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