An authentic Lutheran school
Since the beginning of this year I have been able to unpack with Boards and school staff, how to define an authentic Lutheran school. Through a series of exercises and delving into documentation, the journey begins exploring the hallmarks, if you like, of a Lutheran school.
In introducing the workshop the words of Barry Kahl, a former Director of the LESNW region, sets the scene when he states,
‘The purpose of Lutheran schools is to make Jesus Christ known to the students and families. Yet the schools are also educational institutions, which must do their educational task well. Schools will do this when they pursue what is educationally best for each student, within a Christian context and from a Christian point of view.’
Since the beginning of this year I have been able to unpack with Boards and school staff, how to define an authentic Lutheran school. Through a series of exercises and delving into documentation, the journey begins exploring the hallmarks, if you like, of a Lutheran school.
In introducing the workshop the words of Barry Kahl, a former Director of the LESNW region, sets the scene when he states,
‘The purpose of Lutheran schools is to make Jesus Christ known to the students and families. Yet the schools are also educational institutions, which must do their educational task well. Schools will do this when they pursue what is educationally best for each student, within a Christian context and from a Christian point of view.’
Barry articulates two purposes of existence for a Lutheran school: to teach the Gospel and to teach students. While one is not necessarily more important than other, if we did not have the government (and LCA mandate) to educate students (and receive funding for it), we would possibly cease to exist. We have been given an awesome responsibility: to educate students within the context of Christian (Lutheran) education.
The ’our foundation’ section of ‘growing deep’, clearly articulates, in accessible language, our Lutheran theology as we educate, care and support our students.
We are communities: which place importance on worship and service, where we co-create with God, which believe each person is intentionally created by God, where grace abounds, open to the influence of the Holy Spirit, that value learning as God’s gift to people and are full of hope and are future focused.
There is a rich statement from ‘The LCA and its schools’ document, which says, ‘The foundation of Lutheran education is the gospel of Jesus Christ (which) informs all learning and teaching, all human relationships and all activities’. This statement, unpacked in the ‘our foundation’ section provides us with a wonderful cloak to wrap around all we do as we educate the students. It encourages us to infuse our faith through all we do, as we educate the students.
We are expected to provide a rich, challenging and contemporary education to the students whom we teach. That is a non-negotiable; we are first and foremost schools. However, we cannot separate our educative role from the teaching and sharing of the Christian faith.
What a hard question – what is an authentic Lutheran school? There are possibly a variety of answers, but we need to ensure we have a balance between the two purposes of education and faith. May God grant us the wisdom to be able to determine how that balance ‘looks’ and is practised in each of our settings as we model Christ to our communities.
Shane Paterson
Director: Leadership & School Improvement
