Written by Dr. Lawrence Olson

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Making disciples: that’s the mission that God has given us. What a sacred responsibility! What a glorious privilege!

Readers of this blog may have noted that the question posed in the title above is patterned after a previous posting on this site that asked a similar question: “Should WELS Schools Serve ALL Students?” (emphasis added).[1] The author stated, “When staff cannot meet the educational needs of a student with a disability and thereby must send the student away, WELS schools have failed to provide the child with a Christ-centered education.” She concluded, “As we move forward and steps are taken to increase the number of individuals educated in this area, the hope is that we will stop turning students away because of special needs.”

A Christ-Centered Education

Let’s start with the concept of “a Christ-centered education.” My contention is that we should not equate that with any specific congregational program, including a Lutheran elementary school. An LES can be a wonderful strategic component in disciple-making, but ultimately the best “full-time Christian education” – modeled after Deuteronomy 6 and 11 – is provided by committed, faithful fathers and mothers who understand their critical, God-given role as “full-time Christian parents.” Those parents then partner with their church to nurture their children so that they can “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

How many of our congregations have an LES? Almost exactly one in four, 25%.[2] How many of our congregations have programs of Christian education? All of them, 100%. Regardless of what specific program components an individual congregation may or may not have, we should take to heart the biblical perspective voiced by Ben Freudenburg[3]: “Parents are the primary Christian educators in the church, and the family is the God-ordained institution for faith-building in children and youth and for the passing of faith from one generation to the next.”[4] That is true for parents in all of our congregations, both with and without an LES; it is true for parents of a child with special educational needs and for parents of a child with typical educational needs. And the congregations that partner with those parents, whether they are one of the one-in-four or one of the three-in-four, need to consider the specific educational needs of each child entrusted to them as they nurture them in the faith.

Differences in Disability Require Differentiated Approaches

“Special education,” “special needs,” and “disabilities” are all expansive umbrella terms that cover a broad range of different items: visual or hearing impairment, ADD/ADHD, Down Syndrome, dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorders, EBD, developmental aphasia, and so on. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, originally passed by Congress in 1975 and updated several times since then, includes 14 general categories.[5] Within those categories there is also a range of disability; it is common for many of those categories to be evaluated as mild, moderate, severe, or profound. This reminds us of what good teachers have always known: individual differences need to be taken into account in order for there to be effective teaching and learning.

Dr. Alan Spurgin, in a previous entry in this blog, framed this point well: “Teachers need to work individually with all the children in the classroom. The key question is, How can teachers work with students of widely different abilities?” He went on to describe the answer provided by the “positive approach” of “differentiated instruction.” [6] That approach, which applies to what happens within an individual classroom, can be profitably broadened as we work with individual children with disabilities and their families.

Here’s what I mean. Depending on the nature and severity of the disability, a congregation with an LES might provide any one of the following options:

• Enrollment in the LES with appropriate accommodation by the teacher(s)
• Enrollment in the LES with accommodation and with support by a paraprofessional
• Enrollment in the LES with specific specialized education services provided by the local public school district
• Shared-time  enrollment in both the LES and the public school
• Enrollment in the public school with spiritual instruction from the congregation
• Home schooling with spiritual instruction from the congregation

Recognizing Our Limits

The typical WELS Lutheran elementary school has an enrollment of 70-75 students and a faculty of 3-4 teachers. Our teachers, most of whom serve in multi-grade classrooms, selflessly serve their Savior by investing long hours in their calling. They may not be able to free up the time needed to help a child with a disability succeed while still effectively serving the students with typical educational needs; even if they had the time, few may have the training and experience necessary to deal with a specific disability, especially if that disability is severe or profound. In addition, it is not uncommon for a child with a disability to need a one-on-one special education paraprofessional to succeed in the classroom, and a congregation may not have the financial resources needed to add those positions.

MLC has just launched a special education major that will lead to Minnesota state licensure as an Academic and Behavioral Strategist (ABS). The purpose of this initial license is to train teachers “to provide services to students with mild to moderate needs across a variety of disability categories.” That license is valid for five years; to renew it requires that a teacher “must also have a disability-specific license in one of the four licensure fields represented within the ABS license: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Developmental Disabilities (DD), Emotional or Behavior Disorders (EBD), Learning Disabilities (LD).”[7]

The reality is that few, if any, of our schools would be able to call a fulltime special education teacher. What excites us about this new major is the opportunity to equip those who will serve as regular classroom teachers to be a helpful resource for the congregation’s special-needs children, their families, and the school faculty. With their multiple disability background, these teachers would also be uniquely equipped to serve as a liaison with the local public school district in accessing special education services available through it.

Not “Turning Away,” but Walking With

Paul talks about “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Sometimes love requires us to say things that are difficult but true. One of those things may be to say, “We love your child, and we treasure her as a child of God. However, because of her specific educational needs, our school doesn’t have the resources necessary to allow her to make the most of her God-given gifts. We will, of course, continue to support you and work with you as together we nurture her in the faith. And we will assist you as you work with the public schools to find the most appropriate educational path for her.”

I began my ministry some 30 years ago as a pastor in a mission congregation that was one of the three-in-four: we did not have an LES. There was a young man in our church with physical and cognitive disabilities. Specialists at several elite institutions, including the Mayo Clinic, were unable to identify his mysterious and progressive disorder. He would not have benefitted from our regular Sunday school or confirmation class. Instead, we provided one-on-one teaching and instruction, making use of the experience and expertise of a woman who was a special education teacher in an area public school. That young man was eventually confirmed, and he received the body and blood of his Savior in the Lord’s Supper. Today his disabilities are behind him as he celebrates at the wedding feast of the Lamb.

We did not fail that child or his family; one path is not appropriate for every child or family. However, whether that path includes an LES or not, whether that path includes the regular Sunday school and confirmation class or not, it is the responsibility and privilege of our congregations to walk those paths with them.

Answering the Questions

Let’s return to those questions. “Should WELS Schools Serve ALL Students?” No, not always. We can say that without any guilt or shame because the answer to the question, “Should WELS Congregations Serve ALL Students?” is yes. Always.