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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 1, 2002

LUTHERAN SCHOOLS WEEK RECOGNIZES LEARNING MINISTRIES
02-040-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Some 230 elementary and secondary schools, and
2,000 early childhood education centers operated by congregations of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will celebrate Lutheran
Schools Week March 4-10, 2002.  About 20,000 teachers work with 250,000
students who attend ELCA-affiliated schools and early childhood
education centers.
      The theme of this year's observance is "Linking Hearts and Hands
for Peace."
     The ELCA Division for Higher Education and Schools (DHES), based
at the ELCA churchwide office here, relates to ELCA early childhood
education centers, elementary and  secondary schools.
     "Your school, teachers, staff and congregations are gifts from God
who need to be lifted up and celebrated," said Donna R. Braband, ELCA
acting director for schools, DHES, in a letter to education centers and
schools.  "Through you the Holy Spirit works to reach out with the
Gospel to the hearts and souls of the children placed in your care as
well as to their families and your congregations.
     "You bring hope and meaning to families who find themselves in a
world that is often self-serving," she continued.  "Through your school
you provide a welcoming atmosphere for those among you who are
unchurched and looking for direction in their lives."
     ELCA schools and staff strive to be ethnically diverse, and many
children who attend are not Lutheran, but their parents want their
children to be educated in a Christian environment, Braband said.
Average enrollments are from 250 to 400 students at ELCA-affiliated
elementary and secondary schools.
     Lutherans have well-established roots in education.  Martin
Luther, a German monk whose writings led to the Protestant Reformation,
was a professor and theologian.  Today there are 28 ELCA colleges and
universities and eight seminaries, in addition to the education centers,
elementary and secondary schools.
     Staff of many Lutheran schools and early childhood education
centers work with the Evangelical Lutheran Education Association (ELEA).
ELEA provides a certification process for education centers and schools,
offers educational workshops and conferences, and publishes resource
materials.
-- -- --
     More information about Lutheran Schools Week can be found at
http://www.elca.org/dhes/schools/index.html on the DHES Web site.
Information about ELEA can be found at http://www.eleanational.org/ on
the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html