Whose Views…Whose Vision?

By Alan Feddersen, Lutheran Schools of California & Hawaii, a Network of ELEA

     The title “Views & Vision” for the ELEA newsletter has always been a bit of a daunting one for me!  It’s catchy and fluid off the tongue but it probably also carries with it some presuppositions. As you peruse this latest edition, I encourage you to take a moment (maybe a lot more when all is said and done) to consider, “Whose views? Whose vision?” We aren’t talking here about Gayle Denny’s views or the ELEA Board’s vision. The “views and vision” are those of Lutheran Education within the preschools and schools of the ELCA, including the educational program to which you are most closely related right now.

     This newsletter is not just “yours” in that casual sense of shared information. It is also yours at a grassroots level of involvement and responsibility. In your own education setting this year as director, principal, board member, pastor, or other involved party, you will project your own views and vision for Lutheran Education and for your school. As you relate to your school with its children, families and staff; to your supporting congregation with its members, boards and pastor; and to your local community of families, public schools, and workplaces, you share the views and the vision of Lutheran Education. You are looked upon (and listened to) as spokesperson and visionary for your school and congregation’s education ministry.

     The beginning of the year provides the opportunity and/or the necessity of lifting up the vision of Lutheran schools, your own school in particular. It is the time for refreshing all stakeholders in your program, including yourself. Turn to that “goals” page in your handbook. Dust off that framed mission statement on the wall. Renew in mind and heart what it means to have Lutheran Education in your particular setting for this year. Each of us needs to assume ownership and then ensure that our teachers and families understand and feel ownership as well.

     Encourage others in their expression of views and applaud their extension of vision. It is easy to take the philosophy of Lutheran Education for granted and not become involved in challenging dialogue and discourse.  If we consider ourselves Lutheran Education leaders or representatives of Lutheran Education at any level, this is precisely what we should be about for the sake of all of our Lutheran schools.

     ELEA and the Views and Vision newsletter don’t dictate the mission statements and policies of your school but, conversely, in a way ELEA becomes the sum of those statements and philosophies that are being actively implemented in each individual school around the country.

     It is important to be involved in and members of the ELEA. The ELEA provides all of us with a professional Lutheran venue for expressing views in an understanding and receptive setting, strengthening our image and purpose within churchwide ELCA and with other educators nationally.  ELEA is an important support system for our mutual mission and ministry as well as a service offering organization.

     ELEA list-serves designed for inter-communication among school leaders are frequently filled with requests for assistance and responses to those requests, a valuable tool put to excellent use. But what if our regional and national list-serves, newsletters and conferences were to take another step and become venues for exchange and discussion about Lutheran Education? What should it be about? Where should it be headed? Who and what is needed to get it there? This is important on a national level but also in your individual school setting.

     Are we comfortable at local, network and national levels with assuming that Lutheran Education is just fine, thank you very much, and doesn’t require any serious reflection? Status quo is not a growth position. Taking the understanding and implementation of Lutheran Education for granted locally and regionally can negatively affect our success.

     Many reading this newsletter have chosen not to join the ELEA. Others have chosen not to participate in local or network ELEA events.  Serving on committees or boards may be far from your thinking. Please reconsider. As professional educators we are responsible for our own position and also for the profession as a whole, especially within the ELCA. As dedicated and competent teachers and leaders we are uniquely qualified and positioned to speak to the views and vision of Lutheran Education.

     Each of us needs to examine, define and understand individually so that we can translate our views and visions into practice. Do all of your stakeholders (families, teachers, staff and congregation) understand the views and vision of your particular education program? Set aside time in your faculty and school board meetings to review, reflect upon and discuss your mission statement and any other operative statements your school has. Do your school’s actions and behaviors support your printed words and vice versa? If not, get specific and directed on how to effect change. If your school does not have a mission statement with supporting goals and/or objectives statements, use future faculty and board meetings to develop them. Use your congregation’s mission statement as an umbrella for your school’s mission statement. They should be hand-in-glove complementary.

     Has there been any appreciable change in ministry need or direction that might affect your written statements? Lead and involve school families and congregation members in learning and understanding this fundamental aspect of their school through brief group discussions and newsletter articles. By whatever means you have available, strive to bring the mission and ministry of your school home to all of its stakeholders and you will reap the rewards of a more committed and involved support community.

     Let us pray that the Lord bless each of our schools this year with a clear sense of mission, a conscious and active decision to be effective in our children’s academic and faith development.

Alan Feddersen serves as Executive Director of Lutheran Schools of Southern California & Hawaii (LSSCH) with offices in Glendale, California.  LSSCH is Network 20 of ELEA.  He may be reached at afeddersen@lssch.org.
 

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