“I have plenty of time. I’ll do this or that later!!” Libraries are filled with self-help books on time management and battling procrastination. The Apostle Paul puts it this way: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16). A great way to “redeem” your time or make the “best use of every moment” is to always be ready as we have opportunity (Galatians 6:10). Why? Quite simply, none of us have that much time. On the average, according to the American Time Use Survey, each work day you’ll spend 7.6 hours sleeping, 8.8 hours working, 1.1 hours eating, and 1.1 hours doing chores around the house, leaving you with about five and half hours left over for doing what you want to do. And these figures don’t include investing time into your relationships, caring for others, or any other commitments and responsibilities you have already. If you have children or grandchildren nearby, you know how fast any free time goes. We all start each day with the same 24 hours, but when you subtract all your commitments from that, you really don’t have much time left.

This past Sunday the annual Coast Guard Festival in Michigan came to a close after ten days of celebrating the work of all those serving in our nation’s Coast Guard. The Coast Guard’s motto is: Semper Paratus - Always Ready.  The main focus of the Coast Guard is search and rescue. Their primary purpose is to save lives. No matter how horrible the storm, no matter how high the waves, the Coast Guard was called to go out. As a matter of fact, the saying was, "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back." That's how dedicated the crews are. When you think about it, isn’t this our motto as eternal disciples of Jesus? Always ready! Always prepared!! As we have opportunity (“As we are going” - the Great Commission), share the Good News. Read more about what God’s Word this week has to say to encourage and equip us in mission and ministry.

MissionInsite is a cloud-based technology platform designed specifically for church, faith-based and nonprofit leaders and is available to all English District congregations free of charge. It is an easy-to-use, geo-demographic mapping interface. There is no software or hardware for you to download, and no specialized training is required. It can be deployed to as many users within the congregation as needed.

For more information or to register go to missioninsite.com. Contact Peggy Oke at the district office for the agency account ID number when registering.

This fall, millions of students will make their way to the college or university of their choice. Moving to college is both an exciting and scary time, full of challenges and opportunities for students to grow as God’s people. This year is unique in that both first- and second-year students will likely be on campus for the FIRST time, as many colleges and universities held classes virtually last year.

LCMS campus ministries need your help to identify and connect with these students. Please take the time this summer to connect each of your college students with a campus ministry or local congregation in the community where they are studying. Call or email the campus pastor and give them your student’s contact information, so that the campus ministry can reach out to them yet this summer before they even arrive on campus. You can find a list of campus ministries here.

September 1, 2021, is the deadline to be sure that updates are included in The Lutheran Annual 2022; however, congregations and rostered workers may update their records online anytime throughout the year since much of this information is also available on the LCMS Locators.

Congregations and new church starts may login at: https://lc.lcms.org/

Ordained and Commissioned Ministers may login at: https://cwu.lcms.org/

For help, contact Rosters, Statistics and Research Services at Rosters.Stats@lcms.org, or by calling the Church Information Center at 888-843-5267.

District daily prayers for September are located on our website.

Your prayer concerns are important to the English District. If you have a prayer request you would like shared in this newsletter, email the District office.

For more information, contact the English District Gift Planning Counselor Ron Grimm by phone (412)-584-7039 or email.

Have you ever asked the question, “What is Lutheran Church Extension Fund?” If you have asked this question, a unique answer is provided in a new video recently shared by Lutheran Church Extension Fund (LCEF). The video is only about two minutes long and does a great job of illustrating how LCEF helps build ministry with the help of investors—people just like you. You're invited to take a look at https://vimeo.com/554476063. The video was also posted on LCEF’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds. If you are a social media user, be sure to connect with LCEF on:

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church recently dedicated and raised a new banner in celebration of their 75th anniversary. Despite COVID restrictions and limitations, they are finding ways to celebrate the faith!

Hazel was welcomed into God's family by baptism on Sunday, August 8 by Pastor Tom Braun.

We encourage everyone to take advantage of alternative opportunities to hear God’s word and to be blessed by the Divine Service. We have compiled a list of opportunities on the English District website that is continually updated.

If your congregation is recording or live streaming and is not included on this list, please email us at info@englishdistrict.org and let us know how people can access it.