| [ Immanuel Lutheran Church ] |
Today is March 10, 2010 |
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Robert D. Preus Evangelical
Lutheran High School
4911 North Knoxville, Peoria, IL 61614 |
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| Training teens today to be church and civic leaders tomorrow through doctrinal faithfulness and a classical Lutheran education. |
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Dear Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
As you know after decades of struggle the LC-MS is more divided today than at any time in its 155 year history. Too many LC-MS congregations have left biblical Lutheranism behind. Our Lutheran schools, aided by parents and pastors, have ‘dumbed down’ our children in both spiritual and temporal matters. The colleges of the LC-MS are promoting evolution, feminism, and theological liberalism. And sadly too many of our children have been led away or have fallen away from their baptism and confirmation vows.
While the debate over staying or leaving the LC-MS will continue, there is at least one issue that ought not be debated. Lutherans must reclaim Lutheranism’s heritage of Lutheran and classical education so that we can instill in our laymen and pastors a devotion to the Gospel, God’s Word, knowledge, wisdom, and Christian virtue. If biblical Lutheranism is going to survive among us, it will survive by the grace of God alone as He works through the teaching ministry of the Church.
Lutherans need to create and maintain schools that have but one purpose: To train young people to be church and civic leaders so that they will contend for the faith within the church and work against the increasing immorality of our culture, while receiving the salvation of their own souls by faith in Christ Jesus. This is the reason why we created the Robert D. Preus Evangelical Lutheran High School. It is also the reason why I am writing to ask you for your help and to encourage you to direct your energies in the direction of authentic Lutheran education.
P.L.H.S. has just finished its first academic year. Our first year students have begun learning to look at the world and the church in a truly biblical way. For these students and their parents, this year has been an awakening. Our students learned to read the New Testament as it was meant to be read - with a Christ-centered approach. They learned about the differences between the historical grammatical (conservative) approach and the historical critical (liberal) approach to biblical studies. They learned about the gnostic heresies that troubled the New Testament Church and their modern day counterparts (i.e., Mormons, Jehovah Witness, and Pentecostalism). They learned about the Judiazers and the temptation to turn Christianity into a law driven religion of works-righteousness. They studied the relationship between the synoptic Gospels and the occasion, authorship, and outlines of each New Testament book.
In biology class the students learned the difference between true science, theories of science, and articles of faith. They not only covered the topics normally associated with a freshman biology course, they examined the theory of evolution in light of the evidence and arguments in support of the theory of a young earth. In Western Civilization the students studied the worlds of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome and examined their relationship to events recorded in the Old and New Testaments.
P.L.H.S. students studied music and music theory, with special attention to the different periods of music and the appropriate use of music in the church service. Our students also completed their first year of Latin to help with their language and thinking skills. They read several of western civilization’s greatest literary works. They were tutored by a professional artist. They learned a variety of applications on the computer, they attended concerts of classical music, visited art galleries and museums, mastered algebra, studied the Christian apologists of the second and third centuries, and attended chapel three times a week.
If I were to list all the topics that were talked about this past year from a Christian perspective, this letter would soon turn into a tome. A truly Lutheran education is a thorough education in which the students gain a fuller understanding of theology and of their vocations in the world. This is the kind of education that ought to be the standard in our church schools. A truly Lutheran education prepares students for the spiritual, academic, philosophical, and moral challenges face today.
I wish I could report that Peoria area Lutherans were opening their hearts, minds, and wallets in support of this work. But the truth of the matter is that confessional congregations in the Peoria/Tazewell area are usually small and are struggling to pay their own bills. Others in the area do what they can to suppress support for P.L.H.S. because they once favored the creation of an ELCA/LC-MS high school and believe P.L.H.S. is too "conservative."
Our student body is not yet large enough for tuition to cover the costs and the parents of our students are struggling financially. Almost all of the money needed to complete our first year came from one source - - the members of little Immanuel Ev. Lutheran Church. P.L.H.S. spent $25,000 for our first year of operation and these monies were divided between part-time salaries, books, programs (physical and computer education), resources, and Praxis Fridays . This year we need to double the number of classes being offered so we have complete freshman and sophomore years. Since we pay part-time teachers per class taught, this doubles the amount of money we need to make ends meet. Little Immanuel has thus far carried the load by herself and the Lord has provided the needed funds through a faithful few. I am writing to ask for your help because the faithful few here simply do not have it within their means to meet this anticipated increase.
To learn more about P.L.H.S. and educational issues visit the Webpage. I would welcome an invitation to speak about P.L.H.S. and on issues confronting Lutheran education. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for considering its requests.
In Christ Jesus Our Lord,
Rev. Craig S. Stanford - Headmaster
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