# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2023_S431
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

SCHOOLS, FAMILY, YOUNG ADULTS, AND YOUTH
Resolved, That a National Lutheran Teacher Student Debt
Assistance Program be developed that recognizes the service of
Lutheran teachers through student loan debt repayment assistance;
and be it further
Resolved, That a committee comprised of members of the
education department of the CUS, LCMS School Ministry, CPS,
LCMS Foundation, and the Council of Presidents develop the loan
repayment assistance process; and be it further
Resolved, That a special, designated offering to establish this
program be taken during the National Lutheran Schools Weeks of
2024, 2025, and 2026; and be it finally
Resolved, That reports of this work be provided through regular
communications of the Synod.
Southeastern District
Ov. 12-10

To Address Lutheran Teacher Shortage
and Low Teacher Salaries by Initiating
Student Debt Assistance Program
for Commissioned Minister—Teachers
WHEREAS, Our Lutheran schools struggle to find rostered
teachers to serve in the classrooms of our high schools, elementary
schools, and child development centers; and
WHEREAS, Research has shown that a primary reason for this is
the lower salary offered for teachers within the Lutheran school
systems; and
WHEREAS, Concordia Plan Services (CPS) reported in 2021 that
27 percent of Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) workers
have student debt, averaging $46,000 per student; and
WHEREAS, The reality of student loan debt is an important part
of the decision to seek employment outside the Lutheran school;
and
WHEREAS, It is a value that we fill our schools with rostered
workers; therefore be it
Resolved, That a National Lutheran Teacher Student Debt
Assistance Program be developed that recognizes the service of
Lutheran teachers through student loan debt forgiveness; and be it
further
Resolved, That a committee comprising of members of the
education department of the Concordia University System, LCMS
School Ministry, CPS, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Foundation, and the Council of Presidents develop the loan
forgiveness process; and be it further
Resolved, That a special, designated offering to establish this
program be taken during the National Lutheran Schools Weeks of
2024, 2025, and 2026; and be it further
Resolved, That reports of this work be provided through regular
communications of the Synod; and be it finally
Resolved, That the California-Nevada-Hawaii District
memorialize the Synod in convention to adopt the National
Lutheran Teacher Student Debt Assistance Program.
California-Nevada-Hawaii District

431

Ov. 12-11

To Ensure Fidelity and High Quality
in Lutheran Education
WHEREAS, From the founding of the Synod, Lutheran schools
have been considered a vital part of the Church’s work; and
WHEREAS, In order to ensure high quality education, state
teacher certification has frequently been desired for both rostered
and non-rostered teachers in Lutheran schools; and
WHEREAS, Multiple states have proposed laws that would force
teachers to deny the clear teachings of Scripture as a requirement of
certification; therefore be it
Resolved, That the President of Synod in consultation with the
Council of Presidents and the director of LCMS School Ministry
appoint a commission to consider a process for teacher certification
independent of state licensure or some other method of ensuring
high quality education without state involvement; and be it further
Resolved, That this committee produce a report no later than six
months prior to the overture deadline for the 2026 Synod
convention.
Holy Trinity
Walnut, IL
Ov. 12-12

To Confess Authority God Gave
to Fathers and Mothers
Preamble
Governmental, legal, and related institutional overreach has created
severe challenges to divinely instituted parental authority. The
following illustrations, sometimes more narrowly and sometimes
more broadly, encroach upon God’s command to father and mother:
• Under the educational mandates and laws of federal and state
governments and local school districts, children are often
treated as wards of the state, with final authority for the
education of children being seized by the government.
Christian parents are being coerced into subjecting their
children to a moral and religious education that denies basic
teachings of the Christian faith.
• Children are being forced or induced by governments or
governmental institutions to receive unwanted medical care
(e.g., inoculations, COVID-19 injections, HPV vaccines,
hormonal
contraceptives,
“gender-reassignment”
treatments), even when their parents object.
• Children in government schools are being forced into
adopting unwanted or evil social practices (e.g., social
isolation, masking, the acceptance or affirmation of moral
evils and vices such as LGBTQ+ lifestyles and critical race
theory [CRT] exercises), contrary to the will and authority
of parents.
• Children in government-sponsored schools are being forced
to receive evil indoctrination in divinely instituted marital
issues of sexual morality and sexual identity (“sex
education;” LGBTQ+ desensitization, tolerance, and
promotion; transgender training and promotion; etc.),
contrary to their parents’ beliefs and intentions for their
children.

2023 Convention Workbook