Support disaster response in the Midwest, South

Dear fellow redeemed,

In the last week, severe storms in the Midwest and South have caused significant property damage, injury and loss of life. The effects have been felt in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and beyond.

The Rev. Dr. Ross Johnson, director of LCMS Disaster Response, is actively reaching out to those in and closest to the affected areas to ask how the LCMS can best help and support them. Lutheran Early Response Teams (LERT) have already been deployed to clear away fallen trees and assist with debris removal.

Individual congregations like Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Louis are already reaching out to their local communities with material assistance and the love of Christ. Read about the damage in the St. Louis area.

Your longstanding, joyful generosity to — and partnership with — LCMS Disaster Response means that our Lutheran congregations and trained responders are immediately acting whenever catastrophe strikes. For example, after a tornado hit the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, last week, resulting in the postponement of commencement, LERT volunteers worked to remove debris so that it could be held just 24 hours later.

Your ongoing prayers and voluntary, joyful support are essential. As we use your offerings given in response to recent disasters, any gift the Lord allows you to provide will make a difference in the lives of people who are hurting — now and even weeks or months into the future.

Will you help sustain the church’s ability to respond immediately to any disaster, taking steps to meet real physical needs while also providing Gospel-centered care for the soul? Please prayerfully consider a contribution only as the Lord allows, whenever He might make that possible. If you are led by God financially to support the response of the church to this spring’s storms, the following donor-restricted accounts are being utilized:

• The LCMS Disaster Response—Strategic Use fund. Visit lcms.org/give/disaster or mail a check to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, or LCMS, at P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861. On the memo line, write “Disaster Response—Strategic Use (TR9206)”; or

• The LCMS Disaster Response—Tornado Relief fund. Visit lcms.org/give/tornado or mail a check to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, or LCMS, at P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-6861. On the memo line, write “Disaster Response—Tornado Relief (NM8050-26050).”

For anyone living in or near an affected disaster area, the LCMS also encourages you to connect with local congregations (any that are taking action, such as Bethlehem Lutheran) and your respective LCMS district office for guidance about supporting a local response.

As the Body of Christ, who continually receive His gifts of Word and Sacrament, we breathe in the Gospel and exhale mercy and love toward our neighbor. Your gifts help us to be the church, especially when our neighbors have suffered a natural disaster like the recent events in the Midwest and South. Thank you for your continued, faithful and joyful partnership.

Sub Cruce (Under the Cross),

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

P.S. When God’s people supply generous offerings to support an LCMS response to a disaster event, they provide Christ’s mercy to our neighbor in close proximity to God’s Word and Sacrament. This is important because victims of disaster, amid some of the worst days of their lives, can receive care for both body and soul, hear the Gospel and receive the comfort that only Jesus and His Word can give.