Nov. 2021 Editor’s Letter

Usually, The Lutheran Witness has a theme. This month, it does not. Instead, we put out a call to the writers of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) for articles, and they answered the call. We received 72 submissions for this month’s issue, which we whittled down to seven.

The articles cover reflections on All Saints’ Day and Proverbs 31, as well as advice from Martin Luther on mourning and C.F.W. Walther on the church and state. There is plenty to interest any reader. If you like this format, let us know, and we might try it again next year.

I also want to call attention to another significant change. You will notice a name has disappeared from our masthead: David L. Strand, executive director of communications. David spent 40 years serving the LCMS; he started in 1980 as a writer for the stewardship department before quickly moving to communications. During his time in that department, David’s name appeared on the masthead of The Lutheran Witness for nearly 30 years. His tenure with The Lutheran Witness is second only to such luminaries as Theodore Graebner and Martin Sommers, both of whom served for 35 years from 1915 to 1950.

All of us here at The Lutheran Witness thank David for his many years of service and his invaluable guidance as an editor and writer. We pray that he enjoys retirement, and that — hopefully — he will consider spending a few minutes dashing off some delightful words for the readers of these pages to enjoy.

See table of contents for the November 2021 issue

In Christ,