ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 10, 2005

ELCA Education Task Force Gathers Early Responses To Study
05-088-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A task force of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) began gathering early responses to "Our
Calling in Education: A Lutheran Study" at its April 29-May 1
meeting here.  The 16-member Task Force on Education developed
the study materials to help it shape the first draft of a
possible social statement on education for the ELCA's 2007
Churchwide Assembly.
     The ELCA Division for Church in Society published the 82-
page booklet with an Oct. 1 deadline for responses to the study.
Based on the responses and on its own study, the task force will
prepare a first draft of the proposed social statement for
distribution throughout the ELCA at the beginning of 2006.
     At their meeting task force members reported what they heard
about the study from discussion groups in which they had
participated.  Two panels -- one on the ELCA's educational
ministries and another on public education -- addressed the task
force.
     "The feedback we have received on the study document has
already provided helpful focus for our forthcoming work," said
Dr. Paul J. Dovre, former president, Concordia College, Moorhead,
Minn., and task force co-chair.  "The highlight was hearing
feedback from education practitioners including persons teaching
or serving in Lutheran schools, public schools, Lutheran colleges
and campus ministries," he said.
     "We heard from two panels of individuals who are living out
their calling as practitioners in the field.  Their reflections
and insights were valuable feedback," said Christi Lines,
principal, St. Paul's Lutheran School, Waverly, Iowa, and task
force co-chair.
     The panel on the ELCA's educational ministries was:
+ The Rev. John G. Andreasen, president, Oak Grove High School,
Fargo, N.D., on Lutheran primary and secondary schools
+ The Rev. Roland D. Martinson, Carrie Olson Baalson professor of
children, youth and family ministry, Luther Seminary, St. Paul,
Minn., on faith formation in family and church
+ Dr. Cheryl L. Ney, provost, vice president for academic
affairs, Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, (by conference call)
on Lutheran colleges and universities
+ The Rev. Jana M. Schofield, pastor of college and young adult
ministry, Mount Carmel Lutheran Church, San Luis Obispo, Calif.,
on campus ministries
     Andreasen said Oak Grove pursued the four goals for Lutheran
schools highlighted in the study: reaching out to others with the
good news of Jesus Christ, promoting academic excellence,
educating in the faith for vocation and serving their community.
     Martinson stressed the need for a partnership between homes
and congregations for faith formation.  "Worship is the most
important activity for faith formation," he said.  He applauded
the study's "theology of children," urging the task force to
develop it further.
     "There is something freeing about the Lutheran college and
university setting," Ney said.  "It supports scholarship that
affirms and critiques human reason.  It helps students discern
their vocations," she said.
     "Lutheran campus ministry gives students a safe structure to
grapple with vital questions and to plumb the depth of their
faith," Schofield said.
     The panel on public education was:
+ Ronald R. Cowell, president, Education Policy and Leadership
Center, Pittsburgh, and former member of the Pennsylvania House
of Representatives (1975-1998), on education policy
+ The Rev. Jeffrey A. Krogstad, Central Lutheran Church, Elk
River, Minn., (by conference call) on home schooling
+ Damon Larson, English teacher, Chaparral High School, Parker,
Colo., on his experience as a teacher
+ Connie D. Thomas, a retired teacher and principal in the
Chicago Public School System, on her experience as a principal in
an urban elementary school
     Cowell discussed the study's reference to Horace Mann's
vision that public education is a "'great equalizer."  "Achieving
educational equity is one of the nation's most important issues,"
he said.
     "Homeschooling is one natural way for parents to share their
faith with their children," said Krogstad, who homeschools his
two daughters.  "Lutheran churches can provide much needed
support and encouragement for homeschooling families.  Supporting
homeschooling benefits the child, the family and the
congregation," he said.
     Larson said public school is "a unifier" of a diverse
student population.  Public schools must teach "tolerance, open-
mindedness and critical thinking," he said.
     Thomas said the Chicago school where she was principal
improved because "we focused on instruction and were concerned
with individual children.  We have accomplished students because
they were pushed and told failure was unacceptable and that they
had potential and talent.  I work to help students understand
that they are redeemed children of God and have something to
offer their community."
     Task force members discussed what they had heard from the
panels and from other responses to the study and considered their
implications for the social statement.  Through small group and
plenary discussions they began to envision possibilities for the
first draft of the social statement.
     The task force will conduct an online discussion of the
study Sept. 6-Oct.1, focusing on two of the study's six chapters
each week.  At http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/education/
on the ELCA Web site, task force members will monitor, introduce
and participate in the conversation.
     The next meeting of the task force will be here Oct. 21-23.
A writing team of task force members will prepare preliminary
material for the first draft of the social statement.
     The social statement is to:
+ present a Lutheran vision of education for our time
+ address issues of education and schooling for children and
young people, with attention to purpose and quality, equity and
access for all, responsibilities, and religion's role in public
schooling
+ set forth an understanding of the ELCA's educational
institutions (pre-school, primary and secondary schools, and
colleges and universities)
+ consider the ELCA's ministries in relation to public schools
and universities and the vocation of those involved in education
in different roles
-- -- --
     "Our Calling in Education" is linked to
http://www.ELCA.org/socialstatements/education/ through a Web
Companion Guide, with information the ELCA Division for Church in
Society provided about the process for developing the social
statement.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news