THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR SCHOOLS

A Statement from The Office of the President
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri 63122
United States of America

What a special place our Lutherans schools have in our Synod. In 1847 the twelve congregations that organized our Synod operated a total of 14 schools. Our Synod's Bylaws state quite clearly, "...the most effective education agencies available to the church for equipping children and youth for ministry are the full-time Lutheran elementary and secondary schools" (3.813a). This is a reflection of the great importance our Synod has attached to our schools and, even more importantly, to our called teachers. Our Synod, as you probably already know, has the largest Protestant school system in the country. Our high schools have received a higher percentage of national recognition through the Blue Ribbon Schools Program than any other school group in our country.

But as we also know, our schools face challenges. Financial pressures are great in many areas. Teacher salaries are inadequate in most cases. It is truly to our great shame that this is so. Tensions among faculty and staff arise. Congregations sometimes find themselves wondering if the school is really "worth it" in terms of the dollars and time it consumes from the congregation's overall program. And then there are the challenges which present themselves in our classrooms: the child requiring special attention, the child who comes from a single-parent family, the child from a family not regularly involved in every-Sunday worship, staff tensions, etc.

Yes, we have many challenges. But what we must do as a Synod is keep our eyes on the goal. The goal is to share the Gospel with those children whom God has committed to the care of our Lutheran schools. What a blessed opportunity this is! As Jude reminds us, "To Him who is able ..." we entrust all our concerns and cares. As a Synod we need to continue to surface the important challenges we face. Our schools are a precious resource, and I will continue to encourage our Synod to keep these issues on the "front burner." For I and many, many others are convinced that the health of our Lutheran schools is a barometer of the overall health of our Synod.

From: The President's Newsletter, November 1994, p. 2