey | | | |
“Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38)
Where do we get pastors who preach and care for us with God’s Word? Where do we get teachers who teach our children about Jesus in our Lutheran schools? Where do we get our directors of Christian education, deaconesses and directors of parish music? Set Apart to Serve (SAS) is partnering with our seminaries, Concordia universities, districts and others to build a Synodwide culture of church work formation and recruitment. Will you please take a brief online survey by April 12 and let us know how we can make SAS more beneficial to your congregation? We want to hear what you have to say.
The more responses we receive, the better equipped we can be to raise up pastors and church workers for generations to come. All responses are anonymous and confidential. Thank you so much for your time and support.
In Christ,
Rev. Dr. James A. Baneck
Executive Director
LCMS Office of Pastoral Education
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District daily prayers for April 2025 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.
CONVENTION PRAYER PARTNERS
Please encourage your congregation members, family and friends to sign up to be prayer partners for the Convention. We are seeking prayers for all aspects of the convention: safe travel, the business of the English District, elections, activities, discussions, theological presentations, fellowship and to celebrate the English District’s ministries and missions. The signup can be found HERE. Scroll down to choose a time slot and then lift the needs of our delegates, staff, clergy and convention in prayer.
| | Contact John Hoover, LCEF Vice President, by email or phone 314-276-3370 for more information. | | Lutheran Federal Credit Union | | | For more information, please contact our Operations Department at 314-394-2790 | | |
Mount Olive, Tucson, AZ
Members of Mount Olive Lutheran Church were proud to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of David and Rachel Valles with a renewal of vows this Sunday. We pray for God's continued blessings upon their marriage.
| | There is still room available. RSVP for this event here. | | |
Prince of Peace, Medina, OH
The Prince of Peace Lutheran Church family celebrated with four students as they recently confirmed their faith. We pray that they continue to grow in faith and in their relationship with Jesus! Pictured below: Pastor Jim Bretthauer, Danika, Olivia, Caleb, Logan, and DCE Emily Leising.
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Members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church recognized some special ministry milestones: 10 years in ministry for DCE Emily and 15 total years in ministry for Pastor Jim. Pictured here: DCE Emily Leising, English District Board Chair Terry Leu, and Pastor Jim Bretthauer. Congratulations and God's blessings!
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Immanuel, Orange, CA
Immanuel Lutheran Preschool recently hosted educators who were attending the LEA National Administrators Conference that was held in Irvine, CA. Educators from across the country visited nearby St. John's Lutheran School and then walked to tour the preschool which is play-based, art- and nature-enriched, with outdoor classrooms, a garden, and even chickens!
| | 2025 Multiethnic Symposium | | | In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives His apostles and His church the tools to make disciples: baptizing and teaching. This mandate to spread the Gospel to all nations also involves ongoing catechesis through which the church nurtures disciples. In the context of a multiethnic church, catechesis becomes a powerful tool for raising up leaders who can effectively minister to diverse communities. Through plenaries and a roundtable discussion, the 2025 Multiethnic Symposium will be held May 6-7 and will explore how the church can equip future leaders with knowledge, skills and spiritual maturity to serve God's kingdom faithfully. Register here. | | |
This three-day theological conference (May 2-May 4) is for young men confirmed in the church who want to learn more about a vocation in the Office of the Holy Ministry and pastors/parents who wish to learn more about the ministry for their families and congregations. The conference will be held at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Winter Garden, FL. Click here for more information or to register.
| | The Songwriter Initiative | | | |
“Christ’s song of triumph over Satan and sin, over all the assaults that try to drag us into darkness and death, is designed to welcome people into his eternal banquet hall.” - Rev. Dr. Robert Kolb
The latest release from The Songwriter Initiative (TSI)—a project of Concordia University Irvine’s Center for Worship Leadership (CWL)—reminds us that, even before we gather for worship and the congregation sings the opening hymn, Christ is already singing over us in His grace, inviting us to join in His eternal song. “Already A Song,” written by Sam Barnett, Elinor Paulison, and Jon Gruen (pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church) at TSI’s May 2024 songwriting gathering, sets this truth to a congregational song. “Already a Song” was recorded at Farmland Studios in Nashville this past February and produced by Kip Fox. When asked what this song means to him, Gruen commented, “This song invites us to believe that God saves us, sings for joy over us, and fills us with gladness. My prayer is that the song lifts the spirits of the hurting as we join the worship already taking place in heaven and earth.” Freely available to congregations and worship leaders, the song comes with lead sheets, chord charts and more at CWL’s website. As we sing along, we join the ceaseless praise of the saints in heaven. “Are you mourning, are you broken, are you sinful? Christ has spoken! Are you hurting, are you waiting, are you lonely? Love is singing!”
| | To apply, click here. For more information email Anthony Ribaudo, Interim Director of Human Resources or call 708-209-3526. | | |
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Please share the unique ministries of your school or congregation with the rest of the English District. Send pictures and stories for consideration to llinthicum@englishdistrict.org by Wednesday at 12:00 noon ET.
We want to see how YOUR congregation or school is showing the love of God to those in your community and around the world.
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