Debbie Oatman, coordinator for the disaster relief efforts from the CNH District, writes:

Greetings in the name of Christ,

The Council of Presidents of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod had a conference call regarding a plan to assist congregations and church-workers of the Southern District. It appears this plan is the best way to cope with the current overload being experienced by the Southern District staff and infrastructure due to the traumatic affects of Katrina on congregations and church workers of the Southern District.

LCMS World Relief has assigned to willing districts one or more affected congregations in need of assistance and support. I have been appointed as the contact person for the CNH District for these congregations and their pastors. Please use me as the focal point for all contact so they can focus their fullest attention on their congregations and immediate personal needs. My phone number is 510-352-4814.

CNH District has been assigned the following congregations and church-workers:

• Trinity Lutheran Church, New Orleans - Rev. Byron Williams
• Saint John Lutheran Church, New Orleans - Rev. Jan Case

I have been requested to contact these congregations and Pastors to see what their specific needs are. I will also be in touch with LCMS World Relief and Human Care, who will be partnering with us to assist congregations in the Southern District.

Further information will be sent as I receive more information from the congregations listed. It is important that we first pray for these congregations and their members, and workers alike. I will be in touch with them and will be available to answer questions you may have. I may not have the answer when you call, but I am willing to seek answers to your questions. Again my phone number is 510-352-4814 and my email address is debbieoatman@earthlink.net.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Matching Donation
Through the Individual Member Response, gifts members make to one of the four eligible organizations will be supplemented $1 for every $2 given, up to $300 per member (e.g., if a member gives $600 to a relief organization, Thrivent Financial will provide that organization with an additional $300.) A Thrivent Financial Hurricane Katrina Response Form must accompany the member's gift.

Thrivent's form and instructions.

Pictured are missionaries Herb Burch, Enrique Vallejo, Everett Garwood, Eugene Davidenas, and David Wilson.

Circuit 9, Central Coast Lutheran Mission Society

• Bethany Lutheran in Lompoc will be forming two new cells in the coming month. As a result of contacts made through the July Vacation Bible School in the park, we want to bring new families from the contacts into one of these cells with the hope of forming a Spanish speaking cell. We pray one of the families will be open to joining this cell group and the Spanish speaking leaders of this new cell will be successful in integrating and training new members.
• Grace Lutheran Church in Santa Maria had an evangelism walk through the neighborhood on Saturday September 10 to invite people to church and Sunday school. They also gathered the prayer needs of people they met, but many of those people indicated they had no prayer needs. We ask that their eyes be opened to their own needs for Jesus Christ in their lives and the needs of their neighbors and friends.
• For Luis Jose Jasinto, 5 year old son of Rev. Luis Jasinto, President of the Lutheran Church of Guatemala. Luis Jose suffers from cancer at his young age, and undergoing chemotherapy has been an inspiration for all Lutheran friends in Guatemala. With the preoccupations of his son's health, Rev. Jasinto has been hard pressed to continue his work as president of the national church and full time mathematics teacher in a public school.

Hispanic, First Immanuel, San Jose

• Jose Cervantes, for strength, guidance, and wisdom, as he begins his work as Deacon for the Hispanic Ministry at St. Paul in Mt. View.
• For the T.E.E. students who just begun a new Congregational-level course at First Immanuel.

River of Life Mission, Dayton, NV

• Personal request for successful surgery on the shoulder of missionary, Everett Garwood, and that a date will be set soon. Limited motion is hampering his guitar playing.
• Pray for those whom God will send to attend the first going public with the "Chance to Change" gambling recovery program. Rev. Garwood is asking God to give them at least four people. Planned start date is September 23.

Foothill Mission Society

• For Bill Clark (FMS treasurer) as he continues to heal from by-pass surgery.
• For Foothill Evangelical Lutheran Church (Valley Springs) and the Jackson Lutheran Mission as begin to co-ordinate their times to share circuit rider Gene beginning January 2006.
• For Pastor Al Sommer of Light of the Hills Lutheran Church in Cameron Park, CA as he returns to service from a 3 month sabbatical.
• For the Jackson Lutheran Mission, its leadersip and its people as they continue to invite and bring their friends and acquaintances to worship and small group ministry.

Chinese Ministry, Prince of Peace, Fremont

• Please pray for our Chinese Ministry as we begin our Saturday Mandarin School outreach on September 10.
• Please pray for us to identify and train leaders as we begin our school year with Bible studies that are consistent with the cell model.

St. Louis, MO, Sep. 8, 2005 -
Renowned religious broadcasting pioneer and Protestant church leader, the Rev. Dr. Oswald C.J. Hoffmann, died Sept. 8, 2005 in St. Louis, Missouri, after a brief illness. He was 91.

For more than 33 years (1955-1988), Dr. Hoffmann was a Sunday radio institution, touching millions worldwide with his inspirational broadcasts of The Lutheran Hour®. During that time, his voice was heard weekly by millions of people in more than 120 countries. Because of his travels on behalf of The Lutheran Hour and the United Bible Society, Dr. Hoffmann traveled extensively all over the world, meeting with and sharing Christ with multitudes of people.

A memorial service for Dr. Hoffmann will be held Friday, Sept. 16 at 11 a.m. at Concordia Lutheran Church, 505 S. Kirkwood Rd., in Kirkwood, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lutheran Hour Ministries or Concordia Lutheran Church, Kirkwood, Missouri, in Dr. Hoffmann's honor. To donate to Lutheran Hour Ministries, indicate that your gift is a "Dr. Hoffmann Memorial Gift" and mail it to Lutheran Hour Ministries, 660 Mason Ridge Center Dr., St. Louis, MO 63141-8557. Credit card gifts in memory of Dr. Hoffmann may be made online by clicking here. For credit card gifts by phone, call 1-800-944-3450, ext. 4130 from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. CST, or call 1-800-944-3450, ext. 4156.

To donate to Concordia Lutheran Church, mail your donation to the church at 505 S. Kirkwood Rd., Kirkwood, MO 63122.

In the picture, from left to right: Mr. Richard Anderson, St. Paul President; Rev. Robert Nicholus, Interim Pastor; The Commissioned Deacon Jose Cervantes; Rev. Enrique Vallejo, Spanish Ministries Coordinator, CNH- District.

Click on photo for larger picture.

Enrique Vallejo writes:

On Sunday, September 11th, Deacon Jose Cervantes was commissioned by Rev. Enrique Vallejo at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mountain View to work within the Spanish Community in the area.

Deacon Cervantes is in the training process at Seminary-level through the Hispanic Institute of Theology T.E.E. Program. He was authorized as a Deacon by District President Dr. Robert Newton in 2004, and has been working at First Immanuel Lutheran Church assisting Pastor Vallejo for over a year.

Deacon Cervantes and his wife, Irma, have five grown children and currently live in San Jose.

After a year of St. Paul's leadership serving a group of Spanish-speaking children at Sunday school, this is the first step towards the goal of reaching their parents, relatives, and neighbors, with the purpose of establishing a Spanish speaking Lutheran worship community as a part of St. Paul Lutheran in Mt. View.

Churches are not known for being trendsetters when it comes to embracing technology. However, a new study released by The Barna Group shows that during the past five years, Protestant churches have been incorporating technology into their ministry efforts at a brisk pace. The study indicated that serious double- digit growth has occurred in relation to the use of websites, large-screen projection systems, electronic fund transfer, satellite broadcasting technology, and the use of e-mail blasts for congregational communication. During the same period, a decreasing percentage of churches have used "pew Bibles" in their sanctuaries.

Nearly six out of every ten Protestant churches (57%) now have a website. That is up from just one-third of all Protestant churches in 2000, an increase of 68%.

Since 2000, the greatest increase in the use of church websites is evident among mainline Protestant churches (up 79%, to 70% of mainline congregations); ministries in the South (increased by 87%, up to 56%), and churches pastored by Baby Boomers (doubled, with websites now in 65% of the churches they pastor).

Among the churches most likely to have a website today are those located in the western states (62%), large churches (84%), and churches whose congregation is primarily white (62%).

Rev. Greg Fairow has accepted a call to be the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod's first Campus Mission Catalyst. In this new missionary role he will lead the development of new and revitalized campus missions.

Rev. Fairow served as a campus pastor at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and since January 2002, as campus pastor of Calvary Lutheran Chapel at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He also previously started a new Lutheran radio ministry, and he helped establish the Lutheran Campus Mission Association and the Madison Area Lutheran School Association.

Martin Luther once wrote, Distinguishing between the Law and the Gospel is the highest art in Christendom, and one that every person who values the name Christian ought to recognize, know, and possess. Law and Gospel is what every moment of the Christian's life is all about.

Lutheran Student Fellowship of U.C. Berkeley Presents, "The Highest Art in Christendom Distinguishing Law and Gospel," with the Rev. Dr. Carl C. Fickenscher II, Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, lecturer.

Friday, September 23, 2005
7:00 pm.
Please RSVP

Mount Zion Lutheran Church
5714 Solano Ave.
Richmond, California 94805
(510) 233-2299

Sponsored by Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Pacific Lay Institute, and Lutheran Student Fellowship U.C. Berkeley. Lunch available.

Coordinator: Pastor Tim Beck (510) 233-2299 or email: mtz ionlutheran@sbcglobal.net

Mike Ruhl, Executive Director for the Center for U.S. Missions, in his "Mission Moments" newsletter writes:

Missiologist and evangelism consultant Thom Rainer and a research team conducted a seven- year study at Southern Seminary. Combining both old and new research, and including surveys of more than 4,000 churches and interviews with more than 1,000 individuals, Rainer identified nine habits of congregations that both reach and keep the unchurched.

1. Habit of Intentionality
2. Habit of Cultural Awareness
3. Habit of High Expectations
4. Habit of Clear Doctrine
5. Habit of Risk Taking
6. Habit of Dynamic Small Groups
7. Habit of Effective Leadership
8. Habit of Effective Preaching
9. Habit of Prayer

Position Available:
Campus Minister/Missioner, p/t, at California State University - Monterey Bay (CSUMB). For more information contact Anton Prange at Anton_ Prange@csumb.edu.

LWML Grants Available to CNH District Ministries
The process entails completing a resolution, a cover letter, and the grant application itself. You may download the instructions and the application from the site below. Ada Towers is the VP for Gospel Outreach for LWML and you may contact her directly to answer your questions at towhee@digital-star.com. Use this link to access the Grant request form and information sheet: http://www.cnhlwml.org/cnhlwml/re sources_and_forms

Choir Robest Available
Shepherd of the Sierra, Coarsegold, CA, has 17 choir robes they would like to donate to any church that might be in need. They are red in color with white stoles. The only thing we are asking is that shipping costs be covered. If that poses a problem, I'm sure we can take care of it.

Contact: Deacon Bruce Hindenburg, Pastor
Shepherd of the Sierra Lutheran Church
email: vonhindy@aol .com
Phone: 559-285-8972 or 559-641-6320

Conference on the Implications of Aging for Lutheran Congregations
The Luther Institute is pleased to announce an upcoming conference, A Conference on the Implications of Aging for Lutheran Congregations, to be held November 4-6, 2005 in Arlington, VA (across the Potomac from Washington, DC). This conference will offer plenary sessions led by leaders in the field of senior ministry, workshops to examine successful case histories, workshops on creating ministry opportunities for seniors and opportunities for networking and sharing. Confirmed speakers include Rich Bimler of Wheat Ridge Ministries, Mary Nelson of Bethel New Life Ministries, Jill Schumann of Lutheran Services in America and Walt Schoedel of Lutheran Senior Services. For additional information contact The Luther Institute at 202-547-5504 or visit the web site at www.Lutherins t.org.

Lutheran Social Services of N. CA Cancels Golf Tourney
In light of hurricane relief efforts, LSS has cancelled its September 26th, 2005, golf tournament. We hope that our contributors will recognize the need to continue to support their faithful local organizations AND make contributions to disaster recovery.

You're Invited to Attend the "How to Apply the Bible Seminar"
Dr. James C. Galvin is the presenter. Mt. Olive, Milpitas, CA, October 15, 9:30 - 3:00. Prepaid early registration by October 10th is $20.00 per person and includes lunch. $20.00 per person at the door, no lunch included. Registration forms are available from area church offices and here.

Concordia Seminary's 167th Year Begins
On Sunday, Sept. 4, at 3:00 p.m., Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, began its 167th academic year with a special worship service in The Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the Seminary campus. The service included the installation of Dr. Meyer as the 10th president of Concordia Seminary and the installation of three new faculty and two staff members. The new faculty members installed at the service were Dr. Gerhard H. Bode, instructor in historical theology; Rev. Thomas J. Egger, assistant professor of exegetical theology; and Dr. Erik H. Herrmann, instructor in historical theology. The new staff members installed at the service were Joel P. Fritsche, admissions counselor, and Anthony A. Cook, director of educational technology. The Seminary community gave thanks for 118 new students, who enrolled at Concordia Seminary this fall and are preparing to serve as pastors, missionaries and chaplains in the LCMS. Of the new students, 104 are enrolled in the Seminary's Master of Divinity program, and 14 in the Certificate (alternate route) program. In addition, six new deaconess students enrolled at the Seminary this fall.

New Issue of LCMS StewardCAST is available here:<br> http ://www.cnh- lcms.org/cnh/stewardcast_september_2005

The CNH District office staff has a practice of remembering in prayer the congregations and ministries of our district during devotions on Tuesdays. This week the staff is praying over Holy Cross, Atwater; Redeemer, Lodi; St. Peter, Lodi; St. Paul, Merced.

The family of Rev. Paul Hoffmann, Holy Cross, Los Gatos CA, upon the death of his father, Rev. Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, in St. Louis MO.

Comfort for Marcia Houseworth, (acting principal at Prince of Peace, Fremont), and his family on the death of Marcia's mother, Betty, who was called home to glory on August 24.

Rev. John Kah, St. Peter's, Arlington Heights, IL, who has been extended a call by St. Paul, Tracy, CA.

Grace, Crescent City, CA, as they search for a senior pastor. Rev. Alan Rehwaldt declined the call to Grace.

Rev. John Denninger, Prince of Peace, Springfield VA extended a call by Our Savior, Livermore, CA

If you have a specific "district" prayer request that you wish to add, please let us know (rita@cnh- lcms.org)

Upcoming events:

• Interim Pastoral Corps, Ministry Center, September 13
• Refocus Coaching Training, Ministry Center, September 15-16
• Circuit Counselors, Ministry Center, September 20-21
• Educators' Meeting for district administrators, elementary administrative assistants, and resource teachers. Ministry Center, September 23, 10:00-3:00.
• Southern Mission Action Council meeting, Saturday, September 24, 10:00 - 3:00, at Trinity, Paso Robles, CA
• Early Childhood Directors, September 27, 10:00-2:00, at the Ministry Center.
• Conference on Exploring Housing Ministries is scheduled for October 1, 2005, at Messiah Lutheran Church, Santa Cruz.
• New Pastors' Gathering, Fresno, October 10-11.
• Fall Pastors' Conference, Fresno -- October 11-13

Last week, Jason Moreno shared some really exciting ministry at the campus at Arcata.

The only problem with the story was the photo.

It was the wrong photo.

Here's your chance to guess right. Which of the three people shown in the above photo is the REAL JASON MORENO? Is it the top photo, the middle photo, or the bottom photo?

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.

He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.