LCMS officials to be guests at the White House
Will share priorities with Obama Administration
ST. LOUIS—October 24, 2011—Leaders of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) will be guests at the White House on Friday, Oct. 28, as part of a day‐long event with other representatives from Lutheran health and human service organizations across the country.
Lutheran Services in America, which helped organize the event, expects more than 160 participants from almost 30 states and more than 50 different Lutheran organizations.
LCMS participants include:
- Deaconess Dorothy Krans, Director of Recognized Service Organizations
- Barbara A. Below, Assistant to the LCMS President
- Rev. Gregory Walton, LCMS Florida-Georgia District President
- Rev. Terry Cripe, LCMS Ohio District President
- Rev. Randall Golter, LCMS Rocky Mountain District President
- Rev. Dan Gilbert, LCMS Northern Illinois District President
- Rev. Timothy Scharr, LCMS Southern Illinois District President
- Rev. Bart Day, Executive Director, Office of National Mission, LCMS
- Jim Sanft, President, Concordia Plans Services
The leaders are gathering in Washington to receive briefings from Obama Administration officials; attend issue‐specific sessions with policymakers; and raise questions, concerns and recommendations about the provision of social services. Participants also will participate in a White House tour.
“We look forward to this opportunity to express our concerns and show support for our social-service organizations as they serve those in need,” Krans said. “We are so thankful for LSA organizing this event.”
The LCMS representatives will seek to learn more about the Obama Administration’s priorities and raise key issues facing the church and the communities it supports through the LCMS network of not-for-profit partners known as Recognized Service Organizations.
The LCMS is a founding partner and member of Lutheran Services in America, a network of more than 300 Lutheran health and human service organizations. Working neighbor to neighbor through services in health care, aging and disability supports, community development, housing, and child and family strengthening, these organizations together touch the lives of one in 50 Americans each year and have aggregated annual incomes of more than $18 billion.
About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), is a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. Founded in 1847, the LCMS has more than 2.3 million baptized members in some 6,200 congregations and more than 9,000 pastors. Two seminaries and 10 colleges and universities operate under the auspices of the LCMS, and its congregations operate the largest Protestant parochial school system in America. The church broadcasts the saving message of Jesus Christ over KFUO Radio, and it has relationships and active mission work in 89 countries around the world. In the last five years, the LCMS has awarded more than $35 million through more than 900 domestic and international grants for emergency response and disaster relief. Today, the LCMS is in full doctrinal fellowship with 33 other confessional Lutheran church bodies worldwide and is a founding partner of Lutheran Services in America, a social ministry organization serving one in every 50 Americans. For more information, visit www.lcms.org.
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