News Break - Dr. Rast declines call to Concordia Seminary St. Louis

In today’s News:

Dr. Rast declines call
By letter yesterday to the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis Board of Regents, President Of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind, Dr. Lawrence R. Rast, Jr., declined the call to serve as Concordia Seminary’s 11th president and will continue serving as President at Fort Wayne. The Seminary extended the call May 16 and Rast’s decision was made within the 15-day window allowing for deliberation of the call. In accordance with the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod bylaws, the Seminary’s regents now must call a meeting of the electors and, as prescribed in the bylaws, determine whether to reissue the call, elect another person from the remaining five finalists or issue a new call for candidates. The seminary’s next president will succeed Dr. Dale A. Meyer, who retires June 30.

Methodists reschedule their general conference
The United Methodist Church has rescheduled its general conference for August 29-September 7, 2021, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis. It’s looking into ways to use technology to ensure delegates can participate in the quadrennial meeting, according to the Commission on the General Conference. The general conference — during which delegates from across the globe are expected to discuss a proposal to split the denomination over the inclusion of its LGBTQ members — had been set for earlier this month in Minneapolis. It was postponed in March when the Convention Center announced it was restricting events at the venue to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Preparing young men for fatherhood
Nearly one in four children in america live without a father, according to the National Fatherhood Initiative. This lack of a dad in the lives of American kids translates into numerous behavioral and societal problems, including a four-fold increase in the risk of poverty. A group of pregnancy centers in Missouri is tackling the absent father issue and seeing strong success in saving lives and families. Rachel House Pregnancy Resource Centers, with operations in Lee’s Summit, Independence and two Kansas City locations, engaged with nearly 470 men last year. Those interactions included one-on-one meetings with men coming in with their girlfriends and men also attending fatherhood classes. Two large lessons learned from engaging with new fathers are that many feel they have no say regarding the woman’s pregnancy, and they have no male role model with whom to talk.

Conscience rule is defended
House and Senate members urged a federal court Tuesday to uphold a new conscience protection rule that protects doctors and nurses from being forced to help abort unborn babies. U.S. Rep, Andy Harris of Maryland and U.S. Sen James Lankford of Oklahoma led 65 House and 13 Senate lawmakers in filing an amicus brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing in favor of the rule. The court is considering a lawsuit from New York State, led by pro-abortion Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule. The 2019 rule protects health care providers from discrimination if they refuse to participate in abortion, sterilization or assisted suicide because of their religious or moral beliefs.

Kip Allen

When cleaning his collection of glasses for the different types of beer, his favorite beverage, Program Host and Journalist Kip Allen may be listening to Gordon Lightfoot or deciding which historical novel to read next. He’ll eat anything his wife cooks because she’s the best cook on the planet. You’ll often find him enjoying a steaming cup of coffee while reading the newspaper in the early morning, or he and his cozy slippered feet may be reading his favorite political blog or playing the best computer simulation game on his iMac.