THE STORY OF OUR LUTHERAN SCHOOLS, PART FIVE
The idea of the Lutheran parochial school was not unique to the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. As we have seen previously in this series, the idea and practice came from Martin Luther, and was even found in the United States prior to the arrival of the pastors, teachers and laymen who would establish the Missouri Synod in the mid-nineteenth century.
After the Civil War, there were a number of Lutheran synods in the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains that spoke German, Norwegian, and/or English and that were in church fellowship. The expression of that fellowship, on an organizational level, was the "Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Conference of North America"(a.k.a. "Synodical Conference"). It included, at various times, the Missouri Synod, the Concordia Synod of Pennsylvania and Other States, the English Synod, the Michigan Synod, the Nebraska Synod, the Ohio Synod, the Slovak Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Illinois, the Minnesota Synod, the Norwegian Synod, and the Wisconsin Synod. In later years, the Norwegian Synod split, and the smaller of the two parts, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod also joined the Synodical Conference, when the larger part left.
This is significant for the history of Lutheran schools, because in 1877 the Synodical Conference discussed the following theses:
Thesis 12: It is exceedingly inconsistent with the church's confessional position if an ecclesiastical body which calls itself Lutheran and wants to be Lutheran does not, to the extent that it is able, show earnestness and zeal to establish orthodox parochial schools where they do not exist.
Thesis 13: It is a further inconsistency with the church's confessional position if a Lutheran fellowship does not insist that in its congregations only orthodox liturgical books, hymnbooks, catechisms, instruction, and devotional books be used, or if it does not do its utmost to see to it that unorthodox books of this type be done away with where they are in use and orthodox books be introduced.
The discussion that ensued spent most of its time on Thesis 12. The report about Thesis 13 indicates that the term "instruction books" was intended to refer to books used by the parochial schools described in Thesis 12.
The report in the 1877 conference proceedings includes this statement, which was a result of the discussion of the two theses:
An additional major reason which should spur us on to establish parochial schools is also the mission work which we are thereby able to carry on among the children of those people who do not belong to our church. Experience teaches that many such children can be won and that after confirmation they still remain faithful .... For that reason, a congregation must be willing to pay the price to erect schools and also not to require a higher school tax [i.e., tuition] from those who are not members of the congregation. In this way we can conduct a great mission activity and through the children win the parents themselves.
The Concordia Synod, Illinois Synod, English Synod, and Slovak Synod eventually merged into the Missouri Synod. The Michigan Synod, Minnesota Synod, and Nebraska Synod eventually merged into the Wisconsin Synod. All of these synods were the most zealous in establishing parohial schools, with the result that their laymen became very knowledgeable in Lutheran doctrine and the Bible. As a later result, both the Missouri Synod and Wisconsin Synod resisted the trend toward Bible skepticism and doctrinal ignorance that characterized the other Lutheran synods that merged into the American Lutheran Church and Lutheran Church in America, finally forming the Evengelical Lutheran Church in America in 1988 (ELCA).
Although historically it is difficult to determin chief causes, there is no doubt about the correlation of the commitment of those synods that established parochial schools and their later faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. We can thank God that today His Word is still proclaimed in its truth and purity and Luther's doctrine is preserved in the Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Synod, and Evangelical Lutheran Synod, much of that due to the Lutheran parochial school!
Yours in Christ, Pastor Martin R. Noland
