News Break – Concordia Seminary St. Louis extends a call

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In today’s News:

The Rev. Dr. Lawrence Rast is asked to be seminary president

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis has extended a call to Doctor. Lawrence R. Rast, Jr., president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, to serve as the 11th president in the school’s 181-year history. The call was extended Saturday after a unanimous vote on the first ballot by the electors, including unanimous support from the seminary’s board of regents, and following interviews with the final slate of six candidates. Rast, who would assume the presidency July 1 upon formal acceptance of the call, was elected to succeed Dr. Dale A. Meyer, who retires June 30 after serving 15 years as president. Rast has 15 days to deliberate the call. Rast is the chairman of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Commission on Theology and Church Relations, on which he has served since 2006. He also serves as president and member of the board of directors for the journal, Lutheran Quarterly. He and his wife, Amy, have three children: Lawrence III, Karl and Joanna.

The House-passed ‘Heroes Act’ would fund abortion

Planned Parenthood is celebrating after Nancy Pelosi’s “Heroes Act” passed the House of Representatives, potentially clearing the way for abortion facilities across the country to receive more taxpayer funding. The $3-trillion bill passed the house largely along party lines, with only one Republican voting in favor of the bill. Twelve Democrats also broke with party lines to vote against it. The bill, if passed, would provide another round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans, as well as aid to local and state governments. Pelosi claimed its passage was crucial to fighting the covid-19 pandemic. The bill was named the “Heroes Act” by Democrats because it will allegedly aid workers on the front lines of emergency health care. However, while the bill contains the paycheck protection program, it removes safeguards preventing abortion facilities from applying to receive funds. The aid local and state governments receive from the federal government can be used to aid abortion facilities.

Twenty Congressmen ask the Defense Secretary to defend religious freedom

Representative Doug Collins, joined by 19 Republican colleagues in the house, wrote a letter to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Thursday morning complaining of, “multiple, unfounded complaints … Preying on military chaplains.” The Georgia representative and others, call on Esper to “follow federal law in protecting their religious liberties and ensure that the ongoing pandemic is not exploited by nefarious organizations bent on removing faith from the U.S. Military.” In April, U.S. Army Colonel Moon H. Kim, garrison chaplain at Camp Humphreys in South Korea, sent an email to his chaplain colleagues with a pdf of Christian author John Piper’s book, “Coronavirus and Christ.” It explained the book helped him refocus his calling and that he hopes it helps the chaplains as well. Military Religious Freedom Foundation President and Founder, Mikey Weinstein demanded in an April 29 letter to Esper that Kim “be officially, swiftly, aggressively, and visibly investigated and disciplined in punishment for his deplorable actions.”