{"id":202,"date":"2013-06-28T08:25:22","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T13:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=202"},"modified":"2015-11-10T08:28:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:28:59","slug":"theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Theses for Discussion: Preserving and Enhancing the Ministry of Our Lutheran Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"center\"><em>Written by Rev. Mark Schroeder.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>These theses were originally discussed at a principals&#8217; meeting at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown WI on January 21, 2013. They are republished here to widen the circle of discussion.<\/em><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In the introduction to the Small Catechism, Martin Luther wrote: \u201cUrge governing authorities [in the church] and parents to rule well and to send their children to school. Point out how they are obliged to do so and what a damnable sin they commit if they do not. For thereby, as the worst enemies of God and humanity, they overthrow and lay waste both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. Explain very clearly what kind of horrible damage they do when they do not help to train children . . . and tell them that God will punish them dreadfully for this. For in our day and age it is necessary to preach about these things. The extent to which parents and governing authorities are now sinning in these matters defies description. The devil, too, intends to do something horrible in all this.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Recognize that the challenges facing us today are not new, but they may take different forms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Christian education\u2014of all types\u2014is an integral part of the ongoing mission of the church.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>As an integral part of the mission of the church, Christian education is also an integral part of the life and work of every Lutheran congregation. Avoid characterizing schools as \u201cministries\u201d unto themselves; rather emphasize that schools are a part of the congregation\u2019s one ministry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>School leaders need to recognize the relatively large share of congregational resources that are devoted to the school\u2019s operation and work very hard not only to be good stewards of the resources provided but also to recognize that other congregational programs (especially in the areas of worship and outreach) are also important.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lutheran elementary and secondary education has played an important and historical role in providing the synod with a laity that is well versed in Scripture and biblical doctrine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The need for a well-educated laity (in terms of Scripture, biblical values, and the mission of the church) grows more acute as the culture surrounding us becomes more secularized and hostile to historic Christianity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lutheran schools must be clearly and consciously linked to the mission of the local congregation. Congregational \u201cownership\u201d of the school is vital not only among those who have children but also among those who do not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Congregational ownership of the school\u2019s work cannot be fully achieved without the full support and participation of the pastor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Congregational ownership of the school and the church-school relationship can be enhanced by full participation by all teachers in the life and work of the congregation (outside of the school). Particularly important is participation in worship and Bible class.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Leaders of the school will look for opportunities to involve the pastor in school-related matters (beyond the expected teaching of confirmation instruction classes).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The mission of the school in each locality must be clearly defined and explained. Is the school primarily designed for the nurture of congregational members? Is it primarily intended to be a tool for outreach? Is it both?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Schools that enroll non-members as an opportunity for outreach must work closely with the pastor to develop a specific strategy to bring non-members into the life of the congregation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>We need to be bold in outlining and explaining the clear advantages and benefits of Christian education over public school education (without demeaning public education <i>per se<\/i>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Both school and congregation need to develop plans to \u201cmarket\u201d the school to its members, communicating the benefits both to parents and to members who have no children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>School leaders and teachers need to be in the Word, remembering Luther\u2019s quip, when asked how he could spend so much time in the Word when he was so busy, that only by being in the Word was he able to get anything else done and done well (or something to that effect).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Schools should be intentionally \u201cLutheran,\u201d not just Christian or private schools. They should not shy away from a clear identity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>We need to ask the question, \u201cHas the decline in the sense of congregational ownership resulted at least in part from the move to a tuition-based model?\u201d In other words, when tuition becomes the primary source of school funding, do we encourage the idea that \u201cthe school and those who use it should support it\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>We need to recognize that the public school system is not just an alternative. Public schools have become aggressive recruiters of students because their funding is determined by their enrollment. They are competing for our students. We need to develop strategies to recruit earlier and better than the public schools do.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Communication between the school and congregational members is crucial. Tell them what you are doing and why it\u2019s good, and then tell them again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Schools need to strive for excellence\u2014in curriculum, in quality of instruction, in personal care for students and families. We need to recognize that we may not be able to keep up with the public sector in terms of facilities and programs, so we need to identify areas in which we can provide excellence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>School teachers need to see themselves as ministers of the gospel to students and parents, not just as educators.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>School leaders need to focus on the basics and avoid finding solutions in the latest programs or educational fads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Pastor Mark Schroeder serves as president of the Wisconsin Ev. Lutheran Synod.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-202\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-202\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Written by Rev. Mark Schroeder. These theses were originally discussed at a principals&#8217; meeting at Luther Preparatory School in Watertown WI on January 21, 2013. They are republished here to widen the circle of discussion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-202\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-202\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2013\/06\/28\/theses-for-discussion-preserving-and-enhancing-the-ministry-of-our-lutheran-schools\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[14,19,15],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2MA5F-3g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":799,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}