Lutherans For Life

For Sponsor Members: Evening Drinks with the Executive Director
2024-04-30 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
For Sponsor Members of Lutherans For Life from Pastor Salemink:
Would you care to join me for evening drinks?
We deeply appreciate your regular and reliable engagement and generosity. Your committed connection as a monthly sponsor continually energizes us as you participate in the sacrifices and celebrations of this ministry alongside us. And we covet and cherish the chance to enjoy your company, express our gratitude, and involve you in the ongoing efforts of our common cause.
So we’ve prepared an exclusive event we’re calling “Evening Drinks with the Executive Director” on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. CDT.
Please consider yourself invited to join us and your fellow monthly sponsors via Zoom videoconference using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85363065096 (meeting ID 853 6306 5096 and passcode [REDACTED]).
Our Director of Development, Dave Probst, will personally greet you, and our Director of Volunteer Relations, Virginia Flo, will serve as moderator.
We’ll begin with introductions and then enjoy an opening prayer and brief devotion. Next I’ll offer a few updates about impending opportunities and ongoing initiatives. For the rest of the hour, we’re welcoming you to pose your questions, relate your experiences, and voice your concerns regarding any sanctity-of-life or ministry-related matters that have your interest. (Click me a quick message at msalemink@lutheransforlife.org to let us know you anticipate attending, so we can plan appropriately). If the affair goes well, we can schedule them quarterly and consider inviting others among our constituency. And, of course, bring your favorite beverage!

Grandparents for Life event with Virginia Flo in Blackduck, Minnesota
2024-04-28 16:00 - 18:00
Grandparents for Life will hold a celebration of life event from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, at Faith Lutheran Church, 481 Fourth St. NE, in Blackduck, Minnesota.
Virginia Flo, the Director of Volunteer Relations at Lutherans For Life will be giving a presentation titled “Just As I Am.” This presentation will share the work of Lutherans For Life with a focus on the gift of life and how human choices need to be founded on God’s word and his plan for each of us.
Refreshments will follow the presentation. RSVP is requested but not required.
To register or learn more, call Faith Lutheran Church at 218.835.6296.

Life Summit - Lutherans For Life of Michigan
2024-04-28 13:00 - 16:00
LUTHERANS FOR LIFE OF MICHIGAN PRESENTS:
A LIFE SUMMIT
Life Triumphant Hurled in Splendor Through Thy Broken World
SUNDAY, APRIL 28th, FROM 2:00-5:00PM EDT
ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH
329 N. SORRELL STREET
FOWLER, MICHIGAN 48835
PLEASE JOIN US for this event to hear and learn how we can be involved in continuing to share the message of the value of every human life. This is a great event for our congregational Life Teams, Life Advocates, pastors, lay leaders, as well as anyone who would like to become more prepared to share the FOR LIFE message!
SPEAKERS:
DR. RONI GRAD, KEYNOTE SPEAKER: “I was born in Detroit, MI, received my BA and MD at Boston University, practiced pediatric pulmonology mostly in academic settings and retired in 2016. I am a member of Catalina Lutheran Church in Tucson, where I wear many hats including Chair of our congregation’s Life Team. I serve as Board member and secretary on the Lutherans For Life Board of Directors, and as Life Coordinator for the English District, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I just completed the course of training in the Arizona South Circuit Lutheran Servanthood School.”
DR. GRAD will give TWO PRESENTATIONS during this Life Summit:

INTRICATELY WOVEN – We will review the human development in the womb, touch on a few things that can occasionally go wrong in this vale of tears, and consider some Scripture along the way.
ORGAN DONATION AND DETERMINATION OF DEATH – through the lens of Scripture, our Lutheran Confessions, liturgy and hymnody, we will examine the ethical issues surrounding common (and generally unquestioned) practices related to the donation of organs at the end of one’s earthly life. We will discuss the recent Lutherans For Life position statement, Determination of Death (with Special Reference to Organ Donation), and the implications for end-of-life planning.

PASTOR PAUL CLARK is the Lutherans For Life of Michigan Federation President, and Life Coordinator for the Michigan District. He also serves on the LFL National Board of Directors. Pastor Clark will be the M.C. of our event, as well as giving an opening presentation on the theme “THE SPLENDOR OF LIFE IN A BROKEN WORLD.” Pastor Clark will also give an update on where things stand in our current state of affairs, especially here in Michigan.
This event is free. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP (if possible by April 14) to Pastor Paul Clark at revpmclark@gmail.com or call or text to 517-420-4826.
Those who have not registered are still welcome to attend.

Caring for the Caregiver
2024-04-27 10:00 - 14:30
Caring for the Caregiver: The joys and challenges of providing care to loved ones suffering from dementia.
April 27, 2024
10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Jon L Wanzek Center for Scouting | 4200 19th Ave South | Fargo, North Dakota
Download: Caring for the Caregiver Information (PDF)
Download: Caring for the Caregiver Information (Word)

Y4Life Apologetics Retreat - Tahlequah, Oklahoma
2024-04-26 - 2024-04-28

Y4Life College Leadership Retreat - Gatlinburg, Tennessee
2024-04-05 - 2024-04-07

Pastor Salemink at Hope Lutheran Church, Shawnee, Kansas
2024-03-03

Arizona March for Life
2024-03-01
From Lutherans For Life National Board of Directors member, Dr. Roni Grad:
https://marchforlife.org/arizona/
Good afternoon Pastors and all,
I am a lay member at Catalina Lutheran Church in Tucson, serve as the Life Coordinator for the English District and additionally on the Board of Directors of Lutherans For Life. I am writing to let you know of the upcoming Arizona March for Life four weeks from today, Friday March 1, at the State Capitol in Phoenix. The pre-March rally will begin at 11AM on the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, and the March will follow at noon. I have included a link to the event. Last year, there were also displays on site from life-affirming pregnancy care centers and other such groups, offering opportunities to get involved in our communities to support babies and their families, I anticipate that these will be back again this year.
As you know, we are facing major challenges in our state, including a drive to amend our state Constitution to enshrine a right to abortion to term, as well as other similar legislative challenges. At this event, we will have the opportunity to gather in the public square, join our Gospel-motivated voices for life, and joyfully proclaim the sanctity of life from fertilization to forever, in turn proclaiming Jesus.
Our Synod recognizes the importance of our state March, has become one of the major sponsors of the event and is sending her Communications Team to cover it, just like at the National March in DC! It would be wonderful to have a large turnout from all of our Arizona LCMS congregations to gather together, march together, sing and pray together. And perhaps we could meet together either before or right after the March for a time of prayer and devotion?
Would you please share this information with your congregations? If you have or are connected with a Lutheran school, would you please encourage them to consider having their students attend the March? Last year, the student bodies of a number of Evangelical and Roman Catholic schools were there in force, would be wonderful to have our Synodical schools included as well.
The LCMS Life Ministry has graciously offered to send us a banner, signs (with hymns on the back) and caps; they just need a count of how many to send. They are encouraging individuals to sign up for the event at the volunteer portal at https://www.lcms-life.org/need/detail/?need_id=887921. Alternatively, you may get back to me with how many you expect to come, the sooner the better to help their planning. Also, even if you don’t have exact numbers, please let me know if you are planning to come, to help me get the word out on where and when we will meet together, etc. You may reach me at rgrad@catalinalutheran.org.
I look forward, God willing, to our time together in Phoenix. Thank you all so much in advance and my deepest gratitude to our dear friends at LCMS for all of their support. Take care, and I pray God’s richest blessings on you, your families and congregations.

Y4Life Summit - Concordia University, Nebraska
2024-02-16 - 2024-02-18

Wonderfully Made Event - Trinity Lutheran Church, Waconia, Minnesota
2024-01-27 09:30 - 17:00
Trinity Lutheran Church
601 E 2nd St, Waconia MN

Life Sunday 2024
2024-01-21
Life Sunday 2024 Theme: Just As … I AM
Verse: Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Y4Life | Spotlight on Life | Concordia Wisconsin
2023-10-28

Y4Life Director Michelle Bauman in Kansas
2023-09-17 - 2023-09-22
To find out more contact Michelle Bauman at mbauman@lutheransforlife.org.
Sunday, September 17

Redeemer Lutheran Church, 2700 Lawrence Ave, Lawrence, Kansas

Monday, September 18

Hope Lutheran Church and School in Shawnee, 6308 Quivira Rd., Shawnee, KS 66216 (4th – 6th grades – Owen’s Mission | 7th-8th grades – What is a Life Issue?)
“Family Education Night – How to Talk to Kids about Life” (This will be live-streamed.)

Tuesday, September 19

St. Paul Lutheran Church and School, 639 Lincoln St., Cheney, KS 67025

Wednesday, September 20

Concordia Academy, 909 S. Market St., Wichita, KS

Thursday, September 21

St. John Lutheran School, 206 W. 2nd St, Alma, KS 66401
Trinity Lutheran Church and School, 840 Kearney St. Atchison, KS
Greater Topeka LFL/Calvary Lutheran

Friday, September 22

First Lutheran Church, 401 E. Painkishaw, Paola, KS (Son Shine Preschool)

Issues As We Age Workshop - Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2023-09-16 08:30 - 13:00
Bethany Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The joy of the Christian Gospel enables us to welcome God’s blessings even as life is ending. Hear and learn how advance directives, family conversations, and funeral preparations can courageously and compassionately affirm the sanctity of life even in situations of pain, impairment, and advancing age. We’ll also consider the benefits and drawbacks of hospice care and organ donation as opportunities for confessing the faith. And we’ll explore suggestions for upholding life in our congregations and communities.
Contact: Pam Krog | Pam@lcmside.org
Issues as we Age Workshop Agenda

2023 Sexual Integrity Leadership Summit
2023-05-18 - 2023-05-20
Lutherans For Life will have an exhibit at this event.
2023 Sexual Integrity Leadership Conference

Lutherans For Life of Michigan Life Summit
2023-04-23 14:00 - 17:00
LUTHERANS FOR LIFE OF MICHIGAN PRESENTS A LIFE SUMMIT
Staying the Course: Re-engaging in the Battle for Life in the Wake of Proposal 3
SUNDAY, APRIL 23 | 2:00-5:00 P.M.
ST. PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH
329 N. SORRELL ST.
FOWLER, MICHIGAN 48835
Please join us for this event to hear and learn how we can be involved in continuing to share the message of the value of every human life. This is a great event for our congregational Life Teams, Life Advocates, pastors, lay leaders, as well as anyone who would like to become more prepared to share the For Life message!
SPEAKERS
DEACONESS CHRISSIE GILLET, LFL DIRECTOR OF WORD OF HOPE: “Reconciling Relationships: Redeeming Grace After an Abortion”
To be Disciples For Life – any life issue, including abortion – we need to be equipped to reconcile relationships. We value all human life as created, redeemed, and called people of God. Despite being saints, we are sinners living in a fallen world and desperately in need of reconciliation. Reconciliation involves an acknowledgement of the rupture, honesty about responsibility, repentance for wrongdoings, forgiveness of guilt, peace through love, and a desire for atonement. When it comes to life issues, this is a threefold process:

Reconciliation with God
Reconciliation with my neighbor
Reconciling my neighbor with God and other neighbors, all of which happens in and through Christ.

Deaconess Chrissie joined Lutherans For Life to serve as the Word of Hope Director in April of 2017. As a Veteran staff psychologist and certified deaconess, she has an acute understanding of both, the secular worldview and a Christ-centered identity. Her vocations as pastor’s wife and mother of seven further motivate her compassion for life. Chrissie oversees the Word of Hope ministry, which includes writing articles, public speaking along with her service dog Phoebe, and responding to hotline calls and emails. She listens without personal judgment while responding in Christian truth and love. She will also go above and beyond to connect people with pastors, local services, and natural supports. However, her two favorite roles are networking with other life-affirming organizations and participating in the spiritual care of people who are broken-hearted by life issues.
PASTOR MATTHEW DURANCE: “I Came That They May Have Life: Cultivating a Culture of Life in the Lutheran Parish”
We live in a world that is hostile to life. Whether it’s in Hollywood, public schools, or in the court of public opinion, Christian’s are finding themselves against the world when it comes to marriage, family, and children. So how do we preserve our families, teach our children, and promote the goodness of human life when the odds seem stacked against us? In this presentation we will discuss how to teach on the sanctity of life in our own Christian congregations, as well as be a true light to the world and salt of the earth.
The Rev. Dr. Matthew H Durance currently serves as Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church and School in Harbor Beach, MI. Previously he served as pastor at Bethlehem & St. Peter’s Lutheran Parish in Greenleaf, Kansas and the Life Coordinator for the Kansas District of the LCMS. Pastor Durance received his Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary (ELCA) in St. Paul, MN and after being accepted into the LCMS by colloquy in 2017 he received a Doctor of Ministry from Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN. A Michigan native, Pastor Durance and his wife Janessa have been married since 2011, and have four children: Hudson, Tatum, Ezra, and Sutton.
PASTOR PAUL CLARK: “Staying the Course: Re-engaging in the Battle for Life in the Wake of Proposal 3″
The event is free. Light refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP (if possible by April 10) to Pastor Paul Clark at revpmclark@gmail.com or 517-420-4826.
Those who have not registered are still welcome to attend.

Footsteps of Paul 10-Day Tour of Greece
2023-04-17 - 2023-04-26
Travel Dates: April 17-26, 2023
Hosted by Rev. Michael Wolfram and Rev. Dr. James Lamb.
Departures from Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.
Download Footsteps of Paul 10-Day Tour of Greece PDF
For more information, please contact Rev. Wolfram or Dr. Lamb. Please do not contact Lutherans For Life.

Michelle Bauman | Y4Life at Emmanuel Lutheran Church - Fort Wayne, Indiana
2023-04-16
mbauman@lutheransforlife.org
Y4Life

Pastor Salemink at Christ Lutheran Church of Irvington (Indianapolis)
2023-04-15 14:00 - 16:00
Christ Lutheran Church

Y4Life High School Leadership Retreat - Fort Wayne, Indiana
2023-04-14 - 2023-04-16

Pastor Salemink | Lutheran Week at Trinity School of Ministry
2023-03-28 - 2023-03-30
NALC Seminary | Ambridge, Pennsylvania

Y4Life College Leadership Retreat - Branson, Missouri
2023-03-24 - 2023-03-26

Owen's Mission Presentation | Michelle Bauman | Lockwood, Missouri
2023-03-23 09:00 - 10:00
Immanuel Lutheran School, Lockwood, Missouri

Michelle Bauman | Owen's Mission Presentation | Oakmont, Pennsylvania
2023-03-17 08:00 - 12:00
Our Redeemer Lutheran School, Pennsylvania
Owen’s Mission

Workshop: Gender & Worldview with Professor Nancy Pearcey
2023-03-13 18:30 - 2023-03-14 12:00

WEBINAR - Church & Culture: Equipping the Parents in Your Congregation With a Biblical View of Gender
2023-03-02 11:00 - 12:15
You’re invited! Join Alliance Defending Freedom for a webinar on March 2.
They will discuss current legislation and court cases related to gender identity issues and parental rights, ways the Church can engage on human sexuality issues in today’s culture, how your church can protect its religious freedom, and more.
You don’t want to miss this virtual event!
Register today: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4090712/7C3CD6710638D01E456E75EE9846D651
Lutherans For Life has been asked to participate in this webinar.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), is hosting a webinar on Thursday, March 2. They are excited to host this webinar titled “Church & Culture: Equipping the Parents in Your Congregation With a Biblical View of Gender.” As culture continues to embrace gender identity ideology that is contrary to biological reality and biblical truth, church leaders have a responsibility to share God’s truth in love. And while tackling these controversial cultural issues may feel daunting, we’re here to support you and your fellow church leaders.
A panel of denominational leaders will join ADF attorneys for this discussion. LCMS Fifth Vice President, Rev. Christopher Esget, will be one the pastor panelists; he has a wealth of knowledge on this topic.
During the webinar, they will share:

Current legislation and court cases related to gender identity issues and parental rights
Ways the Church can engage on human sexuality issues in today’s culture
How your church can protect its religious freedom as it seeks to operate according to biblical principles

We encourage you to attend so you can be aware of some of these pressing legal and legislative issues. As part of the session, there will also be a segment discussing the growing interest in top Buchmacher ohne Lugas Lizenz, shedding light on their operations, legal frameworks, and the implications for users in different jurisdictions. Parents in your congregation are looking for answers and help. This webinar will help you minister to their needs.

Y4Life Summit at Concordia University, Ann Arbor, Michigan
2023-02-24 - 2023-02-26

Deaconess Chrissie Gillet at Hope Lutheran, Shawnee, Kansas
2023-01-29 08:00 - 14:00
SHAWNEE LIFE TEAM Life Sunday Presentation
The Hope Lutheran Church Life Team is hosting a special two-part presentation on Sunday, January 29, at Hope Lutheran Church in Shawnee, Kansas.
Deaconess Chrissie Gillet, Director of Word of Hope (Lutherans For Life), will speak after both of Hope’s Sunday services in Concord Hall (speaking at approximately 9:20 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively).
All are invited to attend church service (8 a.m. and/or 10:30 a.m.) and join in the fifth Sunday potluck during Deaconess Gillet’s second presentation.
A question-and-answer session will finish the special event.
Deaconess Gillett mans the Word of Hope hotline for LFL, writes articles, speaks publicly, and leads Bible studies on a range of life-related topics. You can find out more her work at Word of Hope at word-of-hope.org.
For more information about the presentation, call the Hope Lutheran Church office at 913-631-6940 or send a message by visiting hopelutheran.org/church/contact.

Michelle Bauman at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Wichita Falls, Texas
2023-01-29
mbauman@lutheransforlife.org

Michelle Bauman | Y4Life | Spotlight on Life Presentation at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Brownstown, Indiana
2023-01-28
