wfn.org | [LCMSNews] Lutherans join 'March for Life'

["LCMS e-News" <LCMSENEWS@lcms.org>]

	 <http://www.lcms.org>
e-News
	LCMS News

	PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE! This message comes
from a "Send Only" Mailbox that does not recognize replies.

	February 2, 2004 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 6

	Lutherans join 'March for Life'

	The temperature was warmer than usual and the mood upbeat,
according to an organizer for 40 Missouri Synod Lutherans who joined
100,000-plus pro-life supporters for the Jan. 22 "March for Life" in
Washington, D.C.

	This year's march observed the 31st anniversary of the Supreme
Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

	Dennis Di Mauro, president of the Northern Virginia chapter of
Lutherans For Life (LFL), said that temperatures were in the mid-40s --
compared with the 20s last year -- and the mood of marchers "very
upbeat" because of the partial-birth abortion ban that President George
W. Bush signed into law Nov. 5.

	"Whenever a political change happens for the better, it always
energizes the march," Di Mauro said.

	"I want you to know that our administration is vigorously
defending this law against those who would seek to overturn it in the
courts," Bush told the marchers in a telephone address often interrupted
with applause. "I also want you to know without your hard work and
dedication to the cause of life, these achievements would not have been
possible.

	"But we all know there is still more to do," Bush said, adding
that earlier in the week, he had proposed doubling federal funding for
abstinence-education programs.

	"We will continue to support crisis-pregnancy centers, adoption,
parental-notification laws and the vital work of faith-based groups,"
said Bush, who was in Roswell, N.M., at the time of the call.

	Di Mauro said that participants in the LFL delegation came from
nine states and that eight marchers had free lodging made available to
anyone in the delegation.

	That morning, most of the LFL marchers attended a worship
service at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Falls Church, Va., then took the
Metro into Washington for the march, after which they gathered for
pizza.

	"We really want to encourage more people to come next year," Di
Mauro said.

	Dr. James I. Lamb, LFL's executive director, said the march
"says to our elected officials that we're still here, we're not going
away and we're not alone in this."

	He said that marchers carried placards with "a variety of
messages. Among the most meaningful to me were those that drew attention
to the plight of women who have had abortions. This is a message that
needs to be heard.

	"But Lutherans For Life's mission," Lamb continued, "is to
witness to the sanctity of life based on the Word of God. We gather
around that Word and encourage each other to be witnesses to life. It's
God's Word that will change hearts and lives."

	Lamb, who marched with the LFL delegation for the seventh year,
delivered the message for the worship service.

	He said that the theme of his message, "More Than You Can
Imagine," based on Eph. 3:20, "talks about what God is able to do --
more than we can ask or imagine."

	"That power is at work within us," Lamb said. "We can turn to it
when we face the difficult decisions of life and death."

	For information about being part of the LFL delegation in next
year's March for Life in Washington, contact Di Mauro at (703) 600-5150
or dennisdimauro@lycos.com.

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

	****************************************

	  This Edition of "LCMS News" e-News is provided by:

	Board for Communication Services, Division of News and
Information
Contact Editor
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/contact_editor.asp?title=LCMS%20News&editorid
=6>

		To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this Newsletter and
many others, please visit LCMS e-News <http://www.lcms.org/enews> .
		Share this Newsletter
<http://www.lcms.org/enews/forward.asp?m=1594>	with a friend.

MessageId=1594
  _____

Design ) Copyright 2003 The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
<http://www.lcms.org>
No reproduction without consent. All rights reserved.