Helpful Resources For RSOs
The LCMS in Social Ministry
What does it mean to be Lutheran in Social Ministry? A person seeking services may ask, "How can I tell if it is a Lutheran social service agency?" Someone working in an agency may ask, "How do we demonstrate to people that being Lutheran is an important part of who we are and what we do?" Rev. Matthew Harrison explains what a Lutheran social ministry organization should consider in living out its Lutheran identity with integrity to the Gospel, Lutheran traditions and the church.
Faith Active in Love: Human Care in the Church's Life Do you want to respond to needs in your community? Is your congregation considering whether to establish a food pantry or low-income housing for the elderly? This report by the LCMS Commission on Church Relations and Theology provides thoughtful consideration on how Christians can integrate loving concern for neighbors.
Train the Mentor In 1999, Luther Manor Retirement Community established the
Train the Mentor program to reduce a 102 percent nursing assistant turnover rate. In just one year, turnover dropped to 39 percent. Today,
Train the Mentor is used in some 500 nursing homes, hospitals and home health care organizations. Learn more about the program through the Kendall Hunt Publishing website.
Topics of Interest
The Contemporary Debate on Homosexual Clergy This essay by Dr. Armin Wenz, a pastor in the Independent Lutheran Church in Germany, brings clarity and guidance to a much debated issue. His words offer biblically focused insights for Lutheran agencies.
Christian Care at Life's End How do we care for one another at life's end? How do we receive care at life's end? This 1993 report by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations remains pertinent to complex problems. Basic guiding principles are presented for dealing with the topics of mercy killing, advanced directives, spiritual care at life's end and handling end-of-life decisions.
Real Life Stories of Lutherans Active in Mercy
Mercy Works, Fall 2008 Read about mercy in action in this magazine published by LCMS World Relief and Human Care. WR-HC’s Rev. John Fale introduces this issue saying that RSOs are the "local hands and feet of Christ, and enable us (corporate Synod, agencies, districts, congregations, schools, universities, seminaries) to get to those places that we are not able to get to ourselves.”