Opening the Illinois General Assembly

I will have the honor of leading the opening invocation of the Illinois General Assembly on March 24 in Springfield, IL. I am looking forward to this opportunity as the Illinois State Government has often been in the news recently. Unfortunately, the news has not been the most positive. I ask for your prayers as I prepare for this event. If you are interested in attending the session with me on that day, let me know.

Here is an interesting note I received today from our LCMS president about representation in the US government:

Speaking of Washington, D.C., I note that two new members of Congress are members of LCMS congregations as well. They are U.S. Reps. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Erik Paulsen, R-Minn. They join two incumbent congressmen who also are Missouri Synod Lutherans: Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.

A total of 23 Lutherans-14 Democrats and nine Republicans-currently are serving in the 111th Congress. In addition to the four LCMS members in the House of Representatives, there are 13 representatives and four senators who are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and two representatives who are Wisconsin Synod Lutherans.

According to a study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 30 percent of those in the Congress are Roman Catholic, followed by Baptists (12 percent), Methodists (11 percent), Presbyterians (8 percent), Episcopalians (7 percent), and Lutherans (4.5 percent).

Please keep these and all our legislators and other government leaders in your prayers and encourage your members to do the same.