Nearly 150 people from Missouri and Illinois gathered at 7:00 a.m. in Wartburg Hall on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, for the first annual St. Louis Lutheran Prayer Breakfast. Concordia Seminary is pleased to make audio files of this prayer breakfast available free of charge on its Web site, www.csl.edu.

Dr. Dale A. Meyer, president of Concordia Seminary, was the speaker at the breakfast and encouraged Christians to think of their worship of God as taking place in a much bigger sanctuary, the sanctuary of the world. He pointed to Christians who have been involved in the political arena as service rendered in the civic sphere that is pleasing in the sight of God. He called upon all present to remember the witness of the saints who went before them, and to receive encouragement from the witness of these saints to their Savior, Jesus Christ.

Rev. Ray Mirly, president of the Missouri District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, offered the opening prayer and devotion. His devotion included a personal reference to his late wife, JoAnn Mirly, who died in September of 2004. Mirly spoke of how comforting it is to be able to “point to Jesus” at all times in life, but especially as terminal illness and disease are endured.

The choir Laudamus, comprised of select members from the Concordia Seminary Chorus, sang three selections during the breakfast and led the assembly in singing the hymn “For All the Saints.”

“I think the message of victory over sin, death and the grave that God offers to all through His Son, Jesus Christ was forcefully proclaimed this morning,” commented Rev. Glen Thomas, vice president for seminary relations at Concordia Seminary. “We look forward to next year’s prayer breakfast, to be held on Nov. 1, 2007. We very much want this to become an annual event that Lutherans in the St. Louis area look forward to attending.”

Tickets for the prayer breakfast were purchased for $20, and $8 of that amount was an offering to the student financial aid fund at Concordia Seminary.

Additional information also may be obtained by calling 314-505-7370 or e-mailing [email protected].