This past Saturday (15 November), I was pleased to bring together a group of pastors, school administrators, and other educators for a consideration of Lutheran education. It is my hope and intention that our conversation and discussion will continue and broaden throughout our District and even beyond, working together to articulate a robust theology of education which then also translates into a rigorous boots-on-the-ground practice of a distinctively Lutheran pedagogy.
Over the past three years we’ve been investigating classical Lutheran pedagogy, and certainly that will continue to be part of the conversation, as it was in part this past Saturday. But my goal in this case is really deeper and more foundational, striving to discern the basic fundamentals that are at the heart and center of the Lutheran Church’s historical interest in education – not only the teaching of the faith, which is an absolute given in any case, but also the teaching of all the arts and sciences as good gifts of God to be received with thanksgiving and sanctified by His Word and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5) and exercised in love within each Christian’s calling and station.
Dr. Geoff Boyle spent much of our time together on Saturday presenting and discussing a series of theses on Lutheran education, which provided food for thought and for discussion and debate. This is a topic that he’s been thinking about and working on for some time now, and he provided us with lots of excellent content to consider and chew on together. His conviction and underlying premise is that the entirety of God’s good creation finds its real meaning and purpose in Christ Jesus, and that the genuine knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of repentance and faith are taught and learned by way of the truth, goodness, and beauty of His Word. I’m hoping that we can make Dr. Boyle’s theses and a recording of his presentation readily available as a starting point for ongoing discussion. In the meantime, I encourage you to take a look at the audio-video recording of his presentation at the recent Lutheranism and the Classics Conference, which was held at the Seminary in Fort Wayne this past month. Although the title of the video is, “Defining Classical Lutheran Education,” Dr. Boyle actually develops a Lutheran theological definition of “Education” at a ground level: https://youtu.be/hDsCiowdScE?si=DgmQ3B00UfW4sRpX
Along with Dr. Boyle’s presentation of his theses, Pr. Anthony Dodgers (Bethlehem, Ossian) shared some thoughts and observations in response to the recent CTCR report, A Theology and Philosophy of Lutheran Education (May 2025), available here: https://files.lcms.org/f/ctcr-report-theology-and-philosophy-of-lutheran-education. And Mr. Nathan Wingfield, our District Education Executive, indicated some of the challenges and opportunities set before our schools as we learn and work together to be the best that we can be in providing Lutheran education.
As I’ve indicated, the goal of the gathering this past Saturday was to initiate and lay some of the groundwork for continued conversation throughout the District. Among the particular topics or considerations that I regard as “priority items” for that conversation and discussion would be: (1.) The role of the congregation as a whole in the life and work of its school; (2.) the role of the pastor in relation to the school, not only being present, leading chapel, and handling catechesis classes, but as the teacher of the church and of the faith; (3.) the integral connection between Holy Baptism and lifelong catechesis in all that Jesus has commanded (St. Matthew 28:18-20); (4.) the appropriate standards for the religious and theological instruction of all our students, in order to equip them to be and remain disciples of Christ; and (5.) the establishment of Lutheran schools with a view toward the mission of the Church in making disciples of all the nations. In addition to these five priorities, there is also the challenge to be faced of the already-urgent and ever-increasing need for well-catechized and well-trained Lutheran teachers for our schools, both conventional and classical. It will be impossible to maintain distinctively-Lutheran schools – to say nothing of starting new ones! – without faithful Lutheran educators to teach in them. God grant that He would raise up such men and women within His Church for this very purpose!