Lutherans For Life CT

Renewal For Life in 2008! Responsibility, Relevancy and Resources

Would you like to have impact on Lutheran congregations with regard to Life issues? Would you like to do something to help your congregation renew its responsibility to address Life issues? Would you like to help others celebrate the relevance of the Gospel as it applies to Life issues? Would like to help focus and equip your congregation with Life resources as never before?

Every storm starts with just one drop of rain! Each and every LFL membership counts towards accomplishing the above goals. You can be a part of Renewing the Church!

Your membership will help Lutheran congregations realize their Responsibility to address Life issues.

Your membership will help us reveal the Relevancy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it speaks to Life issues.

Your membership will help us expand the amount of Resources to equip congregations to assume their responsibility and apply the Gospel to these issues.

We need your help to make it happen! How You Can Help Connecticut Chapters:

Your membership donation is shared with the local chapter to which you may belong. If you live in CT and become a National LFL member, please indicate either Chapter 204 or 270 on your membership form. For each annual membership, 28% of the membership donation goes to the local chapter.

By becoming a National LFL member you are helping the chapters in Connecticut, even if you don't attend meetings!

Ways to join and support Lutherans For Life:

Online . . . through a secure internet connection. Just "Click and Pledge™"! You will have the option of becoming a member of Lutherans For Life ($35), giving an additional gift, or giving a non-member contribution.

By mail . . . by sending your check for $35, designated for membership, made payable to “Lutherans For Life” to:

Lutherans For Life

1120 South G Avenue

Nevada, IA 50201-2774.

Thank you for being a part of making a difference for LIFE!

A Brief History of Lutherans For Life National Updated June 2007

Lutherans For Life began as a personal dream of Dr. C. Jack Eichhorst. His efforts to make that dream a reality commenced in 1976 when Jean Garton, Robert Jensen, Leigh Jordahl, Sam Nafzger, Richard Neuhaus, and Michael Rogness agreed to meet with him to "explore common concerns about human life issues with a view to organizing a pan-Lutheran group to deal with them." Seventeen people attended a meeting in St. Louis on May 24, 1977, "initiated by Dr. Ralph Bohlmann, Rev. Sam Nafzger, and Dr. J.A.O. Preus. As a result, a committee consisting of Jack Eichhorst, ALC theologian; Jean Garton, LCMS laywoman; Leigh Jordahl, LCA professor; and Eugene Linse, LCMS professor, met at Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 22, 1978, to consider an organizational structure. A name was chosen; a philosophy was adopted; and officers were selected. Garton became President; Eichhorst, Vice President; Jordahl, Secretary; and Linse, Executive Director.

As its first official act, Lutherans For Life sent letters of announcement to the presidents of the American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, the Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod, and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church. A request was made of the presidents to urge their members to observe October 1, 1978, as Respect Life Sunday and "with prayer and meditation express thanks for their own lives and also sadness for the lives of pre-born children that have been terminated because they were unwanted."

Lutherans For Life (LFL) was officially incorporated on April 17, 1979, with its national office located on the campus of Concordia College, St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time of incorporation, the first board consisted of Dr. George Muedeking and the officers. Soon the board included twelve members; and over the years, numerous Lutheran pastors and laypeople faithfully served on the National Board of Directors.

Rev. Edward Fehskens joined the ministry as Executive Director in August of 1985. In May of 1991, the headquarters of LFL relocated to Benton, Arkansas, southwest of Little Rock. A structure that housed the "Congo Mercantile" for 63 years was converted into an office as well as living quarters for the director’s family.

The philosophy of LFL was revised in 1992. It states:

Lutherans For Life believes that the Church is compelled by God’s Word to speak and act on behalf of those who are vulnerable and defenseless. The crisis of our time is the repudiation of biblical truth manifested in the wanton destruction of innocent human life through legalized abortion-on-demand and the growing threat to the lives of others through legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia. Therefore, we will strive together, as Lutherans For Life, to give witness from a biblical perspective to the Church and society on these and related issues such as chastity, post-abortion healing, and family living.

From 1992-1996, LFL produced a national radio program on the Jubilee network. Speaking of Life featured daily commentaries by Dr. Jean Garton.

In 1995, Rev. Fehskens resigned his position as Executive Director to return to full-time parish ministry. During his ten years of service, he helped build a strong network of chapters and state affiliates. At the 1995 convention, Dr. Jean Garton was honored for 17 years of service. Linda Bartlett was elected President of the board of directors of LFL.

Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb became the new Executive Director in April of 1996. In May of that year, LFL’s headquarters relocated to Nevada, Iowa, north of Des Moines.

Lutherans For Life, Inc. has assisted in the development of Lutherans For Life of Australia and Lutherans For Life of Canada in addition to working with interested pro-life Lutherans in other countries. At the request of a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow, LFL provided them with resources on abortion, chastity, and post-abortion healing. In 1996, LFL was invited to Romania (at that time the country with the world’s highest abortion rate) to assist in the development of Pro-Vita, a Romanian Christian pro-life group. Since that trip, LFL has supported Pro-Vita financially; many brochures have been translated into the Romanian language; and two caring pregnancy centers have been developed. Opportunities exist for continued involvement with Pro-Vita.

The Board of Directors adopted the following Mission Statement in 1997:

The Mission of Lutherans For Life is to witness to the sanctity of human life through education based on the Word of God.

The Campus Life Project, which seeks to encourage students to become advocates for human life, was launched at Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin, in September 1997. Other Concordias, as well as secular colleges, have benefited from this project.

National LFL officially went "on-line" in 1997, providing Christian pro-life resources and timely information by way of a website: www.lutheransforlife.org

In 1998, Lowell Highby came on staff as the first Director of Media and Development (now Director of Communications). The intent of this position is to enhance and expand the avenues of LFL’s outreach and its "For Life" message.

In 2003, Edward Szeto joined the staff as the first Director of Outreach. Duties of the new position include assisting in the development of new state federations and new chapters; promotion of a For Life emphasis within the existing structures of Lutheran congregations; and helping to identify and train LFL leaders.

In 2004, Diane Schroeder, who had been Treasurer, was elected President of Lutherans For Life. Diane took over from Linda Bartlett who stepped down after serving as President since 1995.

In 2004, Karen Frohwein joined the staff as Director of Development. Her duties include seeking new funding options for Lutherans For Life, developing strategies for increasing LFL’s donor base, and offering expanded giving opportunities for LFL donors.

LFL has developed a wide variety of pro-life and family resources. Videos have included: Bearing Burdens (an honest look at euthanasia), Family Matters (an exclusive interview with Dr. James Dobson), For Life (the mission, ministry, and biblical foundation of LFL), Who Broke the Baby (based on Dr. Garton’s book of the same title), and Who Will Speak For Me? (featuring the music of Amy Grant and Don Wharton). LFL of Missouri received a substantial grant to develop Celebrate the Life (now out of print), a sanctity of human life curriculum formerly available through Concordia Publishing House. LFL chastity materials include Dare To Choose, a 13-lesson curriculum for youth Bible class or Lutheran junior and senior high schools. The educational manual, Living With Dying, provides materials on euthanasia, assisted suicide, "living wills," and other end-of-life issues. The quarterly journal, LifeDate, is mailed to LFL members and interested persons nationally and internationally. Directions is published quarterly for LFL Chapters, State Federations, and Life Ministry Coordinators. Life Sunday resources, including sermons and bulletin inserts, are new each year. LFL’s Life Resource Catalog offers an assortment of brochures, tracts, Bible studies, curricula, and audiovisuals from the Christian perspective.

Resources for pastors, congregations, and lay people are provided at the national headquarters and in the field through LFL Leadership/Speaker Training Seminars, and other educational events. Word of Hope, LFL’s post-abortion ministry, brings hurting women together with Christian caregivers so that hope, healing, and reconciliation with the Lord might be experienced. LFL affiliates have established caring pregnancy centers, post-abortion ministries, and congregational programs that provide supportive services for those confronted with unplanned pregnancies. LFL holds an annual national conference.

LFL co-sponsored two amicus curia ("friend-of-the-court") briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and continues to motivate Lutheran citizens to be "salt and light" in a culture that increasingly embraces death as a solution to human problems. LFL is represented on the National Pro-Life Religious Council.

Numerous LFL state affiliates and local chapters exist to serve both individuals and congregations. Participants in the Life Ministry Coordinator Program work to encourage pastors and congregations. As a grassroots organization which desires to help others live out their faith according to God’s will, Lutherans For Life seeks to share Jesus Christ through teaching, caring, and serving.

Lutherans For Life • 1120 South G Avenue • Nevada, Iowa 50201-2774

www.lutheransforlife.org • 888-364-LIFE or 515-382-2077