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Thought for the Week
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.
“March Madness” is over. The college basketball champions have been crowned. Many teams have participated and significant effort has been displayed but each tournament has only one champion. Fortunately, the same is not true for our relationship to God. We will all be heavenly champions because of Jesus Christ. So, do not be discouraged. God is with us wherever we go and whatever we do in his service.
Summer Teaching Opportunities
Join the mission field! LCMS World Mission has four opportunities this summer for teaching English in areas of the world where speaking English is a skill that is greatly valued. Please consider sharing some of your summer with Christians and non-Christians across Asia.
Teachers are needed to spend from two weeks to one month in four countries in Asia. You don't need to have a formal teaching degree and you don't have to be gifted in mechanics of the English language. You DO need a heart to serve people and share with them the hope that you have in Christ Jesus. Teaching conversational English has proven to be a great way to build friendships with people that last long after you return home. Please consider sharing your summer and making these trips a possibility. Some trips are in danger of being canceled because of the minimum numbers of participants are not being met. Please help keep that from happening. Call a placement counselor today! For more information, contact an LCMS World Mission placement counselor at 1-800-433-3954 or mission.recruitment@lcms.org.
LCMS WORLD MISSION
1333 South Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, Missouri, 63122-7295, US
Telephone: 1-800-433-3954
E-mail: mission.recruitment@lcms.org
Web site: www.lcmsworldmission.org
Ablaze! Movement: www.lcms.org/ablaze
Don’t Miss It! Vacation Aspen
Grace Place Lutheran Retreats provide a haven for Lutheran pastors, teachers, DCE’s and other professional church workers and their spouses through education, restoration and recreation. During the week-long retreat participants learn new ways to be healthy, and enjoy rest and fellowship. Couples will walk away from the week renewed in body, mind, and spirit. Grace Place Retreats is a tremendous opportunity and blessing for school administrators/directors, educators and for church musicians. There is still time to register for the Grace Place Retreat scheduled for…
June 30-July 5 Educators/Administrators and Ministers of Music in Aspen, CO.
The goal of Grace Place Lutheran Retreats is to offer preventative wellness, skills, attitudes and resources to Lutheran professional church workers and their families, so they can experience and live the abundant lives to which Jesus has called them – spiritually, emotionally, physically, intellectually and relationally. The retreat is led by a professional team who specialize in personal growth through physical and spiritual disciplines. Mornings begin with physical exercise and interactive educational sessions. Afternoons offer recreational activities, and evenings stress fellowship and devotional time
The June 30-July 5 retreat is inclusive of educators and administrators of early childhood, elementary and secondary schools and church musicians. The fourth of July in Aspen is an added bonus this year. Couples who have participated in past retreats have expressed gratitude for the opportunity and report life changes as a result of the experience. Cost per couple is only $300 for the week plus the cost of their transportation. This is an exceptional opportunity!
For detailed information and to register go to www.graceplaceretreats.org
Lutheran School Statistics
Here is the 2007-08 Annual Lutheran School Statistic Report. Some interesting statistics included are:
- 97% of all Lutheran elementary and high school reports are included
- 55% of all early childhood centers responded
- 3813 children were baptized as a result of attending a Lutheran school
- 2485 Lutheran schools (elementary, high school, and early childhood centers)
- 273,903 total students enrolled in Lutheran schools
- 45 students are enrolled in the average Lutheran early childhood center
- 135 students are enrolled in the average Lutheran elementary school
- 216 students are enrolled in the average Lutheran high school
- $2514 is the average cost per student for an early childhood center
- $5305 is the average cost per student for an elementary school
- $8604 is the average cost per student for a high school
2007 NAEP Writing Report Card
The National Center for Education Statistics released the 2007 NAEP Writing Report Card. The report includes private school results for grade 8 and Catholic school results for grades 8 and 12. (The overall private school response rate at grade 12 was not large enough to produce private school results. It should be noted, however, that in NAEP, private school results cover all private schools, including Catholic schools. The entire report is available as a PDF document at: http://nationsreportcard.gov/ .
Sing to the Lord a New Song
During the weeks before Easter each congregation received a copy of the brochure for the LCMS Commission on Worship third national worship conference. The dates are July 22-25 and the location is Concordia University at Seward. The conference is focused for pastors, teachers, church musicians, and other interested lay people. A brochure can be downloaded at http://worship.lcms.org/2008Institute .
National Lutheran School Accreditation Documents (Repeat)
The NEW and IMPROVED NLSA documents are available and ready to be used. Four (4) self-study documents and the Administrator’s Manual are ready to be downloaded from the Lutheran School Portal. The self-study documents include:
The Ongoing Improvement Self-study Report Form for elementary schools
The Ongoing Improvement Self-study Report Form for high schools
The Standards Based Self-study Report Form for elementary schools
The Standards Based Self-study Report Form for high schools
These documents along with the Administrator’s Manual should provide candidate schools with the materials they need to conduct a successful self-study process.
Schools applying for accreditation or re-accreditation since January 1, 2008 need to conduct their self-study processes using the NEW and IMPROVED self-study documents. Even if they received a 2007 CD at the time of their application they need to use the new materials. Schools that applied before January 1, 2008 will continue to work with the materials on the CD they received at the time of their application.
To access the new NLSA materials on the Lutheran Schools Portal link through the National Page to the NLSA tab. The new documents can be found in the left column at the bottom of the page. It only takes a few minutes to download a manual or document.
For non-portal subscribers the new materials are also available on the LCMS website at http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=1781.
This year the plan is to prepare a CD with all of the NLSA manuals and documents. These will be distributed by mail to every accredited school and those in an application process. The CD containing all of the documents and manuals should be ready for distribution in early May.
Edits and reformatting affects all documents related to high school and elementary school processes. These changes do not affect the early childhood documents. Major editorial and formatting work will be conducted with the early childhood materials next year.
These documents represent hundreds of hours of work by Karen Eggemeyer and Dave Sommermeyer. I thank them for their dedicated efforts with this project. I am also very grateful to Harold Rau, Perry Breseman and Calie Vera for technical assistance involved with posting the documents and manuals electronically.
I pray that the new and improved documents will serve to assist schools in their pursuit of excellence so they may be granted additional opportunities to share Jesus with children and their families.
May God grant you all Resurrection Power as you serve Lutheran schools, students and their families!
Terry Schmidt 2008 National LCMS Children’s Ministry Conference (Repeat)
When: July 11-13, 2008
Where: Suburban Chicago
Who: ALL Volunteers and Professional Church Workers serving in congregations’ children’s ministries.
The 2008 National Children’s Ministry Conference features over sixty different workshop topics led by experts in the field; Festival of Music and the Arts; “Coffee House” Conversations with national experts; Ministry Market Place, Celebrative Events, Outstanding Keynotes …and MORE!
Be a part of this first time, dynamic event celebrating:
CHRIST † CHILDREN † COMMUNITY
REGISTER NOW AND SAVE DOLLARS! All registrations submitted by April 30, 2008 save dollars! Don’t miss the special discounted rates for early registration! For registration materials go to www.lcms.org/NCMC for information and to register on line.
Diaper Shower (Repeat)
Missouri's Largest Diaper Shower sponsored by Lutherans For Life is held from Mother's Day to Father's Day. Collect diapers in your congregation or school and before donating them to a ministry that helps families (your choice of ministry), please count the number of diapers collected and email to lflofmo@yahoo.com.
Accreditation Reports (Repeat)
The National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) Annual Report is due by May 15. Your fee for NLSA should have been submitted in October to the NLSA office. All reports (site visit, mid-cycle visit, or annual) should include an NLSA face sheet.
The Missouri Nonpublic School Accrediting Association (MNSAA) form must be completed in order for a school to be accredited for the 2008-09 school year. The MNSAA form must be completed using the website. A check for $40 is to be included with the Annual report.
Both the NLSA and the MNSAA forms are to be sent to Martha Schellin at the Missouri Lutheran District Office no later than May 15, 2008. Please refer to these forms:
Calls Extended (Repeat)
Several schools and early childhood centers are in the process of calling administrators and teachers. Please notify the District as Calls are extended so that an accurate record can be maintained. When calls/contacts are accepted, also contact the District office so that the vacancy list on the district webpage and the Lutheran School Portal is kept current.
Administrator Calls (Updated)
Please keep these individuals and schools in your prayers as they seek to determine God’s direction in their ministry:
Immanuel, Washington |
Nick Hoffensberger, from St. Philip, Chicago, IL has accepted the Call to be principal. |
Our Savior, Fenton |
Has extended a Call to Jim House, from Zion, Dallas, TX to serve as principal. |
Hope, St. Ann |
Roy Bohning has accepted the Call to be principal at Zion, Decatur, IN. |
St. John’s, Arnold |
Scott Osbourn has returned the Call to St. John’s in Battle Creek, NE |
Additional schools and early childhood centers seeking administrators are:
King of Glory, St. Louis
St. Paul’s, Stover
Messiah, St. Charles
Little Ones of Our Savior, St. Charles
Christ the Vine, Herculaneum
Prayer Requests
Each week prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of intercession for teachers, administrators, and students of the Lutheran schools and early childhood centers of the Missouri District are listed. To include names on the prayer list, send information to the District Office by noon on Wednesday.
We pray for:
Betty Hoffmeister and her family. Her husband, Chet passed away from cancer. Betty was the cook for thirty-three years at Grace Chapel, Bellefontaine Neighbors.
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