During this month, when our schools will be celebrating Lutheran Schools Week, please accept the gratitude of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for your creative, faithful, joyful ministry of education.

We are grateful for:

• Living each day in God’s amazing grace. We rejoice in children who, through the ministries of our schools, “once were lost, but now are found.”

• Bringing strength and expanded mission to congregations through outreach into communities. Schools are unique because they are faithbased, community-connected, and congregation-centered, providing an excellent educational experience for students who would not otherwise enter a church building.

• Teaching the children who come to learn. These children learn about the world, words, and numbers, but they also learn about God’s love for the world and for each of them.

• Modeling inclusivity by celebrating the gifts of a multicultural student body and staff.

• Practicing generosity. Last year Lutheran schools raised over $5,000 to purchase supplies for schools recovering from last fall’s hurricanes.

Lutheran schools are “Living in God’s Amazing Grace.” Your ministries make a difference in the lives of your students, your congregations, and your communities.

On behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, please accept our grateful thanks.

Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop