NOTE: This is the second in a series of study articles on the Lord’s Prayer. See the first article here and the introduction to the series here. by John Kreutzwieser Thy kingdom come / Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the kingdom of God to come among the people of God’s creation so that God’s will could be done among them. What is God’s kingdom? The kingdom of God is the Lord’s rule and reign over His creation, and especially over all people in Christ (see Colossians 1:13-14). The Triune God has reigned over all creation since the beginning of ..read more

CASTEAU, Belgium – On March 21, 1999, before the altar of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Community in Vila Progresso, Brazil, Rev. Gerson L. Flor was ordained into the Holy Ministry. Twenty-five years have passed and almost half of his life now has been spent as an ordained servant of Christ.  Writing from his posting in Belgium, where he is serving as a military chaplain, Rev. Flor reflects: “The Holy Ministry has taught me to be a humble servant, for that is the mind of Jesus (Matthew 11:29; Philippians 2:5-8). In this office I learned day by day that we make plans, but God directs our jo ..read more

by David Haberstock Who are you? It is an unavoidable question these days. Identity politics and tribalism are two ways in which the world seeks to answer this question. The world will put you in your place and label you. Victim. Oppressor. Winner. Loser. But what does your Lord and Maker say about you? In recent columns, I’ve talked about the true marks of the Church according to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. But I’ve also been talking about some “alternate marks of the Church” which we find in much of North American Christianity. These alternate marks include enthusiasm, mysticism ..read more

Rev. Jan Pastucha and Rev. Sye Van Maanan. EDMONTON – After almost nine months of exile from their building due to a break-in and arson, the folks at Riverbend Lutheran Church had plenty to be thankful for and celebrate. On March 17, a week after returning to the sanctuary, the church gathered for the installation of Rev. Jan Pastucha to a half-time position. Rev. Pastucha joins Rev. Sye Van Maanan to proclaim God’s Word to a growing community in southwest Edmonton, and Riverbend and King of Kings (St. Albert) share this called position.  Members of both congregations filled the ne ..read more

Left to right: Rev. Davi Schmidt, Rev. Alan Scharlach, Chairman Jim Gardner, Rev. Richard Orlowski, and Rev. Dr. Harald Tomesch. (Photo: Peter Walesch). KITCHENER, Ont. – On February 6, 1949, eleven men met and signed the charter establishing the congregation of Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kitchener. On February 4, 2024, 210 attendees gathered for the Divine Service to celebrate its 75th anniversary, followed by a catered lunch and an extensive program of music, skits, and historical presentations in the auditorium.  The guest preacher was Rev. Dr. Harald Tomesch, Professor of ..read more

EDMONTON – Members of Lutheran Church–Canada’s (LCC) West Region Mission and Ministry Council (RMMC) met for their annual in-person meeting at Grace Lutheran in Edmonton from April 11-12. Rev. Dr. Joel Heck from Concordia Lutheran Seminary presented on “The Art of Asking Questions,” as well as leading a Bible study on hospitality—both topics very valuable to a mission and ministry council. Rev. Mark Smith, LCC’s Director of Missions, presented on “Calling and Gathering People into the Body of Christ.” His presentation brought the RMMC up to date on LCC’s current international missions and fut ..read more

by Marvin Bublitz I wrote my column for this issue just after attending Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary’s Vicars Dinner, which was sponsored by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League – Canada (LWMLC). It brought back memories from years ago when I attended as a student preparing to head out on my vicarage. It was an enjoyable evening. LWMLC President Linda Long gave a wonderful presentation on all that the LWMLC does to support the work of the ministry. It was a good refresher for me as well as for the vicars. During the event, I encouraged the vicars to think of themselves as a water ..read more

CANADA – Every three years, the women of Lutheran Women’s Missionary League–Canada (LWMLC) set a goal and select recipients for their mission giving over the following three years. At the end of the most recent triennium, all mission grant goals selected in 2021 were completed—a total of $248,000 to thirty-six recipients. The LWMLC gives praise and thanks to God who has richly blessed the league with opportunities and funds to do this work. Mission grant recipients from the current triennium included several across Canada as well as grants supporting Lutheran Church–Canada’s international miss ..read more

by Robert Mohns It is springtime out west, and signs of new life are beginning to appear. This is despite very trying times: drought conditions on the prairies and a hard, untimely frost have done their best to prevent new life from appearing.  And it’s not just the weather that has sought to prevent life from appearing; we live in a world of death-lust. As of this writing, almost 34,000 abortions have taken place in Canada. We live in a part of the world which has one of the highest death rates by Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in the world. Our neighbours in Nunavut have one of the ..read more

EDMONTON – Concordia Lutheran Seminary (CLS) in Edmonton is issuing a call for nominations for the role of President. The seminary regents are responsible for the fulfillment of the seminary mission of “forming servants for Jesus’ sake.” In February 2023, CLS worked with Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (St. Catharines, Ontario) and Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) representatives to set goals that would further our work in training servants for the Church. With Dr. Gimbel’s retirement as President approaching, the CLS Board of Regents made the decision to call an Interim President for a tw ..read more