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Both Mandate and Opportunity: Lutheran Education

Ever since Jesus instructed “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you,” education has been at the very heart of the Christian enterprise. Faithful to the teaching heritage of the church, the Lutheran church has always seen education as an important mandate and opportunity.

Historical Roots
Lutherans proudly recall their historical education roots. After all, Luther posted his 95 theses while he was a university professor. His most widely used writing has been his Small Catechism bearing the memorable introduction: “In a simple way in which the head of a house is to present them to the household.”¹

An important Reformation understanding is that teaching is a shared responsibility of family, church, and society. It is imperative that the objective of this entire educational undertaking be clearly identified and agreed upon. One way of stating this objective is “The objective of Christian education is to set each learner free in Jesus Christ, enabling each one to more nearly become all that God intends him/her to be.” The process is Christocentric. It is freeing. It frees people from ignorance and from various “isms,” such as sex, race, and state.

Christian education is free to pursue truth, never fearing where that search may lead. Christian education is for all, male and female, intellectually brilliant or “differently abled.” Christian education assists all individuals to identify and use all of their gifts in service to God and humanity.

The various entities of the organized church reach different audiences and age levels with varying objectives. In my experience, when parishioners are asked “What is the function of a denomination?” the common response is “To train pastors.” The continued existence and support of our seminaries stand as strong testimony to this conviction.

Vocational Service
The church’s colleges bear testimony to a second important function of Christian education: that of equipping Christians for service in the world through their vocations. Lutheran colleges take seriously the Reformation principle that all Christians (not just the ordained or those in other special set-aside ministries) are called to be God’s ministers to all of society.

Within the local congregation, it is axiomatic that teaching is an essential function. A congregation that no longer has a confirmation class is almost always a congregation with a very limited future. Sunday schools for all ages, Bible classes, adult forums, and vacation Bible schools all point to continuing efforts of Lutheran congregations to teach all that Christ commanded.

It is within this context that Lutheran high schools, elementary schools, and early-childhood centers find their important role and mission. These schools are schools of the church, not private schools or state schools or even parent cooperatives. They are schools of the parish, and in that sense they are parochial.

They are schools, and their business is education. Every early-childhood center must aim to offer the absolute best in age-appropriate, developmentally sound instruction. Lutheran elementary and high schools need to be known for their academic excellence. Even small schools dare not adopt the notion that their excellence in teaching religion gives them an excuse for doing a less than excellent job in teaching, say, science or music. Fortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that most ELCA schools do an outstanding job of providing academic excellence.

Lutheran schools exist to nurture the faith of the baptized. Irrespective of the percentage of Lutherans in the student body, the schools acknowledge that many of their students have had the Christian faith kindled within them, and it is the responsibility and opportunity of the school to strengthen that faith, increase Christian knowledge, and call forth the sanctified life. This effort is intentional — built into the curriculum and evaluated.

Evangelism
A third objective for Lutheran centers and schools is evangelistic outreach. Those students and their families with no claim or place within the Christian faith provide a glorious opportunity for missionary outreach and witness. In word and action, in formal and informal settings, the gracious message that Christ is Savior and Lord is integral. The pastor, principal, and director are in regular conversation about evangelistic outreach and its relationship to church membership recruitment. Evangelistic outreach and church membership recruitment are kept in appropriate tension and balance.

Lutheran schools also have the critical task of serving the community and the cause of justice. Tragically, some American parents cannot send their children to their local public school and expect them to receive a good quality education. While American Christians advocate and work for the best possible public schools, they also advocate for and attempt to provide for school choice. Lutheran schools can be schools of choice and need to work to make that option financially possible. When that happens they serve the cause of justice and community service.

Success Stories
I recently returned from an unforgettable experience in Hong Kong. Decades ago I served there as an educational missionary. I helped establish and administer an entire system of Lutheran preschools and elementary and high schools. During my recent visit, I was guest of honor at a major celebration of some two hundred people, most of whom were graduates of that system. They had gathered in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of their baptism while students in those Lutheran schools. As I spoke with these graduates I was almost overwhelmed by four themes that were repeated.

First: Over and over, these alumni affirmed, “I received an excellent academic education at the Lutheran school. I now hold a good position.” A surprising number told me, “I have earned my Ph.D.”

Second: The highlight of the evening was the powerful personal and public Christian testimonies of selected speakers. All spoke of the power of Christ in their lives and of the importance of their faith, a faith that had been nurtured in their Lutheran school.

Third: Over and over I heard the refrain, “You know that no one in my family was a Christian when I first came to the Lutheran school. It was at school that I first heard of the one called Jesus Christ. Now there are several generations of us Lutheran Christians.”

Fourth: Several people now of retirement age told me, “I came from a very, very poor family. My parents feared I would grow up to be an illiterate coolie. The Lutheran church and school changed all that. Now I am the manager of a large company. My sister is a school principal.”

The above four affirmations all came from former students in Lutheran schools that happen to be in Hong Kong. Fifty years from now they may well come from students currently enrolled in the preschools and elementary and high schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Melvin M. Kieschnick, an associate in ministry, served Lutheran schools both nationally and internationally for fifty years. In retirement he serves as a staff associate for Wheat Ridge Ministries.