Making a Difference
Lutheran schools provide an outstanding alternative to public-school environments and the inherent challenges to learning they present. Because our schools are not government funded, we are also not subject to the same regulations or budget swings as our public-school counterparts. This gives us the freedom to take a long-term, consistent approach to the way we educate students, capitalize on what works well, and be nimble enough to meet the individual needs of each student, maximizing their capabilities and God-given talents.
In addition, the parents of our students tend to be more involved in their children's education. Parents help in the classroom, help coach sports teams, chaperone field trips, participate in school fundraisers, and turn out in good numbers for performance events. Moreover, parents serve as outstanding ambassadors in the greater community, sharing their enthusiasm for our Lutheran schools with friends, family, and co-workers.
Do Lutheran schools make a difference?
Yes! Quite!
What kind of difference? Reliable statistical research* reveals that those who attended Lutheran schools:
* Report more frequent experiences with God in their personal lives.
* Exhibit a more consistent belief in the divinity of Jesus.
* Profess a greater clarity on the way of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone (show more tendency to reject belief in salvation by works).
* Display more Biblical knowledge.
* Engage in a much fuller devotional life.
* Do more witnessing to others about Christ.
* Hold a more balanced theology (not liberal, not ultraconservative, but a balanced conservatism).
* Have a greater awareness of the presence of the Trinity in one’s whole life.
* Give a higher value to relationships with God and other persons.
* Show more reasonable respect for authority.
* Live out stronger tendencies to be forgiving and personally forthright with other people.
* Evidence greater avoidance of over-simplistic views. (i.e., views of social issues as mere power struggles.).
* Reveal less tendency to be anxious about their faith.
* Are less swayed by their peers.
The research also proved that the more years a person attended a Lutheran school, the more significant the difference became.
The research does not indicate that these same qualities cannot be present in individuals who have not attended a Lutheran elementary and/or secondary school, but it is less likely. Similarly, it is recognized that the power to lead a Christian life is a free gift of the Holy Spirit working through the Word.
* Milo Brekke, How Different Are People Who Attended Lutheran Schools (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House; based on data compiled by Youth Research Center for “A Study of Generations.”)
