Sometimes in the pursuit of the things of this world, we risk sacrificing the good gifts our heavenly Father has already given.

After reading the lead articles in the September issue (“Planting New Churches” and “In the Public Eye”), I reflected once again on how easy it is to have too narrow a focus even as “we” are highlighting our broadness. Here’s a case in point from each article: First, while demonstrating the diversity of new mission

Regarding your August Family Counselor response to the letter from a person dealing with a terminal illness: I regret it contained no mention of hospice services. Not only does hospice offer services directly to the patient, particularly pain management, but it also addresses the family’s concerns both during the illness and the grief process after

I’m writing in response to “Loud Hosanna,” which appeared in the June/July Lutheran Witness. I’m concerned that you focused more on disruptive children and less on how to keep children from being disruptive. Besides the quiet toys suggested, here are some other suggestions: Designate the front three rows of the sanctuary for families with small

I was so pleased to read the article in the August Lutheran Witness about Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Detroit. I am 81 years old, and I was confirmed and married at Bethlehem in 1946. I also attended Maybury School, which was mentioned in the article. Our first son, Jim, was baptized at Bethlehem, and shortly

Dr. Mark Press’ article, “Singing Our Mother into Eternity,” in the August Lutheran Witness touched my heart because we also sang my dear husband, Elmer, into heaven in January 2007. We, too, had sung numerous hymns those last hours, many from The Lutheran Hymnal. They included “Abide with Me,” “Nearer My God to Thee,” “I

As a former DCE who “defected” to the pastoral ministry, I found Dean Nadasdy’s tribute in the August Lutheran Witness to be one of the finest and fittest tributes to these servants I have ever seen. In the fall of 2006, DCE Larry Biel accepted the call to family-life ministry at Anchorage Lutheran Church, Anchorage,

President Kieschnick is not the only one wanting the “climate of distrust” gone from among us as LCMS Lutherans [“From the President,” August]. I, too. But how has this climate come about? It has come about as one pastor and congregation practice open Communion week after week and a neighboring pastor and congregation don’t. It

I appreciate the focus The Lutheran Witness has placed on pastoral education, most recently in the May issue. Pastors are necessary for the mission of the church, and seminaries are necessary to produce pastors. In fact, one of the reasons for forming our Synod was to establish seminaries to train pastors. Unfortunately, recent issues of

LCMS World Mission and partners around the world are striving toward the goal of a movement.