The 2.3 million-member Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. Founded in 1847, the LCMS has more than 2.3 million baptized members in some 6,200 congregations and more than 9,000 pastors. NOTE: We invite you to comment and we ask that you ground your comments in love for one another as Christ instructs us in John 15:12 - "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.'' While we do not edit comments, we do reserve the right to remove duplicate, irrelevant, inappropriate or offensive comments. Political statements and/or endorsements are not allowed. Please contact us at infocenter@lcms.org if you have any questions. Comments and links posted by individuals reflect personal opinions and may not necessarily reflect the beliefs and practices of or be endorsed by the LCMS. We invite you to visit our jobs board at http://www.lcms.org/jobsboard; we look forward to hearing from you. To learn more about the LCMS, visit www.lcms.org.