by Jacob Pennekamp
Northeast Indiana and the greater Fort Wayne region is a unique setting for Lutheran education. With 18 Lutheran elementary schools and a high school enrolling a total of 3,497 K-12 students, it would be hard to find a more dense per capita Lutheran school community. And yet even within this community, which is rich in resources to support parochial education, Lutheran schools face significant challenges.
In response to some concerning educational trends, leadership from our Lutheran school community began engaging in a strategic planning process beginning in 2021. This resulted in months of subsequent discussions, hosting a future search planning conference, and the implementation of a task force to carry out the specified initiatives. The purpose was clear and concise: leverage the resources of the Lutheran community in Northeast Indiana to develop the next generation of resilient disciples for Jesus Christ. Stakeholders across the greater Fort Wayne region shared stories about their past, discovered common ground, identified threats, and created action plans for a desired future.
Facing the Storm
The discussion around the challenges facing our schools identified a number of shared threats.
Overwhelmed administrators have continued to take on a growing list of operational responsibilities to the detriment of their personal well-being and instructional leadership.
Teachers, often tired and discouraged, do not feel properly equipped to meet the challenges within the classroom, nor is there an adequate supply of future workers to meet the growing demand.
There exists a deterioration of stability within the family unit and an exponential need to better support the mental health of students, parents, and our staff.
We often lack the quantity and quality of leadership from congregations and governing boards to support effective governance and strategic initiatives.
A Call to Action
In response to the obvious and shared challenges of the current storm and in recognition of God’s promises to provide for His Church, the task force identified five initiatives, authored an initial focus statement for each, and is currently in the process of creating action plans.
Teacher Development
The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana intentionally cultivate prospective church workers and equip and nurture our educators in their calling to grow resilient disciples.
Central Administrative Efficiency
The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana have an entity managing collective services to make efficient use of resources and allowing administrators to focus on the ministry of forming resilient disciples and growing Lutheran Education.
Family Life Ministry
The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana are equipped with a family life ministry coordinator who creates a network within each church and school to supply the resources needed to develop resilient disciples.
Dedicated Counseling Services
The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana advocate for a system-wide approach of care that destigmatizes mental health support and recognizes the body, mind, and spirit as critical components of building resilient disciples in Christ.
Leadership Development
The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana are recruiting, training, mentoring, and supporting a growing community of Christ-centered leaders who are equipped to develop resilient disciples.
Playing our Part
Concordia Lutheran High School recognizes our role as educational leaders within this community. While Concordia is seeking to engage across all five initiatives identified by the task force, we felt that in particular our high school had an opportunity to take early leadership in the teacher development focus area.
NE Indiana faces a serious concern about who will be the future educators for our schools. Like the demographics throughout the rest of synod, exponentially more educators are retiring or leaving the profession than entering. The shortage of highly qualified and capable Lutheran educators was identified as perhaps one of our most significant threats.
“The Lutheran Churches and Schools of NE Indiana intentionally cultivate prospective church workers and equip and nurture our educators in their calling to grow resilient disciples” became the focus statement to address the scarcity of teachers for our schools. Cultivation must take a variety of forms in order to address current and future needs. Strategies being implemented include efforts to improve the retention of current Lutheran educators and recruit Christian educators from public schools to consider positions in our Lutheran schools. Improving professional development, increasing compensation and benefits, and developing cohorts to support the mentoring and encouragement of less-experienced educators were some of the strategies discussed.
Key Curriculum Addition: “Education Professions”
At Concordia Lutheran High School, we are also looking to more long-term solutions. We praise God that our high school has a long and celebrated history of encouraging and equipping future church workers. Yet, we felt we could be even more intentional. We have established a dual credit course titled, “Education Professions,” as an elective for juniors and seniors. The syllabus echoes the standard introduction of a collegiate education course and provides students with the opportunity to explore topics such as curriculum development, lesson planning, and classroom observation. Most of all, it increases the visibility of teaching as a future vocational choice.
The Education Professions course is now in its second year and the early results are encouraging. 27 students were enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year. 12 of 18 participating seniors last year are currently enrolled in a teacher education degree program in college. This year another 16 students are participating in the class. From this group of juniors and seniors, 11 are considering pursuing a degree in education, DCE, or pastoral ministry. All give credit to this class as encouraging and elevating the possibility of a teaching or ministry vocation.
Trusting the “Lord of the Harvest”
Today, families identify many and varied reasons for their participation in our Lutheran schools. However, regardless of their reason for attendance, we must not be varied in our mission for existing. More than at any other time in our nation’s history, we need Christian leaders who confidently and consistently are able to go into the world fulfilling the commission of Matthew 28:16-20. This requires a unified commitment to the mission and ministry of Lutheran education and to that end our schools must not water-down, compromise, or waver in our teaching of Christ crucified at all times.
I believe our Lutheran schools are at a tipping point where the historical values of our faith and church are potentially being leveraged against the modern challenges schools face. We must faithfully and earnestly confront these realities. For the sake of families and a new generation of Lutheran leadership that is desperately needed, I believe our schools are crucial to the mission and ministry of the Church.
But we must not forget that the Great Commission ends with a beautiful promise: “and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I am grateful and humbled to serve as an administrator of a Lutheran school. God is at work in spite of my personal limitations, fears, and doubts. My prayer is that our church and school leaders can fix our eyes on Jesus, get out of the boat, and follow where He is already preparing the harvest.
Jacob Pennekamp is Head of School at Concordia Lutheran High School, Fort Wayne, Indiana. He can be reached at jpennekamp@clhscadets.com.
We celebrate the Concordia, Fort Wayne alumni who attended CIT at Concordia, Nebraska this year! While they were rivals for a few days, they will always be Concordia Cadets!
