Pioneers in Peru 6-2014 Update

The following video update includes some news of new ministries and new missionaries.

Please keep the entire Peru mission team and the Peru mission in your prayers. I am including a picture of Pastor Herb Burch and his wife Markie, Pastor Joshua Gale and his wife Amanda and their children Katy and Zechariah, and Vicar Willie Grills and his wife Angelica and son Agustin. We look forward to them all arriving here in a few months.

Supreme Court Ruling Emboldens Us to Continue to Carry On

SCOTUS Rules in Favor of Hobby Lobby - The Wait is Over

The United States Supreme Court recently rendered its decision in the landmark Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation v. Burwell cases. While the decision has no immediate direct impact on the Concordia Health Plan – these cases dealt with the right of for-profit privately held companies to exercise religious freedom under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 – Concordia Plan Services supports this Supreme Court decision upholding the right of family business owners to follow their religious convictions as guaranteed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Concordia Plan Services will continue to monitor the impact of this decision, as well as other cases still to come before the Court, and work to provide comprehensive, quality health care that meets the needs of our members, while staying compliant with changing health care laws and committed to LCMS beliefs and theology. The decision rendered by the Court is consistent with the LCMS initiative Free to be Faithful, an education and awareness campaign to support American citizens' freedom of religion, to maintain the rights afforded in the Constitution for future generations, and to respond to increasing intrusions by government in the realm of the church.