Living Our Baptized Life in Christ

Galatians 2:20

April 10, 2026

Bishop Miskus recently visited the saints at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Toledo, OH, where he led Bible study and Palm Sunday worship. The congregation was very hospitable and welcoming.

Bishop Miskus visited the congregation of Hope Lutheran Church, Kitchener, ON on Easter Sunday. It was a blessing to worship and address the congregation along with Rev. Derek Mathers, Assistant to the Bishop, who was serving the congregation that Sunday. Following the service, there was a wonderful meal and fellowship. Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!! Alleluia!!!

Calls Returned

The Rev. Ryan B. Schnieder (Indiana District) has returned the Divine Call to serve as Sole Pastor at St. Mark’s, Ferndale, CA.

The Rev. Brian V. Pratt has returned the Divine Call to serve as Sole Pastor of Cedar Lake Lodge, Louisville, KY (Indiana District).

Our dear sister Kathy Stanis is going to be retiring from her position as District President’s Administrative Assistant. Kathy has been a great blessing to our English District for over a decade and will be greatly missed by all who worked with her. We pray God’s continued blessing on her service to Him and His Church in retirement. Kathy will continue in her position through the end of September.

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

Meet a member of the Ministerial Health Commission.

Deaconess Barbara Hemme 

Lockport, Illinois 

Cell: (847) 638-7444 

Barbara.Hemme@Yahoo.com

Barb has lived most of her life in the greater Chicago area. Recently she retired from a 40+ year accounting career. Currently, she works part-time as an IT consultant teaching computer programs. 

She is a life-long learner who took one year of courses at Valparaiso University (1974), then went to community college taking a class here and there. In the late 1980’s she got serious about her education, earning an A.A. in 1993, a B.A. in business in 1995, and a M.A. in sociology in 1998. Cancer struck in 2005, and God led her to go back to school. She earned a M.A. in Religion and a Deaconess Diploma from Concordia University Chicago in 2010-2011. 

While working as a CFO in a manufacturing concern, God led her to start an organization called Cedars Lutheran Living Center. This organization was started to take care of elderly Lutherans who could no longer live on their own. These homes would be on church properties that were not being used, so that seniors could continue to be active in their church life until God calls them home. But God in His wisdom stopped this plan and just a few months later the world-wide COVID pandemic hit. There is still a great need for serving our seniors - as well as others - who may need the church’s assistance in new and different ways. 

Barb has been married to her husband, Mike, for over 40 years. They have three children and six grandchildren. She cares for her elderly parents and understands the “sandwich generation.” She enjoys genealogical research in her spare time. 

Hebrews 7:27b tells us, “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

As we continue to celebrate the grace of Easter, please consider this: GRACE can be an acronym for God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

We see in the verse above that Christ’s expense was his very self. It was abundantly understood on Good Friday that this choice by Christ is what makes last Friday good. A question that may be well to ponder as we continue to celebrate Easter Season is “who might benefit next in this ‘once for all’ sacrifice?" Who may be included in the “all” is someone who, by the Holy Spirit, is led to faith by the work of a mission plant. It might be one of the very missions that our weekly dollars support today or have supported in the past. Let’s continue to pray and support all of these missions!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24

Mission 1-1-1 is a very simple, yet powerful, ministry. It is NOT burdensome, nor sacrificial. It involves every baptized member of the Body of Jesus in your congregation, from the newest baby baptized to the oldest member. It demonstrates the power of the beautiful body of Christ working together, prompted by faith. It shows how much can be accomplished by many, giving little.

Here's the plan: $1/per baptized member/per week. Simple, right? Self-explanatory almost. Not burdensome, nor sacrificial. All can participate.

If your congregation has not yet begun this work, please prayerfully consider it. All of the information you need to get started can be found on the district website. It is the goal of this campaign to saturate our efforts with Scripture, through where the Holy Spirit moves us.

We pray for all who are experiencing health issues, that God would grant them comfort and healing.

We pray for all caregivers, that God will provide them strength and faith through the challenges they may face.

District daily prayers for May 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.

REGISTER NOW for the 2026 Professional Church Workers Conference. The conference will be held Tuesday, May 19, 2026 to Thursday, May 21, 2026 at Ascension Lutheran Church, 28081 Lorain Road, North Olmsted, OH 44070.

Crosspoint, Sahuarita, AZ

Pastor Jason Hong and members of Crosspoint Lutheran Church recently celebrated the 15th anniversary of being a chartered congregation of the English District. We pray for continued blessings for many years to come.

The congregation also recently welcomed 6 new members: Pastor Tom and Colleen Braun, Eddy and Brandon (through Holy Baptism), and Leroy and Ceci, all pictured with Pastor Hong. Praise be to God for this thriving congregation!

Please visit lc.lcms.org to submit your congregation’s end-of-year statistics and update your current list of lay leaders by Friday, May 1st. If the username and/or password that was created for the congregation is unknown, follow the on-screen helps on the login page to recover the congregation’s credentials.

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.

Trinity, Ocala, FL



The congregation of Trinity Lutheran Church gathered on Easter Sunday for breakfast and fellowship before assembling for worship.  

Peace, Palm Desert, CA



Members of Peace Lutheran Church of the Desert (Peace) are enthusiastic supporters of two remarkable young women, sisters Katelyn and Kaley, who have chosen to dedicate their lives to helping young people through ministry within the LCMS. Pastor James Bowes and his family were on hand to help celebrate at the call service held at Concordia Irvine. As part of their studies, Katelyn and Kaley have been leading the youth at Promise Lutheran Church, and helped chaperone youth from Promise Lutheran Church, Peace, and Trinity Lutheran Church at the National Youth Gathering. 

After graduation, Katelyn, center right, will be fulfilling her Director of Christian Education (DCE) Internship Call at Alive in Christ Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri. Kaley, center left, will be staying closer to home by fulfilling her DCE Internship Call at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The future indeed feels bright with such dedicated young people.

Calvary, Mechanicsburg, PA



The children at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, served by Pastor Luke Zimmerman, recently gathered to assemble Easter baskets for the congregation's homebound parishioners. The baskets included chocolate crosses, Portals of Prayer booklets, and various other small gifts.

Tree of Life, Inverness, FL



Tree of Life Lutheran Church, served by Pastor Eric Linthicum, recently celebrated member Bruce Thornton's 90th birthday. The celebration included family, friends, and, of course, good food. We pray for God's continued blessings on Bruce. Standing directly behind Bruce is his wife of over 66 years, Barbara.

New Life, San Francisco, CA



Pastor Charles "Chip" Fox and members of New Life Chinese Lutheran Church had a large turnout to celebrate Easter. God granted 73 people to attend Sunday worship, because He moved members to invite other people (mostly who weren’t Christians, but also people who hadn’t been to church for a while). Jesus made it an enjoyable celebration of His resurrection! 

Hope, Hastings, MN

Hope Lutheran Church and Hope Christian Preschool joyfully celebrated the resurrection of our Lord all week. Preschool students delighted in a festive egg hunt, playfully chasing Pastor Ken Boudreau and Miss Janice Boudreau, while learning about the joy we have in the empty tomb. The celebration also included a special chapel time, where Pastor Ken shared the Easter story, reminding the children that Jesus is risen and gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation!

The LCMS Church is facing a significant shortage of professional church workers. The English District provides financial aid to English District applicants enrolled in synodical-approved church work programs (pastor, teacher, DCE, DCO, deaconess, etc.). Click here for more information and the application. (Scholarships are not given to interns, vicars, or graduate students.)

There is a separate application for colloquy students which also can be found using the link above. 

The deadline for receipt of applications is June 1. 

Please consider sharing this information with your church and school families, especially those considering professional church work. It might be that this assistance will add one more worker to the Kingdom! 

Due to Executive Director Rev. Dr. Matthew Heise’s upcoming retirement, the Lutheran Heritage Foundation (LHF) has begun the search for a new Executive Director. As an LCMS recognized service organization, qualified candidates must be an ordained LCMS pastor passionate about LHF’s work of translating and publishing the good books of our Lutheran faith for churches in nearly 100 countries around the world. To learn more about this position AND to submit your name (or the name of a person you believe would be qualified) for consideration of this Call, click here.

Happy Easter from Lutheran Summer Music!

Please enjoy this joyful musical offering of “O Clap Your Hands” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed by the LSM 2025 Festival Choir, conducted by Dr. Shannon Gravelle, with Dr. Catherine Rodland, organ.

Dr. Chad Kendall, Associate Vice President for Church Relations and Mission at Concordia University Chicago is starting a newsletter for the university through the Office of Church Relations that is called Quodlibet. Quodlibet is Latin, and it means, "A scholastic argumentation almost chosen at will but almost always theological." The newsletter will have one article of substance and reflective thought that intersects academics, theology, and society. Sign up here.

This summer, Concordia University Chicago will host a Festival of Scripture & the Arts from June 20 to 21, inviting students, faculty and staff, alumni, and community members to explore the beauty and depth of King Solomon’s biblical poem through a series of lectures, presentations, performances, and a special commissioned artwork by April Parviz (BA ’11) that will be installed on campus. Click here for more information.

ENGLISH DISTRICT LCMS

248-476-0039

info@englishdistrict.org

www.englishdistrict.org

Connect with us