Category Archives: Outreach

Empowering Parents as Family Spiritual Leaders

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A Role of Growing Importance for WELS Teachers

Written by Brad Gurgel

The number of Americans who don’t practice any form of religion in their homes is growing rapidly. Today, a staggering one-third of all U.S. adults under age 30 consider themselves religiously unaffiliated (Pew Research, 2020). Premier Christianity magazine reported that only 13% of adults ages 18-35 who identify as Christian read Scripture individually or with their families at least a few days per week (Hailes, 2019).

An ever-increasing number of children from these biblically disconnected homes are showing up in Lutheran school classrooms. Many parents today fully outsource any religious instruction for their children to church leaders or Christian teachers.

It’s tempting to react to this societal shift by offering more programs where children can hear the Word of God and to find solace in such thoughts as, “Well, at least they are getting the gospel message when they are with us at school.” Continue reading →

Fostering Godly Families

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Written by Michelle Dobberstein

Modeling a godly family is an important aspect of every called worker’s ministry, whether they have been blessed with a spouse and children or not. Knowingly or not, called workers are examples to the families they serve. Just as sports figures and celebrities use their fame to promote their agenda, called workers can and should leverage their positions to support parents and caregivers. In this way, they fulfill their installation directive “to be an example to others in godliness and Christian living.”

God’s Directives
God directs parents to make use of every opportunity to talk with their children about him. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Continue reading →

Income Planning for Sustainable Schools

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Written by Dr. Jeff Lemke,
VP of Admissions and Marketing, Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato MN

How many budget meetings have you been to? Now, how many income planning meetings have you been to? You’ve likely been to lots of budget meetings, but few, if any, income planning meetings.

The business plans for ministries are heavily weighted toward conversations about spending priorities with a goal of reducing expenditures to balance the budget or to afford a new budgetary item (Pue, 2013).

Often, the assumption is that income will remain the same, unchanged, or increase at the rate of inflation. School costs typically rise at a higher rate, about 5%, than general inflation, about 2% (Pue, 2016). With rapidly increasing inflation upon our ministries, it is time to look at that side of the budget that gets little attention, the income side. Continue reading →

Connecting Children and Families to God’s Word Through ECM

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Written by Annalies Brander

Ideally, all families connected with our early childhood program or Lutheran elementary school (LES) would be actively involved not only in the school, but in the church and community as well. Often, church attendance and retention in the LES beyond early childhood tends to fall short. These are areas that we can seek to change. Maria Ginés (2017) researched outreach to families connected to early childhood ministry and noted that, “in the 2010/2011 school year, 320 children were baptized . . . after involvement with a Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod (WELS) early childhood program” (p. 8). While these numbers may sound exciting, Ginés explained that, “the child baptisms represent about 3% of enrolled young children” (p. 8), meaning there’s still plenty of work to do in connecting children and families with Jesus. Continue reading →

Developing a Growth Mindset in Churches and Schools

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Written by Aaron Markgraf

It’s no secret. Many Lutheran churches and schools around the country are struggling to find ways to grow. They see many of the long-time members of their congregation go home to heaven. They’re trying to find ways to replace large graduating classes with equal or greater incoming classes. They’re competing with other churches that offer more “modern” worship styles. They’re battling other private or even public schools with updated facilities and numerous extracurricular offerings. So what do we do?

It starts with leaders.
I’ve had the chance to be a part of many different ministry teams in my life, and one thing about successful, growing ministries always holds true: solid leadership. It’s people who focus on relationship building and working to make sure that students and their families are connected to Jesus through the work of the church and school. It’s people who understand education and what students need to be successful. One person alone cannot carry a ministry on their back with these things alone. Rather, it takes an entire faculty, staff, and ministry team that buy into this mindset. Continue reading →

Serving Families in Crisis:

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Understanding What Is Needed in Light of the ‘One Thing Needful’

By Dr. Joshua Mears, Christian Family Solutions

A child suddenly loses a parent. A teen begins acting out after years of abuse. Chronic illness. Suicide. Divorce. Addiction. All of these situations shake individuals to the core and threaten to destroy the foundational units of society—our families.

Called workers often have the distinct opportunity to minister to families in their times of greatest need. I want to encourage and embolden you, “and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

While assessing needs and intervening with appropriate treatment is the work of a clinical counselor, called workers can be an important support. Clinically trained Christians in the counseling vocation see called workers as important partners to serve families in crisis. Continue reading →

Are WELS Schools Truly Multicultural Underneath the Surface?

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Written by Grey Davis

The student body in some Lutheran schools has changed in the last 20 years. As the world globalizes, Lutheran schools see an opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission (Hoover, 2013). Increasingly, schools use access to education as a means to share the gospel of Jesus with young souls of all races and ethnicities. While such schools have physically added students with diverse backgrounds, they sometimes fail to meet the hidden needs of a changed school population.

A main challenge for multicultural schools is meeting the needs of students from minority cultures. Enrolling a diverse student body is only part of the challenge. While it may be intuitive that schools need to offer an education that meets the needs of all their students, schools may not recognize the need to reduce bias toward those cultures (Shannon-Baker 2018). Before accepting students of new races or cultures, school administrators should first prepare the school to welcome them and teach them well (Akcaoğlu & Arsal, 2017). Schools will want to slow the roll on accepting students until they grasp what it takes to operate a multicultural program. Continue reading →

Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Elementary School

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Written by Shawna Tech

Just because parents choose to send their children to a Lutheran preschool doesn’t mean that they will have them continue at the Lutheran grade school. What can Lutheran elementary schools (LES) do to bridge the gap between them and their preschools?

As ministers of the gospel, Lutheran school teachers want to share the good news about the Savior with as many children as possible. Unfortunately, many LES have seen a decline in enrollment over the years. Possible factors include families having fewer children, charter schools offering a “free” education, and homeschooling. Opening a preschool to feed the LES may seem like a viable solution to declining enrollment, but it seldom works as hoped. Continue reading →

How Much Digital Postage Do You Pay?

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Written by Dr. Jeffrey C. Lemke

Your church and school likely have regular mailings that go out to families and prospects. These mailings carry important announcements, prompt critical action steps, and develop a unified direction for your ministry. Mailings and postage are built into our organizational budgets. Since the days of Martin Luther and the invention of the printing press, the power of mailings as a communication method has become universally understood.  Continue reading →

Early Childhood Outreach Requires Planning and Teamwork

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Written by Michelle Dobberstein

Early Childhood Ministries (ECM) provide a natural way for churches to share the gospel with children and families. Families seeking early childhood education come for a quality education and end up receiving so much more. They learn about Jesus and his love. Continue reading →